E-Books in Research Libraries

Presentation to the ABC Copyright Group 2009 Conference on May 4, 2009. The presenter was one of five members of the CARL (Canadian Association of Research Libraries) E-Book Taskgroup and reports on some of the findings of the CARL E-Book Report

E-Books in Research Libraries

Presentation to the ABC Copyright Group 2009 Conference on May 4, 2009. The presenter was one of five members of the CARL (Canadian Association of Research Libraries) E-Book Taskgroup and reports on some of the findings of the CARL E-Book Report

Query Expansion for Survey Question Retrieval in the Social Sciences

In recent years, the importance of research data and the need to archive and to share it in the scientific community have increased enormously. This introduces a whole new set of challenges for digital libraries. In the social sciences typical research data sets consist of surveys and questionnaires. In this paper we focus on the use case of social science survey question reuse and on mechanisms to support users in the query formulation for data sets. We describe and evaluate thesaurus- and co-occurrence-based approaches for query expansion to improve retrieval quality in digital libraries and research data archives. The challenge here is to translate the information need and the underlying sociological phenomena into proper queries. As we can show retrieval quality can be improved by adding related terms to the queries. In a direct comparison automatically expanded queries using extracted co-occurring terms can provide better results than queries manually reformulated by a domain expert and better results than a keyword-based BM25 baseline.Comment: to appear in Proceedings of 19th International Conference on Theory and Practice of Digital Libraries 2015 (TPDL 2015

The Global Research Agenda on Volunteering for Peace and Development

This brief discusses the global research agenda on volunteering in activities designed to advance peace and foster development, reviewing the agenda’s history, objectives, and priorities. It also revisits key areas of research progress made from 2015 through 2018 and discusses the resources needed to further advance this agenda through 2025

Critical evaluation of methods for determining total organic phosphorus in tropical soils

The determination of total organic phosphorus (TOP) in soils presents several methodological problems, particularly on strongly weathered and tropical soils. We reviewed the application of several methods for TOP determination to soils from different zones of the globe and evaluated the applicability of one ignition and two extraction methods to tropical soils from Brazil and Ghana. Reproducibility (coefficients of variation) was within 6% for the ignition method, and 13% for the extraction methods, due to the simplicity of the former. The two extraction methods produced results similar to each other, while the ignition method generally gave higher TOP contents. Unusually low C to organic P ratios indicate that the ignition method overestimated TOP in several soils. The Bowman extraction method, developed on weakly weathered soils, appeared also suitable for a variety of tropical soils

VUV Study of Electron Impact Dissociative Excitation of Thymine

Dissociative excitation of thymine following electron impact was studied in the energy range up to 430 eV. Emissions in the vacuum ultra-violet spectral region below 150 nm were studied and found to be dominated by the hydrogen Lyman series. Emission cross section data reveal that Lyman-α excitation displays a broad maximum at an electron impact energy of 160 eV. The probability of extracting other excited atoms from the parent molecule is found to be insignificant. Possible excitation and dissociation mechanisms in the parent molecule are discussed

Trehalose 6-phosphate regulates starch synthesis via posttranslational redox activation of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase

Trehalose is the most widespread disaccharide in nature, occurring in bacteria, fungi, insects, and plants. Its precursor, trehalose 6-phosphate (T6P), is also indispensable for the regulation of sugar utilization and growth, but the sites of action are largely unresolved. Here we use genetic and biochemical approaches to investigate whether T6P acts to regulate starch synthesis in plastids of higher plants. Feeding of trehalose to Arabidopsis leaves led to stimulation of starch synthesis within 30 min, accompanied by activation of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase) via posttranslational redox modification. The response resembled sucrose but not glucose feeding and depended on the expression of SNF1-related kinase. We also analyzed transgenic Arabidopsis plants with T6P levels increased by expression of T6P synthase or decreased by expression of T6P phosphatase (TPP) in the cytosol. Compared with wild type, leaves of T6P synthase-expressing plants had increased redox activation of AGPase and increased starch, whereas TPP-expressing plants showed the opposite. Moreover, TPP expression prevented the increase in AGPase activation in response to sucrose or trehalose feeding. Incubation of intact isolated chloroplasts with 100 μM T6P significantly and specifically increased reductive activation of AGPase within 15 min. Results provide evidence that T6P is synthesized in the cytosol and acts on plastidial metabolism by promoting thioredoxin-mediated redox transfer to AGPase in response to cytosolic sugar levels, thereby allowing starch synthesis to be regulated independently of light. The discovery informs about the evolution of plant metabolism and how chloroplasts of prokaryotic origin use an intermediate of the ancient trehalose pathway to report the metabolic status of the cytosol

