Alternative Bait Marker Systems for White-Tailed Deer

We compared alternative bait markers for a study of free-ranging white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) based on the following criteria: 1) detectability in fecal matter; 2) incorporation into corn bait; 3) palatability; and 4) cost. We used penned sheep (Ovis aries) as an experimental model to evaluate Microtaggants, metallic flakes, plastic chips, and rare earth elements as bait markers, and molasses and soy lecithin as marker adhesives. The metallic flake­-soy lecithin combination best met our criteria. It was also successful in a field study evaluating supplemental feeding on deer behavior and activity in central Wisconsin. Metallic flakes were easily detected under field conditions, readily adhered to shelled corn bait, enabled assessment of deer activity at distinct feeding sites and could be used in studies of feeding behavior and movements of other free-ranging herbivores

Playing Tag: An Analysis of Vocabulary Patterns and Relationships Within a Popular Music Folksonomy

The cataloging of musical materials has always posed challenges for librarians, requiring special treatment for classification and organization. Accurate description is critical for achieving high-recall retrieval and access by patrons. This study considers the challenge of music description through content analysis of the popular music websites AllMusic.com and Last.fm. The goal of the research was to gain a better understanding of how users describe their music collections. The findings in this study illustrate that hierarchical vocabulary structures are clearly evident within the Last.fm folksonomy. The findings also show that tagging data is more reliable in representing musical genre/subject than previously speculated, indicating that with proper analysis and coding, social tag data could be harvested to provide genre-level metadata for popular music titles. The work presented here contributes a methodology for further study of this topic, specific to music folksonomies and vocabularies, which may also be useful for other disciplines

Revival, revision, rebirth: Handel opera in Germany, 1920-1930

In the 1920s, Germany witnessed a series of revivals of the operas of G.F. Handel, works which had almost entirely lapsed from the German musical consciousness in the nearly 200 years since the composer's death. The reemergence of Handel opera can be traced back to one man, Oskar Hagen, an Art History professor at the University of Göttingen who staged the landmark performance of Rodelinda in 1920. This performance and those that followed it were an unanticipated success, suddenly launching the performance of Handel operas across the country, and eventually, the world. Hagen's adaptation techniques, however, have been harshly criticized by modern scholars as being clumsy, audacious, and "inauthentic." This thesis focuses on Hagen's methods of musical adaptation and how they relate to the aesthetics of 1920s Germany, as well as the reception of Hagen's efforts and their impact on the performance practice of Handel opera in the twentieth century

A meta-analysis of prevalence rates and moderating factors for cancer-related post-traumatic stress disorder.

Objective Systematic reviews highlight a broad range of cancer-related post-traumatic stress disorder (CR-PTSD) prevalence estimates in cancer survivors. This meta-analysis was conducted to provide a prevalence estimate of significant CR-PTSD symptoms and full diagnoses to facilitate the psychological aftercare of cancer survivors. Methods A systematic literature search was conducted for studies using samples of cancer survivors by using validated clinical interviews and questionnaires to assess the prevalence of CR-PTSD (k = 25, n = 4189). Prevalence estimates were calculated for each assessment method using random-effects meta-analysis. Mixed-effects meta-regression and categorical analyses were used to investigate study-level moderator effects. Results Studies using the PTSD Checklist—Civilian Version yielded lower event rates using cut-off [7.3%, 95% confidence intervals (CI) = 4.5–11.7, k = 10] than symptom cluster (11.2%, 95% CI = 8.7–14.4, k = 9). Studies using the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fourth Edition (SCID), yielded low rates for lifetime (15.3%, 95% CI = 9.1–25, k = 5) and current CR-PTSD (5.1%, 95% CI = 2.8–8.9, k = 9). Between-study heterogeneity was substantial (I2 = 54–87%). Studies with advanced-stage samples yielded significantly higher rates with PTSD Checklist—Civilian Version cluster scoring (p = 0.05), and when assessing current CR-PTSD on the SCID (p = 0.05). The effect of mean age on current PTSD prevalence met significance on the SCID (p = 0.05). SCID lifetime prevalence rates decreased with time post-treatment (R2 = 0.56, p < 0.05). Discussion The cancer experience is sufficiently traumatic to induce PTSD in a minority of cancer survivors. Post-hoc analyses suggest that those who are younger, are diagnosed with more advanced disease and recently completed treatment may be at greater risk of PTSD. More research is needed to investigate vulnerability factors for PTSD in cancer survivors

