The use and effectiveness of the eLib subject gateways: a preliminary investigation

Internet subject gateways were set up under the Electronic Libraries Programme (eLib) in order to address some of the problems of searching the Internet which have been identified by information professionals, i.e. locating relevant, good quality information. This preliminary study examines the extent to which academics in two universities use three eLib subject gateways (EEVL, OMNI and SOSIG). The results are generally encouraging for the eLib programme, but it is necessary for the gateways to be more effectively promoted. The study also found that academics do not have the same misgivings about the general search engines as the information professionals and seem to use them more readily than the gateways

Torsional-flexural buckling of unevenly battened columns under eccentrical compressive loading

In this paper, an analytical model is developed to determine the torsional-flexural buckling load of a channel column braced by unevenly distributed batten plates. Solutions of the critical-buckling loads were derived for three boundary cases using the energy method in which the rotating angle between the adjacent battens was presented in the form of a piecewise cubic Hermite interpolation (PCHI) for unequally spaced battens. The validity of the PCHI method was numerically verified by the classic analytical approach for evenly battened columns and a finite-element analysis for unevenly battened ones, respectively. Parameter studies were then performed to examine the effects of loading eccentricities on the torsional-flexural buckling capacity of both evenly and unevenly battened columns. Design parameters taken into account were the ratios of pure torsional buckling load to pure flexural–buckling load, the number and position of battens, and the ratio of the relative extent of the eccentricity. Numerical results were summarized into a series of relative curves indicating the combination of the buckling load and corresponding moments for various buckling ratios.National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) under grant number (No.) 51175442 and Sichuan International Cooperation Research Project under grant No. 2014HH002

Accounting Controls in the Federal Government: Supplement to the Proceedings, Conference on Municipal Accounting and Finance

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_guides/2336/thumbnail.jp

Advantages of Bayesian monitoring methods in deciding whether and when to stop a clinical trial: an example of a neonatal cooling trial.

BackgroundDecisions to stop randomized trials are often based on traditional P value thresholds and are often unconvincing to clinicians. To familiarize clinical investigators with the application and advantages of Bayesian monitoring methods, we illustrate the steps of Bayesian interim analysis using a recent major trial that was stopped based on frequentist analysis of safety and futility.MethodsWe conducted Bayesian reanalysis of a factorial trial in newborn infants with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy that was designed to investigate whether outcomes would be improved by deeper (32 °C) or longer cooling (120 h), as compared with those achieved by standard whole body cooling (33.5 °C for 72 h). Using prior trial data, we developed neutral and enthusiastic prior probabilities for the effect on predischarge mortality, defined stopping guidelines for a clinically meaningful effect, and derived posterior probabilities for predischarge mortality.ResultsBayesian relative risk estimates for predischarge mortality were closer to 1.0 than were frequentist estimates. Posterior probabilities suggested increased predischarge mortality (relative risk > 1.0) for the three intervention groups; two crossed the Bayesian futility threshold.ConclusionsBayesian analysis incorporating previous trial results and different pre-existing opinions can help interpret accruing data and facilitate informed stopping decisions that are likely to be meaningful and convincing to clinicians, meta-analysts, and guideline developers.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT01192776 . Registered on 31 August 2010

Effect of temperature on RC elements strengthened with CFRP

The strengthening of RC elements with CFRP is a technique that has been acquiring more and more potential. The bond between the CFRP reinforcement and the concrete support is usually made with epoxy adhesives. However, it is here that the integrity of the system can be affected, namely by exposure to high temperatures. In order to study the effect of an increase of air temperature on the behaviour of the epoxy adhesive, CFRP strengthened RC and reference RC specimens were tested. After cyclical thermal exposures, with temperatures rising between 20ºC and 80ºC, specimens were subjected either to compressive shear tests or bending tests. The results demonstrated that epoxy adhesive exhibits poor behaviour when subjected to increased temperatures, causing important bond deterioration. The improvement achieved with the CFRP reinforcement tends to disappear with an increase of the environment temperature. So, the thermal resistance of this strengthened system can not be considered very high. However, the inclusion of insulating materials can be a good solution to protect the strengthened RC elements. Among tested materials, the foamed polyurethane showed the best behaviour

When God is your only friend: Religious beliefs compensate for purpose in life in the socially disconnected

ObjectiveSocial relationships supply purpose to life. How can socially disconnected people, who show lower levels of purpose, compensate for purpose in life? We propose that religious beliefs can compensate for the purpose in life that social relationships would otherwise provide, through providing (a) greater purpose to turn to and (b) divine figures that can substitute for social relationships.MethodIn three studies, we analyze three nationally representative and longitudinal data sets (N = 19,775) using moderated regression and cross‐lagged panel analyses.ResultsConsistent with our hypotheses, religious beliefs were of minimal influence on purpose in life for socially connected individuals, who already held higher levels of purpose than socially disconnected individuals. However, for socially disconnected individuals, being highly religious predicted higher levels of purpose in life.ConclusionsResults suggest that although people primarily derive purpose from social relationships, socially disconnected individuals may leverage their religious beliefs for purpose and social comfort until they can reconnect.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149243/1/jopy12401.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149243/2/jopy12401_am.pd

Accounting Profession in South Africa; Professional Accounting in Foreign Country Series

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_guides/1693/thumbnail.jp

McKesson & Robbins case

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_comm/1187/thumbnail.jp