Accessing Digital Libraries: A Study of ARL Members\u27 Digital Projects

To ensure efficient access to and integrated searching capabilities for their institution\u27s new digital library projects, the authors studied Web sites of the Association of Research Libraries\u27 (ARL) 111 academic, English-language libraries. Data were gathered on 1117 digital projects, noting library Web site and project access, metadata, and project types

International Political Economy Reference Sources: An Annotated Bibliography

International political economy is an emerging yet specialized field that combines political analysis with the study of markets, trade, and development. With the global economy having an interdependent effect on politics, environment, and society, and with several major economic events of the last 20 years, the authors perceived a need to provide a guide to the sources in this field. This paper seeks to address this issue. The authors identified resources using WorldCat and standard reference sources, such as American Library Association\u27s Guide to Reference Books; the annual American Libraries’ “Outstanding Reference Sources” articles; American Reference Books Annual (ARBA) volumes; Booklist\u27s Editor\u27s Choices articles; and Choice\u27s “Outstanding Academic Titles”. Sources were selected from 2000 to the present, concomitant with development of the global economy in the twenty-first century

The #FeesMustFall protests in South Africa: Exploring first-year students’ experiences at a peri-urban university campus

Students experienced unique challenges in transitioning to their first-year during the FeesMustFall (#FMF) protest actions. It is important to examine students’ first-year adjustment experiences amidst study disruptions to ensure better outcomes of first-year study experiences. The impact of protest actions on the economy, higher education institutions (HEIs) and the individual student may be harmful when not managed effectively. The current study aims to clarify the first-year experience to explore how South African first-year students enrolled at a peri-urban university campus experienced the #FMF protest actions. The peri-urban university campus serves a large rural catchment area. Using the Mmogo-method® and unstructured individual interviews, researchers gathered in-depth experiences of fifteen participants who provided insight into their subjective experiences of their first-year transitions during the #FMF movement. Thematic analysis resulted in four themes: Clashes between students and police or campus security; the impact of protest actions on students’ lives; psychological experiences of trauma and physical harm; and student attitudes towards and needs in times of crisis. The study uncovered the experiences of first-year students at a peri-urban campus. The knowledge gathered could aid universities to develop proactive measures to minimize the impact of the protest actions or disruptions on the institution itself, students and stakeholders involved

Undergraduate Economics Journals: Learning By Doing

Although there are currently only a few undergraduate journals in economics, we expect their numbers to increase substantially in the future because of several developments: 1) research and writing activity is increasing in economics programs, 2) online publication is now more feasible and cost efficient than ever, and 3) students are increasingly aware of their on-line identity and desire to project a positive and professional image. Since increasing use of undergraduate journals might benefit a number of students, including potential article authors, article reviewers, and editors, there is a need to begin to assess the educational benefits of participation in journals. This paper reports results from a survey of reviewers who had reviewed articles for two undergraduate journals, The Park Place Economist and The Undergraduate Economic Review. The reviewers generally agreed that they received a range of benefits from the review process and nearly all agreed that reviewing had been a valuable use of their time. Several of the suggested benefits were positively correlated with measures of participation intensity. Nearly half the respondents thought the benefits would have been greater with more, not fewer, articles to review

Infinite compressibility states in the Hierarchical Reference Theory of fluids. II. Numerical evidence

Continuing our investigation into the Hierarchical Reference Theory of fluids for thermodynamic states of infinite isothermal compressibility kappa[T] we now turn to the available numerical evidence to elucidate the character of the partial differential equation: Of the three scenarios identified previously, only the assumption of the equations turning stiff when building up the divergence of kappa[T] allows for a satisfactory interpretation of the data. In addition to the asymptotic regime where the arguments of part I (cond-mat/0308467) directly apply, a similar mechanism is identified that gives rise to transient stiffness at intermediate cutoff for low enough temperature. Heuristic arguments point to a connection between the form of the Fourier transform of the perturbational part of the interaction potential and the cutoff where finite difference approximations of the differential equation cease to be applicable, and they highlight the rather special standing of the hard-core Yukawa potential as regards the severity of the computational difficulties.Comment: J. Stat. Phys., in press. Minor changes to match published versio

Ultramafic clasts from the South Chamorro serpentine mud volcano reveal a polyphase serpentinization history of the Mariana forearc mantle

