Capturing and Processing Born-Digital Files in the STOP AIDS Project Records: A Case Study

In September 2012, the Manuscripts Division of the Stanford University Libraries Department of Special Collections and University Archives completed a one-year National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC)-funded project to process the records of the STOP AIDS Project, an HIV prevention non-profit organization in San Francisco, California. This project marked the department’s first large-scale processing project to capture and process born-digital records. Building upon the nascent framework outlined by the AIMS white paper and the infrastructure developed by Stanford University Libraries, the project team captured born-digital records and implemented new processing strategies using digital forensics tools. This case study will document the strategies and workflows employed by the project team to capture and process the born-digital component of the STOP AIDS Project records. We will describe the successes, challenges and roadblocks encountered while forensically imaging 3.5 inch floppy disks, Zip disks, and CDs using Forensic Toolkit (FTK) Imager software. We will then outline our approach to processing nearly 30,000 unique digital files captured from the computer media using AccessData Forensic Toolkit (FTK) software, discuss our current delivery strategy, and offer some concluding thoughts

Bilingual poetry: expanding the cognitive and cultural dimensions of children’s learning

Stories and poetry have long been considered a resource for the language and literacy development of bilingual children, particularly if they can work with texts in both mother tongue and English. This paper demonstrates that bilingual learning is also beneficial for second and third generation children whose English is often stronger than their mother tongue. Presenting data from an action research project in East London primary schools, we show how children investigated metaphor and cultural content in a Bengali lullaby, clarifying concepts through dialogue with their parents. Comparison with a lullaby in English from North America generated additional ideas concerning different cultural values. The learning process enabled children to use their bilingual skills and draw on different aspects of their bicultural identities. Finally, we explain how bilingual poetry can be used to stimulate learning in a multilingual classroom context, through the example of a whole-class lesson based around Bengali and English lullabies

The effect of timing of oral meloxicam administration on physiological responses in calves after cautery dehorning with local anesthesia.

Abstract Dehorning is a painful husbandry procedure that is commonly performed in dairy calves. Parenteral meloxicam combined with local anesthesia mitigates the physiological and behavioral effects of dehorning in calves. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of timing of oral meloxicam administration on physiological responses in calves after dehorning. Thirty Holstein bull calves, 8 to 10 wk of age (28–70kg), were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatment groups: placebo-treated control group (n=10), calves receiving meloxicam administered orally (1 mg/kg) in powdered milk replacer 12h before cautery dehorning (MEL-PRE; n=10), and calves receiving meloxicam administered as an oral bolus (1 mg/kg) at the time of dehorning (MEL-POST; n=10). Following cautery dehorning, blood samples were collected to measure cortisol, substance P (SP), haptoglobin, ex vivo prostaglandin E 2 (PgE 2 ) production after lipopolysaccharide stimulation and meloxicam concentrations. Maximum ocular temperature and mechanical nociceptive threshold (MNT) were also assessed. Data were analyzed using noncompartmental pharmacokinetic analysis and repeated measures ANOVA models. Mean peak meloxicam concentrations were 3.61±0 0.21 and 3.27±0.14μg/mL with average elimination half-lives of 38.62±5.87 and 35.81±6.26h for MEL-PRE and MEL-POST, respectively. Serum cortisol concentrations were lower in meloxicam-treated calves compared with control calves at 4h postdehorning. Substance P concentrations were significantly higher in control calves compared with meloxicam-treated calves at 120h after dehorning. Prostaglandin E 2 concentrations were lower in meloxicam-treated calves compared with control calves. Mechanical nociceptive threshold was higher in control calves at 1h after dehorning, but meloxicam-treated calves tended to have a higher MNT at 6h after dehorning. No effect of timing of meloxicam administration on serum cortisol concentrations, SP concentrations, haptoglobin concentrations, maximum ocular temperature, or MNT was observed. However, PgE 2 concentrations in MEL-PRE calves were similar to control calves after 12h postdehorning, whereas MEL-POST calves had lower PgE 2 concentrations for 3 d postdehorning. These findings support that meloxicam reduced cortisol, SP, and PgE 2 after dehorning, but only PgE 2 production was significantly affected by the timing of meloxicam administration

Kinetics of fragmentation-annihilation processes

We investigate the kinetics of systems in which particles of one species undergo binary fragmentation and pair annihilation. In the latter, nonlinear process, fragments react at collision to produce an inert species, causing loss of mass. We analyse these systems in the reaction-limited regime by solving a continuous model within the mean-field approximation. The rate of fragmentation, for a particle of mass $x$ to break into fragments of masses $y$ and $x-y$, has the form $x^{\lambda-1}$ ($\lambda>0$), and the annihilation rate is constant and independent of the masses of the reactants. We find that the asymptotic regime is characterized by the annihilation of small-mass clusters. The results are compared with those for a model with linear mass-loss (i.e.\ with a sink). We also study more complex models, in which the processes of fragmentation and annihilation are controlled by mutually-reacting catalysts. Both pair- and linear-annihilation are considered. Depending on the specific model and initial densities of the catalysts, the time-decay of the cluster-density can now be very unconventional and even non-universal. The interplay between the intervening processes and the existence of a scaling regime are determined by the asymptotic behaviour of the average-mass and of the mass-density, which may either decay indefinitely or tend to a constant value. We discuss further developments of this class of models and their potential applications.Comment: 16 pages(LaTeX), submitted to Phys. Rev.

