Lexical patterns, features and knowledge resources for coreference resolution in clinical notes

Generation of entity coreference chains provides a means to extract linked narrative events from clinical notes, but despite being a well-researched topic in natural language processing, general- purpose coreference tools perform poorly on clinical texts. This paper presents a knowledge-centric and pattern-based approach to resolving coreference across a wide variety of clinical records comprising discharge summaries, progress notes, pathology, radiology and surgical reports from two corpora (Ontology Development and Information Extraction (ODIE) and i2b2/VA). In addition, a method for generating coreference chains using progressively pruned linked lists is demonstrated that reduces the search space and facilitates evaluation by a number of metrics. Independent evaluation results show an F-measure for each corpus of 79.2% and 87.5%, respectively, which offers performance at least as good as human annotators, greatly increased performance over general- purpose tools, and improvement on previously reported clinical coreference systems. The system uses a number of open-source components that are available to download

Combine & Conquer: Assessing the Components of a Comprehensive Book Acquisition Strategy

With the advent of e-journals and other electronic content, the centrality of print books within library collections was challenged. At the same time, internet-based technologies made it easier and faster to discover and acquire both print and e-books. Today there is a much wider variety of book acquisition modes than ever before and they differ significantly in number of accessible titles per acquisition dollar. However, flat or declining library budgets, along with increases in electronic journal subscription rates, put downward pressure on monograph funding. As a response to shrinking funding and increasing researcher expectations of immediate access to a greater wealth of information, many academic libraries are changing the way they think about collections. The emphasis is now moving towards access over ownership, as well as towards data-driven approaches to selection and acquisition of the most relevant books in print and electronic formats. Given this landscape, it is crucial for libraries to define a well-reasoned, comprehensive strategy that represents an optimal mix of all available acquisition modes. Each library’s strategy should reflect its institutional priorities relative to content quality and availability, usability, permanence, as well as cost-related factors such as individual purchase price, overall affordability, and predictability. Attendees will explore a comprehensive book acquisition strategy that employs multiple approaches to maximizing access within a sustainable financial model. The relative advantages and trade-offs associated with each component of the strategy will be discussed based on their value to The Claremont Colleges Library and its users. Each attendee will gain valuable takeaways that will provide them with the tools to customize the strategy to their library’s priorities

Roles, responsibilities, and decision-making power in Collection Development

Our Library’s approach to collection development has evolved over time. Subject Liaisons no longer have assigned budget funds for each subject area, but instead work with consolidated discipline budgets within disciplinary teams to select books and make recommendations for larger purchases. These contributions to collection development are done in close collaboration with Collections Librarians and staff and in addition to Subject Liaisons\u27 instruction, research support, and outreach responsibilities. In addition to maintaining subscriptions and regular book purchasing, each year the Library selects larger and/or ongoing resources for acquisition from a long list of options accumulated through faculty and student requests, as well as offers received directly from vendors, or through SCELC. While discipline level collection development encourages closer collaboration within the discipline teams and provides for increased flexibility in spending on larger multi-subject purchases and subscriptions, it reduces some of the clarity and accountability for individual liaisons and surfaces important questions regarding process transparency and decision-making power. To ensure that our collection development work is built on transparent and reciprocal communication among all stakeholders, we built a strong relationship of interdependence and trust between liaisons and collections staff. We established internal infrastructures, tools for data collection and communication, and defined roles and responsibilities for the various participants in the process, specifying whether input, decision, or action is required. This presentation describes the workflow for big ticket items consideration and provide examples of successfully engaging various stakeholders in collection development decisions

Effect of Isoteoline on Seizure Susceptibility in Pentylenetetrazole-Treated Mice

The present work was designed to examine the effect of isoteoline on neuronal excitability in mice. Isoteoline has previously been shown to behave as a S-HT2 antagonist in a number of experimental settings with results indicating possible selectivity of the compound for 5-HT2C receptors. These serotonergic receptors are implicated, amongst many other functions, in modulating seizure susceptibility. Mutant mice lacking 5-HT2C receptors have been shown to suffer spontaneous seizures and higher mortality. This has lead to the notion that serotonin may be involved in the pathogenesis of epilepsy. However, no 5-HT2 antagonist has sofar been shown to possess pro-convulsive activity. We used the model of pentylnetetrazole (PTZ)-induced seizures to assess the anticonvulsive effect of the 5-HT2C agonist chlorophenylpiperazine (mCPP). It proved to prevent significantly the clonic and tonic seizures induced by a sub-maximal dose of PTZ. 1ST which was expected if anything to act pro-convulsively was tested against PTZ at a dose equal to its ED50. No such effect was observed; on the contrary, a slight insignificant anticonvulsive tendency was noted. On the other hand, IST tended to antagonize the anticonvulsive effect of mCPP, but the effect failed to reach statistical significance. The results are discussed in the light of similar data from the literature concerning 5-HT2C antagonists. In addition, the failure of 1ST to significantly antagonize the protective effect of mCPP is sought to be explained, possibly by its dopaminomimetic activity

Effects of Isoteoline in Experimental Tests for Memory and Sedation in Mice

Isoteoline (IST) has been previously shown to possess anxiolytic activity in models of mice and rats. The aim of the present study was to examine this compound for potential memory-impairing and sedative effects. IST was compared with scopolamine and diazepam known for their anterograde amnesia, in respect to information acquisition. Diazepam served also as a sedative standard. Passive avoidance test was used to explore the effect of the drugs on the cognitive processes. Memory components such as acquisition, consolidation and retrieval were assessed depending on the time of drugs' administration relative to the training session and the retention session 24h later. We measured open field locomotion as an index of possible sedation. The results showed that IST was devoid of adverse effects on cognition. Unlike diazepam and scopolamine, IST tended to improve acquisition. It had no effect on memory consolidation and retrieval. IST did not reduce locomotion as well as thus differing from diazepam also in this respect. The lack of amnesic and sedative effects of IST adds favourably to its anxiolytic activity