Journal publishing with Acrobat: the CAJUN project

The publication of material in electronic form should ideally preserve, in a unified document representation, all of the richness of the printed document while maintaining enough of its underlying structure to enable searching and other forms of semantic processing. Until recently it has been hard to find a document representation which combined these attributes and which also stood some chance of becoming a de facto multi-platform standard. This paper sets out experience gained within the Electronic Publishing Research Group at the University of Nottingham in using Adobe Acrobat software and its underlying PDF (Portable Document Format) notation. The CAJUN project1 (CD-ROM Acrobat Journals Using Networks) began in 1993 and has used Acrobat software to produce electronic versions of journal papers for network and CD-ROM dissemination. The paper describes the project's progress so far and also gives a brief assessment of PDF's suitability as a universal document interchange standard

Molecular confirmation of Sarcocystis fayeri in a donkey

Sarcocystis fayeri is a canine protozoan parasite with an equine intermediate host. Historically classified as an incidental pathogen, recent literature has described the toxic effects of Sarcocystis fayeri in human food poisoning, and highlighted potential involvement in equine neuromuscular disease. Until now, horses were believed to be the exclusive intermediate host. This study reports the first molecular confirmation of S. fayeri in a donkey, and gives rise to the consideration of donkeys being a potential reservoir for the parasite. This finding is of particular importance in understanding the epidemiology of this disease

Finding qualitative research: an evaluation of search strategies

BACKGROUND: Qualitative research makes an important contribution to our understanding of health and healthcare. However, qualitative evidence can be difficult to search for and identify, and the effectiveness of different types of search strategies is unknown. METHODS: Three search strategies for qualitative research in the example area of support for breast-feeding were evaluated using six electronic bibliographic databases. The strategies were based on using thesaurus terms, free-text terms and broad-based terms. These strategies were combined with recognised search terms for support for breast-feeding previously used in a Cochrane review. For each strategy, we evaluated the recall (potentially relevant records found) and precision (actually relevant records found). RESULTS: A total yield of 7420 potentially relevant records was retrieved by the three strategies combined. Of these, 262 were judged relevant. Using one strategy alone would miss relevant records. The broad-based strategy had the highest recall and the thesaurus strategy the highest precision. Precision was generally poor: 96% of records initially identified as potentially relevant were deemed irrelevant. Searching for qualitative research involves trade-offs between recall and precision. CONCLUSIONS: These findings confirm that strategies that attempt to maximise the number of potentially relevant records found are likely to result in a large number of false positives. The findings also suggest that a range of search terms is required to optimise searching for qualitative evidence. This underlines the problems of current methods for indexing qualitative research in bibliographic databases and indicates where improvements need to be made

Elution Patterns From Capillary GC For Methyl-Branched Alkanes

A common and confusing problem in analyses of insect hydrocarbons is in making sense of complicated gas chromatograms and interpreting mass spectra since branched chain compounds differing by one or two carbons in backbone or chain length may elute from the column at nearly the same time. To address this confusing situation, relative gas chromatography (GC) retention times are presented for typical mono-, di-, tri-, and tetramethylalkanes comprising most of the commonly appearing series of homologous methyl-branched alkanes up to 53 carbons that are found in insect cuticular hydrocarbons. Typical insect-derived methylalkanes with backbones of 33 carbons were characterized by Kovats indices (KI); monomethyl alkanes elute between KI 3328 and 3374, dimethylalkanes elute between KI 3340 and 3410, trimethylalkanes elute between KI 3378 and 3437, and tetramethylalkanes elute between KI 3409 and 3459, depending upon the positions of substituents. A protocol is described for identification of methyl-branched hydrocarbons eluted from nonpolar polysiloxane DB-1 capillary GC columns. In this protocol, retention indices (KI values) are assigned to peaks, then the patterns in GC peaks that probably contain homologs are marked to assist subsequent GC-mass spectrometric (GC-MS) interpretation. Use of the KI allows assignment of likely structures and the elimination of others, with demonstrative consistency, as there are no known exceptions. Interpretation of electron ionization mass spectra can then proceed within narrowed structural possibilities without the necessity of chemical ionization GC-MS analysis. Also included are specific examples of insect hydrocarbons that were assembled from 30 years of the literature, and these are intended to help with confirmation of confusing or contradictory structures

