Proposal for an IMLS Collection Registry and Metadata Repository

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign proposes to design, implement, and research a collection-level registry and item-level metadata repository service that will aggregate information about digital collections and items of digital content created using funds from Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) National Leadership Grants. This work will be a collaboration by the University Library and the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. All extant digital collections initiated or augmented under IMLS aegis from 1998 through September 30, 2005 will be included in the proposed collection registry. Item-level metadata will be harvested from collections making such content available using the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI PMH). As part of this work, project personnel, in cooperation with IMLS staff and grantees, will define and document appropriate metadata schemas, help create and maintain collection-level metadata records, assist in implementing OAI compliant metadata provider services for dissemination of item-level metadata records, and research potential benefits and issues associated with these activities. The immediate outcomes of this work will be the practical demonstration of technologies that have the potential to enhance the visibility of IMLS funded online exhibits and digital library collections and improve discoverability of items contained in these resources. Experience gained and research conducted during this project will make clearer both the costs and the potential benefits associated with such services. Metadata provider and harvesting service implementations will be appropriately instrumented (e.g., customized anonymous transaction logs, online questionnaires for targeted user groups, performance monitors). At the conclusion of this project we will submit a final report that discusses tasks performed and lessons learned, presents business plans for sustaining registry and repository services, enumerates and summarizes potential benefits of these services, and makes recommendations regarding future implementations of these and related intermediary and end user interoperability services by IMLS projects.unpublishednot peer reviewe

Innovations in Discovery Systems: User Studies and the Bento Approach

Over the past 30 years, library discovery services have evolved through expanded OPACs, federated search systems employing broadcast searching; Web-scale discovery systems (WSDS) that aggregate metadata and full-text content into a single integrated index; and, currently, hybrid bento-style systems that use federated techniques over WSDS, OPACs, and local information content. The bento systems partition search results into separate zoned screen displays grouped by content format type and/or local service results. Recent studies on Web-scale discovery systems have identified a number of user access issues centering on problems with blended result displays, problematical relevancy rankings of search results, full-text search problems, and the inability of WSDS to adequately provide access to local library services and resources. The concept of “full library discovery,” a phrase first coined by Lorcan Dempsey, has been introduced to refer to discovery approaches that move beyond the retrieval of collection materials to also include local information services and local content and links. The bento-based systems are an attempt to address the identified problems with WSDS and also provide discovery services that address user needs, in particular known item search and streamlined full-text access. This presentation will provide an analysis of the 38 libraries presently employing the bento approach and will look at identified user needs and search behaviors, as revealed in detailed search and clickthrough transaction log analyses. There is a clear need for an evidence-based analysis of user search behaviors in retrieval environments characterized by access to distributed information resources

Electrical conductivity and gas-sensing properties of Mg-doped and undoped single-crystalline In2O3 thin films: Bulk vs. surface

This study aims to provide a better fundamental understanding of the gas-sensing mechanism of In2O3-based conductometric gas sensors. In contrast to typically used polycrystalline films, we study single crystalline In2O3 thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) as a model system with reduced complexity. Electrical conductance of these films essentially consists of two parallel contributions: the bulk of the film and the surface electron accumulation layer (SEAL). Both these contributions are varied to understand their effect on the sensor response. Conductance changes induced by UV illumination in air, which forces desorption of oxygen adatoms on the surface, give a measure of the sensor response and show that the sensor effect is only due to the SEAL contribution to overall conductance. Therefore, a strong sensitivity increase can be expected by reducing or eliminating the bulk conductivity in single crystalline films or the intra-grain conductivity in polycrystalline films. Gas-response measurements in ozone atmosphere test this approach for the real application

Electrical conductivity and gas-sensing properties of Mg-doped and undoped single-crystalline In2O3 thin films: Bulk vs. surface

This study aims to provide a better fundamental understanding of the gas-sensing mechanism of In2O3-based conductometric gas sensors. In contrast to typically used polycrystalline films, we study single crystalline In2O3 thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) as a model system with reduced complexity. Electrical conductance of these films essentially consists of two parallel contributions: the bulk of the film and the surface electron accumulation layer (SEAL). Both these contributions are varied to understand their effect on the sensor response. Conductance changes induced by UV illumination in air, which forces desorption of oxygen adatoms on the surface, give a measure of the sensor response and show that the sensor effect is only due to the SEAL contribution to overall conductance. Therefore, a strong sensitivity increase can be expected by reducing or eliminating the bulk conductivity in single crystalline films or the intra-grain conductivity in polycrystalline films. Gas-response measurements in ozone atmosphere test this approach for the real application

Hodgkin's lymphoma in remission after first-line therapy: which patients need FDG-PET/CT for follow-up?

