Diversity and Identity: Categories for OAI data-providers in the Open Language Archives Network

This work analyzes the network typology of data-providers who use the Open Archive Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) to engage in ethnolinguistic information-resource stewardship. The Open Language Archive Community’s (OLAC) network is analyzed addressing: (1) the ontological nature of OAI data-providers, chiefly that not all data-providers are archives; (2) the classificatory nature of the data-providers in contrast to existing OLAC categories of personal and institutional; and (3) the impact of classification/description on the social-understanding about those providers. That is, discrete classificatory terminology does not exist within the target OLAC user community. A broader understanding of the classificatory distinctions among cultural heritage organizations would enable depositors to select the most appropriate institutions for cultural heritage preservation. Two classification taxonomies are presented for the data-providers. The taxonomy terms are applied to the members of the network: (1) as a lens by which one may understand metadata quality discrepancies across data-providers; (2) to identify strong and weak areas within the network; and (3) to identify network growth potential in contrast to the historically involved network participants. The developed taxonomies are applicable to cultural heritage networks outside of the set of OLAC data-providers and contribute to broader metadata quality discussions in the Library-Archive-Museum (LAM) community

Genetic studies on drosophila pseudo-obscura

The thesis consists of the following papers: -(1) New Mutants and Linkage Data for Drosophila pseudo -obscura (in press, Journal of Genetics)(2) On the Genetical Constitution of Drosophila pseudo -obscura, Race A (in press, Journal of Genetics)(3) On the Suppression of Tangled in Drosophila pseudo -obscura (to be read before The Royal Society of Edinburgh)(4) Fecundity in Drosophila pseudo -obscura Race A (to be extended before publication

Language Archive Records: Interoperability Of Referencing Practices And Metadata Models

With the rise of the digital language archive and the plethora of referenceable content, a critical question arises: “How easy is it for authors to use existing tools to cite the content they are referencing?” This is especially important as people use archived materials as evidence within published language descriptions. Archived resource metadata is well discussed in language documentation circles; however, bibliographic metadata and its accessibility are less discussed. Discoverability metadata, a subset of archived resource metadata, serves aggregators like OLAC by declaring a resource exists. In contrast, bibliographic metadata functions within documents by declaring where to find a resource that is known to exist. In this thesis I look at the interaction between Zotero, an open source reference manager, five different archives (PARADISEC, Pangloss, SIL Language & Culture Archives, ELAR, and Kaipuleohone), and three methods of importing metadata from them into Zotero (DOI import, HTML embedded metadata, and file based import). I report on collection and audio artifact metadata provided by the archive to the author via Zotero’s interfaces: what’s included, what’s missing, and what’s misaligned. Understanding the processes by which authors collect metadata for the purpose of citation and referencing, what metadata they need, and if it is being provided, facilitates the design of useful interfaces to archives which elevate the value of archives to all groups who interact with them. I propose that interaction design is an additional factor to those presented by Chang (2010) in her well received checklist for evaluating language archives. Interaction design, the technical field concerned with designing how people interact with objects and services, is the design process by which archives manage the interactions they have with those they serve. I specifically argue that interaction design adds value to an archive’s brand, as perceived by the network of archive users, when it facilitates the interaction with bibliographic metadata about artifacts within holdings. This added value speaks to the sustainability of an archive within its sphere of influence. It is increasingly important in the career development of scholars to meet metric-based assessments of their influence in scholarly discussions. Reference counts, including those pointing to the evidentiary record housed in archives, play a significant role in establishing quantitative baseline metrics for scholars

A case for interfering with freedom of contract? An empirically-informed study of bans of assignment

Do "bans on assignment" of trade receivables cause serious problems with receivables financing? Should Government render them ineffective? Two empirical investigations suggest that though there are good reasons for using BoAs, they cause disproportionate problems to SMEs needing to factor their debts, and there is a good case for interventio

A case for interfering with freedom of contract? An empirically-informed study of bans on assignment

