NASIG Conference Report: Electronic Resources Management and the MARC Record—The Road Less Traveled

The question of how to track administrative metadata for electronic resources has become a real conundrum for serialists over the past few years. As the number of electronic resources licensed by any given library has grown, we have discovered the need to communicate technical and licensing terms to (among others) the public, the reference librarians, and the Interlibrary Loan office. Paula Sullenger, the Serials Acquisitions Librarian (and a former Serials Cataloger) at Auburn University, discussed a relatively new approach to making the licensing terms available: enhancing MARC records

Working from Afar: A New Trend for Librarianship

Telecommuting, which once seemed impractical for librarians, is swiftly becoming a viable option for employees in both technical services and public services. Societal changes such as increased commuting time, rising numbers of dual working-parents, and an explosion of technology that facilitates remote work have fueled both the desirability and the feasibility of alternative work arrangements. Traditionally, librarians have been tethered to a facility either because their public service role demands face-to-face interaction or because they work with materials housed in the building. As collection formats and service mechanisms change, however, librarians may be poised to take advantage of more flexible scheduling arrangements. In Spring 2007, I embarked on a six-month telecommuting experiment between Washington, D.C. and Logan, Utah that proved to me that most of my daily responsibilities are perfectly compatible with a more flexible work arrangement

A Nonlinear Variant of Ball's Inequality

We adapt a recent induction-on-scales argument of Bennett, Bez, Buschenhenke, Cowling, and Flock to establish a global near-monotonicity statement for the nonlinear Brascamp-Lieb functional under a certain heat-flow, from which we establish some finiteness and stability results for the associated nonlinear Brascamp-Lieb inequality

Estrous cycle-dependent changes of Fas expression in the bovine corpus luteum: influence of keratin 8/18 intermediate filaments and cytokines

Background Fas expression and Fas-induced apoptosis are mechanisms attributed to the selective destruction of cells of the corpus luteum (CL) during luteal regression. In certain cell-types, sensitivity to these death-inducing mechanisms is due to the loss or cleavage of keratin-containing intermediate filaments. Specifically, keratin 8/18 (K8/K18) filaments are hypothesized to influence cell death in part by regulating Fas expression at the cell surface. Methods Here, Fas expression on bovine luteal cells was quantified by flow cytometry during the early (Day 5, postovulation) and late stages (Days 16–18, postovulation) of CL function, and the relationship between Fas expression, K8/K18 filament expression and cytokine-induced cell death in vitro was evaluated. Results Both total and cell surface expression of Fas on luteal cells was greater for early versus late stage bovine CL (89% vs. 44% of cells for total Fas; 65% vs.18% of cells for cell surface Fas; respectively, P0.05, n=4 CL/stage), despite evidence these conditions increased Fas expression on HepG2 cells (P0.05) or stage of CL (P\u3e0.05, n= 4 CL/stage) on this outcome. Conclusion In conclusion, we rejected our null hypothesis that the cell surface expression of Fas does not differ between luteal cells of early and late stage CL. The results also did not support the idea that K8/K18 filaments influence the expression of Fas on the surface of bovine luteal cells. Potential downstream effects of these filaments on death signaling, however, remain a possibility. Importantly, the elevated expression of Fas observed on cells of early stage bovine CL compared to late stage bovine CL raises a provocative question concerning the physiological role(s) of Fas in the corpus luteum, particularly during early luteal development

State of the art of state departments of transportation construction claims procedures

The following research is on the current state Department of Transportation procedures for highway-construction claims. A questionnaire was developed and sent to the fifty state Departments of Transportation to gather information. Once the responses were received, the data were analyzed to determine the procedures currently used by the state Departments of Transportation. A comparison between the Tennessee Department of Transportation and the other respondents was made. Comparisons were also made between all of the state Department of Transportation procedures. Overall, the data showed that the states have adequate methods of prevention and handling of highway construction claims

Developing a Woodlot for Sustainable Use

In this project several species of livestock will be used to develop a raw woodlot into a sustainable farm whose profits will benefit the farm family and the local community. The social normalcies of today allow people to purchase meat from a supermarket never knowing how the animal was raised or treated. Children and young adults are raised in a society that does not understand the hard work and dedication it takes for their food to be grown and processed. Whole animal butchery has become a thing of the past; much of the animal is wasted when sent to commercial slaughterhouses. Livestock can be used for a number of things other than becoming food for consumers. This project will utilize various species of livestock to transform the landscape of an 83 acre plot of land, provide a sustainable business for the farm family, participate in educating the public on the advantages of farm life, and explore ways to use the whole animal

Linking Science and Management in a Geospatial, Multi- Criteria Decision Support Tool

Land managers are often faced with balancing management activities to accomplish a diversity of objectives in complex, dynamic ecosystems. In this chapter, we present a multi-criteria decision support tool (the Future Forests Geo-Visualization Decision Support (FForGeoVDS)) designed to inform management decisions by capturing information on how climate change may impact the structure and function of forested ecosystems and how that impact varies across the landscape. This interactive tool integrates spatial outputs from various empirical models in a structured decision framework that allows users to customize weights for multiple management objectives and visualize suitability outcomes across the landscape. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate customized objective weightings designed to: (1) identify key parcels for sugarbush (Acer saccharum) conservation, (2) target state lands that may serve as hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) refugia, and (3) examine how climate change may impact forests under current and future climate scenarios. These case studies exemplify the value of considering multiple objectives in a flexible structure to best match stakeholder needs and demonstrate an important step toward using science to inform management and policy decisions

Voices from Drug Court: Partnering to Bring Historically Excluded Communities into the Archives

While many archivists have evolved their professional scope to bring diversity into their collections, we posit that much can still be done. One area for growth is greater work by archival professionals to partner with communities to help them tell and preserve their own stories, incorporating a community’s own perspective and goals. This article discusses the community-based project between the Cache Valley Utah Drug Court and Utah State University Library’s Special Collections & Archives. The project was conceived and co-managed by Andrew Dupree (name used with permission), a participant and now graduate of the Cache Valley Drug Court. Perhaps the only project of its kind as of this writing, this effort gives voice to a historically excluded community in archival records. This article examines the importance of ensuring that archivists include the voices of a diverse community in their collections by actively partnering to facilitate community participation in framing and building these collections. This approach will make archival collections more diverse, socially just, and inclusive, especially with historically excluded communities

Control of infectious lameness in sheep

Lameness in sheep remains a significant welfare and economic issue for many UK sheep farms. The principle causes of lameness are the infectious foot diseases footrot and contagious ovine digital dermatitis. This article will review the recent research on the microbial aetiology, epidemiology, prevention and treatment of both diseases and the application of this knowledge into farm specific control plans utilising the Five Point Plan framework. </jats:p