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In this project we test the utility of an adaptive e-learning study tool (LearnSmart) within the context of a large undergraduate psychology course. We measured student usage of the e-learning tool and the effect that this usage has on academic outcomes, while controlling for the effects of intellectual ability and personality traits such as conscientiousness and openness to experience. The results of our analyses indicate that students who made use of the tool performed significantly better on the assessment tasks when compared to non-users. Further, regression analyses indicated that the extent to which students made use of the tool was a stronger predictor of academic performance than four personality variables that had previously been implicated in the literature as related to academic outcomes, and was a stronger predictor of academic performance than intellectual ability for two of the four academic tasks.

Comments on an article entitled `Are Neoproterozoic Glacial Deposits Preserved on the Margins of Laurentia Related to the Fragmentation of Two Supercontinents?,' by G.M. Young published in the journal `Geology,' volume 23. Rift settings in Australia as not indicating that rifting was necessarily the cause glaciation.

Abstract Aims: To characterize presentations due to acute asthma at Australian emergency departments (ED), including their severity, treatment and disposition. Methods: This prospective, observational study involved 38 departments of emergency medicine throughout ­Australia participating in the Snapshot of Asthma Study Group project 2000 and 2001. Data were collected for patients presenting with acute asthma between 21 August 2000 and 3 September 2000, and 20 August 2001 and 2 September 2001 and included demographics, severity classification, treatment and disposition. Results: There were 1340 acute asthma presentations in the study periods. Of these presentations, 67% were for children aged <15 years. Asthma severity (according to the Australian National Asthma Guidelines classifi­cation) was ‘mild’ in 49% of cases; ‘moderate’ in 45% of cases; and ‘severe’ in 6% of cases. Treatment administered included: (i) salbutamol to 90%, (ii) ipratropium bromide to 59% and (iii) corticosteroids to 71%. Only six patients received aminophylline. Spacer use for sal­butamol was rare (1%) in adults and only moderate (43%) in children. Sixty-five percent of patients were discharged home from the ED. Less than 1% of patients required ventilatory assistance, of which half was provided non-invasively. One percent of patients were admitted to the intensive-care unit or high-dependency unit. Conclusion: Overall adherence to treatment guidelines was good. There appears to be underuse of spacers and corticosteroids in some groups and overuse of ipra­tropium bromide. The majority of patients are treated and discharged from the ED. (Intern Med J 2003; 33: 406-413) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]