Reliable Witnesses: Integrating Multimedia, Distributed Electronic Textual Editions into Library Collections

The Reliable Witnesses project addresses current vulnerabilities of distributed electronic textual editions and integrates such projects into library collections through workflows for acquisition, description, and preservation. Electronic editions of unique manuscript materials represent an important part of our cultural heritage, providing access to materials otherwise inaccessible to most users, serving as incubators for cutting-edge scholarship, and providing a platform for technological innovation. However, e-text projects frequently employ infrastructures from a variety of resources, and such innovative, distributed designs can result in projects that are not easily integrated into library collections, which consist primarily of traditional print and subscription digital resources. The Reliable Witnesses project will result in local best practices for meeting these challenges as well as a generalized life-cycle model that other institutions can adapt to their needs

Guide to Drought Tolerance of Utah Field Crops

Crop variety selection is one of the most important choices on the farm. Crop genetics determine a significant portion of the yield potential and resource use efficiency. Crop types and genetics that use water more efficiently will become increasingly important as water becomes scarcer. Throughout Utah and the Western United States, water availability is decreasing due to various factors, including reduced snowpack and rapid urban growth. Alfalfa, other hay, small grains, and corn are grown on more acres than any other crops in Utah and much of the Intermountain West. These crops all have varieties, hybrids, and cultivars with the potential for more efficient water use while mitigating yield loss. Navigating these options and understanding various mechanisms and effectiveness can be a challenge. This guide will address some of the primary mechanisms, options, and effectiveness of crop genetics for improved water use efficiency

Adolescent dietary patterns in Fiji and their relationships with standardized body mass index

BACKGROUND: Obesity has been increasing in adolescents in Fiji and obesogenic dietary patterns need to be assessed to inform health promotion. The objective of this study was to identify the dietary patterns of adolescents in peri-urban Fiji and determine their relationships with standardized body mass index (BMI-z). METHODS: This study analysed baseline measurements from the Pacific Obesity Prevention In Communities (OPIC) Project. The sample comprised 6,871 adolescents aged 13-18 years from 18 secondary schools on the main island of Viti Levu, Fiji. Adolescents completed a questionnaire that included diet-related variables; height and weight were measured. Descriptive statistics and regression analyses were conducted to examine the associations between dietary patterns and BMI-z, while controlling for confounders and cluster effect by school. RESULTS: Of the total sample, 24% of adolescents were overweight or obese, with a higher prevalence among Indigenous Fijians and females. Almost all adolescents reported frequent consumption of sugar sweetened beverages (SSB) (90%) and low intake of fruit and vegetables (74%). Over 25% of participants were frequent consumers of takeaways for dinner, and either high fat/salt snacks, or confectionery after school. Nearly one quarter reported irregular breakfast (24%) and lunch (24%) consumption on school days, while fewer adolescents (13%) ate fried foods after school. IndoFijians were more likely than Indigenous Fijians to regularly consume breakfast, but had a high unhealthy SSB and snack consumption.Regular breakfast (p<0.05), morning snack (p<0.05) and lunch (p<0.05) consumption were significantly associated with lower BMI-z. Consumption of high fat/salt snacks, fried foods and confectionery was lower among participants with higher BMI-z. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides important information about Fijian adolescents' dietary patterns and associations with BMI-z. Health promotion should target reducing SSB, increasing fruit and vegetables consumption, and increasing regularity of meals among adolescents. Future research is needed to investigate moderator(s) of inverse associations found between BMI-z and consumption of snacks, fried foods and confectionery to assess for potential reverse causality

Social network analysis of stakeholder networks from two community-based obesity prevention interventions

IntroductionStudies of community-based obesity prevention interventions have hypothesized that stakeholder networks are a critical element of effective implementation. This paper presents a quantitative analysis of the interpersonal network structures within a sub-sample of stakeholders from two past successful childhood obesity prevention interventions.MethodsParticipants were recruited from the stakeholder groups (steering committees) of two completed community-based intervention studies, Romp &amp; Chomp (R&amp;C), Australia (2004-2008) and Shape Up Somerville (SUS), USA (2003-2005). Both studies demonstrated significant reductions of overweight and obesity among children. Members of the steering committees were asked to complete a retrospective social network questionnaire using a roster of other committee members and free recall. Each participant was asked to recall the people with whom they discussed issues related to childhood obesity throughout the intervention period, along with providing the closeness and level of influence of each relationship.ResultsNetworks were reported by 13 participants from the SUS steering committee and 8 participants from the R&amp;C steering committee. On average, participants nominated 16 contacts with whom they discussed issues related to childhood obesity through the intervention, with approximately half of the relationships described as &lsquo;close&rsquo; and 30% as &lsquo;influential&rsquo;. The &lsquo;discussion&rsquo; and &lsquo;close&rsquo; networks had high clustering and reciprocity, with ties directed to other steering committee members, and to individuals external to the committee. In contrast, influential ties were more prominently directed internal to the steering committee, with higher network centralization, lower reciprocity and lower clustering.Discussion and conclusionSocial network analysis provides a method to evaluate the ties within steering committees of community-based obesity prevention interventions. In this study, the network characteristics between a sub-set of stakeholders appeared to be supportive of diffused communication. Future work should prospectively examine stakeholder network structures in a heterogeneous sample of community-based interventions to identify elements most strongly associated with intervention effectiveness.<br /

Entangled Bessel beams

Orbital angular momentum (OAM) entanglement is investigated in the Bessel-Gauss (BG) basis. Having a readily adjustable radial scale, BG modes provide a more favourable basis for OAM entanglement over Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) modes. The OAM bandwidth in terms of BG modes can be increased by selection of particular radial modes and leads to a flattening of the spectrum. The flattening of the spectrum allows for higher entanglement. We demonstrate increased entanglement in terms of BG modes by performing a Bell-type experiment and violating the appropriate Clauser Horne Shimony Holt (CHSH) inequality. In addition, we reconstruct the quantum state of BG modes entangled in high-dimensions.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Programme Design for Online Learning Environment Stories from Designing and Developing the New Zealand Certificate in Early Childhood Education and Care Level 4 Programme

The New Zealand Certificate in Early Childhood Education and Care Level 4 programme was designed and developed in the context of a Level 4 early childhood education qualification becoming a requirement for educators in home-based sector, and the Open Polytechnic transformation. The programme is delivered fully online. This paper is to share our stories of designing and developing the programme. The stories focus on pedagogy that empowers learners in an online flexible distance learning environment, our innovative of team work, and initial feedback from stakeholders. The pedagogy is underpinned by the integration of sociocultural and constructivist theories with information communication technology (ICT), specified by the CSI Model (The Pedagogic Model of Integrating Constructivist and Sociocultural Learning Principles with Information Communication Technology), the key educational design principles and the assessment approach. Based on the pedagogy, the programme was created in two phases: Design and development. The work of the first phase was on designing at a programme level while the work of the second phase was on developing the three courses of the programme. With the pedagogy and innovative team work, initial feedback from stakeholders was very positive. It is recommended that feedback from stakeholders is formally collected later this year and in the new year