Recommendations for a policy regarding online searching at the Cape May County Library

The purpose of this thesis is to ascertain and compare the methods used by other New Jersey public libraries in order to best serve their patrons\u27 needs in a technological society. The libraries of today, including Cape May County Public Library, are facing the challenge of providing online services to an ever more sophisticated clientele. At the same time, the funds for these services may be difficult to obtain. A questionnaire was sent to fifteen New Jersey public libraries, twelve of whom responded. Questions involving the type of online searching being done at their institution were raised. Also questioned were the costs involved in these searches and the amount of patron involvement needed in both cost recovery and search strategies. Also studied was the type of magazine services available and the cost of such services to the patrons. According to the statistics gathered, patrons are an integral part of search procedures. Patrons are interviewed or required to be present for the search. In some libraries request-for-search forms are used as a management tool for online searches. sixty percent of the libraries surveyed pass at least some of the cost of searching on to their patrons. The most popular online sources involve the subject areas of business, health and current events. Based on information obtained, the following recommendation was made as far as policy at the Cape May County Public Library. Each patron that desires to obtain information via online services will be asked to fill out a request-for-search form as is illustrated in chapter four of this work. This form has been designed with the conclusions of the questionnaire as a basis for the information

Hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury

Hepatic ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is a complex phenomenon occuring in response to interruption of the liver’s blood and oxygen supply and the subsequent restoration of blood flow and tissue oxygenation. Techniques to reduce blood loss and other intra-operative manoeuvers during liver resection can cause hepatic I/R injury. I/R injury to the liver is also unavoidable during the transplantation procedure. This directly impacts liver viability with consequences ranging from mild organ dysfunction to hepatic failure. Hepatic I/R injury has been extensively studied but there is still much to be understood. Paper I studied the effect of portal triad clamping (PTC) on hepatic metabolism in patients undergoing liver resection using intrahepatic microdialysis to monitor glucose, lactate and pyruvate as markers of ischemia and glycerol as a marker of cell membrane damage. The lactate/pyruvate ratio (L/Pr) was also calculated. PTC induced considerable alterations, with anaerobic metabolism and increased glycogenolysis manifested by increased levels of glucose, lactate and L/Pr and cell membrane damage evidenced by increased levels of glycerol Papers II and III were methodological studies of hepatic microdialysis in pig models. We could show that microdialysis catheters with membrane cut-off of 20 and 100 kDa could be used equally in hepatic microdialysis for monitoring the products of glucose metabolism and glycerol. However, microdialysis performed using a catheter placed directly in the middle hepatic vein was not equivalent to direct intrahepatic monitoring of the same metabolites. Paper IV investigated the effects of warm I/R injury induced by PTC on hepatic morphology at the ultrastructural level and on the expression of the thioredoxin and glutaredoxin redox systems. On electron microscopy, a significant loss of the liver sinusoidal endothelial cell (LSEC) lining was observed and a decrease of hepatocyte microvilli. Hepatocellular morphology was well preserved apart from the appearance of crystalline mitochondrial inclusions. After reperfusion the LSEC lining showed signs of reactivation. No significant changes were observed in the TRX and GRX redox systems. Paper V explored the value of L/Pr measured by microdialysis as a marker for ischemic complications in 45 patients undergoing liver transplantation (LT). Raised L/Pr defined according to protocol were identified in 24 patients but none were predictive of clinically significant ischemic complications. L/Pr is thus not a reliable marker of clinically significant ischemic events after LT. Paper VI evaluated microdialysis as a postoperative monitoring tool for detection of acute cellular rejection (ACR) in patients undergoing LT. ACR was diagnosed in 33 of 71 transplanted patients. Results revealed metabolic patterns indicating a possible relation between the severity of primary I/R injury and the development of ACR. In conclusion, warm ischemia induced by PTC causes significant alterations in hepatic metabolism and ultrastructure. L/Pr measured by microdialysis is not a reliable marker for detecting clinically significant ischemic complications early after LT. Primary I/R injury experienced by the organ during the LT procedure may be associated with the development of ACR. It may be possible to monitor larger molecules using microdialysis with 100kDa catheters without affecting the monitoring of small molecules. To get reliable results when monitoring hepatic metabolism by microdialysis the catheter should be placed intrahepatically

