Evaluation of an Internet Document Delivery Service

An Internet-based Document Delivery Service (DDS) has been developed within the framework of the CNR ( the Italian Research National Council) Project BiblioMIME, in order to take advantage of new Internet technologies and promote cooperation among CNR and Italian university libraries. Adopting such technologies changes the traditional organisation of DDS and may drastically reduce costs and delivery times. An information system managing DDS requests and monitoring the temporal evolution of the service has been implemented, running on the local-area network of a test-site library. It aims to track number and types of documents requested and received, user distribution, delivery times and types (surface mail, fax, Internet), to automate repetitive manual procedures and to deal with the various accounting methods used by other libraries. Transmission of documents is carried out by means of an e-mail/Web gateway system supporting document exchange via Internet, which assists receiving libraries in retrieving requested documents. This paper describes the architecture and main design features of the e-mail/Web gateway server (the BiblioMime server). This approach permits librarians to continue using e-mail service to send large documents, while resolving problems that users may encounter when downloading large size files with e-mail agents. The library operator sends the document as an attachment to the destination address; on fly the e-mail server extracts and saves the attachments in a web-server disk file and substitutes them with a new message part that includes an URL pointing to the saved document. The receiver can download these large objects by means of a user-friendly browser. We further discuss the data gathered during the triennium 1998-2000; this consists of about 5,000 DDS transactions per annum with 300 other Italian scientific and bio-medical libraries and commercial document suppliers. Use of the instruments described above allowed us to evaluate the performance of service "before" and "after" the use of Internet Document Delivery and to extract some critical data regarding DDS. Those include: a) libraries with which we have greater numbers of exchanges and their turnaround times; b) extraordinary reduction in costs and delivery times; c) the most frequently requested serial titles (allowing cost-effective decisions on new subscriptions); d) impact on DDS of library participation in consortia which allow user access to greater numbers of online serials

a mathematical description accounting for the superfluous hydrogen evolution and the inductive behaviour observed during electrochemical measurements on magnesium

Abstract When electrochemical techniques are used to probe the surface of corroding magnesium with the aim of obtaining quantitative information on the corrosion process, two peculiarities are generally observed: i) with anodic polarization, the rate of hydrogen evolution increases instead of decreasing and ii) during electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements, an inductive contribution is often observed at the low-frequency end of the spectra. The presence of these two phenomena clearly has an impact on the methodology that should be applied to correctly estimate corrosion rates from electrochemical data. The aim of this work is to provide a general mathematical description of the corroding magnesium surface that, under minimal a priori assumptions regarding the reaction kinetics, can account simultaneously for both superfluous hydrogen evolution and inductive response. The mathematical results are consistent with the suggestion that the superfluous hydrogen evolution is mainly related to the increase of the surface of the active corrosion front during anodic polarization. Further, the obtained results show that the inductive response is expected when, at the corrosion front, oxidation of magnesium proceeds faster than hydrogen evolution

Validation of an electrogoniometry system as a measure of knee kinematics during activities of daily living

Purpose: The increasing use of electrogoniometry (ELG) in clinical research requires the validation of different instrumentation. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the concurrent validity of an ELG system during activities of daily living. Methods: Ten asymptomatic participants gave informed consent to participate. A Biometrics SG150 electrogoniometer was directly compared to a 12 camera three dimensional motion analysis system during walking, stair ascent, stair descent, sit to stand, and stand to sit activities for the measurement of the right knee angle. Analysis of validity was undertaken by linear regression. Standard error of estimate (SEE), standardised SEE (SSEE), and Pearson’s correlation coefficient r were computed for paired trials between systems for each functional activity. Results: The 95% confidence interval of SEE was reasonable between systems across walking (LCI = 2.43 °; UCI = 2.91 °), stair ascent (LCI = 2.09 °; UCI = 2.42 °), stair descent (LCI = 1.79 °; UCI = 2.10 °), sit to stand (LCI = 1.22 °; UCI = 1.41 °), and stand to sit (LCI = 1.17 °; UCI = 1.34 °). Pearson’s correlation coefficient r across walking (LCI = 0.983; UCI = 0.990), stair ascent (LCI = 0.995; UCI = 0.997), stair descent (LCI = 0.995; UCI = 0.997), sit to stand (LCI = 0.998; UCI = 0.999), and stand to sit (LCI = 0.996; UCI = 0.997) was indicative of a strong linear relationship between systems. Conclusion: ELG is a valid method of measuring the knee angle during activities representative of daily living. The range is within that suggested to be acceptable for the clinical evaluation of patients with musculoskeletal conditions

