Larry Summers’ interest rate conundrum. CEPS Hi-level Brief, 16 January 2014

Larry Summers has attracted much attention recently for invoking old theories of secular stagnation to explain the persistence of low interest rates in the recent past. The German economist Carl Christian von Weizsäcker has pointed to a retirement savings glut as the cause for low rates. In the view of Thomas Mayer, however, as expressed in this High-Level Brief, these theses lack both theoretical and empirical support and he offers as an alternative explanation the fall-out from the recent credit boom-bust cycle.

The Fate of Greece in a ‘Genuine Economic and Monetary Union’: Lessons from a small island state. CEPS Hi-Level Brief, 19 June 2015 Friday, 19 June 2015

As the Greek debt drama reaches another supposedly decision point, Daniel Gros urges creditors (and indeed all policy-makers) to think about the long term and poses one key question in this CEPS High-Level Brief: What can be gained by keeping Greece inside the euro area at “whatever it takes”? As he points out, the US, with its unified politics and its federal fiscal transfer system, is often taken as a model for the Eurozone, and it is thus instructive to consider the longer-term performance of an area of the US which has for years been kept afloat by massive transfers, and which is now experiencing a public debt crisis. The entity in question is Puerto Rico, which is an integral part of the US in all relevant economic dimensions (currency, economic policy, etc.). The dismal fiscal and economic performance of Puerto Rico carries two lessons: 1) Keeping Greece in the eurozone by increasing implicit subsidies in the form of debt forgiveness might create a low-growth equilibrium with increasing aid dependency. 2) It is wrong to assume that, further integration, including a fiscal and political union, would be sufficient to foster convergence, and prevent further problems of the type the EU is experiencing with Greece.

Highly accurate RNA and DNA sequencing: Application to longstanding questions in aging and cancer

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Higher-level language deficits resulting from left primary cerebellar lesions

Background: Contemporary neuropsychological studies suggest that cerebellar lesions may impact upon higher-level cognitive functioning via mechanisms of crossed cerebello-cerebral diaschisis. Accordingly, right cerebellar lesions have been previously associated with linguistic impairments such as reduced word fluency and agrammatic output. Recently, however, neuroimaging investigations have also identified ipsilateral cerebral hypoperfusion as a consequence of cerebellar lesions, implicating a potential role for the left cerebellum in the mediation of language processes. Aims: The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of left cerebellar lesions of vascular origin, on general as well as high-level language skills. Methods & Procedures: Linguistic profiles were compiled for five individuals with left primary cerebellar lesions utilising a comprehensive language test battery. Individual scores relevant to each subtest were compared to a group of non-neurologically impaired controls. The criterion for anomalous performance was established as greater than or equal to 1.5 SD below the mean of the control group. Outcomes & Results: The findings of this research suggest that higher-level language deficits may result from left primary cerebellar lesions. All participants demonstrated deficits on measures of word fluency, sentence construction within a set context, producing word definitions, and producing multiple definitions for the same word. Deficits were also noted for several participants on measures of understanding figurative language, forming word associations, identifying and correcting semantic absurdities, and producing synonyms and antonyms. Conclusions: The results presented challenge the notion of a lateralised linguistic cerebellum, supporting a potential role for the left as well as right cerebellar hemispheres in the regulation of language processes, presumably via cerebellar-basal ganglia/thalamo-cortical pathways.

Mg-based nanocomposites with high capacity and fast kinetics for hydrogen storage

Magnesium and its alloys have shown a great potential in effective hydrogen storage due to their advantages of high volumetric/ gravimetric hydrogen storage capacity and low cost. However, the use of these materials in fuel cells for automotive applications at the present time is limited by high hydrogenation temperature and sluggish sorption kinetics. This paper presents the recent results of design and development of magnesium-based nanocomposites demonstrating the catalytic effects of carbon nanotubes and transition metals on hydrogen adsorption in these materials. The results are promising for the application of magnesium materials for hydrogen storage, with significantly reduced absorption temperatures and enhanced ab/desorption kinetics. High level Density Functional Theory calculations support the analysis of the hydrogenation mechanisms by revealing the detailed atomic and molecular interactions that underpin the catalytic roles of incorporated carbon and titanium, providing clear guidance for further design and development of such materials with better hydrogen storage properties.