Miniaturized Gas Correlation Radiometer for the Detection of Trace Gases in the Martian Atmosphere

We present a miniaturized and simplified version of a gas correlation radiometer (GCR) capable of simultaneously mapping multiple trace gases and identifying active regions on the Mars surface. Gas correlation radiometry (GCR) has been shown to be a sensitive and versatile method for detecting trace gases in Earth's atmosphere. Reduction of the size and mass of the GCR was achieved by implementing compact, light-weight 1 mm inner diameter hollow-core optical fibers (hollow waveguides) as the gas correlation cells. In a comparison with an Earth orbiting CO2 GCR instrument, exchanging the 10 m multipass cells with hollow waveguide gas correlation cells of equivalent path length reduces the mass from approximately 150 kg to approximately 0.5 kg, and reduces the volume from 1.9 m x 1.3 m x 0.86 m to a small bundle of fiber coils approximately 1 meter in diameter by 0.05 m in height (mass and volume reductions of greater than 99%). A unique feature of this instrument is its stackable module design, with a single module for each trace gas. Each of the modules is self-contained, and fundamentally identical; differing by the bandpass filter wavelength range and gas mixtures inside the hollow-waveguide absorption cells. The current configuration contains four stacked modules for simultaneous measurements of methane (CH4), formaldehyde (H2CO), water vapor (H2O), and deuterated water vapor (HDO) but could easily be expanded to include measurements of additional species of interest including nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), methanol (CH3OH), and sulfur dioxide (SO2), as well as carbon dioxide (CO2) for a simultaneous measure of mass balance. Preliminary results indicate that a 1 ppb detection limit is possible for both formaldehyde and methane with one second of averaging. Using non-optimized components, we have demonstrated an instrument sensitivity equivalent to approximately 30 ppb for formaldehyde, and approximately 500 ppb for methane. We expect custom bandpass filters and 6 m long waveguides to significantly improve these promising results. Ongoing testing is being conducted on water vapor and deuterated water vapor

Miniaturized Hollow-Waveguide Gas Correlation Radiometer (GCR) for Trace Gas Detection in the Martian Atmosphere

Gas correlation radiometry (GCR) has been shown to be a sensitive and versatile method for detecting trace gases in Earth's atmosphere. Here, we present a miniaturized and simplified version of this instrument capable of mapping multiple trace gases and identifying active regions on the Mars surface. Reduction of the size and mass of the GCR instrument has been achieved by implementing a lightweight, 1 mm inner diameter hollow-core optical fiber (hollow waveguide) for the gas correlation cell. Based on a comparison with an Earth orbiting CO2 gas correlation instrument, replacement of the 10 meter mUltipass cell with hollow waveguide of equivalent pathlength reduces the cell mass from approx 150 kg to approx 0.5 kg, and reduces the volume from 1.9 m x 1.3 m x 0.86 m to a small bundle of fiber coils approximately I meter in diameter by 0.05 m in height (mass and volume reductions of >99%). This modular instrument technique can be expanded to include measurements of additional species of interest including nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), methanol (CH3OH), and sulfur dioxide (SO2), as well as carbon dioxide (CO2) for a simultaneous measure of mass balance

Genetic variation in FAAH is associated with cannabis use disorders in a young adult sample of Mexican Americans

Cannabis is a commonly used drug and studies have shown that a significant portion of the variation in cannabis use disorders (CUDs) is heritable. Five genes known to play a role in the endocannabinoid system and CUDs were examined in a community sample of young adult Mexican Americans (MAs): CNR1, MGLL, FAAH, DAGLA, and DAGLB

Occultation studies of Neptune

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, 1984.Microfiche copy available in Archives and Science.Bibliography: leaves 40-41.by Pamela A. Melroy.M.S

Uncertainty Analysis for the Miniaturized Laser Heterodyne Radiometer (mini-LHR)