Role of Ca2+-activated K+ channels and Na+-K+-ATPase in prostaglandin E1- and E2-induced inhibition of the adrenergic response in human vas deferens

We studied the role of K+ channels and Na+,K+-ATPase in the presynaptic inhibitory effects of prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) and PGE2 on the adrenergic responses of human vas deferens. Furthermore, we determined the effects of increasing extracellular K+ concentrations ([K+]o) and inhibition of Na+,K+- ATPase on neurogenic and norepinephrine-induced contractile responses. Ring segments of the epididymal part of the vas deferens were taken from 45 elective vasectomies and mounted in organ baths for isometric recording of tension. The neuromodulatory effects of PGEs were tested in the presence of K+ channel blockers. PGE1 and PGE2 (10_8 to 10_6 M) induced inhibition of adrenergic contractions. The presence of tetraethylammonium (10_3 M), charybdotoxin (10_7 M), or iberiotoxin(10_7 M), prevented the inhibitory effects of PGE1 and PGE2 on the adrenergic contraction. Botx glibenclamide (10_5 M) and apamin (10_6 M) failed to antagonize PGE1 and PGE2 effects. Raising the [K+]o from 15.8 mM to 25.8 mM caused inhibition of the neurogenic contractions. Ouabain at a concentration insufficient to alter the resting tension (10_6 M) increased contractions induced by electrical stimulation but did not alter the contractions to norepinephrine. The inhibition of neurogenic responses induced PGE1, PGE2 and increased extracellular concentration of K+ was almost completely prevented by ouabain (10_6 M). The results demonstrate that PGE1 and PGE2 inhibit adrenergic responses by a prejunctional mechanism that involves the activation of large-conductance Ca2+- activated K+ channels and Na+,K+-ATPas

Contested firm governance, institutions and the undertaking of corporate restructuring practices in Germany

This article investigates the undertaking of corporate restructuring practices (employee downsizing and wage moderation) in Germany from 2008 to 2015. The article presents a political perspective that draws on the insights of the power resources approach and of institutional analyses. The theoretical framework highlights how institutional arrangements structure power relations within companies by empowering, in an asymmetrical manner, different categories of firm stakeholders (employees, managers and shareholders) as well as shaping how they relate to each other in an interactive manner. The article’s empirical findings point to the importance of extensive, but contingent, corporate restructuring in Germany. Companies are more likely to implement ‘defensive’ corporate restructuring practices under conditions of high leverage/debt than when confronted by shareholder value driven investors, thereby reflecting the presence of overlapping interests between employees and managers

British Universities and Colleges Sport: Race and Equality Research

Report by University of Wolverhampton, Sport and Physical Activity Research Centre for British Universities and Colleges Sport.Sport Englan

TElehealth in CHronic disease: mixed-methods study to develop the TECH conceptual model for intervention design and evaluation

Objective To develop a conceptual model for effective use of telehealth in the management of chronic health conditions, and to use this to develop and evaluate an intervention for people with two exemplar conditions: raised cardiovascular disease risk and depression. Design The model was based on several strands of evidence: a metareview and realist synthesis of quantitative and qualitative evidence on telehealth for chronic conditions; a qualitative study of patients’ and health professionals’ experience of telehealth; a quantitative survey of patients’ interest in using telehealth; and review of existing models of chronic condition management and evidence-based treatment guidelines. Based on these evidence strands, a model was developed and then refined at a stakeholder workshop. Then a telehealth intervention (‘Healthlines’) was designed by incorporating strategies to address each of the model components. The model also provided a framework for evaluation of this intervention within parallel randomised controlled trials in the two exemplar conditions, and the accompanying process evaluations and economic evaluations. Setting Primary care. Results The TElehealth in CHronic Disease (TECH) model proposes that attention to four components will offer interventions the best chance of success: (1) engagement of patients and health professionals, (2) effective chronic disease management (including subcomponents of self-management, optimisation of treatment, care coordination), (3) partnership between providers and (4) patient, social and health system context. Key intended outcomes are improved health, access to care, patient experience and cost-effective care. Conclusions A conceptual model has been developed based on multiple sources of evidence which articulates how telehealth may best provide benefits for patients with chronic health conditions. It can be used to structure the design and evaluation of telehealth programmes which aim to be acceptable to patients and providers, and cost-effective