Creating Academic Web Space for Academic Staff: Research and Teaching Initiatives at the University of Iowa Libraries

Paper presented at conference "Strategies for the Next Millennium." Proceedings of the Ninth Australasian Information Online and On Disc Conference and Exhibition, Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Sydney Australia, 19-21 January 1999.The University of Iowa has several projects that are reshaping options for teaching staff and librarians as they work to build new types of academic resources. Two of these are Bailiwick and TWIST. Bailiwick is a Web space where academic passions are realised in HTML and creative home pages. Bailiwick is home to Web sites that are experimental in form, like ‘Border Crossings’, which provides comprehensive and in-depth resources, or that take on a narrow, highly specialised topic like ‘French Feminists’. In the Teaching with Innovative Style and Technology Project (TWIST), teaching staff are paired with librarian partners to create Web-based learning environments. These partners are called ‘TWISTed Pairs’. This semester, 27 academic staff members from 13 departments are paired with 11 librarians from various departments, creating 35 course-related Web sites

Ethics of sham surgery: Perspective of patients

Sham surgery is used as a control condition in neurosurgical clinical trials in Parkinson's disease (PD) but remains controversial. This study aimed to assess the perspective of patients with PD and the general public on the use of sham surgery controls. We surveyed consecutive patients from a university-based neurology outpatient clinic and a community-based general internal medicine practice. Background information was provided regarding PD and two possible methods of testing the efficacy of a novel gene transfer procedure, followed by questions that addressed participants' opinions related to the willingness to participate and permissibility of blinded and unblinded trial designs. Two hundred eighty-eight (57.6%) patients returned surveys. Patients with PD expressed less willingness to participate in the proposed gene transfer surgery trials. Unblinded studies received greater support, but a majority would still allow the use of sham surgery. Those in favor of sham surgery were more educated and more likely to use societal perspective rationales. Patients with PD are more cautious about surgical research participation than patients with non-PD. Their policy views were similar to others', with a majority supporting the use of sham controls. Future research needs to determine whether eliciting more considered judgments of laypersons would reveal different levels of support for sham surgery. © 2007 Movement Disorder SocietyPeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/57916/1/21775_ftp.pd

The Ursinus Weekly, October 12, 1972

Freshman voters elect leaders • Senator George L. Murphy to speak at convocation - dedication ceremonies • Continued false alarms may bring restrictions • Messiah\u27s annual performance slated for December 7th • Student-teachers assignments presented to seniors • Editorial: The Weekly wants you! • Student from Sri-Lanka speaks to Socratic Club • Stenzler sculpture in review: A good show • ProTheatre presents: Albee\u27s American dream • Faculty portrait: Emilio Paul • Bear Gridders win first • Harriers return to winning ways; Roll over three opponents • Aggressive play leads to victory at Goucher games • Manning takes helm; Aggression made keyhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/1087/thumbnail.jp

The Ursinus Weekly, November 16, 1972

Counselor on campus • Altman, Kaplan, Clatworthy & Marek to sing in 1972 Messiah performance • Evangelical theologian to speak at forum • Fire danger extinguished • Counseling, courses, change highlight S.F.A.R.C. monthly meeting • Editorial: It could only happen in the United States • Answer to the suitcase college critics: Lock the suitcases or close the pens • Perversion abundant in new action film, Deliverance • Letters to the editor: Forum cards for dances; Righteous indignation • Director of ProTheatre casts Fantasticks • Ezra Pound, leader of modern poetry in Britain and America dies at age 87 • M.A.C. championships held; U.C. Harriers third • Gridders trample Trenton; Finish with 5-3 slate • Sports buffs\u27 corner • Soccer team plays wellhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/1092/thumbnail.jp

Mutations in pericentrin cause Seckel syndrome with defective ATR-dependent DNA damage signaling

Large brain size is one of the defining characteristics of modern humans. Seckel syndrome (MIM 210600), a disorder of markedly reduced brain and body size, is associated with defective ATR-dependent DNA damage signaling. Only a single hypomorphic mutation of ATR has been identified in this genetically heterogeneous condition. We now report that mutations in the gene encoding pericentrin (PCNT)--resulting in the loss of pericentrin from the centrosome, where it has key functions anchoring both structural and regulatory proteins--also cause Seckel syndrome. Furthermore, we find that cells of individuals with Seckel syndrome due to mutations in PCNT (PCNT-Seckel) have defects in ATR-dependent checkpoint signaling, providing the first evidence linking a structural centrosomal protein with DNA damage signaling. These findings also suggest that other known microcephaly genes implicated in either DNA repair responses or centrosomal function may act in common developmental pathways determining human brain and body size

