Connecting Knowledge Silos: Tying Together Institutional Repositories for Research Cohesion and Inclusive Information Access

Since the first free research-sharing site, arXiv, appeared in 1991, the push for open access to combat exorbitant subscription models has seen the number of institutional and research repositories jump to over 4,000. However, with each encased in its own architectural edifice, how is robust research synergy being achieved if researchers are consulting these storehouses of knowledge separately rather than as a collective? Writing in The Atlantic in 1945, Director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, Dr. Vannevar Bush, observed that the “publication has been extended far beyond our present ability to make real use of the record.” Was Bush’s remark of seven decades ago prescient of today’s ongoing challenge of research collections outstripping access? Indeed, how to provide efficient access to the record of knowledge is still a bewildering task of repository creators and critics, alike. In 2011, the Confederation of Open Access Repositories issued a plea for “connecting and tying together repositories” in order to harness the “real power of Open Access...” a sentiment found five years later in Director of the Coalition for Networked Information Clifford Lynch’s call for “more shared or collective platforms and services rather than highly distributed approaches.” Other critics such as Information Technology Consultant Eric Van de Velde boldly proclaimed that the institutional repository is “obsolete” and “must be phased out and replaced…” This brief presentation aims to explore the conflicting sentiments around the proliferation of research and institutional repositories and their impact on research synergy and inclusive access

An enhanced platform for cell electroporation: controlled delivery and electrodes functionalization

n/

REDIENTE: historia clínica odontológica ubicua con indicadores de calidad de servicios y evaluación epidemiológica

REDIENTE es un registro clínico en una base de datos accesible en internet, con vocación nacional y manejo local por parte de los odontólogos en sus consultorios individuales o en instituciones. Un carnet REDIENTE con copia de la historia clínica queda en poder del paciente que une todos los eventos en un hilo documental coherente. Las variables de la Historia Clínica Odontológica (HCO) son las indispensables para certificar una buena atención. Los indicadores de REDIENTE sobre poblaciones permiten describir situaciones de salud bucal, evaluar calidad de atención y hacer el seguimiento docente. REDIENTE respeta la legislación sobre protección de datos personales del paciente.REDIENTE is an interdisciplinary solution for a multifaceted problem: standardization of dental care documentation, creation of a teaching supervision tool and designing a management application for dental care quality assurance. Distribution of data and information are addressed by giving the patient a copy of the basic record, the Dental Clinical Record (HCO for the Spanish “Historia Clínica Odontológica”) and by designing a web application. HCO contains the skeleton of dental care record including items of procedures performed, complications, office dates and periodic odontogram. REDIENTE displays quality of care and learning indicators as selective queries to the database. www.rediente.org.uy.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ

REDIENTE: historia clínica odontológica ubicua con indicadores de calidad de servicios y evaluación epidemiológica

REDIENTE es un registro clínico en una base de datos accesible en internet, con vocación nacional y manejo local por parte de los odontólogos en sus consultorios individuales o en instituciones. Un carnet REDIENTE con copia de la historia clínica queda en poder del paciente que une todos los eventos en un hilo documental coherente. Las variables de la Historia Clínica Odontológica (HCO) son las indispensables para certificar una buena atención. Los indicadores de REDIENTE sobre poblaciones permiten describir situaciones de salud bucal, evaluar calidad de atención y hacer el seguimiento docente. REDIENTE respeta la legislación sobre protección de datos personales del paciente.REDIENTE is an interdisciplinary solution for a multifaceted problem: standardization of dental care documentation, creation of a teaching supervision tool and designing a management application for dental care quality assurance. Distribution of data and information are addressed by giving the patient a copy of the basic record, the Dental Clinical Record (HCO for the Spanish “Historia Clínica Odontológica”) and by designing a web application. HCO contains the skeleton of dental care record including items of procedures performed, complications, office dates and periodic odontogram. REDIENTE displays quality of care and learning indicators as selective queries to the database. www.rediente.org.uy.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ

REDIENTE: historia clínica odontológica ubicua con indicadores de calidad de servicios y evaluación epidemiológica

REDIENTE es un registro clínico en una base de datos accesible en internet, con vocación nacional y manejo local por parte de los odontólogos en sus consultorios individuales o en instituciones. Un carnet REDIENTE con copia de la historia clínica queda en poder del paciente que une todos los eventos en un hilo documental coherente. Las variables de la Historia Clínica Odontológica (HCO) son las indispensables para certificar una buena atención. Los indicadores de REDIENTE sobre poblaciones permiten describir situaciones de salud bucal, evaluar calidad de atención y hacer el seguimiento docente. REDIENTE respeta la legislación sobre protección de datos personales del paciente.REDIENTE is an interdisciplinary solution for a multifaceted problem: standardization of dental care documentation, creation of a teaching supervision tool and designing a management application for dental care quality assurance. Distribution of data and information are addressed by giving the patient a copy of the basic record, the Dental Clinical Record (HCO for the Spanish “Historia Clínica Odontológica”) and by designing a web application. HCO contains the skeleton of dental care record including items of procedures performed, complications, office dates and periodic odontogram. REDIENTE displays quality of care and learning indicators as selective queries to the database. www.rediente.org.uy.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ

Low expression of the putative tumour suppressor spinophilin is associated with higher proliferative activity and poor prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Spinophilin, a multifunctional intracellular scaffold protein, is reduced in certain types of cancer and is regarded as a novel putative tumour suppressor protein. However, the role of spinophilin in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has never been explored before. METHODS: In this study, we determined for the first time the expression pattern of spinophilin in human HCC by immunohistochemistry and quantitative reverse transcriptase–PCR analysis. In addition, we performed immunohistochemical analysis of p53, p14(ARF) and the proliferation marker Ki-67. Kaplan–Meier curves and multivariate Cox proportional models were used to study the impact on clinical outcome. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) was used to silence spinophilin and to explore the effects of reduced spinophilin expression on cellular growth. RESULTS: In our study, complete loss of spinophilin immunoreactivity was found in 44 of 104 HCCs (42.3%) and reduced levels were found in an additional 37 (35.6%) cases. After adjusting for other prognostic factors, multivariate Cox regression analysis identified low expression of spinophilin as an independent prognostic factor with respect to disease-free (hazard ratio (HR)=1.8; 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.04–3.40; P=0.043) and cancer-specific survival (HR=2.0; CI=1.1–3.8; P=0.025). Reduced spinophilin expression significantly correlated with higher Ki-67 index in HCC (P=0.014). Reducing spinophilin levels by siRNA induced a higher cellular growth rate and increased cyclin D2 expression in tumour cells (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: This is the first study of the expression pattern and distribution of spinophilin in HCC. According to our data, the loss of spinophilin is associated with higher proliferation and might be useful as a prognostic marker in patients with HCC

Increased neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio is a poor prognostic factor in patients with primary operable and inoperable pancreatic cancer

Background: The neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has been proposed as an indicator of systemic inflammatory response. Previous findings from small-scale studies revealed conflicting results about its independent prognostic significance with regard to different clinical end points in pancreatic cancer (PC) patients. Therefore, the aim of our study was the external validation of the prognostic significance of NLR in a large cohort of PC patients. Methods: Data from 371 consecutive PC patients, treated between 2004 and 2010 at a single centre, were evaluated retrospectively. The whole cohort was stratified into two groups according to the treatment modality. Group 1 comprised 261 patients with inoperable PC at diagnosis and group 2 comprised 110 patients with surgically resected PC. Cancer-specific survival (CSS) was assessed using the Kaplan–Meier method. To evaluate the independent prognostic significance of the NLR, the modified Glasgow prognostic score (mGPS) and the platelet-lymphocyte ratio univariate and multivariate Cox regression models were applied. Results: Multivariate analysis identified increased NLR as an independent prognostic factor for inoperable PC patients (hazard ratio (HR)=2.53, confidence interval (CI)=1.64–3.91, P<0.001) and surgically resected PC patients (HR=1.61, CI=1.02–2.53, P=0.039). In inoperable PC patients, the mGPS was associated with poor CSS only in univariate analysis (HR=1.44, CI=1.04–1.98). Conclusion: Risk prediction for cancer-related end points using NLR does add independent prognostic information to other well-established prognostic factors in patients with PC, regardless of the undergoing therapeutic modality. Thus, the NLR should be considered for future individual risk assessment in patients with PC

Seeking String Theory in the Cosmos

We review the existence, formation and properties of cosmic strings in string theory, the wide variety of observational techniques that are being employed to detect them, and the constraints that current observations impose on string theory models.Comment: 25 pages; contribution for String Cosmology issue of Classical and Quantum Gravity. References added and other improvements. Matches journal versio

Cortical depth dependent functional responses in humans at 7T: improved specificity with 3D GRASE

Ultra high fields (7T and above) allow functional imaging with high contrast-to-noise ratios and improved spatial resolution. This, along with improved hardware and imaging techniques, allow investigating columnar and laminar functional responses. Using gradient-echo (GE) (T2* weighted) based sequences, layer specific responses have been recorded from human (and animal) primary visual areas. However, their increased sensitivity to large surface veins potentially clouds detecting and interpreting layer specific responses. Conversely, spin-echo (SE) (T2 weighted) sequences are less sensitive to large veins and have been used to map cortical columns in humans. T2 weighted 3D GRASE with inner volume selection provides high isotropic resolution over extended volumes, overcoming some of the many technical limitations of conventional 2D SE-EPI, whereby making layer specific investigations feasible. Further, the demonstration of columnar level specificity with 3D GRASE, despite contributions from both stimulated echoes and conventional T2 contrast, has made it an attractive alternative over 2D SE-EPI. Here, we assess the spatial specificity of cortical depth dependent 3D GRASE functional responses in human V1 and hMT by comparing it to GE responses. In doing so we demonstrate that 3D GRASE is less sensitive to contributions from large veins in superficial layers, while showing increased specificity (functional tuning) throughout the cortex compared to GE