Catalogers explore a new frontier: establishing a NEASC evidence center

This article describes how cataloging staff at the Roger Williams University Library established, managed, and planned to preserve an online NEASC Evidence Center for the University’s reaccreditation process. It highlights use of MARC and AACR2rev for effective organization of the Center’s records and the continuing importance of professional cataloging skills

The Future of Institutional Repositories at Small Academic Institutions: Analysis and Insights

Institutional repositories (IRs) established at universities and academic libraries over a decade ago, large and small, have encountered challenges along the way in keeping faith with their original objective: to collect, preserve, and disseminate the intellectual output of an institution in digital form. While all institutional repositories have experienced the same obstacles relating to a lack of faculty participation, those at small universities face unique challenges. This article examines causes of low faculty contribution to IR content growth, particularly at small academic institutions. It also offers a first-hand account of building and developing an institutional repository at a small university. The article concludes by suggesting how institutional repositories at small academic institutions can thrive by focusing on classroom teaching and student experiential learning, strategic priorities of their parent institutions

International Conference on Dublin Core and Metadata Application 2004

The International Conference on Dublin Core and Metadata Applications took place on October 11-14, 2004 in Shanghai, China. It was the fourth in a series of expanded Dublin Core conferences that included a conference, tutorials and workshops. Prior to the first in this series of conferences held in Tokyo in 2001, eight Dublin Core workshop series had been held in various North American and European countries starting in 1995. These workshops and conferences have provided a forum where researchers and practitioners can exchange new ideas and demonstrate the development of metadata standards and applications from practical aspects

Optimization of Window Positions for Wind-Driven Natural Ventilation Performance

This paper optimizes opening positions on building facades to maximize the natural ventilation’s potential for ventilation and cooling purposes. The paper demonstrates how to apply computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation results to architectural design processes, and how the CFD-driven decisions impact ventilation and cooling: (1) background: A CFD helps predict the natural ventilation’s potential, the integration of CFD results into design decision-making has not been actively practiced; (2) methods: Pressure data on building facades were obtained from CFD simulations and mapped into the 3D modeling environment, which were then used to identify optimal positions of two openings of a zone. The effect of the selected opening positions was validated with building energy simulations; (3) results: The cross-comparison study of different window positions based on different geographical locations quantified the impact on natural ventilation effectiveness; and (4) conclusions: The optimized window positions were shown to be effective, and some optimal solutions contradicted the typical cross-ventilation strategy

The happiness - suicide paradox

Suicide is an important scientific phenomenon. Yet its causes remain poorly understood. This study documents a paradox: the happiest places have the highest suicide rates. The study combines findings from two large and rich individual-level data sets—one on life satisfaction and another on suicide deaths—to establish the paradox in a consistent way across U.S. states. It replicates the finding in data on Western industrialized nations and checks that the paradox is not an artifact of population composition or confounding factors. The study concludes with the conjecture that people may find it particularly painful to be unhappy in a happy place, so that the decision to commit suicide is influenced by relative comparisons.Happiness ; Suicide

The response of Liriope, Hosta, and Hedera to sunlight and fertilization

The purpose of this investigation was to study the response of three different species of ground covers, Liriope, Hosta, and Hedera to various degrees of shade and levels of nitrogen and potassium. The plants were grown in pots under three light conditions: full sunlight, half of full sunlight, and a quarter of full sunlight. Two levels of nitrogen and po-tassium, high and low, were applied at the beginning of this experiment. Data for this study included height, fresh and dry weights, number of leaves or shoots, chlorophyll and starch content. Height and number of leaves of these three ground covers were significantly affected by light and nitrogen treatment. In most cases, the reduction of light and a high nitrogen level produced better growth and better ap-pearing plants than were obtained under full sunlight and low nitrogen fertilization. Differences due to potassium levels were usually non-significant

Metabolomics in psoriatic disease: pilot study reveals metabolite differences in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.

ImportanceWhile "omics" studies have advanced our understanding of inflammatory skin diseases, metabolomics is mostly an unexplored field in dermatology.ObjectiveWe sought to elucidate the pathogenesis of psoriatic diseases by determining the differences in metabolomic profiles among psoriasis patients with or without psoriatic arthritis and healthy controls.DesignWe employed a global metabolomics approach to compare circulating metabolites from patients with psoriasis, psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, and healthy controls.SettingStudy participants were recruited from the general community and from the Psoriasis Clinic at the University of California Davis in United States.ParticipantsWe examined metabolomic profiles using blood serum samples from 30 patients age and gender matched into three groups: 10 patients with psoriasis, 10 patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis and 10 control participants. Main outcome(s) and measures(s): Metabolite levels were measured calculating the mean peak intensities from gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry.ResultsMultivariate analyses of metabolomics profiles revealed altered serum metabolites among the study population. Compared to control patients, psoriasis patients had a higher level of alpha ketoglutaric acid (Pso: 288 ± 88;Control209 ± 69; p=0.03), a lower level of asparagine (Pso: 5460 ± 980;Control7260 ± 2100; p=0.02), and a lower level of glutamine (Pso: 86000 ± 20000;Control111000 ± 27000; p=0.02). Compared to control patients, patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis had increased levels of glucuronic acid (Pso + PsA: 638 ± 250;Control347 ± 61; p=0.001). Compared to patients with psoriasis alone, patients with both psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis had a decreased level of alpha ketoglutaric acid (Pso + PsA: 186 ± 80; Pso: 288 ± 88; p=0.02) and an increased level of lignoceric acid (Pso + PsA: 442 ± 280; Pso: 214 ± 64; p=0.02).Conclusions and relevanceThe metabolite differences help elucidate the pathogenesis of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis and they may provide insights for therapeutic development