Sensitivity of staphylococcus epidermidis to chlorhexidine and associated resistance properties

Staphylococcus epidermidis are common Gram-positive bacteria and are responsible for a number of life-threatening nosocomial infections. Treatment of S. epidermidis infection is problematic because the organism is usually resistant to many antibiotics. The high degree of resistance of this organism to a range of antibiotics and disinfectants is widely known. The aims of this thesis were to investigate and evaluate the susceptibility of isolates of S. epidermidis from various infections to chlorhexidine (CHX) and to other disinfectants such as benzalkonium chloride (BKC), triclosan (TLN) and povidone-iodine (PI). In addition, the mechanisms of resistance of S. epidermidis to chlorhexidine (the original isolates and strains adapted to chlorhexidine by serial passage) were examined and co-resistance to clinically relevant antibiotics investigated. In 3 of the 11 S. epidermidis strains passaged in increasing concentrations of chlorhexidine, resistance to the disinfectant arose (16-fold). These strains were examined further, each showing stable chlorhexidine resistance. Co-resistance to other disinfectants such as BKC, TLN and PI and changes in cell surface hydrophobicity were observed. Increases in resistance were accompanied by an increase in the proportion of neutral lipids and phospholipids in the cell membrane. This increase was most marked in diphosphatidylglycerol. These observations suggest that some strains of S. epidermidis can become resistant to chlorhexidine and related disinfectants/antiseptics by continual exposure. The mechanisms of resistance appear to be related to changes in membrane lipid compositions.

Adaptation to flood risk:the case of businesses in the UK

Despite Government investment in flood defence schemes, many properties remain at high risk of flooding. A substantial portion of these properties are business establishments. Flooding can create serious consequences for businesses, including damage to property and stocks, being out of business for a considerable period and ultimately business failure. Recent flood events such as those in 2007 and 2009 that affected many parts of the UK have helped to establish the true costs of flooding to businesses. This greater understanding of the risks to businesses has heightened the need for business owners to adapt their businesses to the threat of future flooding. Government policy has now shifted away from investment in engineered flood defences, towards encouraging the uptake of property level flood resistance and resilience measures by businesses. However, implementing such adaptation strategies remains a challenge due a range of reasons. A review of the current state of property level flood risk adaptation of UK businesses is presented, drawing from extant literature. Barriers that may hinder the uptake of property level adaptation by businesses are revealed and drivers that may enhance uptake and effectively overcome these barriers are also discussed. It is concluded that the professions from the construction sector have the potential to contribute towards the adaptation of business properties and thereby the flood resilience of businesses at risk of flooding.

A pilot study to evaluate the self-medication system for liver transplant patients at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham

Background and Objective: Medication non-compliance is a considerable obstacle in achievinga therapeutic goal, whichcan result in poorerhealthcare outcomes, increased expenditure, wastage and potential for medication resistance. The UK Government’s Audit Commission’s publication ‘A Spoonful of Sugar’1 addresses these issues and promotes self-medication systems as a possible solution. The self-medication system within the Liver Transplant Unit (LTU) was implemented to induct patients onto new post- transplantation medication regimes ready for discharge. The system involves initial consultations with both the Liver Transplant Pharmacist and Trans- plant Co-ordinator, supported with additional advice as and when necessary. Design: Following ethical approval, evaluation of the self-medication sys- tem for liver transplant patients was conducted between January and March 2004 via two methods: audit and structured post-transplantation interview. The audit enabled any discrepancies between current Hospital guidelines and Liver Transplant Unit (LTU) practices to be highlighted. Patient interviews generated a retrospective insight into patient acceptance of the self-medication system. Setting: LTU, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, England. Main Outcome Measures: LTU compliance with Hospital self-medication guidelines and patient insight into self-medication system. Results: A total of seven patients were audited. Findings illustrated that self- medication by transplant patients is a complex process which was not fully addressed by current Hospital self-medication guidelines. Twenty-three patients were interviewed, showing an overwhelming positive attitude to- wards participating in their own care and a high level of understanding towards their individual medication regimes. Following a drugs counselling session, 100% of patients understood why they were taking their medica- tion, and their doses, 95% understood how to take their medication and 85% were aware of potential side effects. Conclusions: From this pilot evaluation it can be stated that the LTU self-medication system is appreciated by patients and assists them in fully understanding their medication regimes. There appear to be no major defects in the system. However areas such as communication barriers and on-going internet education were illustrated as areas for possible future investigation. References: 1. Audit Commission. A spoonful of sugar – medicines management in NHS hospitals. London: Audit Commission; 2001.

