Journey into the user experience: creating a library website that's not for librarians

Auckland University of Technology Library started work on a major redevelopment of its website in 2012. The problem was that the website content, as is the case for many library websites, had been written by librarians with almost no user input. The challenge was to redesign the website, rethinking our entire focus and placing the user at the centre of the process. This is the story of a journey of transformational change based on our user-centric approach. We believe we have achieved what we set out to do and created a website that’s built not for librarians but for users

Identifying Market Preferences for High Selenium Beef

Selenium is an element found in relatively high concentrations in crops and livestock raised on high-selenium soils located in North and South Dakota. Evidence suggests that a high-selenium diet such as would be obtained from consuming these products can reduce the risk of certain cancers. The region's livestock and grain producers are exploring potential high-selenium product marketing opportunities. A choice experiment was conducted to identify preferred attributes for a high-selenium beef product and the characteristics of potential market segments. In a national survey, participants chose between different levels of health claim approval and research, prices, and selenium origin. A multinomial logit regression model was estimated. Labeling reflecting scientific support linking selenium and reduced cancer risk, and natural-source selenium was ineffective. Marketing opportunities identified are consistent with existing functional food market segments and include consumers with higher income and education, 45 to 55 years of age, and with children.Choice Experiment, FDA approval, Functional Foods, Health Claim, Labeling, Selenium, Consumer/Household Economics, Livestock Production/Industries,

Educational Attainment in Young Adulthood, Depressive Symptoms, and Race-ethnicity: The Long-reach of Parenting Styles in Adolescence

Utilizing four parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian, uninvolved, and permissive) and two types of educational achievement (years of education completed and completion of a college degree), we investigated whether mental health (i.e., depressive symptoms) mediates the relationship between parenting styles in adolescence and the educational attainment of young adults. We further assessed whether the relationships among parenting styles and educational attainment vary by race and ethnicity for African Americans, Hispanics, and whites. Compared to youth with authoritative parenting, those who experienced uninvolved or authoritarian parenting were more likely to experience depressive affect, and these symptoms of depression partially mediated the relationship between parenting and educational attainment. In terms of racial and ethnic differences, African Americans and Hispanics with authoritarian or uninvolved parents earn more years of education than whites. Authoritarian parenting made it much less likely for whites to complete college compared to their African American and Hispanic counterparts

The association of parental genetic, lifestyle, and social determinants of health with offspring overweight

In the UK, the number of comorbidities seen in children has increased along with the worsening obesity rate. These comorbidities worsen into adulthood. Genomewide association studies have highlighted single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with the weight status of adults and offspring individually. To date, in the UK, parental genetic, lifestyle, and social determinants of health have not been investigated alongside one another as influencers of offspring weight status. A comprehensive obesity prevention scheme would commence prior to conception and involve parental intervention including all known risk factors. This current study aims to identify the proportion of overweight that can be explained by known parental risk factors, including genetic, lifestyle, and social determinants of health with offspring weight status in the UK. Methods: A crosssectional study was carried out on 123 parents. Parental and offspring anthropometric data and parental lifestyle and social determinants of health data were self-reported. Parental genetic data were collected by use of GeneFiX saliva collection vials and genotype were assessed for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene rs6265, melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) gene rs17782313, transmembrane protein 18 (TMEM18) gene rs2867125, and serine/threonine-protein kinase (TNN13K) gene rs1514175. Associations were assessed between parental data and the weight status of offspring. Results: Maternal body mass index modestly predicted child weight status (p < 0.015; R2 = 0.15). More mothers of overweight children carried the MC4R rs17782313 risk allele (77.8%; p = 0.007) compared to mothers of normal-weight children. Additionally, fathers who were not Caucasian and parents who slept for < 7 h/night had a larger percentage of overweight children when compared to their counterparts (p = 0.039; p = 0.014, respectively). Conclusion: Associations exist between the weight status of offspring based solely on parental genetic, lifestyle, and social determinants of health data. Further research is required to appropriately address future interventions based on genetic and lifestyle risk groups on a pre-parent cohort