World Antimalarial Resistance Network (WARN) III: Molecular Markers for Drug Resistant Malaria

Molecular markers for drug resistant malaria represent public health tools of great but mostly unrealized potential value. A key reason for the failure of molecular resistance markers to live up to their potential is that data on the their prevalence is scattered in disparate databases with no linkage to the clinical, in vitro and pharmacokinetic data that are needed to relate the genetic data to relevant phenotypes. The ongoing replacement of older monotherapies for malaria by new, more effective combination therapies presents an opportunity to create an open access database that brings together standardized data on molecular markers of drug resistant malaria from around the world. This paper presents a rationale for creating a global database of molecular markers for drug resistant malaria and for linking it to similar databases containing results from clinical trials of drug efficacy, in vitro studies of drug susceptibility, and pharmacokinetic studies of antimalarial drugs, in a World Antimalarial Resistance Network (WARN). This database will be a global resource, guiding the selection of first line drugs for treating uncomplicated malaria, for preventing malaria in travelers and for intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnant women, infants and other vulnerable groups. Perhaps most important, a global database for molecular markers of drug resistant malaria will accelerate the identification and validation of markers for resistance to artemisinin-based combination therapies and, thereby, potentially prolong the useful therapeutic lives of these important new drugs

World Antimalarial Resistance Network (WARN) III: Molecular markers for drug resistant malaria

Molecular markers for drug resistant malaria represent public health tools of great but mostly unrealized potential value. A key reason for the failure of molecular resistance markers to live up to their potential is that data on the their prevalence is scattered in disparate databases with no linkage to the clinical, in vitro and pharmacokinetic data that are needed to relate the genetic data to relevant phenotypes. The ongoing replacement of older monotherapies for malaria by new, more effective combination therapies presents an opportunity to create an open access database that brings together standardized data on molecular markers of drug resistant malaria from around the world. This paper presents a rationale for creating a global database of molecular markers for drug resistant malaria and for linking it to similar databases containing results from clinical trials of drug efficacy, in vitro studies of drug susceptibility, and pharmacokinetic studies of antimalarial drugs, in a World Antimalarial Resistance Network (WARN). This database will be a global resource, guiding the selection of first line drugs for treating uncomplicated malaria, for preventing malaria in travelers and for intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnant women, infants and other vulnerable groups. Perhaps most important, a global database for molecular markers of drug resistant malaria will accelerate the identification and validation of markers for resistance to artemisinin-based combination therapies and, thereby, potentially prolong the useful therapeutic lives of these important new drugs

Physical Performance Characteristics of Assisted Living Residents and Risk for Adverse Health Outcomes

Little is known about the physical performance ability of residential care/assisted living (RC/AL) residents and its relationship to adverse outcomes such as fracture, nursing home placement, functional decline, and death. The purposes of this paper are to: 1) describe the functional characteristics of RC/AL residents; 2) examine the relationships between resident- and facility-characteristics and physical performance; and 3) determine the predictive value of physical performance for adverse outcomes

T-MoCA: A valid phone screen for cognitive impairment in diverse community samples

Introduction: There is an urgent need to validate telephone versions of widely used general cognitive measures, such as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (T-MoCA), for remote assessments. Methods: In the Einstein Aging Study, a diverse community cohort (n = 428; mean age = 78.1; 66% female; 54% non-White), equivalence testing was used to examine concordance between the T-MoCA and the corresponding in-person MoCA assess- ment. Receiver operating characteristic analyses examined the diagnostic ability to dis- criminate between mild cognitive impairment and normal cognition. Conversion meth- ods from T-MoCA to the MoCA are presented. Results: Education, race/ethnicity, gender, age, self-reported cognitive concerns, and telephone administration difficulties were associated with both modes of administra- tion; however, when examining the difference between modalities, these factors were not significant. Sensitivity and specificity for the T-MoCA (using Youden’s index opti- mal cut) were 72% and 59%, respectively. Discussion: The T-MoCA demonstrated sufficient psychometric properties to be use- ful for screening of MCI, especially when clinic visits are not feasible

Research-Based Web Design & Usability Guidelines [2006 edition]

The new edition of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Research-Based Web Design and Usability Guidelines. These guidelines reflect HHS’ commitment to identifying innovative, research-based approaches that result in highly responsive and easy-to-use Web sites for the public. These guidelines help move us in that direction by providing practical, yet authoritative, guidance on a broad range of Web design and communication issues. Having access to the best available research helps to ensure we make the right decisions the first time around and reduces the possibility of errors and costly mistakes