Librarians at land-grant universities working with extension: Three case reports

Librarians and Cooperative Extension Service (CES) professionals in the United States have common missions to make authoritative information available to their constituencies. Both professions have long traditions of service and success in the dissemination of information. This paper explores how librarians can partner with CES and contribute unique skills and expertise. After a summary of the history of CES and the historical connection among land grants, extensions, and agriculture, three case reports are presented that outline how three librarians at land-grant universities have worked with CES

Information literacy instruction programs: Supporting the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences community at Virginia Tech

When developing instructional programs related to information literacy at a university, a logical audience to focus on is undergraduates. However, information literacy spans far beyond the traditional ability to find, access, evaluate, use, and properly cite information. It also encompasses the ability to evaluate the impact of scholarship, determine appropriate data-management practices, understand author rights, promote ethical use of scholarship, and maintain an awareness of changes in scholarly communication. Between 2010 and 2016 librarians at Virginia Tech have focused on developing programs to strengthen several of these information literacy skills across the continuum of students, faculty, and extension agents in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS). Starting with undergraduates, traditional information literacy skills were incorporated into the two CALS First-Year Experience programs. A scientific writing workshop and online information literacy course were designed for CALS graduate students. Extension agents and faculty were introduced to both traditional and more advanced applications to explore how changes in the information landscape impacts their work. This paper will discuss how these librarians have partnered to create and promote these information literacy initiatives

Developing a Plan for a More Diverse, Inclusive, and Equitable Library at a Research 1 Land-Grant University

Using the Virginia Tech strategic plan as a guide, a team of its University Libraries faculty and staff designed a strategic planning approach for the library that directly engaged with University goals and explored two areas: 1) contributing to the equity-, diversity-, and inclusion-related (EDI) goals laid out in the University strategic plan, and 2) expanding upon efforts to broaden diversity and representation in the library. The team identified four major themes: accessibility, climate, employment and professional development, outreach, and advocacy, and used these themes to develop specific recommendations. The process served to shine the light on these topics within the library, allowing for reflection and self-understanding, crucial components to change and grow with more attention to inclusion and diversity. Recognizing a need for change, it is hoped the report leads to better advocacy and ally-ship and brings issues to light for other libraries engaging in similar processes

Agricultural data management and sharing: Best practices and case study

Agricultural data are crucial to many aspects of production, commerce, and research involved in feeding the global community. However, in most agricultural research disciplines standard best practices for data management and publication do not exist. Here we propose a set of best practices in the areas of peer review, minimal dataset development, data repositories, citizen science initiatives, and support for best data management. We illustrate some of these best practices with a case study in dairy agroecosystems research. While many common, and increasingly disparate data management and publication practices are entrenched in agricultural disciplines, opportunities are readily available for promoting and adopting best practices that better enable and enhance data-intensive agricultural research and production

Associations between Serial Intravitreal Injections and Dry Eye

Purpose To investigate the effects of serial intravitreal injections (IVIs) on the ocular surface and meibomian glands (MGs) in patients treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). Design Retrospective, controlled, observational study. Participants Patients with nAMD receiving unilateral IVIs with anti-VEGF agents. The fellow eye was used as control. Methods Tear film and ocular surface examinations were performed on a single occasion at a minimum of 4 weeks after IVI. A pre-IVI asepsis protocol with povidone-iodine (PVP-I) was applied. Main Outcome Measures Upper and lower MG loss, tear meniscus height (TMH), bulbar redness (BR) score, noninvasive tear break-up time (NIBUT), tear film osmolarity (TOsm), Schirmer test, corneal staining, fluorescein tear film break-up time (TBUT), meibomian gland expressibility (ME), and meibum quality. Results Ninety patients with a mean age of 77.5 years (standard deviation [SD], 8.4; range 54–95) were included. The median number of IVIs in treated eyes was 19.5 (range, 2–132). Mean MG loss in the upper eyelid was 19.1% (SD, 11.3) in treated eyes and 25.5% (SD, 14.6) in untreated fellow eyes (P = 0.001). For the lower eyelid, median MG loss was 17.4% (interquartile range [IQR], 9.4–29.9) in treated eyes and 24.5% (IQR, 14.2–35.2) in fellow eyes (P < 0.001). Mean BR was 1.32 (SD, 0.46) in treated eyes versus 1.44 (SD, 0.45) in fellow eyes (P = 0.017). Median TMH was 0.36 mm (IQR, 0.28–0.52) in treated eyes and 0.32 mm (IQR, 0.24–0.49) in fellow eyes (P = 0.02). There were no differences between treated and fellow eyes regarding NIBUT, TOsm, Schirmer test, corneal staining, fluorescein TBUT, ME, or meibum quality. Conclusions Repeated IVIs with anti-VEGF with preoperative PVP-I application was associated with reduced MG loss, increased tear volume, and reduced signs of inflammation compared with fellow nontreated eyes in patients with nAMD. This regimen may thus have a beneficial effect on the ocular surface.publishedVersio

Fecal Microbiota Nutrient Utilization Potential Suggests Mucins as Drivers for Initial Gut Colonization of Mother-Child-Shared Bacteria

