Computer Applications To Book Catalogs And Library Systems

Librarians must look to the future information needs of a country expanding in population, technology and educational requirements. The "information explosion" is placing an additional strain on existing methods of providing information rapidly and economically. A library seeking to develop a modern information retrieval program has many existing services from which to choose. The problem is to define the program that will best serve the present library users and leave room for flexible action in the future, and then to pick a combination of services that best match these objectives. Documentation Incorporated (Doc Inc) of Bethesda, Maryland, was founded in 1952 by the late Dr. Mortimer Taube, and has been engaged in developing modern information retrieval systems for government and industry. A key concept that is now emerging is the development of mechanized or computerized data banks. This data bank concept is a plan for organizing a single set of data for producing many products. The traditional library card catalog or data bank, long the key to finding materials in the nation's libraries, today is getting competition from book catalogs. Using data bank techniques to keep a library catalog updated, Doc Inc computer systems generate printouts of the catalog which are used to produce bound books for distribution to library users. In effect, the book catalogs are carrying the traditional card catalog, literally, into the homes and offices of users instead of requiring them to trek to the library to find out if the information they want is available. The computer is used to produce several indexes (such as subject, author, and title) in various formats from a single file of data and is particularly effective if the catalog data bank is standardized.published or submitted for publicatio

Court Interpreter Training in the Language Laboratory

Demographic studies and statistics from state and federal courts indicate agrowing need for Spanish-English court interpreters with special training in consecutiveand simultaneous court interpretation. The authors conducted a survey of 466 ofCalifornia's Spanish-English court interpreters to determine what the Spanish-Englishcourt interpreter's strongest skills needs are. Survey results are reported in this article,and the five strongest skills training needs are identified. The authors indicate how thelanguage laboratory may efficiently be used to develop and enhance these five skillsand how it may best serve a court interpreter training program. Emphasis is onapplying the work of G.A. Miller and the training techniques of Robert Ingram toSpanish-English court interpreter training

Do Homebuyers Care about the 'Quality' of Natural Habitats?

We study if homebuyers in Tucson, Arizona care about the condition of natural habitats and if they have preferences between natural and manmade habitats. Using field work data we examine whether homebuyers willingness to pay is influenced by the biological condition of the neighboring riparian habitat and how homebuyers value alternative manmade green areas, specifically golf courses. We also explore the relationship between the field data and remote sensing vegetation indices. The results of a hedonic analysis of houses that sold within 0.2 miles of 51 stratified-random selected riparian survey sites in Tucson, Arizona reveals that homebuyers significantly value habitat quality and negatively value manmade park-like features. Homebuyers are willing to pay twenty percent more to live near a riparian corridor that is densely vegetated and contains more shrub and tree species, particularly species that are dependent on perennial water flow. These environmental premiums are significant, outweighing structural factors such as an additional garage or swimming pool. Likewise, proximity to a riparian habitat with low biological quality or to a golf course lowers property values.Land Economics/Use,

Autoantibody Profiling for Lung Cancer Screening Longitudinal Retrospective Analysis of CT Screening Cohorts

Recommendations for lung cancer screening present a tangible opportunity to integrate predictive blood-based assays with radiographic imaging. This study compares performance of autoantibody markers from prior discovery in sample cohorts from two CT screening trials. One-hundred eighty non-cancer and 6 prevalence and 44 incidence cancer cases detected in the Mayo Lung Screening Trial were tested using a panel of six autoantibody markers to define a normal range and assign cutoff values for class prediction. A cutoff for minimal specificity and best achievable sensitivity were applied to 256 samples drawn annually for three years from 95 participants in the Kentucky Lung Screening Trial. Data revealed a discrepancy in quantile distribution between the two apparently comparable sample sets, which skewed the assay’s dynamic range towards specificity. This cutoff offered 43% specificity (102/237) in the control group and accurately classified 11/19 lung cancer samples (58%), which included 4/5 cancers at time of radiographic detection (80%), and 50% of occult cancers up to five years prior to diagnosis. An apparent ceiling in assay sensitivity is likely to limit the utility of this assay in a conventional screening paradigm. Pre-analytical bias introduced by sample age, handling or storage remains a practical concern during development, validation and implementation of autoantibody assays. This report does not draw conclusions about other logical applications for autoantibody profiling in lung cancer diagnosis and management, nor its potential when combined with other biomarkers that might improve overall predictive accuracy

