Mobile Web Adoption in Top Ranked University Libraries: A Preliminary Study

This paper aims to study the level of adoption of mobile access to the academic libraries in the best universities in the world as well as the quality of services offered in order to ascertain if the quality of academic apps and mobile websites are at the level of the overall web impact of world-class universities. For the top 50 universities according to the Ranking Web of Universities (2014), we determined whether there is a mobile website or app for their libraries. Finally we evaluated the services offered against a list of 14 indicators. The results show that 88% of the libraries studied (44) offer mobile access via web or app, showing a high level of mobile adoption in elite universities. The form is clearly uneven: 80% (40) offers mobile web access while only 34% (17) has an app. As to the content, no library offered all 14 points evaluated, and the results are varied. Only 50% of apps meet at least half the indicators. In the case of mobile web this figure improves notably to 74.3%. We can note a high level of mobile web adoption in the world's best universities, although the quality does not reach their level of excellence. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Torres-Pérez, P.; Méndez-Rodríguez, E.; Orduña Malea, E. (2016). Mobile Web Adoption in Top Ranked University Libraries: A Preliminary Study. Journal of Academic Librarianship. 42(4):329-339. doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2016.05.011S32933942

Coverage of highly-cited documents in Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus: a multidisciplinary comparison

This study explores the extent to which bibliometric indicators based on counts of highly-cited documents could be affected by the choice of data source. The initial hypothesis is that databases that rely on journal selection criteria for their document coverage may not necessarily provide an accurate representation of highly-cited documents across all subject areas, while inclusive databases, which give each document the chance to stand on its own merits, might be better suited to identify highly-cited documents. To test this hypothesis, an analysis of 2,515 highly-cited documents published in 2006 that Google Scholar displays in its Classic Papers product is carried out at the level of broad subject categories, checking whether these documents are also covered in Web of Science and Scopus, and whether the citation counts offered by the different sources are similar. The results show that a large fraction of highly-cited documents in the Social Sciences and Humanities (8.6%-28.2%) are invisible to Web of Science and Scopus. In the Natural, Life, and Health Sciences the proportion of missing highly-cited documents in Web of Science and Scopus is much lower. Furthermore, in all areas, Spearman correlation coefficients of citation counts in Google Scholar, as compared to Web of Science and Scopus citation counts, are remarkably strong (.83-.99). The main conclusion is that the data about highly-cited documents available in the inclusive database Google Scholar does indeed reveal significant coverage deficiencies in Web of Science and Scopus in several areas of research. Therefore, using these selective databases to compute bibliometric indicators based on counts of highly-cited documents might produce biased assessments in poorly covered areas.Alberto Martín-Martín enjoys a four-year doctoral fellowship (FPU2013/05863) granted by the Ministerio de Educación, Cultura, y Deportes (Spain)

Efficacy of the unified protocol for the treatment of emotional disorders in the Spanish public mental health system using a group format: study protocol for a multicenter, randomized, non-inferiority controlled trial

Background: Emotional disorders, which include both anxiety and depressive disorders, are the most prevalent psychological disorders according to recent epidemiological studies. Consequently, public costs associated with their treatment have become a matter of concern for public health systems, which face long waiting lists. Because of their high prevalence in the population, finding an effective treatment for emotional disorders has become a key goal of today ’ s clinical psychology. The Unified Protocol for the Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders might serve the aforementioned purpose, as it can be applied to a variety of disorders simultaneously and it can be easily performed in a group format. Methods: The study is a multicenter, randomized, non-inferiority controlled clinical trial. Participants will be 220 individuals with emotional disorders, who are randomized to either a treatment as usual (individual cognitive behavioral therapy) or to a Unified Protocol condition in group format. Depression, anxiety, and diagnostic criteria are the primary outcome measures. Secondary measures include the assessment of positive and negative affect, anxiety control, personality traits, overall adjustment, and quality of life. An analysis of treatment satisfaction is also conducted. Assessment points include baseline, post-treatment, and three follow-ups at 3, 6, and 12 months. To control for missing data and possible biases, intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses will be performed. Discussion: This is the first randomized, controlled clinical trial to test the effectiveness of a transdiagnostic intervention in a group format for the treatment of emotional disorders in public settings in Spain. Results obtained from this study may have important clinical, social, and economic implications for public mental health settings in Spain. Trial registration: Retrospectively registered at https://clinicaltrials.gov/ . Trial NCT03064477 (March 10, 2017). The trial is active and recruitment is ongoing. Recruitment is expected to finish by January 202