Adaptive resistance to biocides in Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli O157 and cross-resistance to antimicrobial agents

The mechanisms by which bacteria resist killing by antibiotics and biocides are still poorly defined, although repeated exposure to sublethal concentrations of antibacterial agents undoubtedly contributes to their development. This study aimed both to investigate the potential of Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli O157 for adaptive resistance to commonly used biocides and to determine any cross-resistance to antibiotics. Strains were repeatedly passaged in media containing increasing concentrations of a biocide or antibiotic until adaptive resistance was obtained. A wide panel of antimicrobial agents was then screened by using the adapted strain to determine cross-resistance, if any. Adaptive resistance was readily achieved for both S. enterica and E. coli O157. Cross-resistance in adaptively resistant S. enterica varied with the serotype; Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis expressed cross-resistance to chloramphenicol, whereas Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium expressed cross-resistance to chlorhexidine. Benzalkonium chloride-resistant Salmonella enterica serovar Virchow showed elevated resistance to chlorhexidine; however, chlorhexidine-resistant Salmonella serovar Virchow did not demonstrate reciprocal cross-resistance to benzalkonium chloride, suggesting specific rather than generic resistance mechanisms. E. coli O157 strains acquired high levels of resistance to triclosan after only two sublethal exposures and, when adapted, repeatedly demonstrated decreased susceptibilities to various antimicrobial agents, including chloramphenicol, erythromycin, imipenem, tetracycline, and trimethoprim, as well as to a number of biocides. These observations raise concern over the indiscriminate and often inappropriate use of biocides, especially triclosan, in situations where they are unnecessary, whereby they may contribute to the development of microbial resistance mechanisms.

Towards a multilevel model of the high performance work systems–workplace safety relationship

