Developing a New Model and Organizational Framework for Liaison Librarians

This chapter covers the developments arising from two major task forces at the University of Maryland Libraries, a Liaison Librarian task force and the Research Commons task force. Using Kotter’s Eight Stage Process, the authors discuss the planning and initial phases of these ideas, the work of the task forces, and communication to the library organization about the need and urgency for this work, as well as the subsequent steps taken since the final reports were submitted

Creating and Managing a New Liaison Organizational Model: Strategies for Success

Over the past decade, there has been an increased focus on liaison librarianship in response to changes in the higher education landscape. Within higher education, there have been significant shifts in student learning, assessment methods, technologies, scholarly communications, the management of research data, and the impact of “big data.” In ongoing efforts to broadly support initiatives and changes in higher education, academic libraries began examining the roles of liaison librarians and to develop strategies to support emerging changes. This article discusses the University of Maryland Libraries' experience in developing, assessing, and continuing a successful liaison model

First-year experiences of associate deans: a qualitative, multi-institutional study

Funding for Open Access provided by the UMD Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund.This study examines the first-year experiences of new associate deans at doctoral granting, Research I universities. Participants were 24 associate deans from various disciplines at three difference universities who had been in their positions for five years or less. Findings show that the transition into the associate dean position is stressful and difficult, and that the first year involves a great deal of on-the-job skill acquisition, learning to navigate the broader organizational environment, dealing with significant changes in the nature of their interactions with colleagues from their previous departments along with a great sense of loneliness and isolation, and a need to establish new peer groups. However, nearly all report high job satisfaction and a desire to remain in administration. Future study is necessary to examine how these early experiences shape decisions to move into higher-level positions in higher education administration

Survey of Medium and Large Mammals in an Urban Park (Murray Park), Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas

Because of increased environmental awareness by city planning commissions, there are more urban parks and greenbelt areas. These areas often result in increased human and wildlife contacts, thus resulting in the need for management plans regarding urban wildlife. From September 1998 to March 1999, we conducted mammal surveys of the urban greenspace Murray Park, Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas. Surveys were conducted using five methods: direct observations; spot lighting; live trapping; animal sign; and scent posts. Species recorded included, opossum (Didelphis virginiana), nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus), fox squirrel (Sciurus niger), gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), beaver (Castor canadensis), woodchuck (Marmota monax), muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus), eastern cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus), swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus), coyote (Canis latrans), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), raccoon (Procyon lotor), mink (Mustela vison), river otter (Lontra canadensis), bobcat (Lynx rufus), skunk sp., white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and domestic dog (Canis familiaris) and cat (Felis sylvestris). These species represent 19 of the 23 mammals expected in surrounding natural areas. Management plans for urban wildlife need to include all mammals that potentially occur in the area

A Group-Based Yule Model for Bipartite Author-Paper Networks

This paper presents a novel model for author-paper networks, which is based on the assumption that authors are organized into groups and that, for each research topic, the number of papers published by a group is based on a success-breeds-success model. Collaboration between groups is modeled as random invitations from a group to an outside member. To analyze the model, a number of different metrics that can be obtained in author-paper networks were extracted. A simulation example shows that this model can effectively mimic the behavior of a real-world author-paper network, extracted from a collection of 900 journal papers in the field of complex networks.Comment: 13 pages (preprint format), 7 figure

Mechanical thrombectomy in patients with acute ischemic stroke: a cost-effectiveness and value of implementation analysis

Background: Recent clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy of mechanical thrombectomy in acute ischemic stroke. Aims: To determine the cost-effectiveness, value of future research, and value of implementation of mechanical thrombectomy. Methods: Using UK clinical and cost data from the Pragmatic Ischemic Stroke Thrombectomy Evaluation (PISTE) trial, we estimated the cost-effectiveness of mechanical thrombectomy over time horizons of 90-days and lifetime, based on a decision-analytic model, using all existing evidence. We performed a meta-analysis of seven clinical trials to estimate treatment effects. We used sensitivity analysis to address uncertainty. Value of implementation analysis was used to estimate the potential value of additional implementation activities to support routine delivery of mechanical thrombectomy. Results: Over the trial period (90 days), compared with best medical care alone, mechanical thrombectomy incurred an incremental cost of £5207 and 0.025 gain in QALY (incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) £205,279), which would not be considered cost-effective. However, mechanical thrombectomy was shown to be cost-effective over a lifetime horizon, with an ICER of £3466 per QALY gained. The expected value of perfect information per patient eligible for mechanical thrombectomy in the UK is estimated at £3178. The expected value of full implementation of mechanical thrombectomy is estimated at £1.3 billion over five years. Conclusion: Mechanical thrombectomy was cost-effective compared with best medical care alone over a patient’s lifetime. On the assumption of 30% implementation being achieved throughout the UK healthcare system, we estimate that the population health benefits obtained from this treatment are greater than the cost of implementation. Trial registration: NCT01745692

Direct oral anticoagulants-Remove versus Taipan snake venom time for detection of a lupus anticoagulant in patients taking oral direct factor Xa inhibitors.