Bringing Agriculture into the GATT: Designing Acceptable Agricultural Policies

Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade,

A High-Mass Protobinary System in the Hot Core W3(H2O)

We have observed a high-mass protobinary system in the hot core W3(H2O) with the BIMA Array. Our continuum maps at wavelengths of 1.4mm and 2.8mm both achieve sub-arcsecond angular resolutions and show a double-peaked morphology. The angular separation of the two sources is 1.19" corresponding to 2.43X10^3 AU at the source distance of 2.04 kpc. The flux densities of the two sources at 1.4mm and 2.8mm have a spectral index of 3, translating to an opacity law of kappa ~ nu. The small spectral indices suggest that grain growth has begun in the hot core. We have also observed 5 K components of the CH3CN (12-11) transitions. A radial velocity difference of 2.81 km/s is found towards the two continuum peaks. Interpreting these two sources as binary components in orbit about one another, we find a minimum mass of 22 Msun for the system. Radiative transfer models are constructed to explain both the continuum and methyl cyanide line observations of each source. Power-law distributions of both density and temperature are derived. Density distributions close to the free-fall value, r^-1.5, are found for both components, suggesting continuing accretion. The derived luminosities suggest the two sources have equivalent zero-age main sequence (ZAMS) spectral type B0.5 - B0. The nebular masses derived from the continuum observations are about 5 Msun for source A and 4 Msun for source C. A velocity gradient previously detected may be explained by unresolved binary rotation with a small velocity difference.Comment: 38 pages, 9 figures, accepted by The Astrophysical Journa

OncoLog Volume 48, Number 03, March 2003

Pediatric Oncologists Search for More Effective Drugs to Treat an ‘Orphan Disease’ Collaborative Studies Lead to Better Survival Rates in Young Patients with Rhabdomyosarcoma Protecting the Heart and Gastrointestinal Tract from Treatment-Associated Damage Is an Important Element of Cancer Care House Call: Conquering the Pain of Cancer DiaLog: Recognizing and Treating Cognitive Dysfunctions in Survivors of Childhood Cancers, by Donna R. Copeland, PhD, Professor, Department of Pediatricshttps://openworks.mdanderson.org/oncolog/1118/thumbnail.jp

Distinctive Hydrocarbons of the Black Dump Fly, \u3ci\u3eHydrotaea aenescens\u3c/i\u3e (Diptera: Muscidae)

Hydrotaea aenescens (Wiedemann), the black dump fly, is a potential biological control agent originally from the western hemisphere, now found in many parts of the Palearctic region except for the United Kingdom, where it cannot be imported for any reason. A complication of classical biological control is the problem of strain identification, as one must be able to somehow mark or follow a particular strain that has been introduced into the field or is contemplated for release. Gas chromatographic analysis of the surface hydrocarbons of pooled and individual dump fly adults resulted in reproducible hydrocarbon patterns that differentiated widely distributed strains of H. aenescens and showed similarities between strains that were related. Sexual dimorphism was observed in the surface hydrocarbons. Conspecific similarities included identities of the hydrocarbons found in colony material collected worldwide, with differences being found in the quantities of compounds present

Distinctive Hydrocarbons of the Black Dump Fly, \u3ci\u3eHydrotaea aenescens\u3c/i\u3e (Diptera: Muscidae)

Hydrotaea aenescens (Wiedemann), the black dump fly, is a potential biological control agent originally from the western hemisphere, now found in many parts of the Palearctic region except for the United Kingdom, where it cannot be imported for any reason. A complication of classical biological control is the problem of strain identification, as one must be able to somehow mark or follow a particular strain that has been introduced into the field or is contemplated for release. Gas chromatographic analysis of the surface hydrocarbons of pooled and individual dump fly adults resulted in reproducible hydrocarbon patterns that differentiated widely distributed strains of H. aenescens and showed similarities between strains that were related. Sexual dimorphism was observed in the surface hydrocarbons. Conspecific similarities included identities of the hydrocarbons found in colony material collected worldwide, with differences being found in the quantities of compounds present

Radio Astronomy

Contains report on one research project.National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Grant NGL 22-009-016)National Science Foundation (Grant GP-14854)National Science Foundation (Grant GP-13056