Digital curation and the cloud

Digital curation involves a wide range of activities, many of which could benefit from cloud deployment to a greater or lesser extent. These range from infrequent, resource-intensive tasks which benefit from the ability to rapidly provision resources to day-to-day collaborative activities which can be facilitated by networked cloud services. Associated benefits are offset by risks such as loss of data or service level, legal and governance incompatibilities and transfer bottlenecks. There is considerable variability across both risks and benefits according to the service and deployment models being adopted and the context in which activities are performed. Some risks, such as legal liabilities, are mitigated by the use of alternative, e.g., private cloud models, but this is typically at the expense of benefits such as resource elasticity and economies of scale. Infrastructure as a Service model may provide a basis on which more specialised software services may be provided. There is considerable work to be done in helping institutions understand the cloud and its associated costs, risks and benefits, and how these compare to their current working methods, in order that the most beneficial uses of cloud technologies may be identified. Specific proposals, echoing recent work coordinated by EPSRC and JISC are the development of advisory, costing and brokering services to facilitate appropriate cloud deployments, the exploration of opportunities for certifying or accrediting cloud preservation providers, and the targeted publicity of outputs from pilot studies to the full range of stakeholders within the curation lifecycle, including data creators and owners, repositories, institutional IT support professionals and senior manager

Using an ontology for interoperability and browsing of museum, library and archive information

Ontologies play an important part in the development of the future ‘semantic web’; the CIDOC conceptual reference model (CRM) is an ontology aimed at the cultural heritage domain. This paper describes a Concept Browser, developed for the EU/IST-funded SCULPTEUR project (semantic and content-based multimedia exploitation for European benefit environment (programme IST-2001-no. 35372); May 2002 to May 2005), which is able to access different museum information systems through a common ontology, the CRM. The development of this Concept Browser has required mappings from the legacy museum database systems to the CRM. The crucial process of creating the mappings is described, using the C2RMF catalogue (EROS) and library databases as a case study

Impact of birth weight and gender on early postnatal hypothalamic energy balance regulatory gene expression in the young lamb

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Monitoring and optimising outcomes of survivors of critical illness

Recovery after critical illness can be protracted and challenging. Compromise of physical, psychological, cognitive and social function is experienced by some patients and may persist for a number of years. Measurement of recovery outcomes at regular time points throughout the critical illness and recovery pathway is necessary to identify problems and guide selection of interventions to prevent, minimise or overcome that compromise. Optimisation of factors that enhance recovery, such as sleep, nutrition and memories of intensive care, will also assist with promotion of recovery.Effective assessment of recovery requires integration of assessment of outcomes into routine clinical practice by all members of the interdisciplinary team. There must be agreement of appropriate measures and measurement timeframes alongside relevant education and training to ensure optimal assessment and use of the information gained. Assessment outcomes need to be communicated to interdisciplinary team members across the critical illness and recovery trajectory. Adequate resourcing for both the assessment activities and subsequent care is essential to improve patient outcomes after critical illness

Xerostomia: An Update of Causes and Treatments

Xerostomia or dry mouth sensation is considered a complex condition that affects several stomatological functions that drives to the detriment of the quality of life of individuals who suffer from it. Often, xerostomia is accompanied by a decrease in salivary flow or hyposalivation, and this condition leads to oral health problems such as dental caries, candidiasis, and mucosal complications. Currently, the diagnosis and therapeutic methods for this condition are varied and it is difficult to achieve favorable results in all cases, since the etiology seems to be multifactorial where both local factors and systemic conditions would participate. This chapter presents, in a concise shape, the relevant data about etiology of xerostomia, such as age, autoimmune diseases, systemic diseases, infectious diseases, neuropathic complications, psychogenic factors and therapeutically consumption of drugs among others, and the current available treatments

Evaluation of enzyme immunoassays in the diagnosis of camel (Camelus dromedarius) trypanosomiasis:a preliminary investigation

Three enzyme immunoassays were used for the serodiagnosis of Trypanosoma evansi in camels in the Sudan in order to evaluate their ability to discriminate between infected and non-infected animals. Two assays were used for the detection of trypanosomal antibodies, one using specific anti-camel IgG conjugate and another using a non-specific Protein A conjugate. The third assay detected the presence of trypanosomal antigens using anti-T. evansi antibodies in a double antibody sandwich assay. Inspection of the frequency distribution of assay results suggested that the ELISA for circulating trypanosomal antibodies using specific antisera and the ELISA for circulating antigens can distinguish between non-infected camels and infected camels exhibiting patent infections or not. The ELISA using Protein A conjugate to bind non-specifically to camel immunoglobulin did not appear to discriminate between infected and non-infected animals

Imagining geographies of film

To the extent that the geographic study of film has come of age, it is important to not only tie it to disciplinary issues but also to push theoretical boundaries. Geographic concern is often lacking a critical perspective, focusing primarily on the geographic realism of films rather than how they produce meaning. Geographers needed to elaborate insights through critical spatial theories, so that our studies are not only about filmic representations of space but are also about the material conditions of lived experience and everyday social practices. With this essay, we argue for more critical film geographies. In doing so, we note how a series of traditional and emergent geographic 'primitives' - landscapes, spaces/spatialities, mobilities, scales and networks - are reappraised and push disciplinary boundaries for geography and film studies in general