Librarians and the emerging research library: A case study of complex individual and organizational development.

The purpose of this case study was to increase the knowledge base of how research librarians experience and cope with the turbulence of change within their library system. This research also examined the issues that surround the organizational structures and leadership of transformative change in one research library. A library belonging to the Association of Research Libraries was selected for case study investigation. Seventeen librarians participated in on-site interviews, utilizing a protocol composed of a clustering technique and semi-structured interviewing. Instrumental case studies of each individual were then developed through a collective case method to present the intrinsic case study of the library system as an organization. Data were analyzed primarily through a complex systems theoretical framework while at the same time were grounded in a broad literature base of organizational, leadership, individual change, and library organizational development theories. The findings of the study include: the competing tensions between the physical and virtual environments, the search for professional meaning, coping with the experiences of professional change, the evolution of the organizational structure, and leadership as a shared experience. Analysis of the findings suggest: the emergence of a hypercritical state, the limiting nature of negative feedback, a complex systems framework for professional thinking, coping in the hypercritical organization, the emergence of disorder in the complex system, the blending of self-organizing systems with structural feedback mechanisms, and the complexity of leadership in the new research library

Command Your Keyboard

The goal of this project is to help people who are interested in learning the shortcuts available in the Adobe Premiere Pro video editing software. I will create a fun and interactive way for people to learn some of the fundamental shortcuts available by using the command symbol and another key located on the keyboard. Many people will have access to this tutorial program because I will make it available online through my Western Kentucky University web address. My project, Command Your Keyboard, will become a website using the software, Adobe Flash Professional. Along with the viewers of Command Your Keyboard, I will also learn a lot from completing this project. I will also have access to shortcut tutorials and by creating these videos and I will memorize other keyboard shortcuts. I will also gain more knowledge in Adobe Flash Professional by creating the website

From start-up to acquisition: Implications of financial investment trends for small- to medium-sized high-tech enterprises

The high-technology (high-tech) industry is a dynamic environment defined by both frequent changes in composition and a concentration of market power through consolidation. Operating as a new or small venture within this environment poses many complex challenges, especially when considering the financial resources needed to be successful. In their efforts to obtain financial resources, entrepreneurs often overlook how the choice and pattern of investment funding to maintain a growth path can later affect a successful entrepreneurial exit. Exit via acquisition for small- to medium-sized technology enterprises (SMTEs) is a strong area of interest given firms in the U.S. high-tech industry experience the fastest growth rates and have been the target of over $400 billion in deal volume and 20% of all merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions in the last twenty years. Much of this M&A activity is conducted by five prominent firms, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, commonly referred to as the Fearsome Five or the “FANGS”. However, as there has been only limited research examining this unique M&A context, in this study we explore the investment funding factors influencing exit via acquisition by the Fearsome Five. We highlight questions and potential concerns for SMTEs given the trends in financial investments and increasing market power

Population Reproductive Statistics of Millet Head Miner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Reared in a Laboratory in Niger

Net reproductive rates and cohort generation times are tabulated for pearl millet head miner (Heliocheilus albipunctella) reared on 4 diets (Bio-Serv® 9782 and 3 pearl millet-based diets) at 24, 26, 28 or 30°C. The highest R0 values of 5.84 and 4.33 females per female were estimated when the head miners were fed Bio-Serv® at 30° and early exserted millet at 24°, respectively. Tc tended to be shortest at 26 and 28°

Field Evaluation of Fecundity, Longevity, and Oviposition Period of Millet Head Miner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Niger

The factors regulating Heliocheilus albipunctella development and abundance on pearl millet were investigated in field experiments in Niger. H. albipunctella in exclusion cages survived between 2 and 6 days and the oviposition period lasted 1-4 days. The mean number of eggs oviposited per female was 29.6. In experiments in 1997, the number of eggs oviposited varied with the pearl millet sowing date and was greatest on millet sown on 4 July (21.6 eggs oviposited per day). These data will contribute to the greater understanding of H. albipunctella biology necessary for its control

Cultural value orientations, internalized homophobia, and accommodation in romantic relationships

