A Case Study in Revitalizing a State Library Association and Keeping It Vital during COVID

The Kentucky Medical Library Association (KMLA) is an organization dedicated to building a networking community and providing resources to the health sciences and medical librarians of Kentucky. Medical and health science libraries within the state of Kentucky are encouraged to become annual members of KMLA. Organization membership exists on two levels: (1) individual and (2) institutional. Individual membership includes access to three KMLA business meetings a year, voting rights at business meetings, any conferences KMLA holds, an opportunity for continuing education (CE) reimbursement, and access to any CEs presented by KMLA. Institutional memberships are unique in that they provide interlibrary loan reciprocity among member institutions. Over the previous four years, KMLA has experienced diminishing membership, a lack of interest from members in serving on the KMLA Executive Committee, insufficient documentation on association practices, and a centric involvement that surrounded Louisville institutions. Kentucky has endured several hospital closures and restructurings over the last five years. That change has also brought about several medical library closures; despite that, Kentucky health sciences and medical libraries have seen a recent growth in new health sciences and medical librarians. In turn, KMLA’s Executive Committee (President, Secretary, and Treasurer) has noticed a change in overall KMLA membership, attendance, and interest

Vacuum energy in a spherically symmetric background field

The vacuum energy of a scalar field in a spherically symmetric background field is considered. It is expressed through the Jost function of the corresponding scattering problem. The renormalization is discussed in detail and performed using the uniform asymptotic expansion of the Jost function. The method is demonstrated in a simple explicit example.Comment: 14 pages, 1 Postscript figur

The nervous system and chronic kidney disease in children

This paper provides a review of the literature on the nervous system involvement incurred by children and adolescents with chronic kidney disease (CKD), with a particular focus on neuropsychological functioning. In addition to an historical overview of earlier literature, published studies from the past 14 years that address both central and peripheral nervous system function in children with CKD are reviewed (1990–2003). These studies span work in neuroimaging, electrophysiology, and neuropsychology. A key focus for this review is on variables that might affect neurodevelopmental status in these children. The paper concludes with suggestions for achieving progress in the understanding of this complication of kidney disease in children

Print & (Pedagogical Issues in Printmaking)

This panel addresses how the contemporary printmaker must adapt traditional approaches to making, collaborating, teaching, and networking to an increasingly digital landscape. With creative adaptation a necessity for artists and the medium of printmaking\u27s sustained relevance, panelists will discuss their experiences: transforming traditional journals into digital archives, seeking innovative approaches to portfolio exchanges, pursuing alternative vocations, and readying the next generation of artists for these challenges

Collision-Induced Decay of Metastable Baby Skyrmions

Many extensions of the standard model predict heavy metastable particles which may be modeled as solitons (skyrmions of the Higgs field), relating their particle number to a winding number. Previous work has shown that the electroweak interactions admit processes in which these solitons decay, violating standard model baryon number. We motivate the hypothesis that baryon-number-violating decay is a generic outcome of collisions between these heavy particles. We do so by exploring a 2+1 dimensional theory which also possesses metastable skyrmions. We use relaxation techniques to determine the size, shape and energy of static solitons in their ground state. These solitons could decay by quantum mechanical tunneling. Classically, they are metastable: only a finite excitation energy is required to induce their decay. We attempt to induce soliton decay in a classical simulation by colliding pairs of solitons. We analyze the collision of solitons with varying inherent stabilities and varying incident velocities and orientations. Our results suggest that winding-number violating decay is a generic outcome of collisions. All that is required is sufficient (not necessarily very large) incident velocity; no fine-tuning of initial conditions is required.Comment: 24 pages, 7 figures, latex. Very small changes onl

mzMatch-ISO: an R tool for the annotation and relative quantification of isotope-labelled mass spectrometry data

<p>Motivation: Stable isotope-labelling experiments have recently gained increasing popularity in metabolomics studies, providing unique insights into the dynamics of metabolic fluxes, beyond the steady-state information gathered by routine mass spectrometry. However, most liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry data analysis software lacks features that enable automated annotation and relative quantification of labelled metabolite peaks. Here, we describe mzMatch–ISO, a new extension to the metabolomics analysis pipeline mzMatch.R.</p> <p>Results: Targeted and untargeted isotope profiling using mzMatch–ISO provides a convenient visual summary of the quality and quantity of labelling for every metabolite through four types of diagnostic plots that show (i) the chromatograms of the isotope peaks of each compound in each sample group; (ii) the ratio of mono-isotopic and labelled peaks indicating the fraction of labelling; (iii) the average peak area of mono-isotopic and labelled peaks in each sample group; and (iv) the trend in the relative amount of labelling in a predetermined isotopomer. To aid further statistical analyses, the values used for generating these plots are also provided as a tab-delimited file. We demonstrate the power and versatility of mzMatch–ISO by analysing a 13C-labelled metabolome dataset from trypanosomal parasites.</p&gt

mzMatch-ISO: an R tool for the annotation and relative quantification of isotope-labelled mass spectrometry data