Adverse birth outcomes associated with household air pollution from unclean cooking fuels in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review

Approximately 3.8 billion people in low- and middle-income countries use unclean fuels as a source of primary cooking fuel as well as for heating. For pregnant women, the toxic chemicals produced by combustion of unclean fuels not only affect women's health directly, but particulate matter and carbon monoxide are absorbed in maternal blood and cross the placental barrier impairing fetal tissue growth. PRISMA 2009 guidelines were used for this systematic review. The inclusion criteria were quantitative, peer reviewed journal articles published within a date range of May 1, 2013–June 12, 2021 examining birth outcomes related to household air pollution from type of cooking fuel in low- and middle-income countries. The quality of available evidence was evaluated using the Office of Health Assessment and Translation (OHAT) risk of bias rating tool. Of the 553 studies screened, 23 satisfied the inclusion criteria. Of the studies that met the inclusion criteria, 14 were cross-sectional, 5 cohort, 1 case-control and 3 randomized control trials conducted across 15 different countries. A range of birth outcomes are reported across studies including birthweight (19), small for gestational age (6), spontaneous abortion (3), preterm birth (6), stillbirth (7) and neonatal mortality (6). The reviewed studies presented evidence for an increased risk of low birth weight (LBW), preterm birth (PTB), small for gestational age (SGA), stillbirth, neonatal mortality and reduction in birthweight with solid fuel and kerosene use compared to cleaner fuels like gas and LPG. Systematically reviewing the evidence and risk of bias ratings illuminated several gaps in the current literature related to exposure assessment, outcome measurement and adequacy of adjustment for confounding

Oral Cancer Prevalence in Virginia

Purpose. Oral and pharyngeal cancer affects 30,000 Americans a year and kills one fourth of those diagnosed. The primary risk factors for oral cancer are past or present cigarette and tobacco usage, and alcohol consumption in conjunction with tobacco use. Even though the prevalence of oral cancer is relatively low in the younger age groups, this group is most likely to benefit from intervention programs designed to change risky behavior such as smoking, and to prevent oral cancer in the later years. The goal of the study was to identify high-risk target areas for an oral cancer prevention program in Virginia. Methods and Materials. The specific objectives were to analyze the 1986 to 2001 Oral Biopsy Database from the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry for diagnosed cases of oral cancer. To test the hypothesis that Hampton Roads, Virginia would be a high-risk target area, diagnoses were correlated with the 11 zip-code regions in Virginia to identify specific geographical areas with high numbers of oral cancer cases. The oral cancer data set consisted of 4,712 cases. Frequencies and cross-tabulations were calculated for all the variables using Statistical Package for Social Scientists software (SPSS Inc., version 10.1, Chicago, IL). Results. Results indicated that the Hampton Roads region had the second highest number of squamous cell carcinomas, with 231 total cases. The Richmond area had 435cases, almost twice as many. Conclusions. Therefore, Hampton Roads and Richmond are high-risk target areas that would benefit from an aggressive oral cancer prevention and intervention program in its public schools

Use of Equivalent Relative Utility (ERU) to Evaluate Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Rule-Out Devices

We investigated the use of equivalent relative utility (ERU) to evaluate the effectiveness of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled rule-out devices that use AI to identify and autonomously remove non-cancer patient images from radiologist review in screening mammography.We reviewed two performance metrics that can be used to compare the diagnostic performance between the radiologist-with-rule-out-device and radiologist-without-device workflows: positive/negative predictive values (PPV/NPV) and equivalent relative utility (ERU). To demonstrate the use of the two evaluation metrics, we applied both methods to a recent US-based study that reported an improved performance of the radiologist-with-device workflow compared to the one without the device by retrospectively applying their AI algorithm to a large mammography dataset. We further applied the ERU method to a European study utilizing their reported recall rates and cancer detection rates at different thresholds of their AI algorithm to compare the potential utility among different thresholds. For the study using US data, neither the PPV/NPV nor the ERU method can conclude a significant improvement in diagnostic performance for any of the algorithm thresholds reported. For the study using European data, ERU values at lower AI thresholds are found to be higher than that at a higher threshold because more false-negative cases would be ruled-out at higher threshold, reducing the overall diagnostic performance. Both PPV/NPV and ERU methods can be used to compare the diagnostic performance between the radiologist-with-device workflow and that without. One limitation of the ERU method is the need to measure the baseline, standard-of-care relative utility (RU) value for mammography screening in the US. Once the baseline value is known, the ERU method can be applied to large US datasets without knowing the true prevalence of the dataset