COVID-19 publications: Database coverage, citations, readers, tweets, news, Facebook walls, Reddit posts

© 2020 The Authors. Published by MIT Press. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1162/qss_a_00066The COVID-19 pandemic requires a fast response from researchers to help address biological, medical and public health issues to minimize its impact. In this rapidly evolving context, scholars, professionals and the public may need to quickly identify important new studies. In response, this paper assesses the coverage of scholarly databases and impact indicators during 21 March to 18 April 2020. The rapidly increasing volume of research, is particularly accessible through Dimensions, and less through Scopus, the Web of Science, and PubMed. Google Scholar’s results included many false matches. A few COVID-19 papers from the 21,395 in Dimensions were already highly cited, with substantial news and social media attention. For this topic, in contrast to previous studies, there seems to be a high degree of convergence between articles shared in the social web and citation counts, at least in the short term. In particular, articles that are extensively tweeted on the day first indexed are likely to be highly read and relatively highly cited three weeks later. Researchers needing wide scope literature searches (rather than health focused PubMed or medRxiv searches) should start with Dimensions (or Google Scholar) and can use tweet and Mendeley reader counts as indicators of likely importance

Continuous cultivation of photosynthetic microorganisms: approaches, applications and future trends

The possibility of using photosynthetic microorganisms, such as cyanobacteria and microalgae, for converting light and carbon dioxide into valuable biochemical products has raised the need for new cost-efficient processes ensuring a constant product quality. Food, feed, biofuels, cosmetics and pharmaceutics are among the sectors that can profit from the application of photosynthetic microorganisms. Biomass growth in a photobioreactor is a complex process influenced by multiple parameters, such as photosynthetic light capture and attenuation, nutrient uptake, photobioreactor hydrodynamics and gas-liquid mass transfer. In order to optimize productivity while keeping a standard product quality, a permanent control of the main cultivation parameters is necessary, where the continuous cultivation has shown to be the best option. However it is of utmost importance to recognize the singularity of continuous cultivation of cyanobacteria and microalgae due to their dependence on light availability and intensity. In this sense, this review provides comprehensive information on recent breakthroughs and possible future trends regarding technological and process improvements in continuous cultivation systems of microalgae and cyanobacteria, that will directly affect cost-effectiveness and product quality standardization. An overview of the various applications, techniques and equipment (with special emphasis on photobioreactors) in continuous cultivation of microalgae and cyanobacteria are presented. Additionally, mathematical modelling, feasibility, economics as well as the applicability of continuous cultivation into large-scale operation, are discussed.This research work was supported by the grant SFRH/BPD/98694/2013 (Bruno Fernandes) from Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (Portugal). The authors thank the FCT Strategic Project PEst-OE/EQB/LA0023/2013. The authors also thank the Project "BioInd Biotechnology and Bioengineering for improved Industrial and Agro-Food processes, REF. NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000028" Co-funded by the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2-O Novo Norte), QREN, FEDE

Efficiency assessment of the one-step production of astaxanthin by the microalga Haematococcus pluvialis

Continuous cultivation of Haematococcus pluvialis under moderate nitrogen limitation represents a straightforward strategy, alternative to the classical two-stage approach, for astaxanthin production by this microalga. Performance of the one-step system has now been validated for more than 40 combinations of dilution rate, nitrate concentration in the feed medium, and incident irradiance, steady state conditions being achieved and maintained in all instances. Specific nitrate input and average irradiance were decisive parameters in determining astaxanthin content of the biomass, as well as productivity of the system. The growth rate of the continuous photoautotrophic cultures was a hyperbolic function of average irradiance. As long as specific nitrate input was above the threshold value of 2.7 mmol/gday, cells performed green and astaxanthin was present at basal levels only. Below the threshold value, under moderate nitrogen limitation conditions, astaxanthin accumulated to reach cellular levels of up to 1.1% of the dry biomass. Increasing irradiance resulted in enhancement of astaxanthin accumulation when nitrogen input was limiting, but never under nitrogen sufficiency. Mean daily productivity values of 20.8 ± 2.8 mg astaxanthin/L day (1.9 ± 0.3 g dry biomass/L day) were consistently achieved for a specific nitrate input of about 0.8 mmol/gday and an average irradiance range of 77-110 μE/m2 s. Models relating growth rate and astaxanthin accumulation with both average irradiance and specific nitrate input fitted accurately experimental data. Simulations provided support to the contention of achieving efficient production of the carotenoid through convenient adjustment of the determining parameters, and yielded productivity estimates for the one-step system higher than 60 mg astaxanthin/L day. The demonstrated capabilities of this production system, as well as its product quality, made it a real alternative to the current two-stage system for the production of astaxanthin-rich biomass. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Peer Reviewe