This article is about clauses in the contracts between a business and its customer which prohibit the supplier assigning receivables arising under the contracts. These clauses are sometimes called “prohibitions on assignment”, sometimes “anti-assignment clauses”; but in the industry it seems most common to call them “bans on assignments” or BoAs. This is how we will refer to them in this article. There is an argument that BoAs do little for the customer while posing a serious problem for small suppliers, and only appear when the customer has the bargaining power to dictate the terms of the contract. This paper draws on empirical work to consider whether, notwithstanding English law’s commitment to commercial parties’ freedom to agree their own terms, there is a case for legislation to render BoAs in contracts for the supply of goods and services ineffective

Clean in place optimisation final report

The purpose of this project was to investigate the optimisation of the CIP system within the newest of Synlait's three spray dryers, Dryer 3 (D3). The evaporator's CIP process commissioned by Tetra Pak in Synlait's third dryer has not been optimised. There is a large opportunity as the evaporators CIP process runs every day and anytime savings will result in significant increase in D3's availability. The project delivers two outcomes: - Optimise the current CIP system for immediate and tangible results. - Investigation into a novel sensor-based CIP system to identify potential opportunities for improvement. The Toyota A3 approach was taken to outline each of the project outcomes using a modified POCA method version of the A3 template

The Effect of Photoperiod on Sexual Development in Young Boars

The effects of photoperiod in stimulating reproductive function in prepubertal boars was studied in 40 crossbred boars. One group of boars was exposed to a regimen where day length was increased from 12 to 14.5 h/d (from 8 to 20 weeks of age) and then decreased from 14.5 to 12 h/d (from 20 to 32 weeks of age); whereas, the other group of boars was exposed to a regimen where day length was decreased from 12 to 9.5 h/d and then increased from 9.5 to 12 h/d. Exposing prepubertal boars to a long photoperiod inhibited the development of the testis at 24 weeks of age. The inhibitory effect of long days on testis development at 24 weeks of age was overcome by decreasing the photoperiod. Short days reduced the level of sexual behavior at 25 and 26 weeks of age. The inhibitory effects of short days on sexual behavior was overcome by exposing boars to a longer period. This study implies that young boars reared during short days may need to be exposed to a longer photoperiod before expressing an adequate level of sexual behavior and young boars reared during long days may need to be exposed to shorter days to increase their sperm production capability

Selective Use of 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose-Positron Emission Tomography and Computed Tomography in the Management of Metastatic Disease from Colorectal Cancer : Results from a regional centre

Objectives: Computed tomography (CT) scans are routinely used for primary staging and disease surveillance in patients with colorectal cancer. However, these scans have limited sensitivity in some organs and can only detect lesions with morphological changes, whereas 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (18F-FDG-PET) scans are able to detect areas of metabolic change before morphological changes appear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of 18F-FDG-PET/CT scans over conventional imaging during preoperative work-ups or follow-ups in a selected group of patients. Methods: This retrospective cohort study, which took place between July 2009 and May 2011, assessed 1,043 patient records from the South East Scotland Cancer Network colorectal cancer database. A total of 102 patients who underwent 18F-FDG-PET/CT scans in addition to conventional imaging were included in the study. These patients had potentially resectable metastases, equivocal findings on CT scans and elevated carcinoembryonic antigen levels with negative conventional imaging. Results: Of the 102 patients included in the study, 22 underwent a preoperative 18F-FDG-PET/CT scan and 80 underwent a follow-up 18F-FDG-PET/CT scan. In the preoperative scan group, the 18F-FDG-PET/CT scan had a major impact on 16 patients (72.75%) and no impact on six patients (27.25%). In the follow-up scan group, the 18F-FDG-PET/CT scan had a major impact on 51 (63.75%), a minor impact on four (5%), no impact on 22 (27.5%) and a negative impact on three (3.75%) patients. Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrated that 18F-FDGPET/ CT scans have a considerable effect on disease management when undertaken among indicated colorectal cancer patients