Library As Place: Being Human in a Digital World

Despite the increasingly digital nature of information retrieval, both users and computers continue to occupy physical space, and the library – as place – offers an essential location for inspiration. In an age when one might assume that the digital negates the physical, a finite place can root the individual within space regarding both composition and information retrieval. In this seeking for the essentially human element of the physical book within space, we may also discover a need for the library as place

Older People, Telematics and Care

About the book: What are the implications of current economic, social and political trends in Britain for older people? Social and demographic changes have led to traditional areas of welfare being transformed. The contributors to this book take a critical look at the current situation and assess the implications for future practice. They debate the assumptions and values underlying established welfare programmes and consider the case for change as growing demands put health and social services under increasing pressure. The second part of the book discusses specific areas in detail, ranging from the organisation of effective domiciliary social care to the impact of new technologies on older people's lives. This book provides a comprehensive and practical overview of the provision of services for older people and will be a valuable and thought-provoking resource for anyone involved in caring for and supporting them

Growth Plate Regeneration Using Polymer-Based Scaffolds Releasing Growth Factor

Currently growth plate fractures account for nearly 18.5% of fractures in children and can lead to stunted bone growth or angular deformation. If the body is unable to heal itself a bony bar forms, preventing normal bone growth. Clinical treatment involves removing the bony bar and replacing it with a filler substance, which causes poor results 60% of the time. Using primarily poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) as the scaffold material, the goal was to develop an implant that would support to the implant site, allow for cell ingrowth, and degrade away over time. Porous scaffolds were fabricated from PLGA microspheres using the salt leaching method. The first part of this work investigated the effect of sintering the microspheres by studying the mechanical properties, degradation and morphology and their potential applications for hard and soft tissue implants. Growth factor or drugs can be encapsulated into PLGA microspheres, which was the second part of this work. Encapsulated insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) was able to withstand the scaffold fabrication process without compromising it’s bioactivity and promoted cell proliferation. The next part of this work experimented with the addition of a hydrogel porogen. Porogen particles were made using a quick degrading poly(beta-amino ester) (PBAE) hydrogel and loaded with ketoprofen. The addition of the porogen creates a dual drug-releasing scaffold with a localized delivery system. The final step of this work involved animal studies to determine the effectiveness of the scaffolds in growth plate regeneration and how they compare to the current clinical treatment option. Gross observation, microCT analysis, angular measurement of bone growth and histological methods were employed to evaluate the scaffolds. The goal was to develop a versatile scaffold that could be used for a wide range of tissue engineering applications. The mechanical properties, degradation profiles and drug delivery capabilities can be all tailored to meet the specific needs of an implant site. One specific application was regenerating the native growth plate that can also encourage the endogenous mesenchymal stem cells to follow the desire linage. By regenerating the native growth plate, angular deformation and stunted limb growth were greatly reduced