Anything You Can Do, You Can Do Better: Neural Substrates of Incentive-Based Performance Enhancement

Performance-based pay schemes in many organizations share the fundamental assumption that the performance level for a given task will increase as a function of the amount of incentive provided. Consistent with this notion, psychological studies have demonstrated that expectations of reward can improve performance on a plethora of different cognitive and physical tasks, ranging from problem solving to the voluntary regulation of heart rate. However, much less is understood about the neural mechanisms of incentivized performance enhancement. In particular, it is still an open question how brain areas that encode expectations about reward are able to translate incentives into improved performance across fundamentally different cognitive and physical task requirements

Impact of Caffeine on Ethanol-Induced Stimulation and Sensitization: Changes in ERK and DARPP-32 Phosphorylation in Nucleus Accumbens

Background: Caffeine is frequently consumed with ethanol to reduce the impairing effects induced by ethanol, including psychomotor slowing or incoordination. Both drugs modulate dopamine (DA)-related markers in accumbens (Acb), and Acb DA is involved in voluntary locomotion and locomotor sensitization. The present study determined whether caffeine can affect locomotion induced by acute and repeated ethanol administration in adult male CD-1 mice. Methods: Acute administration of caffeine (7.5 to 30.0 mg/kg) was evaluated for its effects on acute ethanol-induced (1.5 to 3.5 g/kg) changes in open-field horizontal locomotion, supported rearing, and rearing not supported by the wall. DA receptor-dependent phosphorylation markers were assessed: extracellular signal-regulated kinase (pERK), and dopamine-and cAMP-regulated phosphoprotein Mr32kDa phosphorylated at threonine 75 site (pDARPP-32-Thr75) in Acb core and shell. Acutely administered caffeine was also evaluated in ethanol-sensitized (1.5 g/kg) mice. Results: Acute ethanol decreased both types of rearing. Caffeine increased supported rearing but did not block ethanol -induced decreases in rearing. Both substances increased horizontal locomotion in a biphasic manner, and caffeine potentiated ethanol-induced locomotion. Although ethanol administered repeatedly induced sensitization of locomotion and unsupported rearing, acute administration of caffeine to ethanol-sensitized mice in an ethanol-free state resulted in blunted stimulant effects compared with those seen in ethanol-naïve mice. Ethanol increased pERK immunoreactivity in both subregions of the Acb, but coadministration with caffeine blunted this increase. There were no effects on pDARPP-32(Thr75) immunoreactivity. Conclusions: The present results demonstrated that, after the first administration, caffeine potentiated the stimulating actions of ethanol, but did not counteract its suppressant or ataxic effects. Moreover, our results show that caffeine has less activating effects in ethanol-sensitized animals