In the present study, we examined the impact of cultural value orientations (i.e., the personally oriented value of individualism, and the socially oriented values of collectivism, familism, romanticism, and spiritualism) on accommodation (i.e., voice and loyalty, rather than exit and neglect, responses to partners' anger or criticism) in heterosexual and gay relationships; and we examined the impact of internalized homophobia (i.e., attitudes toward self, other, and disclosure) on accommodation specifically in gay relationships. A total of 262 heterosexuals (102 men and 162 women) and 857 gays (474 men and 383 women) participated in the present study. Consistent with hypotheses, among heterosexuals and gays, socially oriented values were significantly and positively related to accommodation (whereas the personally oriented value of individualism was unrelated to accommodation); and among gays in particular, internalized homophobia was significantly and negatively related to accommodation. Implications for the study of heterosexual and gay relationships are discussed. © 2005 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved

Is Perioperative Hypothermia a Risk Factor for Post-Cesarean Infection?

Objective: To determine whether hypothermia during Cesarean delivery is a risk factor for postoperative infection. Methods: An historical cohort investigation was conducted on all women delivered by Cesarean at our center during 2001. Initial recovery-room temperature, taken via the oral or axillary route, was used as a surrogate for intraoperative temperature. Adding 0.5(°)C to axillary temperatures generated oral temperature equivalents. Women with chorioamnionitis were excluded, as were those with an initial recovery-room temperature that exceeded 37.9(°)C or was recorded more than 20 minutes after the end of surgery. Prophylactic antibiotics (cefazolin, 1 g) were given during Cesarean delivery. Results: A total of 42 women (7.6%) were diagnosed with postoperative infections. Infections included endometritis (n= 25), wound abscess (n = 7), wound cellulitis (n = 7) and urinary tract infection (UTI) (n = 4). No cases of septic pelvic thrombophlebitis or pelvic abscess occurred. One woman had both endometritis and a UTI. Mean temperatures were higher, rather than lower, for women who subsequently had postoperative infections compared with those who did not (36.4 ± 0.8(°)Cvs. 35.9 ± 0.7(°)C; p < 0.001). Mean temperatures for the various postoperative infections were as follows: endometritis, 36.5 ± 0.8(°)C (p < 0.001 vs. uninfected group); wound abscess 36.0 ± 0.8(°)C (p = 0.63); wound cellulitis, 36.3 ± 0.6(°)C (p = 0.14); UTI, 36.7 ± 0.9(°)C (p = 0.04). Conclusions: Women who develop post-Cesarean infections have higher initial recovery-room temperatures than those who do not develop such infections. This suggests the presence of subclinical infection at the time of Cesarean. Evaluating whether intraoperative warming has any role during Cesarean delivery requires a randomized clinical trial

Alterations in ethanol-induced behaviors and consumption in knock-in mice expressing ethanol-resistant NMDA receptors

Ethanol's action on the brain likely reflects altered function of key ion channels such as glutamatergic N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs). In this study, we determined how expression of a mutant GluN1 subunit (F639A) that reduces ethanol inhibition of NMDARs affects ethanol-induced behaviors in mice. Mice homozygous for the F639A allele died prematurely while heterozygous knock-in mice grew and bred normally. Ethanol (44 mM; ∼0.2 g/dl) significantly inhibited NMDA-mediated EPSCs in wild-type mice but had little effect on responses in knock-in mice. Knock-in mice had normal expression of GluN1 and GluN2B protein across different brain regions and a small reduction in levels of GluN2A in medial prefrontal cortex. Ethanol (0.75-2.0 g/kg; IP) increased locomotor activity in wild-type mice but had no effect on knock-in mice while MK-801 enhanced activity to the same extent in both groups. Ethanol (2.0 g/kg) reduced rotarod performance equally in both groups but knock-in mice recovered faster following a higher dose (2.5 g/kg). In the elevated zero maze, knock-in mice had a blunted anxiolytic response to ethanol (1.25 g/kg) as compared to wild-type animals. No differences were noted between wild-type and knock-in mice for ethanol-induced loss of righting reflex, sleep time, hypothermia or ethanol metabolism. Knock-in mice consumed less ethanol than wild-type mice during daily limited-access sessions but drank more in an intermittent 24 h access paradigm with no change in taste reactivity or conditioned taste aversion. Overall, these data support the hypothesis that NMDA receptors are important in regulating a specific constellation of effects following exposure to ethanol. © 2013 den Hartog et al