MEF2-regulated Gtl2-Dio3 noncoding RNAs in cardiac muscle and disease

The MEF2 transcription factor is a central regulator of skeletal and cardiac muscle development. Recently, we showed that MEF2A regulates skeletal muscle regeneration through direct regulation of the Gtl2-Dio3 microRNA mega-cluster. In addition to their expression in skeletal muscle, temporal expression analysis of selected Gtl2-Dio3 microRNAs revealed high enrichment in cardiac muscle. Therefore, I investigated the role of selected microRNAs from the Gtl2-Dio3 noncoding RNA locus in the heart. First, I found that Gtl2-Dio3 microRNAs are expressed at higher levels in perinatal hearts compared to adult, suggesting they function in cardiac maturation shortly after birth. I also demonstrated that these microRNAs are dependent on MEF2A in the perinatal heart and in neonatal cardiomyocytes. To determine the specific role in cardiac muscle, I overexpressed selected microRNA mimics in neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (NRVMs). My results showed that miR-410 and miR-495 stimulate cell cycle re-entry and proliferation of terminally differentiated NRVMs. Subsequent target prediction analyses revealed a number of candidate target genes known to function in the cell cycle and/or in cardiac muscle. One of these was Cited2, a cofactor required for proper cardiac development. Subsequently, I showed that Cited2 is a direct target of these miRNAs and that siRNA knockdown of Cited2 in NRVMs resulted in robust cardiomyocyte proliferation. This phenotype was associated with reduced expression of Cdkn1c/p57/Kip2, a cell cycle inhibitor, and increased expression of Vegfa, a growth factor with proliferation-promoting effects. Given the exciting possibility of manipulating the expression of these microRNAs to repair the damaged heart by stimulating cardiomyocyte proliferation, I then investigated whether they were regulated in cardiac disease and function in pathological signaling. Toward this end, I examined expression of miR-410, miR-495, miR-433, as well as the Gtl2 lncRNA in various cardiomyopathies. Interestingly, the microRNAs and lncRNA were dynamically regulated in mouse models of cardiac disease including myocardial infarction and chronic angiotensin II stimulation. Furthermore, I showed for the first time that the Gtl2 lncRNA and miRNAs are differentially regulated in myocardial infarction, indicating that the complex regulation of the Gtl2-Dio3 noncoding RNA locus may be important for response to cardiac injury. Lastly, I showed that inhibiting select Gtl2-Dio3 microRNAs in pathological signaling attenuated cardiomyocyte hypertrophy in vitro. Therefore, differential targeting of the Gtl2-Dio3 noncoding RNAs could provide new therapeutic strategies to control the response of the heart to cardiac diseases with diverse etiologies

Building the Financial Facade: Jacques-Denis Antoine\u27s Hotel De La Monnaie, The Parisian Mint, 1765-1775

Building the Financial Facade: Jacques-Denis Antoine\u27s Hotel de la Monnaie, The Parisian Mint, 1765-1775, a thesis prepared by Amanda Catherine Roth Clark in partial fulfillment of the requitements for the Master of Arts degree in the Department of Art History

A Type of Communication What to Watch for in U.S. Presidential Campaign Promotional Ephemera & Typographic Choices

Facets of graphic design, logo design, typefaces, and other images absorbed through rapid cognition have a psychological effect on the viewer. Well known to advertisers, these stylistic typographic choices transmit a powerful message to viewers and influence their impressions of the product (Coleman and Wasike 2003: 1). Visual design decisions may persuade at unquestioned and unconscious levels, and they may be indelibly imbued with their historical identity. How then do these choices, when applied to the promotional materials of political campaigns, affect the stylistic impressions made by printed materials, such as posters, bumper stickers, lawn signs, and buttons? By examining this category of political ephemera, do we find that Republican campaigns tend to use bold, all caps, sans serif fonts more frequently, while Democratic campaigns prefer more slender, serif fonts? Moreover, what messages do these choices convey to the viewer? The following article explores these graphic decisions and their implications when employed in the aesthetic construction of U.S. presidential campaigns

Effectiveness Of The Dangerous Decibels Program In Children When Delivered With Parental Involvement

Hearing loss prevention programs targeting children have been implemented in an effort to prevent noise-induced hearing loss and tinnitus in this age group. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of parental involvement in the Dangerous Decibels® hearing loss prevention program taught to children as well as the parents in the study group. Through the use of pre, post and follow-up questionnaires, the effectiveness of the Dangerous Decibels program for children with parental involvement was compared to the effectiveness of the Dangerous Decibels program for children without parental involvement in the training session. A total of 23 child/parent pairs were included in the control group and 22 child/parent pairs in the experimental group. Child participants were eight to twelve years of age. For this study, a baseline, post, and three-month follow-up questionnaire was utilized to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and intended behaviors of children and parents regarding NIHL and the prevention of NIHL. Improvements in the knowledge, attitudes, and intended behaviors were evident at post and three-month follow-up for those participants who received the Dangerous Decibels program. There were significant differences in the knowledge, attitudes, and intended behaviors of children and their parents who attended the Dangerous Decibels program simultaneously, compared to those children and their parents that did not participate together. The Dangerous Decibels program can be successfully delivered simultaneously to both children and adult