Human Resource (HR) systems and practices generally referred to as High Performance Work Practices (HPWPs), (Huselid, 1995) (sometimes termed High Commitment Work Practices or High Involvement Work Practices) have attracted much research attention in past decades. Although many conceptualizations of the construct have been proposed, there is general agreement that HPWPs encompass a bundle or set of HR practices including sophisticated staffing, intensive training and development, incentive-based compensation, performance management, initiatives aimed at increasing employee participation and involvement, job safety and security, and work design (e.g. Pfeffer, 1998). It is argued that these practices either directly and indirectly influence the extent to which employees’ knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics are utilized in the organization. Research spanning nearly 20 years has provided considerable empirical evidence for relationships between HPWPs and various measures of performance including increased productivity, improved customer service, and reduced turnover (e.g. Guthrie, 2001; Belt & Giles, 2009). With the exception of a few papers (e.g., Laursen &Foss, 2003), this literature appears to lack focus on how HPWPs influence or foster more innovative-related attitudes and behaviours, extra role behaviors, and performance. This situation exists despite the vast evidence demonstrating the importance of innovation, proactivity, and creativity in its various forms to individual, group, and organizational performance outcomes. Several pertinent issues arise when considering HPWPs and their relationship to innovation and performance outcomes. At a broad level is the issue of which HPWPs are related to which innovation-related variables. Another issue not well identified in research relates to employees’ perceptions of HPWPs: does an employee actually perceive the HPWP –outcomes relationship? No matter how well HPWPs are designed, if they are not perceived and experienced by employees to be effective or worthwhile then their likely success in achieving positive outcomes is limited. At another level, research needs to consider the mechanisms through which HPWPs influence –innovation and performance. The research question here relates to what possible mediating variables are important to the success or failure of HPWPs in impacting innovative behaviours and attitudes and what are the potential process considerations? These questions call for theory refinement and the development of more comprehensive models of the HPWP-innovation/performance relationship that include intermediate linkages and boundary conditions (Ferris, Hochwarter, Buckley, Harrell-Cook, & Frink, 1999). While there are many calls for this type of research to be made a high priority, to date, researchers have made few inroads into answering these questions. This symposium brings together researchers from Australia, Europe, Asia and Africa to examine these various questions relating to the HPWP-innovation-performance relationship. Each paper discusses a HPWP and potential variables that can facilitate or hinder the effects of these practices on innovation- and performance- related outcomes. The first paper by Johnston and Becker explores the HPWPs in relation to work design in a disaster response organization that shifts quickly from business as usual to rapid response. The researchers examine how the enactment of the organizational response is devolved to groups and individuals. Moreover, they assess motivational characteristics that exist in dual work designs (normal operations and periods of disaster activation) and the implications for innovation. The second paper by Jørgensen reports the results of an investigation into training and development practices and innovative work behaviors (IWBs) in Danish organizations. Research on how to design and implement training and development initiatives to support IWBs and innovation in general is surprisingly scant and often vague. This research investigates the mechanisms by which training and development initiatives influence employee behaviors associated with innovation, and provides insights into how training and development can be used effectively by firms to attract and retain valuable human capital in knowledge-intensive firms. The next two papers in this symposium consider the role of employee perceptions of HPWPs and their relationships to innovation-related variables and performance. First, Bish and Newton examine perceptions of the characteristics and awareness of occupational health and safety (OHS) practices and their relationship to individual level adaptability and proactivity in an Australian public service organization. The authors explore the role of perceived supportive and visionary leadership and its impact on the OHS policy-adaptability/proactivity relationship. The study highlights the positive main effects of awareness and characteristics of OHS polices, and supportive and visionary leadership on individual adaptability and proactivity. It also highlights the important moderating effects of leadership in the OHS policy-adaptability/proactivity relationship. Okhawere and Davis present a conceptual model developed for a Nigerian study in the safety-critical oil and gas industry that takes a multi-level approach to the HPWP-safety relationship. Adopting a social exchange perspective, they propose that at the organizational level, organizational climate for safety mediates the relationship between enacted HPWS’s and organizational safety performance (prescribed and extra role performance). At the individual level, the experience of HPWP impacts on individual behaviors and attitudes in organizations, here operationalized as safety knowledge, skills and motivation, and these influence individual safety performance. However these latter relationships are moderated by organizational climate for safety. A positive organizational climate for safety strengthens the relationship between individual safety behaviors and attitudes and individual-level safety performance, therefore suggesting a cross-level boundary condition. The model includes both safety performance (behaviors) and organizational level safety outcomes, operationalized as accidents, injuries, and fatalities. The final paper of this symposium by Zhang and Liu explores leader development and relationship between transformational leadership and employee creativity and innovation in China. The authors further develop a model that incorporates the effects of extrinsic motivation (pay for performance: PFP) and employee collectivism in the leader-employee creativity relationship. The papers’ contributions include the incorporation of a PFP effect on creativity as moderator, rather than predictor in most studies; the exploration of the PFP effect from both fairness and strength perspectives; the advancement of knowledge on the impact of collectivism on the leader- employee creativity link. Last, this is the first study to examine three-way interactional effects among leader-member exchange (LMX), PFP and collectivism, thus, enriches our understanding of promoting employee creativity. In conclusion, this symposium draws upon the findings of four empirical studies and one conceptual study to provide an insight into understanding how different variables facilitate or potentially hinder the influence various HPWPs on innovation and performance. We will propose a number of questions for further consideration and discussion. The symposium will address the Conference Theme of ‘Capitalism in Question' by highlighting how HPWPs can promote financial health and performance of organizations while maintaining a high level of regard and respect for employees and organizational stakeholders. Furthermore, the focus on different countries and cultures explores the overall research question in relation to different modes or stages of development of capitalism.

Surrogate-based analysis and optimization for the design of heat sinks with jet impingement

Heat sinks are widely used for cooling electronic devices and systems. Their thermal performance is usually determined by the material, shape, and size of the heat sink. With the assistance of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and surrogate-based optimization, heat sinks can be designed and optimized to achieve a high level of performance. In this paper, the design and optimization of a plate-fin-type heat sink cooled by impingement jet is presented. The flow and thermal fields are simulated using the CFD simulation; the thermal resistance of the heat sink is then estimated. A Kriging surrogate model is developed to approximate the objective function (thermal resistance) as a function of design variables. Surrogate-based optimization is implemented by adaptively adding infill points based on an integrated strategy of the minimum value, the maximum mean square error approach, and the expected improvement approaches. The results show the influence of design variables on the thermal resistance and give the optimal heat sink with lowest thermal resistance for given jet impingement conditions.

