Working with EEBO and ECCO

A how-to lesson on working with Early English Books Online and Eighteenth-Century Collections Online, focusing both on the basics of searching and navigating interfaces and on thinking about remediation on how EEBO and ECCO represent material texts. Presented originally at Edinburgh's "Beyond the Black Box" series in May 2017

Collective flow in (anti)proton-proton collision at Tevatron and LHC

Collective flow as a consequence of hydrodynamical evolution in heavy ion collisions is intensively studied by theorists and experimentalists to understand the behavior of hot quark matter. Due to their large mass, heavy ions suffer collective effects even at low (SPS) or intermediate energies (RHIC). In case of light systems such as (anti)proton-proton interactions, collective effects was not expected. Within a global model such as EPOS, where light and heavy systems are treated using the same physics, it appears that Tevatron data are better described if a flow is introduced. Then the extrapolation to LHC can easily be done and we can compare to first data from ATLAS experiment.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, Proceeding of the 45th Rencontres de Moriond QC

Does Neonatal Massage Lead to Reduced Stress Behavior in Medically Stable Preterm Infants in the NICU?

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this selective EBM review is to determine whether or not neonatal massage leads to reduced stress behavior in medically stable preterm infants in the NICU.STUDY DESIGN: Review of three English language primary studies published in 1996, 2005 and 2007.DATA SOURCES: Three randomized control trials comparing stress behavior in preterm infants receiving massage to a control group that did not receive massage were found using PubMed and Medline databases.OUTCOMES MEASURED: Researcher recorded stress behavior as behavioral distress activity and motor activity via direct observations and a time sampling method. Motor activities were coded as single limb, multiple limbs, gross body movements, head turns, and startles. Behavioral distress activity included mouthing/ yawning movements, facial grimaces, and clenched fists.RESULTS: All three studies showed some statically significant data between experimental and control groups. Hernandez-Reif et al showed statistically significant decrease in both motor activity and behavioral distress in the experimental group. Lee et al showed inconclusive evidence with no statistical difference between control and experimental groups for behavioral distress, and a significant increase in motor activity. Harrison et al was also inconclusive showing no significant difference in motor activity or behavioral distress between the first and last day of intervention, but did show a statically significant decrease in both motor activity and behavioral distress during the massage as compared to baseline or post-massage.CONCLUSIONS: Although additional studies on larger samples and over extended periods of time are necessary, the findings of these three RCTs were inconclusive but suggest that there may be some benefit, but no harm in neonatal massage. All three studies showed some statically significant data between experimental and control groups which supports the hypothesis thatneonatal massage reduced stress behavior in preterm infants in the NICU

A topographic mechanism for arcing of dryland vegetation bands

Banded patterns consisting of alternating bare soil and dense vegetation have been observed in water-limited ecosystems across the globe, often appearing along gently sloped terrain with the stripes aligned transverse to the elevation gradient. In many cases these vegetation bands are arced, with field observations suggesting a link between the orientation of arcing relative to the grade and the curvature of the underlying terrain. We modify the water transport in the Klausmeier model of water-biomass interactions, originally posed on a uniform hillslope, to qualitatively capture the influence of terrain curvature on the vegetation patterns. Numerical simulations of this modified model indicate that the vegetation bands change arcing-direction from convex-downslope when growing on top of a ridge to convex-upslope when growing in a valley. This behavior is consistent with observations from remote sensing data that we present here. Model simulations show further that whether bands grow on ridges, valleys, or both depends on the precipitation level. A survey of three banded vegetation sites, each with a different aridity level, indicates qualitatively similar behavior.Comment: 26 pages, 13 figures, 2 table

TFE and Spt4/5 open and close the RNA polymerase clamp during the transcription cycle

Transcription is an intrinsically dynamic process and requires the coordinated interplay of RNA polymerases (RNAPs) with nucleic acids and transcription factors. Classical structural biology techniques have revealed detailed snapshots of a subset of conformational states of the RNAP as they exist in crystals. A detailed view of the conformational space sampled by the RNAP and the molecular mechanisms of the basal transcription factors E (TFE) and Spt4/5 through conformational constraints has remained elusive. We monitored the conformational changes of the flexible clamp of the RNAP by combining a fluorescently labeled recombinant 12-subunit RNAP system with single-molecule FRET measurements. We measured and compared the distances across the DNA binding channel of the archaeal RNAP. Our results show that the transition of the closed to the open initiation complex, which occurs concomitant with DNA melting, is coordinated with an opening of the RNAP clamp that is stimulated by TFE. We show that the clamp in elongation complexes is modulated by the nontemplate strand and by the processivity factor Spt4/5, both of which stimulate transcription processivity. Taken together, our results reveal an intricate network of interactions within transcription complexes between RNAP, transcription factors, and nucleic acids that allosterically modulate the RNAP during the transcription cycle

Molecular absorption in transition region spectral lines

Aims: We present observations from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) of absorption features from a multitude of cool atomic and molecular lines within the profiles of Si IV transition region lines. Many of these spectral lines have not previously been detected in solar spectra. Methods: We examined spectra taken from deep exposures of plage on 12 October 2013. We observed unique absorption spectra over a magnetic element which is bright in transition region line emission and the ultraviolet continuum. We compared the absorption spectra with emission spectra that is likely related to fluorescence. Results: The absorption features require a population of sub-5000 K plasma to exist above the transition region. This peculiar stratification is an extreme deviation from the canonical structure of the chromosphere-corona boundary . The cool material is not associated with a filament or discernible coronal rain. This suggests that molecules may form in the upper solar atmosphere on small spatial scales and introduces a new complexity into our understanding of solar thermal structure. It lends credence to previous numerical studies that found evidence for elevated pockets of cool gas in the chromosphere.Comment: accepted by A&A Letter

Feminist Bibliographical Praxis

What follows is a talk I gave (over zoom) on June 29, 2022, for the London Rare Book School and the Institute of English Studies, University of London, and mildly revised in the transcript I posted on my blog on September 7, 2022. It was an opportunity for me to talk about the work I've been doing on feminist bibliography over the past couple of years, and it is, for now, the best encapsulation of some of the issues at stake in my thinking about bibliography from a feminist standpoint (and to start thinking about feminism bibliographically). It is also a more personal version of the FemBib talks I've done, revised in a state of fury over the US Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs to remove a constitutional right to abortion and thus to our uteruses and bodies and lives. You can read the blog post and watch the video of the talk at https://sarahwerner.net/blog/2022/09/feminist-bibliographical-praxis/; the video can also be accessed directly at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX4EmH8f9ko