Toward Collaborative Print Retention

Background: :In order to serve the many member libraries who were faced with the loss of space and the subsequent need to downsize and discard print collections in a very short time, the NN/LM SE/A formed a task force on print retention in the spring of 2010. This group carried on online discussions and met twice between the Spring of 2010 and The Spring of 2011. The task force recommended, among other things, that a committee be formed to identify the potential for a collaborative print retention project in the region, develop educational resources on the topic of print retention, and recommend future directions. Methods: The ad-hoc committee met, brainstormed ideas, and developed a survey for resource and primary access libraries. The committee received responses from 128 libraries. Conclusions: An interesting and encouraging discovery was that almost one and a half times as many libraries expressed an interest in participating in a print retention project as were feeling pressure to give back space to their parent institution. This led the committee to conclude that space pressures and the resulting loss of print resources are a continuing concern for health sciences libraries. Even those who are not now facing pressures are interested in collaboration. Moreover, only a small number of the libraries were currently participating in print retention projects. The committee recommended that the NN/LM SE/A, in collaboration with the National Library of Medicine, continue work to develop a collaborative print retention project and to educate members on the resources available.https://nsuworks.nova.edu/hpd_lib_presentations/1004/thumbnail.jp

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometric detection for multielement flow injection analysis and elemental speciation by reversed-phase liquid chromatography

The feasibility of using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer as a muitieiement detector for flow injection analysis (FIA) and ion-pair reversed-phase liquid chromatography was investigated. Sample introduction was by uitrasonk nebulization with aerosol desolvation. Absolute detecton limits for FIA ranged from 0.01 to 0.1 ng for most elements using 10-pL injections. Over 30 elements were surveyed for their response to both anionic and cationic ion pairing reagents. The separation and selective detection of various As and Se species were demonstrated, yielding detection limits near 0.1 ng (as element) for ail six species present. Determination of 15 elements in a single injection with multiple ion monitoring produced shniiar detection limits. Isotope ratios were measured with sufficient precision (better than 2%) and accuracy (about 1 %) on eluting peaks of Cd and Pb to demonstrate that liquid chromatographyhductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry should make speciation studies with stable tracer isotopes feasible

Predicting new molecular targets for known drugs

Although drugs are intended to be selective, at least some bind to several physiological targets, explaining side effects and efficacy. Because many drug–target combinations exist, it would be useful to explore possible interactions computationally. Here we compared 3,665 US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved and investigational drugs against hundreds of targets, defining each target by its ligands. Chemical similarities between drugs and ligand sets predicted thousands of unanticipated associations. Thirty were tested experimentally, including the antagonism of the β1 receptor by the transporter inhibitor Prozac, the inhibition of the 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) transporter by the ion channel drug Vadilex, and antagonism of the histamine H4 receptor by the enzyme inhibitor Rescriptor. Overall, 23 new drug–target associations were confirmed, five of which were potent (less than 100 nM). The physiological relevance of one, the drug N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) on serotonergic receptors, was confirmed in a knockout mouse. The chemical similarity approach is systematic and comprehensive, and may suggest side-effects and new indications for many drugs

Analogy making and the structure of implied volatility skew

An analogy based option pricing model is put forward. If option prices are determined in accordance with the analogy model, and the Black Scholes model is used to back-out implied volatility, then the implied volatility skew arises, which flattens as time to expiry increases. The analogy based stochastic volatility and the analogy based jump diffusion models are also put forward. The analogy based stochastic volatility model generates the skew even when there is no correlation between the stock price and volatility processes, whereas, the analogy based jump diffusion model does not require asymmetric jumps for generating the skew