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Money ; Dollar ; Latin America

The Metadata Education and Research Information Commons (MERIC): A Collaborative Teaching and Research Initiative

The networked environment forced a sea change in Library and Information Science (LIS) education. Most LIS programs offer a mixed-mode of instruction that integrates online learning materials with more traditional classroom pedagogical methods and faculty are now responsible for developing content and digital learning objects. The teaching commons in a networked environment is one way to share, modify and repurpose learning objects while reducing the costs to educational institutions of developing course materials totally inhouse. It also provides a venue for sharing ideas, practices, and expertise in order to provide the best learning experience for students. Because metadata education has been impacted by rapid changes and metadata research is interdisciplinary and diffuse, the Metadata Education and Research Information Commons (MERIC) initiative aims to provide a virtual environment for sharing and collaboration within the extensive metadata community. This paper describes the development of MERIC from its origin as a simple clearinghouse proof-of-concept project to a service-oriented teaching and research commons prototype. The problems of enablers and barriers to participation and collaboration are discussed and the need for specific community building research is cited as critical for the success of MERIC within a broad metadata community

Observations of Binary Stars with the Differential Speckle Survey Instrument. III. Measures below the Diffraction Limit of the WIYN Telescope

In this paper, we study the ability of CCD- and electron-multiplying-CCD-based speckle imaging to obtain reliable astrometry and photometry of binary stars below the diffraction limit of the WIYN 3.5 m Telescope. We present a total of 120 measures of binary stars, 75 of which are below the diffraction limit. The measures are divided into two groups that have different measurement accuracy and precision. The first group is composed of standard speckle observations, that is, a sequence of speckle images taken in a single filter, while the second group consists of paired observations where the two observations are taken on the same observing run and in different filters. The more recent paired observations were taken simultaneously with the Differential Speckle Survey Instrument, which is a two-channel speckle imaging system. In comparing our results to the ephemeris positions of binaries with known orbits, we find that paired observations provide the opportunity to identify cases of systematic error in separation below the diffraction limit and after removing these from consideration, we obtain a linear measurement uncertainty of 3-4 mas. However, if observations are unpaired or if two observations taken in the same filter are paired, it becomes harder to identify cases of systematic error, presumably because the largest source of this error is residual atmospheric dispersion, which is color dependent. When observations are unpaired, we find that it is unwise to report separations below approximately 20 mas, as these are most susceptible to this effect. Using the final results obtained, we are able to update two older orbits in the literature and present preliminary orbits for three systems that were discovered by Hipparcos

Tolerance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in in vitro biofilms to high level peracetic acid disinfection

Biofilm has been suggested as a cause of disinfection failures in flexible endoscopes where no lapses in the decontamination procedure can be identified. To test this theory, the activity of peracetic acid (PAA), one of the commonly used disinfectants in the reprocessing of flexible endoscopes, was evaluated against both planktonic and sessile communities of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. To investigate the ability of P. aeruginosa biofilm to survive high level PAA disinfection. The susceptibility of planktonic cells of P. aeruginosa and biofilms 24, 48, 96 and 192 h old to PAA was evaluated by estimating their viability using resazurin viability and plate count methods. The biomass of the P. aeruginosa biofilms was also quantified using crystal violet assay. Planktonic cells of P. aeruginosa were treated with 5 - 30 ppm concentration of PAA in the presence of 3.0 g/L of Bovine serum albumin (BSA) for 5 min. Biofilms of P. aeruginosa were also treated with various PAA concentrations (100 - 3000 ppm) for 5 min. Planktonic cells of P. aeruginosa were eradicated by 20 ppm of PAA, whereas biofilms showed an age dependent tolerance to PAA, and 96 h old biofilm was only eradicated at PAA concentration of 2500 ppm. 96 h old P. aeruginosa biofilm survives 5 min treatment with 2000 ppm of PAA, which is the working concentration used in some endoscope washer disinfectors. This implies that disinfection failure of flexible endoscopes could occur when biofilms are allowed to build up in the lumens of endoscopes