Presented here is a sensitivity analysis for the miniaturized laser heterodyne radiometer (mini-LHR). This passive, ground-based instrument measures carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmospheric column and has been under development at NASA/GSFC since 2009. The goal of this development is to produce a low-cost, easily-deployable instrument that can extend current ground measurement networks in order to (1) validate column satellite observations, (2) provide coverage in regions of limited satellite observations, (3) target regions of interest such as thawing permafrost, and (4) support the continuity of a long-term climate record. In this paper an uncertainty analysis of the instrument performance is presented and compared with results from three sets of field measurements. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and corresponding uncertainty for a single scan are calculated to be 329.4+/-1.3 by deploying error propagation through the equation governing the SNR. Reported is an absorbance noise of 0.0024 for 6 averaged scans of field data, for an instrument precision of approximately 0.2 ppmv for CO2

Field Results from Three Campaigns to Validate the Performance of the Miniaturized Laser Heterodyne Radiometer (MiniLHR) for Measuring Carbon Dioxide and Methane in the Atmospheric Column

In a collaboration between NASA GSFC and GWU, a low-cost, surface instrument is being developed that can continuously monitor key carbon cycle gases in the atmospheric column: carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). The instrument is based on a miniaturized, laser heterodyne radiometer (LHR) using near infrared (NIR) telecom lasers. Despite relatively weak absorption line strengths in this spectral region, spectrallyresolved atmospheric column absorptions for these two molecules fall in the range of 60-80% and thus sensitive and precise measurements of column concentrations are possible. In the last year, the instrument was deployed for field measurements at Park Falls, Wisconsin; Castle Airport near Atwater, California; and at the NOAA Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. For each subsequent campaign, improvement in the figures of merit for the instrument has been observed. In the latest work the absorbance noise is approaching 0.002 optical density (OD) noise on a 1.8 OD signal. An overview of the measurement campaigns and the data retrieval algorithm for the calculation of column concentrations will be presented. For light transmission through the atmosphere, it is necessary to account for variation of pressure, temperature, composition, and refractive index through the atmosphere that are all functions of latitude, longitude, time of day, altitude, etc. For temperature, pressure, and humidity profiles with altitude we use the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) data. Spectral simulation is accomplished by integrating short-path segments along the trajectory using the SpecSyn spectral simulation suite developed at GW. Column concentrations are extracted by minimizing residuals between observed and modeled spectrum using the Nelder-Mead simplex algorithm. We will also present an assessment of uncertainty in the reported concentrations from assumptions made in the meteorological data, LHR instrument and tracker noise, and radio frequency bandwidth and describe additional future goals in instrument development and deployment targe

A Miniaturized Laser Heterodyne Radiometer for a Global Ground-Based Column Carbon Monitoring Network

We present progress in the development of a passive, miniaturized Laser Heterodyne Radiometer (mini-LHR) that will measure key greenhouse gases (C02, CH4, CO) in the atmospheric column as well as their respective altitude profiles, and O2 for a measure of atmospheric pressure. Laser heterodyne radiometry is a spectroscopic method that borrows from radio receiver technology. In this technique, a weak incoming signal containing information of interest is mixed with a stronger signal (local oscillator) at a nearby frequency. In this case, the weak signal is sunlight that has undergone absorption by a trace gas of interest and the local oscillator is a distributive feedback (DFB) laser that is tuned to a wavelength near the absorption feature of the trace gas. Mixing the sunlight with the laser light, in a fast photoreceiver, results in a beat signal in the RF. The amplitude of the beat signal tracks the concentration of the trace gas in the atmospheric column. The mini-LHR operates in tandem with AERONET, a global network of more than 450 aerosol sensing instruments. This partnership simplifies the instrument design and provides an established global network into which the mini-LHR can rapidly expand. This network offers coverage in key arctic regions (not covered by OCO-2) where accelerated warming due to the release of CO2 and CH4 from thawing tundra and permafrost is a concern as well as an uninterrupted data record that will both bridge gaps in data sets and offer validation for key flight missions such as OCO-2, OCO-3, and ASCENDS. Currently, the only ground global network that routinely measures multiple greenhouse gases in the atmospheric column is TCCON (Total Column Carbon Observing Network) with 18 operational sites worldwide and two in the US. Cost and size of TCCON installations will limit the potential for expansion, We offer a low-cost $30Klunit) solution to supplement these measurements with the added benefit of an established aerosol optical depth measurement. Aerosols induce a radiative effect that is an important modulator of regional carbon cycles. Changes in the diffuse radiative flux fraction (DRF) due to aerosol loading have the potential to alter the terrestrial carbon exchange