Google Library Project, Internet archive i open content alliance : walka o powszechny dostęp do kolekcji cyfrowych z perspektywy amerykańskiej

Przedstawiono perspektywy rozwoju form płatnego i darmowego dostępu do kolekcji cyfrowych w Stanach Zjednoczonych w kontekście niedawnych rozstrzygnięć sądowych zapadłych w sporze wokół Google Library Project. Wielu bibliotekarzy obawia się, że następstwem tych rozstrzygnięć mogą być ograniczenia w dostępie do książek i w prawach do ich wykorzystywania przez biblioteki akademickie i publiczne. Bibliotekarze chcą mieć pewność, że zasada wypożyczania i dzielenia się materiałami obowiązuje także w świecie cyfrowym, i nie podlega restrykcjom wynikającym z prawa handlowego ani z ochrony interesów wielkich korporacji. Omówiono rozwiązania alternatywne wobec form dostępu płatnego, m.in. inicjatywy organizacji Open Content Alliance i Internet Archive, starających się o zapewnienie społeczności badaczy, historyków i uczonych powszechnego, stałego dostępu do cyfrowych kolekcji dokumentów archiwalnych. Obie te organizacje wciąż rozbudowują swoje kolekcje zdygitalizowanych wielojęzycznych dokumentów tekstowych i materiałów multimedialnych. Zaprezentowany opis rozwiązań amerykańskich może okazać się przydatny dla decydentów i innych podmiotów uczestniczących w tworzeniu kolekcji cyfrowych w Polsce i w innych krajach europejskich.The article examines the future of free and fee-based access to digital collections in the United States, following the recent settlement of the litigation concerning the Google Library Project. The settlement made many librarians uneasy about potential limitations on access to and use of books for academic and public libraries. Librarians need to ensure that the principles of borrowing and sharing are expanded in a digital world, not circumscribed by contract law or limited by corporate interests. Alternatives to fee-based services are discussed, including the Open Content Alliance and the Internet Archive that strive to offer permanent and universal access to researches, historians, and scholars to historical collections that exist in digital format. Both organizations continue to build a permanent archive of multilingual digitized text and multimedia content. The article offers insights into American digital world that may be useful for Polish and other European designers and policy makers involved in building digital collections in their countries

Centrum Międzynarodowego Szkolenia Bibliotekarzy im. Waltera i Gerdy Mortensonów : międzynarodowe bibliotekarstwo w zmieniającym się świecie

The Mortenson Center for International Library Programs, established in 1991 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has welcomed more than 700 librarians from 89 countries to participate in its educational and professional development programs. The main purpose of various programs and projects developed by the Center is to provide continuing education for librarians, which may assist in overcoming cultural and educational inequalities occurring in developing countries, and fosters international cooperation in the area of library services and library education. The paper will discuss the Center's mission and its changing focus, the most distinguished programs and projects, LIS mini-courses especially geared towards Mortenson associates, and the Mortenson Center cooperation with other foundations in the area of funding the Center's programs. The Center's activities and management will be examined as possible models for a successful international cooperation between library educators and professionals.Z oferty edukacyjnej The Mortenson Center for International Library Programs, które zostało założone w 1991 roku na University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, skorzystało do tej pory ponad 700 bibliotekarzy z 89 krajów. Głównym celem różnych programów i projektów realizowanych przez tę instytucję było rozwijanie edukacji permanentnej dla bibliotekarzy, która mogłaby pomagać w przełamywaniu kulturalnych i edukacyjnych nierówności w krajach rozwijających się oraz wspierać rozwój międzynarodowej współpracy w obszarze usług bibliotecznych i edukacji bibliotekarskiej. Przedstawiono misję Centrum i jego zmieniający się główny obszar zainteresowań, najważniejsze programy i projekty, mini-kursy z zakresu informacji naukowej i bibliotekoznawstwa zaprojektowane specjalnie dla "członków Centrum" oraz współpracę w zakresie finansowania programów oferowanych przez Centrum. Działania Centrum i sposób zarządzania zostały przeanalizowane pod kątem możliwości ich wykorzystania jako skutecznych i sprawdzonych modeli realizowania współpracy międzynarodowej między edukatorami z zakresu bibliotekarstwa i profesjonalistami

Alpha-methylacyl-CoA racemase and hepsin as urinary prostate cancer markers

Background: Because of the numerous limitations of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), α-methylacyl-CoA racemase (AMACR) and hepsin have recently been suggested as potential biomarkers in prostate cancer (PC). This report presents a comparison study of the presence of AMACR and hepsin in urine collected before and after digital rectal examination (DRE) as a previously suggested diagnostic marker for PC. Methods: Seventy-six urine samples (38 before and 38 after prostate massage) from patients with benign prostatę hyperplasia (BPH) and 66 urine samples (33 before and 33 after prostate massage) from patients with PC were analyzed. PC was confirmed by prostate biopsy. Urinary levels of AMACR and hepsin were determined by ELISA and related to the tumor stage, Gleason score and PSA level. Results: AMACR and hepsin levels in urine collected after prostate massage were higher only in the PC group. There were no correlations between AMACR levels, hepsin levels, tumor stage and Gleason score. AMACR and hepsin did not differentiate between BPH and PC with better true positive and false negative rates than serum PSA. Conclusions: AMACR and hepsin were unable to diagnose PC with better true positive and false negative rates than PSA. An additional procedure combined with other markers should be applied for the reliable diagnosis of PC