High natural gene expression variation in the reef-building coral Acropora millepora: potential for acclimative and adaptive plasticity

Background: Ecosystems worldwide are suffering the consequences of anthropogenic impact. The diverse ecosystem of coral reefs, for example, are globally threatened by increases in sea surface temperatures due to global warming. Studies to date have focused on determining genetic diversity, the sequence variability of genes in a species, as a proxy to estimate and predict the potential adaptive response of coral populations to environmental changes linked to climate changes. However, the examination of natural gene expression variation has received less attention. This variation has been implicated as an important factor in evolutionary processes, upon which natural selection can act. Results: We acclimatized coral nubbins from six colonies of the reef-building coral Acropora millepora to a common garden in Heron Island (Great Barrier Reef, GBR) for a period of four weeks to remove any site-specific environmental effects on the physiology of the coral nubbins. By using a cDNA microarray platform, we detected a high level of gene expression variation, with 17% (488) of the unigenes differentially expressed across coral nubbins of the six colonies (jsFDR-corrected, p < 0.01). Among the main categories of biological processes found differentially expressed were transport, translation, response to stimulus, oxidation-reduction processes, and apoptosis. We found that the transcriptional profiles did not correspond to the genotype of the colony characterized using either an intron of the carbonic anhydrase gene or microsatellite loci markers. Conclusion: Our results provide evidence of the high inter-colony variation in A. millepora at the transcriptomic level grown under a common garden and without a correspondence with genotypic identity. This finding brings to our attention the importance of taking into account natural variation between reef corals when assessing experimental gene expression differences. The high transcriptional variation detected in this study is interpreted and discussed within the context of adaptive potential and phenotypic plasticity of reef corals. Whether this variation will allow coral reefs to survive to current challenges remains unknown.

Elucidating the Space-Time Structure of Low Level Warm Season Precipitation Processes in the Southern Appalachian Mountains Using Models and Observations

Light rainfall is the baseline input to the annual water budget in mountainous landscapes through the tropics and at mid-latitudes. In the Southern Appalachians, the contribution from light rainfall ranges from 50-60% during wet years to 80-90% during dry years, with convective activity and tropical cyclone input providing most of the interannual variability. The Southern Appalachians is a region characterized by rich biodiversity that is vulnerable to land use/land cover changes due to its proximity to a rapidly growing population. Persistent near surface moisture and associated microclimates observed in this region has been well documented since the colonization of the area in terms of species health, fire frequency, and overall biodiversity. The overarching objective of this research is to elucidate the microphysics of light rainfall and the dynamics of low level moisture in the inner region of the Southern Appalachians during the warm season, with a focus on orographically mediated processes. The overarching research hypothesis is that physical processes leading to and governing the life cycle of orographic fog, low level clouds, and precipitation, and their interactions, are strongly tied to landform, land cover, and the diurnal cycles of flow patterns, radiative forcing, and surface fluxes at the ridge-valley scale. The following science questions will be addressed specifically: 1) How do orographic clouds and fog affect the hydrometeorological regime from event to annual scale and as a function of terrain characteristics and land cover?; 2) What are the source areas, governing processes, and relevant time-scales of near surface moisture convergence patterns in the region?; and 3) What are the four dimensional microphysical and dynamical characteristics, including variability and controlling factors and processes, of fog and light rainfall? The research was conducted with two major components: 1) ground-based high-quality observations using multi-sensor platforms and 2) interpretive numerical modeling guided by the analysis of the in situ data collection. Findings illuminate a high level of spatial – down to the ridge scale - and temporal – from event to annual scale - heterogeneity in observations, and a significant impact on the hydrological regime as a result of seeder-feeder interactions among fog, low level clouds, and stratiform rainfall that enhance coalescence efficiency and lead to significantly higher rainfall rates at the land surface. Specifically, results show that enhancement of an event up to one order of magnitude in short-term accumulation can occur as a result of concurrent fog presence. Results also show that events are modulated strongly by terrain characteristics including elevation, slope, geometry, and land cover. These factors produce interactions between highly localized flows and gradients of temperature and moisture with larger scale circulations. Resulting observations of DSD and rainfall patterns are stratified by region and altitude and exhibit clear diurnal and seasonal cycles.