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Graphic loans: East Asia and beyond

The national languages of East Asia (Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese) have made extensive use of a type of linguistic borrowing sometimes referred to as a 'graphic loan'. Such loans have no place in the conventional classification of loans based on Haugen (1950) or Weinreich (1953), and research on loan word theory and phonology generally overlooks them. The classic East Asian phenomenon is discussed and a framework is proposed to describe its mechanism. It is argued that graphic loans are more than just 'spelling pronunciations', because they are a systematic and widespread process, independent of but not inferior to phonological borrowing. The framework is then expanded to cover a range of other cases of borrowing between languages to show that graphic loans are not a uniquely East Asian phenomenon, and therefore need to be considered as a major category of loan

Affeksjon av det visuelle system ved øvre cervical skader

Denne rapporten utgjør første del av to rapporter og tar for seg noen av de filosofiske betraktningene rundt problemstillingen nakkesleng og syn. De synsrelaterte problemer som kan oppstå i etterkant av en nakkesleng og deres plausible årsaksmekanismer belyses

Harnessing Altmetric Data for Translational Research & Community Development: A Case Study

<h2>As a land grant university, Virginia Tech has a long prioritized cooperative partnerships with regional organizations, delivering translational research to local populations via the work of their Extension Agents and Specialists and the Agriculture Research Education Centers. Librarian Inga Haugen supports faculty and researchers from the Colleges of Natural Resources and Environment and of Agriculture and Life Sciences. These various county-level researchers are tasked with community education and collaboration, ensuring vital information reaches farmers, businesses, and the general public. </h2><h2>Often this research emerges in non-article formats--as blogs and outreach materials, curriculum or rubrics, videos, newsletters, and more. In addition, extension programs foster a commitment to open access research, producing resources intended for reuse and further development. Altmetrics provides VT with valuable data about the reach and repurposing of their research, and evidence of broader societal impact beyond traditional, citation-based metrics. This case study shares Haugen’s work with Altmetric Engagement Manager and Librarian Lily Troia to create several distinct user personas related to the extension programs. These personas are viewed as critical component of VT Libraries Altmetric initiative, targeting workflow integrations in support of educational strategies, and promoting a sustainable exchange of information with the wider community. </h2

Old question revisited : Are high-protein diets safe in pregnancy?

Funding Information: Funding: The Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study is supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services and the Ministry of Education and Research. The Danish National Birth Cohort Study has been supported by the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation (6-FY-96-0240, 6-FY97-0553, 6-FY97-0521, 6-FY00-407), the Danish Heart Association, Danish Medical Research Council, Sygekassernes Helsefond and the Danish National Research Foundation. This coordinated analysis has been supported by Innovation Fund Denmark (grant No 09-067124, Centre for Fetal Programming) and Kræftens Bekæmpelse (R204-A12638). Funding Information: The Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study is supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services and the Ministry of Education and Research. The Danish National Birth Cohort Study has been supported by the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation (6-FY-96-0240, 6-FY97-0553, 6-FY97-0521, 6-FY00-407), the Danish Heart Association, Danish Medical Research Council, Sygekassernes Helsefond and the Danish National Research Foundation. This coordinated analysis has been supported by Innovation Fund Denmark (grant No 09-067124, Centre for Fetal Programming) and Kr?ftens Bek?mpelse (R204-A12638). Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.BACKGROUND: A previous randomized dietary intervention in pregnant women from the 1970s, the Harlem Trial, reported retarded fetal growth and excesses of very early preterm births and neonatal deaths among those receiving high-protein supplementation. Due to ethical challenges, these findings have not been addressed in intervention settings. Exploring these findings in an observational setting requires large statistical power due to the low prevalence of these outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate if the findings on high protein intake could be replicated in an observational setting by combining data from two large birth cohorts. METHODS: Individual participant data on singleton pregnancies from the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) ( n = 60,141) and the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) ( n = 66,302) were merged after a thorough harmonization process. Diet was recorded in mid-pregnancy and information on birth outcomes was extracted from national birth registries. RESULTS: The prevalence of preterm delivery, low birth weight and fetal and neonatal deaths was 4.77%, 2.93%, 0.28% and 0.17%, respectively. Mean protein intake (standard deviation) was 89 g/day (23). Overall high protein intake (>100 g/day) was neither associated with low birth weight nor fetal or neonatal death. Mean birth weight was essentially unchanged at high protein intakes. A modest increased risk of preterm delivery [odds ratio (OR): 1.10 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01, 1.19)] was observed for high (>100 g/day) compared to moderate protein intake (80-90 g/day). This estimate was driven by late preterm deliveries (weeks 34 to <37) and greater risk was not observed at more extreme intakes. Very low (<60 g/day) compared to moderate protein intake was associated with higher risk of having low-birth weight infants [OR: 1.59 (95%CI: 1.25, 2.03)]. CONCLUSIONS: High protein intake was weakly associated with preterm delivery. Contrary to the results from the Harlem Trial, no indications of deleterious effects on fetal growth or perinatal mortality were observed.Peer reviewe