Librarians and Left-Handedness: A Speculative Exploration

About eleven percent of the world's population is left-handed, yet casual observation has led me to believe that significantly more than eleven percent of librarians are left-handed. The purpose of this research is to explore both the concept of left-handedness and the profession of librarianship, in an attempt to ascertain any similarities between the two that may lead a larger-than-average number of left-handed people to the library profession. To best explore the implications of left-handedness, the paper examines its causes and physiological implications, specifically those related to laterality and hemisphere dominance. Papers that examine thinking styles in librarianship are also discussed. One of the similarities between the cognitive processes of right-hemisphere dominant (and therefore more likely to be left-handed) people and librarians appears to be the issue of greater adaptability and use of the whole brain in problem solving

The Collaborative Federal Depository Program: Managing Federal Depository Library Program Collections in the Southeast

The Collaborative Federal Depository Program (CFDP) is an endeavor by the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) and Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) libraries in the Southeast to create collaborative “Centers of Excellence” (COE) collections of tangible U.S. Government information. The CFDP was created to provide workable solutions to address the increasing cost of managing, preserving, and providing access to large collections of federal government publications in the Southeast. From its beginning, the program sought to not only relieve collection management pressures among Regional and Selective depository libraries but to provide a model for future development of innovative shared collections and services, improving preservation, intellectual control, and access for legacy FDLP collections nation-wide

The Collaborative Federal Depository Program: Managing Federal Depository Library Program Collections in the Southeast

The Collaborative Federal Depository Program (CFDP) is an endeavor by the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL) and Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) libraries in the Southeast to create collaborative “Centers of Excellence” (COE) collections of tangible U.S. Government information. The CFDP was created to provide workable solutions to address the increasing cost of managing, preserving, and providing access to large collections of federal government publications in the Southeast. From its beginning, the program sought to not only relieve collection management pressures among Regional and Selective depository libraries but to provide a model for future development of innovative shared collections and services, improving preservation, intellectual control, and access for legacy FDLP collections nation-wide

High levels of pretreatment HIV-1 drug resistance mutations among South African women who acquired HIV during a prospective study

Access to data from the ECHO Study may be requested through submission of a research concept to [email protected]. The concept must include the research question, data requested, analytic methods, and steps taken to ensure ethical use of the data. Access will be granted if the concept is evaluated to have scientific merit and if sufficient data protections are in place. As of the time of publication, data access applications are in process with the governing institutional review boards of the ECHO Study to make de-identified data publicly available.BACKGROUND : Pretreatment HIV drug resistance (PDR) undermines individual treatment success and threatens the achievement of UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets. In many African countries, limited data are available on PDR as detection of recent HIV infection is uncommon and access to resistance testing is limited. We describe the prevalence of PDR among South African women with recent HIV infection from the Evidence for Contraceptive Options and HIV Outcomes (ECHO) Trial. METHODS : HIV-uninfected, sexually active women, aged 18–35 years, and seeking contraception were enrolled in the ECHO Trial at sites in South Africa, from 2015 to 2018. HIV testing was done at trial entry and repeated quarterly. We tested stored plasma samples collected at HIV diagnosis from women who seroconverted during follow-up and had a viral load >1000 copies/mL for antiretroviral resistant mutations using a validated laboratory-developed population genotyping assay, which sequences the full protease and reverse transcriptase regions. Mutation profiles were determined using the Stanford Drug Resistance Database. RESULTS : We sequenced 275 samples. The median age was 23 years, and majority (98.9%, n = 272) were infected with HIV-1 subtype C. The prevalence of surveillance drug resistance mutations (SDRMs) was 13.5% (n = 37). Nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) mutations were found in 12.4% of women (n = 34). Few women had NRTI (1.8%, n = 5) and protease inhibitor (1.1%, n = 3) mutations. Five women had multiple NRTI and NNRTI SDRMs. CONCLUSIONS : The high levels of PDR, particularly to NNRTIs, strongly support the recent change to the South African national HIV treatment guidelines to transition to a first-line drug regimen that excludes NNRTIs.The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the American people through the United States Agency for International Development, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, the South Africa Medical Research Council, and the United Nations Population Fund.http://journals.lww.com/jaidshj2023Family MedicineMedical Microbiolog

Distinct Effects of Heparin and Interleukin-4 Functionalization on Macrophage Polarization and In Situ Arterial Tissue Regeneration Using Resorbable Supramolecular Vascular Grafts in Rats

Two of the greatest challenges for successful application of small-diameter in situ tissue-engineered vascular grafts are 1) preventing thrombus formation and 2) harnessing the inflammatory response to the graft to guide functional tissue regeneration. This study evaluates the in vivo performance of electrospun resorbable elastomeric vascular grafts, dual-functionalized with anti-thrombogenic heparin (hep) and anti-inflammatory interleukin 4 (IL-4) using a supramolecular approach. The regenerative capacity of IL-4/hep, hep-only, and bare grafts is investigated as interposition graft in the rat abdominal aorta, with follow-up at key timepoints in the healing cascade (1, 3, 7 days, and 3 months). Routine analyses are augmented with Raman microspectroscopy, in order to acquire the local molecular fingerprints of the resorbing scaffold and developing tissue. Thrombosis is found not to be a confounding factor in any of the groups. Hep-only-functionalized grafts resulted in adverse tissue remodeling, with cases of local intimal hyperplasia. This is negated with the addition of IL-4, which promoted M2 macrophage polarization and more mature neotissue formation. This study shows that with bioactive functionalization, the early inflammatory response can be modulated and affect the composition of neotissue. Nevertheless, variability between graft outcomes is observed within each group, warranting further evaluation in light of clinical translation

Analysis of Outcomes in Ischemic vs Nonischemic Cardiomyopathy in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation A Report From the GARFIELD-AF Registry

IMPORTANCE Congestive heart failure (CHF) is commonly associated with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF), and their combination may affect treatment strategies and outcomes