Determination of iron-reducing bacterial activities in lake sediments.

Algal blooms are growing rampantly in lacustrine systems due to an increase of phosphorus, a nutrient for algae. Phosphorus is being released into the environment causing overpopulation and eutrophication which damages the ecosystem. The availability of phosphorus is affected by the solubility of iron which is regulated through iron reducing and iron oxidizing bacteria. Phosphorus adheres to insoluble Fe(III), which prohibits algae from utilizing it, while phosphorus does not attach to soluble Fe(II) and therefore it remains available to algae. The purpose of this study was to determine how bacteria influence iron solubility and what are the ideal environmental conditions required for the bacteria to metabolize specific redox states of Fe(III)/Fe(II). I conducted batch experiments over a 30 day period in which the oxygen conditions varied as well as the live and sterile incubation sets. I measured the total and dissolved Fe(II) concentrations. My study revealed that iron-reducing bacteria do in fact aid in the increase of soluble Fe(II) under anoxic conditions. In oxic environments, no Fe(II) oxidation occurred. As for the total iron, all environmental conditions stayed within a small range and decreased, then increased when there was a rise in Fe(II) in anoxic conditions and decrease of Fe(II) in oxic conditions. The result indicates that total iron decreased at the beginning of bacterial metabolism of iron, and then increased when metabolism was fully active. Furthermore, the pH indicated some correlations; when iron was metabolized by iron reducing bacteria, there was a removal of H+ ions, hence pH increased in anoxic conditions when there was an increase in Fe(II). There were issues found in this study between the live and dead batch sets; there were no variations between the two sets which could be due to improper sterilization or residual bacteria in the sterile batch sets. This work may help improve the understanding of how bacteria control the iron solubility in lacustrine environments by identifying where iron reduction takes place. Additionally, this work may aid future studies in determining how changing iron solubility affects phosphorus levels, and if oxygenating benthic sediments can decrease the flux of limiting nutrients

LibGuides: A New Platform for Customized Resource Delivery

In fall 2009, the librarians of the Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library launched the initial set of online LibGuides for the School of Public Health and Health Services. This poster presentation describes the planning, completion, and launching of those LibGuides

Scalable monitoring of student interaction indicators in exploratory learning environments

We present and evaluate a web-based architecture for monitoring student-system interaction indicators in Exploratory Learning Environments (ELEs), using as our case study a microworld for secondary school algebra. We discuss the challenging role of teachers in exploratory learning settings and motivate the need for visualisation and notification tools that can assist teachers in focusing their attention across the class and inform teachers' interventions. We present an architecture that can support such Teacher Assistance tools and demonstrate its scalability to allow concurrent usage by thousands of users (students and teachers)

Connecting to our Community: Extending Librarians\u27 Roles through Collaboration

Reaching out to various groups of their patron base, the librarians of Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library developed new initiatives to expand their roles and responsibilities. The new outreach initiatives included a film series, an instructional technology series, an art exhibit, and a medical education project. This poster presentation summarizes each initiative and the resulting impact in the user community

Humanities Commons Implementation Task Force Report

The work of the Humanities Commons Implementation Task Force grew out of its predecessor, the Humanities Commons Planning Task Force, which was established in the fall of 2018 and concluded its work in the spring of 2019. The planning group recommended adoption of the Humanities Commons platform in order to provide improvements to society-provided infrastructure for association management, membership engagement and retention, and presentation and preservation of society-authored content. In addition to these achievements, the task force has identified issues that require future action and support from the society. Recommendations include more fully integrating the ARLIS/NA Commons as a platform as well as the ARLIS/NA Manager position into society business. Actions to achieve this include editing communication to new society members to include a ARLIS/NA Commons registration link and establishing an editorial board content advisory subcommittee that facilitates discussion on the Commons, society-authored content, and records management. Additions to the ARLIS/NA Policy Manual that define expectations for accessibility and guidance on records retention for constituent groups would also benefit the society. More broadly, the task force’s work has emphasized the importance of submitting society-authored content to a repository for effective preservation and discovery. By acting as a leader in information management, the society will educate and encourage its membership and others in the profession to follow its example

Himmelfarb Web 2.0 Tools and Other Technologies: Connecting with Patrons

Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library adopted many Web 2.0 tools to accommodate the growing expectations of dynamic web and mobile services in academic libraries. This poster presentation highlights the features and tools in each Web 2.0 service. These library services include blogs, really simple syndication (RSS feeds), Camtasia tutorials, LibGuides, a multi-database search tool, and Facebook

