Developing a metadata best practices model: the experience of the Colorado State University Libraries

Final, peer-reviewed manuscript.The Metadata Best Practices Task Force at the Colorado State University (CSU) Libraries developed a core set of metadata elements and an accompanying data dictionary to facilitate a coordinated metadata management approach for a central digital repository of diverse digital objects. This article describes the rationale for the Task Force and the process used for its work following a look at the background of digitization and past metadata practices at CSU. The article includes a literature review on institutional metadata projects and examples, and it ends with a description of the Task Force's ongoing work and plans for future assessment

DDO 88: A Galaxy-Sized Hole in the Interstellar Medium

We present an HI and optical study of the gas-rich dwarf irregular galaxy DDO 88. Although DDO 88's global optical and HI parameters are normal for its morphological type, it hosts a large (3 kpc diameter) and unusually complete ring of enhanced HI emission. The gas ring is located at approximately one-third of the total HI radius and one-half the optically-defined Holmberg radius, and contains 30% of the total HI of the galaxy. The ring surrounds a central depression in the HI distribution, so it may be a shell formed by a starburst episode. However, the UBV colors in the HI hole are not bluer than the rest of the galaxy as would be expected if an unusual star-forming event had taken place there recently, but there is an old (~1-3 Gyr), red cluster near the center of the hole that is massive enough to have produced the hole in the HI. An age estimate for the ring, however, is uncertain because it is not observed to be expanding. An expansion model produces a lower estimate of 0.5 Gyr, but the presence of faint star formation regions associated with the ring indicate a much younger age. We also estimate that the ring could have dispersed by now if it is older than 0.5 Gyr. This implies that the ring is younger than 0.5 Gyr. A younger age would indicate that the red cluster did not produce the hole and ring. If this ring and the depression in the gas which it surrounds were not formed by stellar winds and supernovae, this would indicate that some other, currently unidentified, mechanism is operating.Comment: 44 pages; 16 figures. To appear in AJ, January 2005. Available from ftp.lowell.edu, cd pub/dah/papers/d88 and http://www.fiu.edu/~simpsonc/d8

Symposium on basic writing, conflict and struggle, and the legacy of Mina Shaughnessy.

Two articles in the December 1992 College English presented historical perspectives on the field of Basic Writing. In Conflict and Struggle: The Enemies or Preconditions of Basic Writing? Min-Zhan Lu argued for the value of a pedagogy in which conflict and struggle help Basic Writers to reposition themselves; she suggested that resistance to such a pedagogy is traceable to three pioneers in the field, Kenneth Bruffee, Thomas Farrell, and Mina Shaughnessy, and the historical context in which they worked. In Waiting for an Aristotle, Paul Hunter analyzed the special issue of the Journal of Basic Writing published in 1980 as a memorial to Mina Shaughnessy, finding a conservative impulse both in its structure and in its reading of Shaughnessy\u27s message. This symposium presents several commentaries on Lu \u27s and Hunter\u27s articles, followed by the authors\u27 responses. Sources for all contributions to the Symposium are combined in a common Works Cited list at the end

Making a Difference:The Promise of Catholic School Standards

Abstract: The National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools (NSBECS) were published in 2012 to serve as both a guide and assessment tool for PK-12 Catholic school effectiveness and sustainability; they include research-based general school effectiveness criteria, as well as criteria unique to Catholic school mission and identity. The NSBECS rests on the conviction that adhering to these standards and benchmarks with fidelity will result in highly effective Catholic schools. This Catholic Schools Standards Study Phase 1 began the work of examining the validity of the NSBECS through two national surveys: Survey 1 (2015) focused on the scope of NSBECS implementation: who has been adopting/implementing the NSBECS and why. Survey 2 (2016) sought to better understand circumstances of implementation: how stakeholders are adopting/implementing NSBECS and with what success. Researchers used built-in logic sequences for both surveys and a mixed methods approach for Survey 2, allowing participants to describe in their own words steps taken, stakeholders involved, strategies used, and success experienced

Prediction of extended high viremia among newly HIV-1-infected persons in sub-Saharan Africa

Objective Prompt identification of newly HIV-infected persons, particularly those who are most at risk of extended high viremia (EHV), allows important clinical and transmission prevention benefits. We sought to determine whether EHV could be predicted during early HIV infection (EHI) from clinical, demographic, and laboratory indicators in a large HIV-1 incidence study in Africa. Design Adults acquiring HIV-1 infection were enrolled in an EHI study assessing acute retroviral syndrome (ARS) symptoms and viral dynamics. Methods Estimated date of infection (EDI) was based on a positive plasma viral load or p24 antigen test prior to seroconversion, or the mid-point between negative and positive serological tests. EHV was defined as mean untreated viral load ≥5 log10 copies/ml 130-330 days post-EDI. We used logistic regression to develop risk score algorithms for predicting EHV based on sex, age, number of ARS symptoms, and CD4 and viral load at diagnosis. Results Models based on the full set of five predictors had excellent performance both in the full population (c-statistic = 0.80) and when confined to persons with each of three HIV-1 subtypes(c-statistic = 0.80-0.83 within subtypes A, C, and D). Reduced models containing only 2-4 predictors performed similarly. In a risk score algorithm based on the final full-population model, predictor scores were one for male sex and enrollment CD4<350 cells/mm3, and two for having enrollment viral load >4.9 log10 copies/ml. With a risk score cut-point of two, this algorithm was 85% sensitive (95% CI: 76%-91%) and 61% specific (55%-68%) in predicting EHV. Conclusions Simple risk score algorithms can reliably identify persons with EHI in sub-Saharan Africa who are likely to sustain high viral loads if treatment is delayed. These algorithms may be useful for prioritizing intensified efforts around care linkage and retention, treatment initiation,adherence support, and partner services to optimize clinical and prevention outcomes

The associations between body and knee height measurements and knee joint structure in an asymptomatic cohort

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It has been suggested that knee height is a determinant of knee joint load. Nonetheless, no study has directly examined the relationship between anthropometric measures of height and knee joint structures, such as cartilage.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>89 asymptomatic community-based adults aged 25-62 with no diagnosed history of knee arthropathy were recruited. Anthropometric data (knee height and body height) were obtained by standard protocol, while tibial cartilage volume and defects, as well as bone area were determined from magnetic resonance imaging. Static knee alignment was measured from the joint radiograph.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>All anthropometric height measures were associated with increasing compartmental tibial bone area (<it>p </it>≤ 0.05). Although knee height was associated with tibial cartilage volume (e.g. β = 27 mm³95% CI 7- 48; <it>p </it>= 0.009 for the medial compartment), these relationship no longer remained significant when knee height as a percentage of body height was analysed. Knee height as a percentage of body height was associated with a reduced risk of medial tibial cartilage defects (odds ratio 0.6; 95% confidence interval 0.4 - 1.0; <it>p </it>= 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The association between increased anthropometric height measures and increased tibial bone area may reflect inherently larger bony structures. However the beneficial associations demonstrated with cartilage morphology suggest that an increased knee height may confer a beneficial biomechanical environment to the chondrocyte of asymptomatic adults.</p