Prognostic indicators of successful endoscopic sclerotherapy for prevention of rebleeding from oesophageal varices in cirrhosis: a long-term cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Although band ligation is now recommended for prevention of rebleeding from oesophageal varices in cirrhosis, sclerotherapy is still widely used. Patients submitted to chronic sclerotherapy undergo several endoscopies and experience a large number of serious complications. However, long-term outcome is poorly defined. AIMS: To assess the clinical course and prognostic indicators of patients undergoing chronic sclerotherapy for prevention of variceal rebleeding as a basis for future evaluation of long-term band ligation outcome. METHODS: Prospective cohort study; prognostic analysis by the Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS: A total of 218 consecutive cirrhotic patients (37 Child class A, 154 B, 27 C) were enrolled in the study Varices were obliterated in 139 (64%) patients in a mean of 5 (+/-2.6) sessions and recurred in 58/139 (41.7%) within one year. A total of 132 (60%) patients experienced 283 rebleeding episodes and 73 (33%) died. Bleeding from oesophageal ulcers was the most serious complication causing 14% of all rebleeding episodes. Significant prognostic indicators of sclerotherapy outcome were: Child-Pugh class for variceal obliteration; gastric varices and platelet count for recurrence of varices; failure to obliterate varices, variceal size and gastric varices for rebleeding; blood urea nitrogen and failure to obliterate varices for death. Presence of gastric varices was the only prognostic indicator for death in the 79 patients not achieving variceal obliteration. A mean of 10 endoscopies and of 6 hospital admissions were needed per each patient with an estimated cost of US dollars 7154 per patient during the first two years of therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Sclerotherapy is a very demanding and costly treatment, and is associated with frequent and serious side-effects. The probability of treatment failure is significantly higher in Child C patients with gastric varices. Alternative treatments should be considered for these patients

Search for gamma-ray emission from the Lagrangian points of PSR 1957+20

Compton Gamma Ray Observatory data of the COMPTEL and EGRET telescopes from 3 viewing periods have been used to search for gamma-ray emission from the Lagrangian points L_4_ and L_5_ of the binary system including the eclipsing pulsar PSR1957+20. The result was negative and the upper limits derived remain significantly below detections reported earlier

Using complex behavior to understand brain mechanisms in health and disease

At this point in the history of the science of behavior, a focus on neuroscience-based outcomes has become dominant in neuropsychiatric fields at the preclinical and clinical levels of analysis. The notion that behavior is caused by brain function, and that changing brain function can alter behavior, has fueled this push to understand these neurobiological mechanisms. Within this conceptual framework and the funding to incentivize its adoption, the neuroscience field grew rapidly with the goal to understand the relation between the brain and behavior. As such, a reductionist perspective emerged whereby neural manipulations of increasing sophistication became required for assessing the necessity and sufficiency of a particular brain mechanism’s role in behavior (Krakauer et al., 2017). Yet, despite the amazing advances in neuroscience, some, such as the former director of the National Institute of Mental Health, Dr. Thomas Insel, have noted the lack of progress in treatment outcomes for mental illness following the shift in funding from behavioral research to genetics and neuroscience research (Barry, 2022)

Bupropion Increases Selection of High Effort Activity in Rats Tested on a Progressive Ratio/Chow Feeding Choice Procedure: Implications for Treatment of Effort-Related Motivational Symptoms

Background: Depression and related disorders are characterized by deficits in behavioral activation, exertion of effort, and other psychomotor/motivational dysfunctions. Depressed patients show alterations in effort-related decision making and a bias towards selection of low effort activities. It has been suggested that animal tests of effort-related decision making could be useful as models of motivational dysfunctions seen in psychopathology. Methods: Because clinical studies have suggested that inhibition of catecholamine uptake may be a useful strategy for treatment of effort-related motivational symptoms, the present research assessed the ability of bupropion to increase work output in rats responding on a test of effort-related decision-making (ie, a progressive ratio/chow feeding choice task). With this task, rats can choose between working for a preferred food (high-carbohydrate pellets) by lever pressing on a progressive ratio schedule vs obtaining a less preferred laboratory chow that is freely available in the chamber. Results: Bupropion (10.0–40.0 mg/kg intraperitoneal) significantly increased all measures of progressive ratio lever pressing, but decreased chow intake. These effects were greatest in animals with low baseline levels of work output on the progressive ratio schedule. Because accumbens dopamine is implicated in effort-related processes, the effects of bupropion on markers of accumbens dopamine transmission were examined. Bupropion elevated extracellular dopamine levels in accumbens core as measured by microdialysis and increased phosphorylated dopamine and cyclic-AMP related phosphoprotein 32 kDaltons (pDARPP-32) immunoreactivity in a manner consistent with D1 and D2 receptor stimulation. Conclusion: The ability of bupropion to increase exertion of effort in instrumental behavior may have implications for the pathophysiology and treatment of effort-related motivational symptoms in humans