Preservation and Access of Illinois Newspapers

These presentations for the 2017 Conference on Illinois History discuss preservation and access of Illinois newspapers, specifically focusing on non-English newspapers published in Chicago. The first section addresses the history of newspaper preservation in libraries, looking into challenges Illinois libraries have faced historically, as well as those they will face in the future as they endeavor to steward a comprehensive record of journalism in print. The second section examines Polish-American newspapers in American and European digital collections and addresses the importance of including Polish-American newspaper content in the Library of Congress Chronicling America database. The third section explores the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP) and its goal of building an online, fully-searchable database of U.S. newspapers featuring curated digitized content. The final section discusses the 2016-2018 NDNP project at the U of I, evaluating complexities of making non-English content accessible and searchable.Ope

Does morphine administration affect ticagrelor conversion to its active metabolite in patients with acute myocardial infarction? A sub-analysis of the randomized, double-blind, placebo- -controlled IMPRESSION trial

Background. Therapy with aspirin and one of the platelet P2Y12 receptor inhibitors, preferably ticagrelor or prasugrel, is the mainstay of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) treatment. Morphine is the most commonly used analgesic in AMI patients. The IMPRESSION study was the first randomized trial to confirm that morphine use in this clinical setting leads to a delayed and attenuated exposure to ticagrelor and its active metabolite (AR-C124910XX). The mechanism underlying this drug-drug interaction remains hypothetical. Material and methods. A post hoc sub-analysis of the IMPRESSION study, a phase IV, single center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, was performed to examine whether morphine administration interferes with the proportion of AR-C124910XX produced from ticagrelor in AMI patients. Pharmacokinetic results of all subjects pretreated with placebo (n = 35) and morphine (n = 35) were analyzed. The ratio of total exposure to AR-C124910XX to total exposure to ticagrelor for 12 h was used to illustrate the rate of ticagrelor metabolism. Total exposure to investigated compounds was measured as the area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC). Results. The ratios of AUC(0–12) for AR-C124910XX to AUC(0–12) for ticagrelor were comparable between morphine and placebo pretreated patients (20.9 [13.9–34.6] v. 24.7 [18.1–29.6] %; p = 0.58). Importantly, visual inspection of the relationship between AUC(0–12) for AR-C124910XX and AUC(0–12) for ticagrelor revealed that regression lines for the morphine and placebo groups were located closely to each other, with a tendency for superimposing. Additionally, we observed similar values of slope coefficients for both study arms in the linear regression equations illustrating the relationship between AUC(0–12) for AR-C124910XX and AUC(0–12) for ticagrelor (0.19 [± 0.03] v. 0.21 [± 0.04]; p for the statistical significance of both slope coefficients < 0.0001). Conclusions. In the IMPRESSION study, conversion of ticagrelor to AR-C124910XX in AMI patients was not affected by morphine administration

Engrailed-2 protein as a potential urinary prostate cancer biomarker: a comparison study before and after digital rectal examination

This study was designed to compare and evaluate the presence of engrailed-2 (EN2) protein in urine collected before and after prostate massage as a diagnostic marker for prostate cancer (PCa). We analysed and compared 76 urine samples (38 before and 38 after prostate massage) from the benign group (BPH) and 66 urine samples (33 before and 33 after prostate massage) from patients with PCa confirmed by prostate biopsy. EN2 levels from the PCa and men with BPH (age range 50–82) were related to the tumour stage, Gleason score and prostate-specific antigen. EN2 levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in urine. The median EN2 levels in urine after prostate massage were significantly different from those determined in urine before prostate massage (1.25 ng/ml in the PCa group and 0.34 ng/ml in the BPH). The mean EN2 levels in PCa patients were 3.76-fold higher than those in non-PCa patients after prostate massage. The distinct influence of prostate massage on EN2 levels was found to be related to the Gleason score and tumour stage. EN2 may be considered a marker of PCa with certain limitations, such as those related to tumour staging. The specificity and sensitivity of the protocol are highly dependent on prostate massag

Effect of bolt configurations on stiffness for steel-wood-steel connection loaded parallel to grain for softwoods in Malaysia

Steel-wood-steel connection is widely seen in many applications, such as timber structures. The stiffness of steel-wood-steel connection loaded parallel to grain for softwoods originated from Malaysia was investigated in this study. Numerical models have been developed in ABAQUS to study the stiffness connection. Softwoods of Damar Minyak and Podo have been selected in this analysis. The comprehensive study focused on the effect of bolt configurations on stiffness. Numerical analysis is carried out and the developed model has been validated with the previous study. Further investigations have been made by using the validated model. From this model, numerical analysis of the stiffness values have been made for various bolt configurations, including bolt diameter, end distance, bolt spacing, number of rows and bolts and edge distance. The result shows that the stiffness of bolted timber connections for softwood depends on the bolt diameter, number of rows and bolts, end distance and edge distance. Based on the result, stiffness increased as the diameter of the bolt, end distance, number of rows and bolts and edge distance increased. It is also discovered that the stiffness equation in Eurocode 5 (EC5) is inadequate as the equation only considered parameters which are wood density and bolt diameter. Other connection parameters such as geometry are not considered in the EC5 equation

Properties of Stone Mastic Asphalt Incorporating Nano Titanium as Binder's Modifier

Stone mastic asphalt is a gap-graded mix and is usually related to its high bitumen content and its skeleton-like constitution. Although famous for its durability, high resistance to fatigue and rutting, issues such as bleeding and premature aging do occur in the mix since it has a high bitumen content and voids due to its gap-graded structure. In order to encounter these problems from affecting the mix, some instances such as adding additives, rejuvenators and stabilizers into the mixture has been implemented