Separation of nickel from cobalt and manganese in lithium ion batteries using deep eutectic solvents

The authors would like to thank the Faraday Institution (grant codes FIRG005 and FIRG006) for funding (Project website https://relib.org.uk). This research also received funding from the European Commission's H2020 – Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions (MSCA) − Innovative Training Networks within the SOCRATES project under the grant agreement no. 721385 (Project website: https://etn-socrates.eu).A cornerstone of the decarbonisation agenda is the use of lithium ion batteries, particularly for electric vehicles. It is essential that effective recycling protocols are developed and this includes the ability to selectively digest and recover components of the cathode materials, most commonly including manganese, cobalt and nickel. This study shows a method by which nickel oxide can be efficiently separated from cobalt and manganese oxides using an oxalic acid-based deep eutectic solvent. The subsequent addition of water to the pregnant solution enables the co-precipitation of cobalt and manganese oxalates. This permits a route to the reformulation of the active materials from high cobalt and manganese content to high nickel content.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Homologous and heterologous desensitization of guanylyl cyclase-B signaling in GH3 somatolactotropes

The guanylyl cyclases, GC-A and GC-B, are selective receptors for atrial and C-type natriuretic peptides (ANP and CNP, respectively). In the anterior pituitary, CNP and GC-B are major regulators of cGMP production in gonadotropes and yet mouse models of disrupted CNP and GC-B indicate a potential role in growth hormone secretion. In the current study, we investigate the molecular and pharmacological properties of the CNP/GC-B system in somatotrope lineage cells. Primary rat pituitary and GH3 somatolactotropes expressed functional GC-A and GC-B receptors that had similar EC50 properties in terms of cGMP production. Interestingly, GC-B signaling underwent rapid homologous desensitization in a protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A)-dependent manner. Chronic exposure to either CNP or ANP caused a significant down-regulation of both GC-A- and GC-B-dependent cGMP accumulation in a ligand-specific manner. However, this down-regulation was not accompanied by alterations in the sub-cellular localization of these receptors. Heterologous desensitization of GC-B signaling occurred in GH3 cells following exposure to either sphingosine-1-phosphate or thyrotrophin-releasing hormone (TRH). This heterologous desensitization was protein kinase C (PKC)-dependent, as pre-treatment with GF109203X prevented the effect of TRH on CNP/GC-B signaling. Collectively, these data indicate common and distinct properties of particulate guanylyl cyclase receptors in somatotropes and reveal that independent mechanisms of homologous and heterologous desensitization occur involving either PP2A or PKC. Guanylyl cyclase receptors thus represent potential novel therapeutic targets for treating growth-hormone-associated disorders

Destroy Music Libraries, Free Music Librarians: A Discussion of Professional Ethics and Actions

If you were invested in ensuring that music librarianship did not continue as a profession, what would you do to ensure it ended? How are we contributing to these actions today? How do we transform these realizations into positive, concrete actions to support our profession? Join us for a discussion aimed at helping attendees identify ways to strengthen the music librarian profession. As positions go unfilled or expand to include multiple job duties, and branch libraries are closed or collapsed, the profession (and the MLA) shrinks. MLA has identified diversity and inclusion movements as part of its strategic vision to respond to internal and external challenges to the profession; it has also struggled to respond to a world changing outside of music and libraries. In a variety of settings in the last few years, members have had (in)formal discussions about the challenges the profession faces and shared concerns about its future. Yet, these discussions have not provided opportunities to engage with these issues openly across the membership of the association. There is a desire and a need for productive ways to engage MLA members from diverse backgrounds in a discussion that can spark ideas for action. Building on emerging ideas of failure analysis and “failing forward,” attendees will reflect on how destruction makes room for new ideas and new paths forward for our profession. Facilitators will provide a remote moderation and access in an attempt to make space for remote participation, and extensive notes from the discussion will be available asynchronously to both members of MLA and the wider public. *Description of the model proposed in this session: https://blogs.ubc.ca/openeducationethics/2018/01/07/open-education-conference-2017/ **TRIZ description: http://www.liberatingstructures.com/6-making-space-with-triz/ These notes provide a snapshot of the in-session notes provided by participants. The live document may be viewed at https://goo.gl/t6gdy