<p>Motivation: Stable isotope-labelling experiments have recently gained increasing popularity in metabolomics studies, providing unique insights into the dynamics of metabolic fluxes, beyond the steady-state information gathered by routine mass spectrometry. However, most liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry data analysis software lacks features that enable automated annotation and relative quantification of labelled metabolite peaks. Here, we describe mzMatch–ISO, a new extension to the metabolomics analysis pipeline mzMatch.R.</p> <p>Results: Targeted and untargeted isotope profiling using mzMatch–ISO provides a convenient visual summary of the quality and quantity of labelling for every metabolite through four types of diagnostic plots that show (i) the chromatograms of the isotope peaks of each compound in each sample group; (ii) the ratio of mono-isotopic and labelled peaks indicating the fraction of labelling; (iii) the average peak area of mono-isotopic and labelled peaks in each sample group; and (iv) the trend in the relative amount of labelling in a predetermined isotopomer. To aid further statistical analyses, the values used for generating these plots are also provided as a tab-delimited file. We demonstrate the power and versatility of mzMatch–ISO by analysing a 13C-labelled metabolome dataset from trypanosomal parasites.</p&gt

Trophic Ecology of Meso- and Bathypelagic Predatory Fishes in the Gulf of Mexico

The trophic ecology of eight circumglobal meso- and bathypelagic fishes (Anoplogaster cornuta, Chauliodus sloani, Coccorella atlantica, Gigantura chuni, G. indica, Omosudis lowii, Photostomias guernei, and Stomias affinis) with contrasting vertical migration habits (vertical migrators vs. non-migrators) were examined using stable isotope analysis (SIA). Mean δ13C values of these predators were similar among species, ranging from –18.17 to –18.99 ‰, suggesting that all species are supported by a similar carbon source. This finding was supported by mixing-model analysis; all of these deep-living predators received the majority (\u3e73%) of their carbon from epipelagic food resources. Mean δ15N values of the predators ranged from 9.18 to 11.13 ‰, resulting in trophic position estimates between the third and fourth trophic level, although significant shifts in δ15N with increasing body size suggest that some of these species undergo ontogenetic shifts in trophic position. Bayesian standard ellipses, used to estimate isotopic niche areas, differed in size among species, with those occupying the highest relative trophic positions possessing the largest isotopic niches. These results, which provide the first trophic descriptions using dietary tracers for several of these species, offer insight into the trophic structure of deep-sea ecosystems and will help inform the construction of ecosystem-based models

Practices of Rural Egyptian Birth Attendants During the Antenatal, Intrapartum and Early Neonatal Periods

Neonatal deaths account for almost two-thirds of infant mortality worldwide; most deaths are preventable. Two-thirds of neonatal deaths occur during the first week of life, usually at home. While previous Egyptian studies have identified provider practices contributing to maternal mortality, none has focused on neonatal care. A survey of reported practices of birth attendants was administered. Chi-square tests were used for measuring the statistical significance of inter-regional differences. In total, 217 recently-delivered mothers in rural areas of three governorates were interviewed about antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care they received. This study identified antenatal advice of birth attendants to mothers about neonatal care and routine intrapartum and postpartum practices. While mothers usually received antenatal care from physicians, traditional birth attendants (dayas) conducted most deliveries. Advice was rare, except for breastfeeding. Routine practices included hand-washing by attendants, sterile cord-cutting, prompt wrapping of newborns, and postnatal home visits. Suboptimal practices included lack of disinfection of delivery instruments, unhygienic cord care, lack of weighing of newborns, and lack of administration of eye prophylaxis or vitamin K. One-third of complicated deliveries occurred at home, commonly attended by relatives, and the umbilical cord was frequently pulled to hasten delivery of the placenta. In facilities, mothers reported frequent use of forceps, and asphyxiated neonates were often hung upside-down during resuscitation. Consequently, high rates of birth injuries were reported. Priority areas for behaviour change and future research to improve neonatal health outcomes were identified, specific to type of provider (physician, nurse, or daya) and regional variations in practices