Efficient one-step production of astaxanthin by the microalga Haematococcus pluvialis in continuous culture

The performance of Haematococcus pluvialis in continuous photoautotrophic culture has been analyzed, especially from the viewpoint of astaxanthin production. To this end, chemostat cultures of Haematococcus pluvialis were carried out at constant light irradiance, 1,220 μE/m2 · s, and dilution rate, 0.9/d, but varying the nitrate concentration in the feed medium reaching the reactor, from 1.7 to 20.7 mM. Both growth and biomass composition were affected by the nitrate supply. With saturating nitrate, the biomass productivity was high, 1.2 g/L · d, but astaxanthin accumulation did not take place, the C/N ratio of the biomass being 5.7. Under moderate nitrate limitation, biomass productivity was decreased, as also did biomass concentration at steady state, whereas accumulation of astaxanthin developed and the C/N ratio of the biomass increased markedly. Astaxanthin accumulation took place in cells growing and dividing actively, and its extent was enhanced in response to the limitation in nitrate availability, with a recorded maximum for astaxanthin cellular level of 0.8% of dry biomass and of 5.6 mg/L · d for astaxanthin productivity. The viability of a significant continued generation of astaxanthin-rich H. pluvialis cells becomes thus demonstrated, as also does the continuous culture option as an alternative to current procedures for the production of astaxanthin using this microalga. The intensive variable controlling the behavior of the system has been identified as the specific nitrate input, and a mathematical model developed that links growth rate with both irradiance and specific nitrate input. Moreover, a second model for astaxanthin accumulation, also as a function of irradiance and specific nitrate input, was derived. The latter model takes into account that accumulation of astaxanthin is only partially linked to growth, being besides inhibited by excess nitrate. Simulations performed fit experimental data and emphasize the contention that astaxanthin can be efficiently produced under continuous mode by adjustment of the specific nitrate input, predicting even higher values for astaxanthin productivity. The developed models represent a powerful tool for management of such an astaxanthin-generating continuous process, and could allow the development of improved systems for the production of astaxanthin-rich Haematococcus cells. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Peer Reviewe

Modelling of growth and accumulation of carotenoids in Haematococcus pluvialis as a function of irradiance and nutrients supply

This paper analyzes the feasibility of the autotrophic production of vegetative cells of Haematococcus pluvialis under conditions resembling outdoors. The experimental design simulates in laboratory with artificial light an outdoors circadian cycle similar to solar illumination. The influence of the irradiance and nutrient concentration on the growth rate and carotenoids accumulation in batch cultures is studied. The cultures were not photoinhibited even under the maximum irradiance-level tested (2500 μE m-2 s -1). Growth was kept nutrient-limited by using nutrients concentration below the standard inorganic medium (10 mM nitrate). When no nutrient-limitation occurs, the growth rate and biomass productivity measured 0.57 day-1 and 0.28 g L-1 day-1, respectively, were similar to the maximum values reported, regardless of the nutritional regime: autotrophic, mixotrophic or heterotrophic. On the other hand, carotenogenesis was only observed under nutrient-limiting conditions when the medium strength was reduced to 0.2- or 0.3-fold of the standard medium. On the other hand, carotenogenesis ceased under severe nutrient deprivation (i.e. nutrient strength of 0.1-fold of the standard medium). The growth rate and the carotenoids accumulation rate were demonstrated to be a function of the average irradiance inside the culture, and of the nutrient content of the medium. A mathematical model for the observed behaviour is proposed. This model was adequate to fit all the experimental data obtained. The values determined for the characteristics parameters are in agreement with those found by other authors. Therefore, the proposed model can be a useful tool for the design and management of Haematococcus cultures, and could allow improving the yield of this production process. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Peer Reviewe