Influence of grinding operations on surface integrity and chloride induced stress corrosion cracking of stainless steels

Stainless steels were developed in the early 20th century and are used where both the mechanical properties of steels and corrosion resistance are required. There is continuous research to allow stainless steel components to be produced in a more economical way and be used in more harsh environments. A necessary component in this effort is to correlate the service performance with the production processes. The central theme of this thesis is the mechanical grinding process.  This is commonly used for producing stainless steel components, and results in varied surface properties that will strongly affect their service life. The influence of grinding parameters including abrasive grit size, machine power and grinding lubricant were studied for 304L austenitic stainless steel (Paper II) and 2304 duplex stainless steel (Paper I). Surface integrity was proved to vary significantly with different grinding parameters. Abrasive grit size was found to have the largest influence. Surface defects (deep grooves, smearing, adhesive/cold welding chips and indentations), a highly deformed surface layer up to a few microns in thickness and the generation of high level tensile residual stresses in the surface layer along the grinding direction were observed as the main types of damage when grinding stainless steels. A large degree of residual stress anisotropy is interpreted as being due to mechanical effects dominating over thermal effects. The effect of grinding on stress corrosion cracking behaviour of 304L austenitic stainless steel in a chloride environment was also investigated (Paper III). Depending on the surface conditions, the actual loading by four-point bend was found to deviate from the calculated value using the formula according to ASTM G39 by different amounts. Grinding-induced surface tensile residual stress was suggested as the main factor to cause micro-cracks initiation on the ground surfaces. Grinding along the loading direction was proved to increase the susceptibility to chloride-induced SCC, while grinding perpendicular to the loading direction improved SCC resistance. The knowledge obtained from this work can provide a reference for choosing appropriate grinding parameters when fabricating stainless steel components; and can also be used to help understanding the failure mechanism of ground stainless steel components during service.

Collection-Level Subject Access in Aggregations of Digital Collections: Metadata Application and Use

Problems in subject access to information organization systems have been under investigation for a long time. Focusing on item-level information discovery and access, researchers have identified a range of subject access problems, including quality and application of metadata, as well as the complexity of user knowledge required for successful subject exploration. While aggregations of digital collections built in the United States and abroad generate collection-level metadata of various levels of granularity and richness, no research has yet focused on the role of collection-level metadata in user interaction with these aggregations. This dissertation research sought to bridge this gap by answering the question “How does collection-level metadata mediate scholarly subject access to aggregated digital collections?” This goal was achieved using three research methods: • in-depth comparative content analysis of collection-level metadata in three large-scale aggregations of cultural heritage digital collections: Opening History, American Memory, and The European Library • transaction log analysis of user interactions, with Opening History, and • interview and observation data on academic historians interacting with two aggregations: Opening History and American Memory. It was found that subject-based resource discovery is significantly influenced by collection-level metadata richness. The richness includes such components as: 1) describing collection’s subject matter with mutually-complementary values in different metadata fields, and 2) a variety of collection properties/characteristics encoded in the free-text Description field, including types and genres of objects in a digital collection, as well as topical, geographic and temporal coverage are the most consistently represented collection characteristics in free-text Description fields. Analysis of user interactions with aggregations of digital collections yields a number of interesting findings. Item-level user interactions were found to occur more often than collection-level interactions. Collection browse is initiated more often than search, while subject browse (topical and geographic) is used most often. Majority of collection search queries fall within FRBR Group 3 categories: object, concept, and place. Significantly more object, concept, and corporate body searches and less individual person, event and class of persons searches were observed in collection searches than in item searches. While collection search is most often satisfied by Description and/or Subjects collection metadata fields, it would not retrieve a significant proportion of collection records without controlled-vocabulary subject metadata (Temporal Coverage, Geographic Coverage, Subjects, and Objects), and free-text metadata (the Description field). Observation data shows that collection metadata records in Opening History and American Memory aggregations are often viewed. Transaction log data show a high level of engagement with collection metadata records in Opening History, with the total page views for collections more than 4 times greater than item page views. Scholars observed viewing collection records valued descriptive information on provenance, collection size, types of objects, subjects, geographic coverage, and temporal coverage information. They also considered the structured display of collection metadata in Opening History more useful than the alternative approach taken by other aggregations, such as American Memory, which displays only the free-text Description field to the end-user. The results extend the understanding of the value of collection-level subject metadata, particularly free-text metadata, for the scholarly users of aggregations of digital collections. The analysis of the collection metadata created by three large-scale aggregations provides a better understanding of collection-level metadata application patterns and suggests best practices. This dissertation is also the first empirical research contribution to test the FRBR model as a conceptual and analytic framework for studying collection-level subject access.