Critical values for Lawshe's content validity ratio: revisiting the original methods of calculation

YesThe content validity ratio originally proposed by Lawshe is widely used to quantify content validity and yet methods used to calculate the original critical values were never reported. Methods for original calculation of critical values are suggested along with tables of exact binomial probabilities

Individual MicroRNAs (miRNAs) Display Distinct mRNA Targeting Rules

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) guide Argonaute (AGO)-containing microribonucleoprotein (miRNP) complexes to target mRNAs.It has been assumed that miRNAs behave similarly to each other with regard to mRNA target recognition. The usual assumptions, which are based on prior studies, are that miRNAs target preferentially sequences in the 3\u27UTR of mRNAs,guided by the 5\u27 seed portion of the miRNAs. Here we isolated AGO- and miRNA-containing miRNPs from human H4 tumor cells by co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP) with anti-AGO antibody. Cells were transfected with miR-107, miR-124,miR-128, miR-320, or a negative control miRNA. Co-IPed RNAs were subjected to downstream high-density Affymetrix Human Gene 1.0 ST microarray analyses using an assay we validated previously-a RIP-Chip experimental design. RIP-Chip data provided a list of mRNAs recruited into the AGO-miRNP in correlation to each miRNA. These experimentally identified miRNA targets were analyzed for complementary six nucleotide seed sequences within the transfected miRNAs. We found that miR-124 targets tended to have sequences in the 3\u27UTR that would be recognized by the 5\u27 seed of miR-124, as described in previous studies. By contrast, miR-107 targets tended to have \u27seed\u27 sequences in the mRNA open reading frame, but not the 3\u27 UTR. Further, mRNA targets of miR-128 and miR-320 are less enriched for 6-mer seed sequences in comparison to miR-107 and miR-124. In sum, our data support the importance of the 5\u27 seed in determining binding characteristics for some miRNAs; however, the binding rules are complex, and individual miRNAs can have distinct sequence determinants that lead to mRNA targeting

Expression divergence measured by transcriptome sequencing of four yeast species

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The evolution of gene expression is a challenging problem in evolutionary biology, for which accurate, well-calibrated measurements and methods are crucial.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We quantified gene expression with whole-transcriptome sequencing in four diploid, prototrophic strains of <it>Saccharomyces </it>species grown under the same condition to investigate the evolution of gene expression. We found that variation in expression is gene-dependent with large variations in each gene's expression between replicates of the same species. This confounds the identification of genes differentially expressed across species. To address this, we developed a statistical approach to establish significance bounds for inter-species differential expression in RNA-Seq data based on the variance measured across biological replicates. This metric estimates the combined effects of technical and environmental variance, as well as Poisson sampling noise by isolating each component. Despite a paucity of large expression changes, we found a strong correlation between the variance of gene expression change and species divergence (R²= 0.90).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We provide an improved methodology for measuring gene expression changes in evolutionary diverged species using RNA Seq, where experimental artifacts can mimic evolutionary effects.</p> <p>GEO Accession Number: GSE32679</p

A comparison of two methods of quantifying masticatory pressures developed under dentures with variable occlusal widths

Pressures developed during mastication with removable dental prostheses have beer quantified by two methods. This pilot study (1) compares the peak pressure method of pressure quantification with the integrated curve method of quantification and (2) continues the exploration of the effect of the width of the occlusal table on pressures developed under dentures. A set of specially designed experimental dentures was constructed for one individual. The mandibular experimental denture contained a series of pressure transducers by which masticatory pressures were recorded. These pressures were monitored between the denture base and the residual ridge tissues. Several interchangeable posterior occlusal segments, varying only in the width of the occlusal table, were fabricated for the opposing maxillary denture. Masticatory pressure and total ridge pressure were quantified by the integrated curve method and the peak pressure method. Both methods indicated a direct relationship between masticatory pressures produced and the width of the occlusal table. A similar direct relationship between total ridge pressure and occlusal width was suggested statistically by the integrated curve method, and graphically by both methods.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73368/1/j.1365-2842.1979.tb00407.x.pd