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2014. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Lithos 227 (2015): 1-20, doi:10.1016/j.lithos.2015.03.015.Serpentine seamounts located on the outer half of the pervasively fractured Mariana forearc provide an excellent window into the forearc devolatilization processes, which can strongly influence the cycling of volatiles and trace elements in subduction zones. Serpentinized ultramafic clasts recovered from an active mud volcano in the Mariana forearc reveal microstructures, mineral assemblages and compositions that are indicative of a complex polyphase alteration history. Petrologic phase relations and oxygen isotopes suggest that ultramafic clasts were serpentinized at temperatures below 200 °C. Several successive serpe ntinization events represented by different vein generations with distinct trace element contents can be recognized. Measured Rb/Cs ratios are fairly uniform ranging between 1 and 10, which is consistent with Cs mobilization from sediments at lower temperatures and lends further credence to the low-temperature conditions proposed in models of the thermal structure in forearc settings. Late veins show lower fluid mobile element (FME) concentrations than early veins, suggesting a deacreasing influence of fluid discharge from sediments on the composition of the serpentinizing fluids. The continuous microfabric and mineral chemical evolution observed in the ultramafic clasts may have implications as to the origin and nature of the serpentinizing fluids. We hypothesize that opal and smectite dehydration produce quartz-saturated fluids with high FME contents and Rb/Cs between 1 and 4 that cause the early pervasive serpentinization. The partially serpentinized material may then be eroded from the basal plane of the suprasubduction mantle wedge. Serpentinization continued but the interacting fluids did not carry the slab-flux signature, either because FME were no longer released from the slab, or due to an en route loss of FMEs. Late chrysotile veins that document the increased access of fluids in a now fluid-dominated regime are characterized by reduced trace element contents with a slightly increased Rb/Cs ratio near 10. This lack of geochemical slab signatures consistently displayed in all late serpentinization stages may indicate that the slab-derived fluids have been completely reset (i.e. the FME excesses were removed) by continued water-rock reaction within the subduction channel. The final stage of diapiric rise of matrix and clasts in the conduits is characterized by brucite-dominated alteration of the clasts from the clast rim inward (independent of the intra-clast fabric relations), which corresponds to re-equilibration with alkaline, low-silica activity fluids in the rising mud.This study was funded through a grant of the DFG to WB (BA 1605/5-1)

Intravenous antibiotics given for 2 weeks do not eradicate persistent Staphylococcus aureus clones in cystic fibrosis patients

AbstractStaphylococcus aureus is the most commonly isolated pathogen in respiratory tract secretions from young patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), and several treatment strategies are used to control the infection. However, it is not known whether intensified treatment with antimicrobial agents causes eradication of S. aureus clones. We retrospectively determined the impact of intravenous (IV) antimicrobial agents on the suppression and eradication of S. aureus clones. One thousand and sixty-one S. aureus isolates cultured from 2526 samples from 130 CF patients during a 2-year study period were subjected to spa typing. Intervals between positive samples and the occurrence of clone replacements were calculated in relation to courses of IV antimicrobial agents. Of 65 patients chronically infected with S. aureus, 37 received 139 courses of IV antimicrobial agents with activity against S. aureus (mean duration, 15 days; range, 6–31 days). Administration of IV antibiotics increased the time to the next sample with growth of S. aureus: the mean interval between two positive samples was 68 days if IV treatment had been administered, in contrast to 49 days if no IV treatment had been administered (p 0.003). When S. aureus recurred in sputum after IV treatment, the isolate belonged to a different clone in 33 of 114 (29%) intervals, in comparison with 68 of 232 (29%) intervals where IV treatment had not been prescribed (OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.60–1.61). In conclusion, we show that 2 weeks of IV antimicrobial treatment can significantly suppress chronic staphylococcal infection in CF, but is not associated with the eradication of persistent bacterial clones

Transcriptional adaptations during long-term persistence of Staphylococcus aureus in the airways of a cystic fibrosis patient

AbstractThe lungs of Cystic fibrosis (CF) patients are often colonized and/or infected by Staphylococcus aureus for years, mostly by one predominant clone. For long-term survival in this environment, S. aureus needs to adapt during its interactions with host factors, antibiotics, and other pathogens. Here, we study long-term transcriptional as well as genomic adaptations of an isogenic pair of S. aureus isolates from a single patient using RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) and whole genome sequencing (WGS). Mimicking in vivo conditions, we cultivated the S. aureus isolates using artificial sputum medium before harvesting RNA for subsequent analysis. We confirmed our RNA-Seq data using quantitative real-time (qRT)-PCR and additionally investigated intermediate isolates from the same patient representing in total 13.2 years of persistence in the CF airways. Comparative RNA-Seq analysis of the first and the last (“late”) isolate revealed significant differences in the late isolate after 13.2 years of persistence. Of the 2545 genes expressed in both isolates that were cultivated aerobically, 256 genes were up- and 161 were down-regulated with a minimum 2-fold change (2f). Focusing on 25 highly (≥8f) up- (n=9) or down- (n=16) regulated genes, we identified several genes encoding for virulence factors involved in immune evasion, bacterial spread or secretion (e.g. spa, sak, and esxA). Moreover, these genes displayed similar expression trends under aerobic, microaerophilic and anaerobic conditions. Further qRT-PCR-experiments of highly up- or down-regulated genes within intermediate S. aureus isolates resulted in different gene expression patterns over the years. Using sequencing analysis of the differently expressed genes and their upstream regions in the late S. aureus isolate resulted in only few genomic alterations. Comparative transcriptomic analysis revealed adaptive changes affecting mainly genes involved in host-pathogen interaction. Although the underlying mechanisms were not known, our results suggest adaptive processes beyond genomic mutations triggered by local factors rather than by activation of global regulators