Background: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the impact of 2-[fluorine-18]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET)/computed tomography (CT) during follow-up of patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma. Patients and methods: Patients in complete remission or an unconfirmed complete remission after first-line therapy who received FDG-PET/CT during their follow-up were analyzed retrospectively. Confirmatory biopsy was mandatory in case of recurrence. Results: Overall, 134 patients were analyzed. Forty-two (31.3%) patients had a recurrence. The positive predictive value of FDG-PET/CT was 0.98. Single-factor analysis identified morphological residual mass [P = 0.0005, hazard ratio (HR) 3.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.7-6.6] and symptoms (P 24 months). Conclusions: Asymptomatic patients without morphological residues and an early stage of disease do not need a routine FDG-PET/CT for follow-up. Asymptomatic patients with morphological residues should receive routine follow-up FDG-PET/CT for the first 24 months. Only patients with advanced initial stage do need a routine follow-up FDG-PET/CT beyond 24 month

Risk-adapted FDG-PET/CT-based follow-up in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma after first-line therapy

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of 2-[fluorine-18]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) during follow-up of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) being in complete remission or unconfirmed complete remission after first-line therapy. Patients and methods: DLBCL patients receiving FDG-PET/CT during follow-up were analyzed retrospectively. Confirmatory biopsy was mandatory in cases of suspected disease recurrence. Results: Seventy-five patients were analyzed and 23 (30%) had disease recurrence. The positive predictive value (PPV) of FDG-PET/CT was 0.85. Patients >60 years [P = 0.036, hazard ratio (HR) = 3.82, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02-7.77] and patients with symptoms indicative of a relapse (P = 0.015; HR = 4.1; 95% CI 1.20-14.03) had a significantly higher risk for relapse. A risk score on the basis of signs of relapse, age >60 years, or a combination of these factors identified patients at high risk for recurrence (P = 0.041). Conclusions: FDG-PET/CT detects recurrent DLBCL after first-line therapy with high PPV. However, it should not be used routinely and if only in selected high-risk patients to reduce radiation burden and costs. On the basis of our retrospective data, FDG-PET/CT during follow-up is indicated for patients 60 years with and without clinical signs of relaps

Strength of bacterial adhesion on nanostructured surfaces quantified by substrate morphometry

Microbial adhesion and the subsequent formation of resilient biofilms at surfaces are decisively influenced by substrate properties, such as the topography. To date, studies that quantitatively link surface topography and bacterial adhesion are scarce, as both are not straightforward to quantify. To fill this gap, surface morphometry combined with single-cell force spectroscopy was performed on surfaces with irregular topographies on the nano-scale. As surfaces, hydrophobized silicon wafers were used that were etched to exhibit surface structures in the same size range as the bacterial cell wall molecules. The surface structures were characterized by a detailed morphometric analysis based on Minkowski functionals revealing both qualitatively similar features and quantitatively different extensions. We find that as the size of the nanostructures increases, the adhesion forces decrease in a way that can be quantified by the area of the surface that is available for the tethering of cell wall molecules. In addition, we observe a bactericidal effect, which is more pronounced on substrates with taller structures but does not influence adhesion. Our results can be used for a targeted development of 3D-structured materials for/against bio-adhesion. Moreover, the morphometric analysis can serve as a future gold standard for characterizing a broad spectrum of material structures. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2019

The ANKA-IR2 Nanoscope and Micro- and Nanospectroscopy Applications

We report on a newly developed and integrated microscopy and nanoscopy station at the ANKA-IR2 beamline. We further elucidate how vibrational near-field and microspectroscopy can give new insights in medical applications