Characteristics of self-care interventions for patients with a chronic condition: A scoping review

Background: Self-care is a fundamental element of treatment for patients with a chronic condition and a major focus of many interventions. A large body of research exists describing different types of self-care interventions, but these studies have never been compared across conditions. Examination of heterogeneous interventions could provide insights into effective approaches that should be used in diverse patient populations. Objectives: To provide a comprehensive and standardized cross-condition overview of interventions to enhance self-care in patients with a chronic condition. Specific aims were to: 1) identify what self-care concepts and behaviors are evaluated in self-care interventions; 2) classify and quantify heterogeneity in mode and type of delivery; 3) quantify the behavior change techniques used to enhance self-care behavior; and 4) assess the dose of self-care interventions delivered. Design: Scoping review DATA SOURCES: Four electronic databases - PubMed, EMBASE, PsychINFO and CINAHL - were searched from January 2008 through January 2019. Eligibility criteria for study selection: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with concealed allocation to the intervention were included if they compared a behavioral or educational self- care intervention to usual care or another self-care intervention and were conducted in adults. Nine common chronic conditions were included: hypertension, coronary artery disease, arthritis, chronic kidney disease, heart failure, stroke, asthma, chronic obstructive lung disease, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Diagnoses that are psychiatric (e.g. schizophrenia), acute rather than chronic, or benefitting little from self-care (e.g. dementia) were excluded. Studies had to be reported in English with full-text available. Results: 9309 citations were considered and 233 studies were included in the final review. Most studies addressed type 2 diabetes mellitus (n = 85; 36%), hypertension (n = 32; 14%) or heart failure (n = 27; 12%). The majority (97%) focused on healthy behaviors like physical activity (70%), dietary intake (59%), and medication management (52%). Major deficits found in self-care interventions included a lack of attention to the psychological consequences of chronic illness, technology and behavior change techniques were rarely used, few studies focused on helping patients manage signs and symptoms, and the interventions were rarely innovative. Research reporting was generally poor. Conclusions: Major gaps in targeted areas of self-care were identified. Opportunities exist to improve the quality and reporting of future self-care intervention research. Registration: The study was registered in the PROSPERO database (#123,719)

The structure of the PapD-PapGII pilin complex reveals an open and flexible P5 pocket

P pili are hairlike polymeric structures that mediate binding of uropathogenic Escherichia coli to the surface of the kidney via the PapG adhesin at their tips. PapG is composed of two domains: a lectin domain at the tip of the pilus followed by a pilin domain that comprises the initial polymerizing subunit of the 1,000-plus-subunit heteropolymeric pilus fiber. Prior to assembly, periplasmic pilin domains bind to a chaperone, PapD. PapD mediates donor strand complementation, in which a beta strand of PapD temporarily completes the pilin domain's fold, preventing premature, nonproductive interactions with other pilin subunits and facilitating subunit folding. Chaperone-subunit complexes are delivered to the outer membrane usher where donor strand exchange (DSE) replaces PapD's donated beta strand with an amino-terminal extension on the next incoming pilin subunit. This occurs via a zip-in-zip-out mechanism that initiates at a relatively accessible hydrophobic space termed the P5 pocket on the terminally incorporated pilus subunit. Here, we solve the structure of PapD in complex with the pilin domain of isoform II of PapG (PapGIIp). Our data revealed that PapGIIp adopts an immunoglobulin fold with a missing seventh strand, complemented in parallel by the G1 PapD strand, typical of pilin subunits. Comparisons with other chaperone-pilin complexes indicated that the interactive surfaces are highly conserved. Interestingly, the PapGIIp P5 pocket was in an open conformation, which, as molecular dynamics simulations revealed, switches between an open and a closed conformation due to the flexibility of the surrounding loops. Our study reveals the structural details of the DSE mechanism