Production of O(1D) following electron impact on CO2

We have studied the excitation of metastable O(1D) following dissociative excitation of CO2 in the electron impact energy range from threshold to 400 eV. A solid Ne matrix at ∼20 K forms the heart of the detector. This is sensitive to the metastable species through the formation of excited excimers (NeO*), The resultant excimer radiation is readily detected, providing a means of measuring the production of the metastables. Using a pulsed electron beam and time-of-flight techniques, we have measured the O(1D) kinetic energy spectrum and its relative production cross sections as a function of electron impact energy. Threshold energy data are used to gain information about the excitation channels involved. In addition, an emission excitation function for the red photons, emitted in coincidence with the exciting electron pulse, has been measured in the 0–400 eV energy range

Randomized controlled trial on cardiovascular risk management by practice nurses supported by self-monitoring in primary care

BACKGROUND: Treatment goals for cardiovascular risk management are generally not achieved. Specialized practice nurses are increasingly facilitating the work of general practitioners and self-monitoring devices have been developed as counseling aid. The aim of this study was to compare standard treatment supported by self-monitoring with standard treatment without self-monitoring, both conducted by practice nurses, on cardiovascular risk and separate risk factors. METHODS: Men aged 50–75 years and women aged 55–75 years without a history of cardiovascular disease or diabetes, but with a SCORE 10-year risk of cardiovascular mortality ≥5% and at least one treatable risk factor (smoking, hypertension, lack of physical activity or overweight), were randomized into two groups. The control group received standard treatment according to guidelines, the intervention group additionally received pro-active counseling and self-monitoring (pedometer, weighing scale and/ or blood pressure device). After one year treatment effect on 179 participants was analyzed. RESULTS: SCORE risk assessment decreased 1.6% (95% CI 1.0–2.2) for the control group and 1.8% (1.2–2.4) for the intervention group, difference between groups was .2% (−.6–1.1). Most risk factors tended to improve in both groups. The number of visits was higher and visits took more time in the intervention group (4.9 (SD2.2) vs. 2.6 (SD1.5) visits p < .001 and 27 (P(25) –P(75):20–33) vs. 23 (P(25) –P(75):19–30) minutes/visit p = .048). CONCLUSIONS: In both groups cardiovascular risk decreased significantly after one year of treatment by practice nurses. No additional effect of basing the pro-active counseling on self-monitoring was found, despite the extra time investment. TRIAL REGISTRATION: trialregister.nl NTR218

International development volunteering as transformational feminist practice for gender equality

Abstract: International and transnational commitments to gender equality require strategies that tackle root causes and prevailing attitudes that perpetuate disparities. In this article, we examine the role and impact of international development volunteers (IDV) as development actors who are well-placed for feminist transformational change, as they work in transnational spaces to influence, support, or reinforce changes in attitudes and behaviors towards gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE). This qualitative study analyses data collected from 45 interviews in three countries (Malawi, Kenya and Uganda) to document partner organization perspectives on relational dynamics emerging from interactions with IDVs. Partner organization staff highlighted several notable positive and negative contributions to GEWE outcomes arising from day-to-day interactions with IDVs. These interactions shaped their understandings of GEWE, enhanced confidence for GEWE programming, and provided exposure to role models who can shape alternative attitudes and behaviors to gender equality. While the study revealed varying degrees of challenges and benefits for partner organizations working with volunteers specifically on gender equality, partner organization staff highlighted contributions made by IDVs to transnational spatial relations, as well as the transformational interactions that shaped these relations. Insights provided by partner country staff members offer subaltern perspectives and rich insights into the contributions of IDVs in gender equality programming and shed new light on the challenges and opportunities for fostering transnational feminist spaces of knowledge sharing, relationship building, and alternative practices