BACKGROUND: The optimal method of detecting a lupus anticoagulant (LA) for patients taking direct factor Xa inhibitor (DFXaI) direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) remains controversial. Methods include charcoal adsorption of the DOACs to allow testing with the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and dilute Russell viper venom time (dRVVT), or use of the DFXaI-insensitive Taipan snake venom time (TSVT) and Ecarin time (ET) assays on neat plasma. OBJECTIVES: The objective was to compare the utility of APTT and dRVVT analysis following DOAC Remove against TSVT/ET on untreated plasma for LA detection in spiked plasmas and routine clinical samples for patients on DFXaIs. PATIENTS/METHODS: Various LA-negative and LA-positive samples were assayed by APTT, dRVVT, and TSVT/ET, and then separately spiked with rivaroxaban, apixaban, and edoxaban calibrators to a concentration of ~190 ng/ml and the assays repeated on spiked plasma before and after DOAC Remove treatment. Testing of 284 consecutive samples from DFXaI-anticoagulated patients by APTT/dRVVT and TSVT/ET before and after DOAC Remove treatment was undertaken. RESULTS: In the spiking model, we found that both TSVT/ET and DOAC Remove strategies generally distinguished LA-negative and LA-positive samples, but some false-positive LA results occurred. In the investigation of 284 consecutive patient samples on DFXaIs, the percentage agreement for LA detection in neat samples tested by TSVT/ET versus APTT and dRVVT after DOAC Remove treatment was 90% (Cohen kappa 0.12). CONCLUSION: Our data highlight uncertainty and disagreement for testing LA in patients on DFXaI. Further studies are required

Voluntary Exercise Reduces Alzheimer’s-like Pathology After Inflammation in Mice

Current global statistics estimate that 44.4 million people are afflicted with dementia, and that 50%-75% of these patients suffer from Alzheimer’s disease (AD; Prince et al. 2013). AD, a progressive disorder categorized by neuronal and behavioral deterioration, is the 6th leading cause of death in America (Alz facts and figure 2012). One hallmark pathology of AD is the presence of amyloid-beta (Aβ) in the brain, which can limit cell-to-cell communication, leading to cognitive deficits, and neuronal cell death. Although the exact origins of this disease still remain unknown, one possible catalyst of AD pathology is inflammation. Our lab has previously shown that 7 consecutive peripheral injections of a bacterial mimetic led to systemic inflammation, increased levels of Ab in the brain, and cognitive dysfunction (Kahn et al., 2012; Weintraub et al., 2013). Currently there are very few effective treatments that diminish AD symptomology. One documented way to decrease inflammation without the use of pharmaceuticals is through regular physical exercise (Cho et al., 2003; Cotman & Berchtold, 2002; Cotman et al., 2007). The present study tested the hypothesis that voluntary exercise would decrease the level of brain Ab following inflammation. Interestingly, we found that two weeks of voluntary wheel running after inflammation led to a reduction of Ab when compared to sedentary recovery. These results indicate that exercise may be an effective modality to reduce AD-like pathology, and that these effects appear to be facilitated by higher versus lower levels of exercise, as measured by total distance run

The WARPS Survey: VI. Galaxy Cluster and Source Identifications from Phase I

We present in catalog form the optical identifications for objects from the first phase of the Wide Angle ROSAT Pointed Survey (WARPS). WARPS is a serendipitous survey of relatively deep, pointed ROSAT observations for clusters of galaxies. The X-ray source detection algorithm used by WARPS is Voronoi Tessellation and Percolation (VTP), a technique which is equally sensitive to point sources and extended sources of low surface brightness. WARPS-I is based on the central regions of 86 ROSAT PSPC fields, covering an area of 16.2 square degrees. We describe here the X-ray source screening and optical identification process for WARPS-I, which yielded 34 clusters at 0.06<z<0.75. Twenty-two of these clusters form a complete, statistically well defined sample drawn from 75 of these 86 fields, covering an area of 14.1 square degrees, with a flux limit of F (0.5-2.0 keV) = 6.5 \times 10^{-14} erg cm^{-2} s^{-1}}. This sample can be used to study the properties and evolution of the gas, galaxy and dark matter content of clusters, and to constrain cosmological parameters. We compare in detail the identification process and findings of WARPS to those from other recently published X-ray surveys for clusters, including RDCS, SHARC-Bright, SHARC-south and the CfA 160 deg$^2$ survey.Comment: v3 reflects minor updates to tables 2 and

Modeling Early Stage Bone Regeneration With Biomimetic Electrospun Fibrinogen Nanofibers and Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells

The key events of the earliest stages of bone regeneration have been described in vivo although not yet modeled in an in vitro environment, where mechanistic cell-matrix-growth factor interactions can be more effectively studied. Here, we explore an early-stage bone regeneration model where the ability of electrospun fibrinogen (Fg) nanofibers to regulate osteoblastogenesis between distinct mesenchymal stem cells populations is assessed. Electrospun scaffolds of Fg, polydioxanone (PDO), and a Fg:PDO blend were seeded with adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) and grown for 7-21 days in osteogenic differentiation media or control growth media. Scaffolds were analyzed weekly for histologic and molecular evidence of osteoblastogenesis. In response to osteogenic differentiation media, ASCs seeded on the Fg scaffolds exhibit elevated expression of multiple genes associated with osteoblastogenesis. Histologic stains and scanning electron microscopy demonstrate widespread mineralization within the scaffolds, as well as de novo type I collagen synthesis. Our data demonstrates that electrospun Fg nanofibers support ASC osteogenic differentiation, yet the scaffold itself does not appear to be osteoinductive. Together, ASCs and Fg recapitulate early stages of bone regeneration ex vivo and presents a prospective autologous therapeutic approach for bone repair