Installation Tools for Hydraulically Fitted Coupling Hubs - Precautions and Design Requirements

Special PaperPg. 159-166The tools used to install hydraulically fitted hubs need to be as carefully designed and manufactured as the couplings themselves. The authors describe an installation of coupling hubs on upgraded machines where tools that were designed to be used on a coupling for a 6.0 in diameter shaft were adapted to mount a coupling on an 8.0 in shaft. The larger forces involved caused a threaded rod to fracture and the coupling hub to be expelled from the shaft end with considerable force and velocity. An after-the-fact analysis of these "design alpha" tools is presented, along with a technical description of the forces acting upon a newly mounted hub and the velocity with which such a hub could be expelled from a shaft end. The 8.0 in hub was successfully installed on the shaft using modified "design alpha" tooling for expediency, but this modification was considered to be only a stopgap solution. The authors designed new "design beta" tools to accomplish the installation of the coupling hubs safely. The analysis of the "design beta" tools is described along with the important criteria to be considered for coupling hub installation tools

Seeding Change by Visioning Good Anthropocenes

Although we are surrounded by dystopian stories about the age of the Anthropocene, the future does not have to be bleak. Seeds of alternative good futures occur in many places around the world and we can use these to help us think more creatively about pathways to more desirable futures in the Anthropocene. This paper describes the Seeds of Good Anthropocenes (SOGA) project that aims to identify where elements of Good Anthropocenes (‘seeds’) currently exist on the planet and how they can be used to help us envision pathways towards new, positive futures for the Earth and humanity. Each of the seeds is a potential solution that could help to shift us onto a more sustainable trajectory that will ensure both planetary and human wellbeing. The project has developed and combined novel visioning tools that engage a broad set of stakeholders in identifying potentially game-changing seed initiatives, and exploring how these could develop and combine to create radically alternative futures. This new scenario approach has been used in intergovernmental processes such as the UN Environment’s Global Environment Outlook (GEO) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). By tapping into creativity and ingenuity, the SOGA scenario process provides a set of methodological tools through which we can think in new ways about how to navigate towards more desirable futures, starting with the pockets of these futures that are already with us in the present

Pressure-induced amorphization and polyamorphism in one-dimensional single crystal TiO2 nanomaterials

The structural phase transitions of single crystal TiO2-B nanoribbons were investigated in-situ at high-pressure using the synchrotron X-ray diffraction and the Raman scattering. Our results have shown a pressure-induced amorphization (PIA) occurred in TiO2-B nanoribbons upon compression, resulting in a high density amorphous (HDA) form related to the baddeleyite structure. Upon decompression, the HDA form transforms to a low density amorphous (LDA) form while the samples still maintain their pristine nanoribbon shape. HRTEM imaging reveals that the LDA phase has an {\alpha}-PbO2 structure with short range order. We propose a homogeneous nucleation mechanism to explain the pressure-induced amorphous phase transitions in the TiO2-B nanoribbons. Our study demonstrates for the first time that PIA and polyamorphism occurred in the one-dimensional (1D) TiO2 nanomaterials and provides a new method for preparing 1D amorphous nanomaterials from crystalline nanomaterials.Comment: 4 figure

Art, authenticity and citizenship for people living with dementia in a care home

This paper reports on a study which examined the notions of authenticity and citizenship for people living with cognitive impairment or dementia in a care home in the North-East of England. We demonstrated that both notions were present and were encouraged by engagement with an artist, where this involved audio and visual recordings and the creation of a film. The artist's interactions were observed by a non-participant observer using ethnographic techniques, including interviews with the residents, their families and the staff of the care home. The data were analysed using grounded theory and the constant comparative method of qualitative analysis. Our findings suggest that participatory art might help to maintain and encourage authenticity and citizenship in people living with dementia in a care home. Certainly, authenticity and citizenship are notions worth pursuing in the context of dementia generally, but especially in care homes

Tamoxifen for prevention of breast cancer: extended long-term follow-up of the IBIS-I breast cancer prevention trial

© Cuzick et al. Open Access article distributed under the terms of CC BY.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(14)71171-