Measurement Matters: A commentary on the state of the science on patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) in autism research

High quality science relies upon psychometrically valid and reliable measurement, yet very few Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) have been developed or thoroughly validated for use with autistic individuals. The present commentary summarizes the current state of autism PROM science, based on discussion at the Special Interest Group (SIG) at the 2022 International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) Annual Meeting and collective expertise of the authors. First, we identify current issues in autism PROM research including content and construct operationalization, informant-structure, measure accessibility, and measure validation and generalization. We then enumerate barriers to conducting and disseminating this research, such as a lack of guidance, concerns regarding funding and time, lack of accessible training and professionals with psychometric skills, difficulties collecting large representative samples, and challenges with dissemination. Lastly, we offer future priorities and resources to improve PROMs in autism research including a need to continue to evaluate and develop PROMs for autistic people using robust methods, to prioritize diverse and representative samples, to expand the breadth of psychometric properties and techniques, and to consider developing field specific guidelines. We remain extremely optimistic about the future directions of this area of autism research. This work is well positioned to have an immense, positive impact on our scientific understanding of autism and the everyday lives of autistic people and their families

Perspectives and experiences of community health workers in Brazilian primary care centers using m-health tools in home visits with community members

Abstract Background Mobile health (m-health) tools are a promising strategy to facilitate the work of community health workers (CHWs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Despite their potential value, little is known about CHWs’ experiences working with m-health tools in their outreach activities with community members. Methods To understand the benefits of and barriers to using m-health tools for CHWs, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 57 CHWs employed in six primary care centers in São Paulo, Brazil. All CHWs had experience using a cell phone application called Geohealth for collecting health and demographic data of community members. We assessed their experiences using Geohealth and recommendations for improvements. Results CHWs described key benefits of using Geohealth as helping them save time with bureaucratic paperwork, organizing the data that they needed to collect, and by replacing sheaves of paper, reducing the weight that they carried in the field. However, there were many technical and social barriers to the successful adoption of the m-health tool. Key among these were poor quality hardware, faulty software programs, and negative community member perceptions of the m-health program. The CHWs provided valuable input as to how Geohealth could be improved to fit their needs. Conclusion m-health tools have the potential to facilitate the work of CHWs in LMICs. However, such tools must be designed and implemented thoughtfully. Technical barriers related to both hardware and software must be anticipated and addressed to maximize their efficiency and successful adoption. CHW input on the design of the tool should be sought to maximize its utility and minimize barriers to use.https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138148/1/12960_2017_Article_245.pd

Lymphangiosis carcinomatosa in squamous cell carcinomas of larynx and hypopharynx – value of conventional evaluation and additional immunohistochemical staining of D2-40

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recent studies revealed a predictive value of lymphatic vessel invasion (L1) for the nodal metastasizing and poor prognosis in malignant tumors at different sites. The monoclonal antibody D2-40 (podoplanin) stains specifically endothelial cells of lymphatic vessels and improves the search for L1. However, the importance of this immunohistochemical staining was not investigated in squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) of larynx and hypopharynx.</p> <p>Aim</p> <p>This study was performed to compare the diagnostic potential of convential and immunohistochemical determination of L1 in SCC of larynx and hypopharynx with special respect to the predictive value for nodal metastasizing and prognosis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>119 SCCs of the larynx (n = 70) respectively hypopharynx (n = 49) were investigated. The lymphatic vessel invasion was assessed by conventional method (HE stain) and immunohistochemical staining with an antibody against D2-40 (DAKO, Germany). Immunohistochemistry was performed in accordance with manufacturer's protocol. L1 was searched microscopically in a standardized magnification (×200) in serial sections of tumor samples (1 section per cm tumor diameter).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The immunohistochemical investigation did not show significant advantages for the prediction of regional nodal metastases. Despite a low sensitivity (< 50%) in both methods, the specifity can reach 80%. The negative predictive value in both methods seems acceptable (up to 80%), whereas the positive predictive value is not higher than 64%. Cases with L1 detected either conventionally or immunohistochemically did not show a significant shorter survival than cases with L0. However, a non-significant shorter survival was found. Only in SCC of hypopharynx, a combination of both methods revealed patients with a significant worse prognosis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The status of lymphatic vessel invasion should be documented in standardized tumor reports. A benefit of an additional immunohistochemical investigation was not found, for the daily routine HE-stain seems sufficient.</p