Annotated Bibliography of Generic Commodity Promotion Research (Revised)

A.E. Res. 91-

Seeing the Forest by Counting the Trees

Libraries, particularly academic libraries, are swimming in a sea of data. Librarians often contribute to this by counting every possible patron interaction in an attempt to both define their current situation and to predict future staffing, budgetary, and collection needs. This investigation assessed the effectiveness of using various data sources in predicting future library activity and needs. The authors collected data on in-person and chat reference transactions, electronic journal downloads, database queries, and catalog searches from 2009–12. By analyzing these data points, the authors hypothesized they would find correlations that might be predictive of changes in related library services. Results indicated that the strongest correlations track activity over the course of the academic calendar. While none of the data points examined had predictive properties, the strong correlations between the data points over the period of time studied indicated that any one of them might serve as a stand-alone indicator of usage

Using Qualitative Methods to Supplement Quantitative Research: A Case Study in Evaluating Student Usage of Facilities

Quantitative research is an important tool in understanding library users; quantifiable data is objective and can be processed and analyzed in ways that bring about new insights. Unfortunately, it is better at telling us where and when than it is at telling us the whys. Our library, the Business, Engineering, Science, and Technology library at Miami University, did a headcount study to see how many people were using which rooms at what times of the day and night. There were many things we learned from that data, but in order to flesh it out and make it more of a three-dimensional picture of our users we decided to use methods from ethnography. We ran a survey and then interviewed several of the survey respondents. The result was a “thick description” that allowed us to better understand the motivations behind some of the behavior seen in the quantitative stud

Contradictions and Consensus: Clusters of Opinions on E-books

Q methodology was used to determine attitudes and opinions about e-books among a group of faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates at Miami University of Ohio. Oral interviews formed the basis for a collection of opinion statements concerning e-books versus print. These statements were then ranked by a second group of research participants. Factor analysis of these rankings found four distinct factors that reveal clusters of opinions on e-books: Book Lovers, Technophiles, Pragmatists, and Printers. Two of the four factors take a more ideological approach in their understanding of e-books: Book Lovers have an emotional attachment to the printed book as an object, while Technophiles feel just as strongly about technology. In contrast, the other two factors are more utilitarian: Printers might find e-books more palatable if usability were improved, while Pragmatists are comfortable with both print and e-book formats

Contradictions and Consensus — Clusters of Opinions on E-books

Q methodology was used to determine attitudes and opinions about e-books among a group of faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates at Miami University of Ohio. Oral interviews formed the basis for a collection of opinion statements concerning e-books versus print. These statements were then ranked by a second group of research participants. Factor analysis of these rankings found four distinct factors that reveal clusters of opinions on e-books: Book Lovers, Technophiles, Pragmatists, and Printers. Two of the four factors take a more ideological approach in their understanding of e-books: Book Lovers have an emotional attachment to the printed book as an object, while Technophiles feel just as strongly about technology. In contrast, the other two factors are more utilitarian: Printers might find e-books more palatable if usability were improved, while Pragmatists are comfortable with both print and e-book formats

Solidarity and cost management: Swiss citizens’ reasons for priorities regarding health insurance coverage

ContextApproaches to priority‐setting for scarce resources have shifted to public deliberation as trade‐offs become more difficult. We report results of a qualitative analysis of public deliberation in Switzerland, a country with high health‐care costs, an individual health insurance mandate and a strong tradition of direct democracy with frequent votes related to health care.MethodsWe adapted the Choosing Healthplans All Together (CHAT) tool, an exercise developed to transform complex health‐care allocation decisions into easily understandable choices, for use in Switzerland. We conducted focus groups in twelve Swiss cities, recruiting from a range of socio‐economic backgrounds in the three language regions.FindingsParticipants developed strategic arguments based on the importance of basic coverage for all, and of cost‐benefit evaluation. They also expressed arguments relying on a principle of solidarity, in particular the importance of protection for vulnerable groups, and on the importance of medical care. They struggled with the place of personal responsibility in coverage decisions. In commenting on the exercise, participants found the degree of consensus despite differing opinions surprising and valuable.ConclusionThe Swiss population is particularly attentive to the costs of health care and means of reducing these costs. Swiss citizens are capable of making trade‐offs and setting priorities for complex health issues.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146495/1/hex12680.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146495/2/hex12680_am.pd

The study of protein recruitment to UV-induced DNA lesions can be distorted by photoconversion of DNA dyes like Hoechst or DAPI [version 1; referees: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations]

A common approach used to assess DNA repair factor binding in mammalian cells is to induce DNA damage with a UV laser and follow the movement of GFP-tagged proteins to the site of damage. Often these measurements are performed in the presence of the blue DNA intercalating dye Hoechst or DAPI, which is used to label nuclear DNA. A UV-induced switch of Hoechst and DAPI from a blue-light to a green-light emitter will give a false positive signal at the site of damage.  Thus, photoconversion signals must be subtracted from the overall green-light emission to determine true recruitment. Here we demonstrate the photoconversion effect and suggest control experiments to exclude false-positive results

The study of protein recruitment to laser-induced DNA lesions can be distorted by photoconversion of the DNA binding dye Hoechst [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations]

A commonly used approach for assessing DNA repair factor recruitment in mammalian cells is to induce DNA damage with a laser in the UV or near UV range and follow the local increase of GFP-tagged proteins at the site of damage. Often these measurements are performed in the presence of the blue DNA dye Hoechst, which is used as a photosensitizer. However, a light-induced switch of Hoechst from a blue-light to a green-light emitter will give a false positive signal at the site of damage.  Thus, photoconversion signals must be subtracted from the overall green-light emission to determine true recruitment. Here we demonstrate the photoconversion effect and suggest control experiments to exclude false-positive results

Juxta-membrane S-acylation of plant receptor-like kinases is likely fortuitous and does not necessarily impact upon function

This work was funded by UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Grants BB/M024911/1 and BB/M010996/1 to P.A.H.S-acylation is a common post-translational modification of membrane protein cysteine residues with many regulatory roles. S-acylation adjacent to transmembrane domains has been described in the literature as affecting diverse protein properties including turnover, trafficking and microdomain partitioning. However, all of these data are derived from mammalian and yeast systems. Here we examine the role of S-acylation adjacent to the transmembrane domain of the plant pathogen perceiving receptor-like kinase FLS2. Surprisingly, S-acylation of FLS2 adjacent to the transmembrane domain is not required for either FLS2 trafficking or signalling function. Expanding this analysis to the wider plant receptor-like kinase family we find that S-acylation adjacent to receptor-like kinase domains is common, affecting ~25% of Arabidopsis receptor-like kinases, but poorly conserved between orthologues through evolution. This suggests that S-acylation of receptor-like kinases at this site is likely the result of chance mutation leading to cysteine occurrence. As transmembrane domains followed by cysteine residues are common motifs for S-acylation to occur, and many S-acyl transferases appear to have lax substrate specificity, we propose that many receptor-like kinases are fortuitously S-acylated once chance mutation has introduced a cysteine at this site. Interestingly some receptor-like kinases show conservation of S-acylation sites between orthologues suggesting that S-acylation has come to play a role and has been positively selected for during evolution. The most notable example of this is in the ERECTA-like family where S-acylation of ERECTA adjacent to the transmembrane domain occurs in all ERECTA orthologues but not in the parental ERECTA-like clade. This suggests that ERECTA S-acylation occurred when ERECTA emerged during the evolution of angiosperms and may have contributed to the neo-functionalisation of ERECTA from ERECTA-like proteins.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe