Professional Skills and Competencies for Academic Librarian in an Electronic Environment

Development of new technologies in the field of library and information science especially in academic libraries has resulted in the need for library staff to be flexible in adopting new skills and levels of awareness. In addition to core technology skills, importance is to be given to other skills in communication, management, etc. This paper attempts to describe in brief the competencies and skills required for an academic library professional in the digital era .

DNA methylation in Dictyostelium discoideum

DNA methyltransferases of type Dnmt2 are a highly conserved protein family with enigmatic function. The aim of this work was to characterize DnmA, the Dnmt2 methyltransferase in Dictyostelium discoideum, and further to investigate its implication in DNA methylation and transcriptional gene silencing. The genome of the social amoeba Dictyostelium encodes DnmA as the sole DNA methyltransferase. The enzyme bears all ten characteristic DNA methyltransferase motifs in its catalytic domain. The DnmA mRNA was found by RT-PCR to be expressed during vegetative growth and down regulated during development. Investigations using fluorescence microscopy showed that both DnmA-myc and DnmA-GFP fusions predominantly localised to the nucleus. The function of DnmA remained initially unclear, but later experiment revealed that the enzyme is an active DNA methyltransferase responsible for all DNA (cytosine) methylation in Dictyostelium. Neither in gel retardation assays, nor by the yeast two hybrid system, clues on the functionality of DnmA could be obtained. However, immunological detection of the methylation mark with an α - 5mC antibody gave initial evidence that the DNA of Dictyostelium was methylated. Furthermore, addition of 5-aza-cytidine as demethylating agent to the Dictyostelium medium and subsequent in vitro incubation of the DNA isolated from these cells with recombinant DnmA showed that the enzyme binds slightly better to this target DNA. In order to investigate further the function of the protein, a gene knock-out for dnmA was generated. The gene was successfully disrupted by homologous recombination, the knock-out strain, however, did not show any obvious phenotype under normal laboratory conditions. To identify specific target sequences for DNA methylation, a microarray analysis was carried out. Setting a threshold of at least 1.5 fold for differences in the strength of gene expression, several such genes in the knock-out strain were chosen for further investigation. Among the up-regulated genes were the ESTs representing the gag and the RT genes respectively of the retrotransposon skipper. In addition Northern blot analysis confirmed the up-regulation of skipper in the DnmA knock-out strain. Bisufite treatment and sequencing of specific DNA stretches from skipper revealed that DnmA is responsible for methylation of mostly asymmetric cytosines. Together with skipper, DIRS-1 retrotransposon was found later also to be methylated but was not present on the microarray. Furthermore, skipper transcription was also up-regulated in strains that had genes disrupted encoding components of the RNA interference pathway. In contrast, DIRS 1 expression was not affected by a loss of DnmA but was strongly increased in the strain that had the RNA directed RNA polymerase gene rrpC disrupted. Strains generated by propagating the usual wild type Ax2 and the DnmA knock-out cells over 16 rounds in development were analyzed for transposon activity. Northern blot analysis revealed activation for skipper expression, but not for DIRS-1. A large number of siRNAs were found to be correspondent to the DIRS-1 sequence, suggesting concerted regulation of DIRS-1 expression by RNAi and DNA methylation. In contrast, no siRNAs corresponding to the standard skipper element were found. The data show that DNA methylation plays a crucial role in epigenetic gene regulation in Dictyostelium and that different, partially overlapping mechanisms control transposon silencing for skipper and DIRS-1. To elucidate the mechanism of targeting the protein to particular genes in the Dictyostelium genome, some more genes which were up-regulated in the DnmA knock-out strain were analyzed by bisulfite sequencing. The chosen genes are involved in the multidrug response in other species, but their function in Dictyostelium is uncertain. Bisulfite data showed that two of these genes were methylated at asymmetrical C-residues in the wild type, but not in DnmA knock-out cells. This suggested that DNA methylation in Dictyostelium is involved not only in transposon regulation but also in transcriptional silencing of specific genes.

Option pricing in market models driven by telegraph processes with jumps

Esta tesis está dividida en dos partes: en la primera parte se presentan y estudian los procesos telegráficos, los procesos de Poisson con compensador telegráfico y los procesos telegráficos con saltos. El estudio presentado en esta primera parte incluye el cálculo de las distribuciones de cada proceso, las medias y varianzas, así como las funciones generadoras de momentos entre otras propiedades. Utilizando estas propiedades en la segunda parte se estudian los modelos de valoración de opciones basados en procesos telegráficos con saltos. En esta parte se da una descripción de cómo calcular las medidas neutrales al riesgo, se encuentra la condición de no arbitraje en este tipo de modelos y por último se calcula el precio de las opciones Europeas de compra y venta.

Harmonization of policies and training systems in Europe for urban development – The Experience of LUDA Project

The work developed in LUDA’s project has clearly showed that, in a European economic and cultural diversified frame, crossed by recent and not so recent historical challenging processes, the issues of the urban affairs certainly have different layouts, but, as a matter of fact, we can assume that in their essence they are common to all regions. Identifying a set of common problems is not difficult: the Luda’s; the disadjustment between people and goods mobility, the difficult articulation between space and development sustainability the fragile features of the urban space in its complexity, the responsible social management of current migrations etc.

The sight of silence : the conceptualisation of silence in the visual cultures of sign language communities

Deaf people are perceived by hearing people as living in a silent world. Yet, silence cannot exist without sound, so if sound is not heard, can there be silence? From a linguistic point of view silence is the absence of, or intermission in, communication. Silence can be communicative or noncommunicative. Thus, silence must exist in sign languages as well. Sign languages are based on visual perception and production through movement and sight. Silence must, therefore, be visually perceptible; and, if there is such a thing as visual silence, how does it look? The paper will analyse the topic of silence from a Deaf perspective. The main aspects to be explored are the perception and evaluation of acoustic noise and silence by Deaf people; the conceptualisation of silence in visual languages, such as sign languages; the qualities of visual silence; the meaning of silence as absence of communication (particularly between hearing and Deaf people); social rules for silence; and silencing strategies.

Communication between caregivers and deaf patients during hospitalization

This paper discusses a study to identify major problems in communication during hospitalization perceived by deaf patients and by nurses.

Mathematical modelling of decision making processes in construction projects

Many different individuals, who have their own expertise and criteria for decision making, are involved in making decisions on construction projects. Decision-making processes are thus significantly affected by communication, in which a dynamic performance of human intentions leads to unpredictable outcomes. In order to theorise the decision making processes including communication, it is argued here that the decision making processes resemble evolutionary dynamics in terms of both selection and mutation, which can be expressed by the replicator-mutator equation. To support this argument, a mathematical model of decision making has been made from an analogy with evolutionary dynamics, in which there are three variables: initial support rate, business hierarchy, and power of persuasion. On the other hand, a survey of patterns in decision making in construction projects has also been performed through self-administered mail questionnaire to construction practitioners. Consequently, comparison between the numerical analysis of mathematical model and the statistical analysis of empirical data has shown a significant potential of the replicator-mutator equation as a tool to study dynamic properties of intentions in communication.

Distributed space-time block coding for 3 and 4 relay nodes: Imperfect synchronisation and a solution

Most research on distributed space time block coding (STBC) has so far focused on the case of 2 relay nodes and assumed that the relay nodes are perfectly synchronised at the symbol level. By applying STBC to 3-or 4-relay node systems, this paper shows that imperfect synchronisation causes significant performance degradation to the conventional detector. To this end, we propose a new STBC detection solution based on the principle of parallel interference cancellation (PIC). The PIC detector is moderate in computational complexity but is very effective in suppressing the impact of imperfect synchronisation.

Understanding of auditory discourse in older adults: the effects of syntax and working memory

Background: As people age, language-processing ability changes. While several factors modify discourse comprehension ability in older adults, syntactic complexity of auditory discourse has received scant attention. This is despite the widely researched domain of syntactic processing of single sentences in older adults. Aims: The aims of this study were to investigate the ability of healthy older adults to understand stories that differed in syntactic complexity, and its relation to working memory. Methods & Procedures: A total of 51 healthy adults (divided into three age groups) took part. They listened to brief stories (syntactically simple and syntactically complex) and had to respond to false/true comprehension probes following each story. Working memory capacity (digit span, forward and backward) was also measured. Outcomes & Results: Differences were found in the ability of healthy older adults to understand simple and complex discourse. The complex discourse in particular was more sensitive in discerning age-related language patterns. Only the complex discourse task correlated moderately with age. There was no correlation between age and simple discourse. As far as working memory is concerned, moderate correlations were found between working memory and complex discourse. Education did not correlate with discourse, neither simple, nor complex. Conclusions: Older adults may be less efficient in forming syntactically complex representations and this may be influenced by limitations in working memory.

The application of affine projection to the development of a siren noise cancellation system

Emergency vehicles use high-amplitude sirens to warn pedestrians and other road users of their presence. Unfortunately, the siren noise enters the vehicle and corrupts the intelligibility of two-way radio voice com-munications from the emergency vehicle to a control room. Often the siren has to be turned off to enable the control room to hear what is being said which subsequently endangers people's lives. A digital signal processing (DSP) based system for the cancellation of siren noise embedded within speech is presented. The system has been tested with the least mean square (LMS), normalised least mean square (NLMS) and affine projection algorithm (APA) using recordings from three common types of sirens (two-tone, wail and yelp) from actual test vehicles. It was found that the APA with a projection order of 2 gives comparably improved cancellation over the LMS and NLMS with only a moderate increase in algorithm complexity and code size. Therefore, this siren noise cancellation system using the APA offers an improvement in cancellation achieved by previous systems. The removal of the siren noise improves the response time for the emergency vehicle and thus the system can contribute to saving lives. The system also allows voice communication to take place even when the siren is on and as such the vehicle offers less risk of danger when moving at high speeds in heavy traffic.

Genetic variation in the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene is associated with Asperger Syndrome

Background Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) are a group of neurodevelopmental conditions characterized by impairments in communication and social interaction, alongside unusually repetitive behaviors and narrow interests. ASC are highly heritable and have complex patterns of inheritance where multiple genes are involved, alongside environmental and epigenetic factors. Asperger Syndrome (AS) is a subgroup of these conditions, where there is no history of language or cognitive delay. Animal models suggest a role for oxytocin (OXT) and oxytocin receptor (OXTR) genes in social-emotional behaviors, and several studies indicate that the oxytocin/oxytocin receptor system is altered in individuals with ASC. Previous studies have reported associations between genetic variations in the OXTR gene and ASC. Methods The present study tested for an association between nine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the OXTR gene and AS in 530 individuals of Caucasian origin, using SNP association test and haplotype analysis. Results There was a significant association between rs2268493 in OXTR and AS. Multiple haplotypes that include this SNP (rs2268493-rs2254298, rs2268490-rs2268493-rs2254298, rs2268493-rs2254298-rs53576, rs237885-rs2268490-rs2268493-rs2254298, rs2268490-rs2268493-rs2254298-rs53576) were also associated with AS. rs2268493 has been previously associated with ASC and putatively alters several transcription factor-binding sites and regulates chromatin states, either directly or through other variants in linkage disequilibrium (LD). Conclusions This study reports a significant association of the sequence variant rs2268493 in the OXTR gene and associated haplotypes with AS.

Genetic variant rs17225178 in the ARNT2 gene is associated with Asperger Syndrome

Background Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) are neurodevelopmental conditions characterized by difficulties in communication and social interaction, alongside unusually repetitive behaviours and narrow interests. Asperger Syndrome (AS) is one subgroup of ASC and differs from classic autism in that in AS there is no language or general cognitive delay. Genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors are implicated in ASC and genes involved in neural connectivity and neurodevelopment are good candidates for studying the susceptibility to ASC. The aryl-hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator 2 (ARNT2) gene encodes a transcription factor involved in neurodevelopmental processes, neuronal connectivity and cellular responses to hypoxia. A mutation in this gene has been identified in individuals with ASC and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been nominally associated with AS and autistic traits in previous studies. Methods In this study, we tested 34 SNPs in ARNT2 for association with AS in 118 cases and 412 controls of Caucasian origin. P values were adjusted for multiple comparisons, and linkage disequilibrium (LD) among the SNPs analysed was calculated in our sample. Finally, SNP annotation allowed functional and structural analyses of the genetic variants in ARNT2. We tested the replicability of our result using the genome-wide association studies (GWAS) database of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC). Results We report statistically significant association of rs17225178 with AS. This SNP modifies transcription factor binding sites and regions that regulate the chromatin state in neural cell lines. It is also included in a LD block in our sample, alongside other genetic variants that alter chromatin regulatory regions in neural cells. Conclusions These findings demonstrate that rs17225178 in the ARNT2 gene is associated with AS and support previous studies that pointed out an involvement of this gene in the predisposition to ASC.

The oscillatory bioelectrical signal from plants explained by a simulated electrical model and tested using Lempel-Ziv complexity

This paper demonstrates the oscillatory characteristics of electrical signals acquired from two ornamental plant types (Epipremnum pinnatum and Philodendron scandens - Family Araceae), using a noninvasive acquisition system. The electrical signal was recorded using Ag/AgCl superficial electrodes inside a Faraday cage. The presence of the oscillatory electric generator was shown using a classical power spectral density. The Lempel and Ziv complexity measurement showed that the plant signal was not noise despite its nonlinear behavior. The oscillatory characteristics of the signal were explained using a simulated electrical model that establishes that for a frequency range from 5 to 15 Hz, the oscillatory characteristic is higher than for other frequency ranges. All results show that non-invasive electrical plant signals can be acquired with improvement of signal-to-noise ratio using a Faraday cage, and a simple electrical model is able to explain the electrical signal being generated. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Existential issues in surgical care : Nurses’ experiences and attitudes in caring for patients with cancer

The overall aim of this thesis was to explore surgical nurses’ experiences of being confronted with patients’ existential issues when caring for patients with cancer, and to examine whether an educational intervention may support nurses in addressing existential needs when caring for patients with cancer. Previously recorded discussions from supervision sessions with eight healthcare professionals were analysed (I), written descriptions of critical incidents were collected from 10 nurses, and interviews with open questions were conducted (II). An educational intervention on existential issues was pilot tested and is presented in Studies III and IV. The intervention was the basis of a pilot study with the purpose of testing whether the whole design of the educational intervention, including measurements instruments, is appropriate. In Study III and IV interviews with 11 nurses were conducted and 42 nurses were included in the quantitative measurements of four questionnaires, which were distributed and collected. Data was analysed using qualitative secondary analysis (I), hermeneutical analysis (II), and mixed methods using qualitative content analysis and statistical analyses (III-IV). Results in all studies show that existential issues are part of caring at surgical wards. However, although the nurses were aware of them, they found it difficult to acknowledge these issues owing to for example insecurity (I-III), a strict medical focus (II) and/or lacking strategies (I-III) for communicating on these issues. Modest results from the pilot study are reported and suggest beneficial influences of a support in communication on existential issues (III). The results indicate that the educational intervention may enhance nurses’ understanding for the patient’s situation (IV), help them deal with own insecurity and powerlessness in communication (III), and increase the value of caring for severely ill and dying patients (III) in addition to reducing work-related stress (IV). An outcome of all the studies in this thesis was that surgical nurses consider it crucial to have time and opportunity to reflect on caring situations together with colleagues. In addition, descriptions in Studies III and IV show the value of relating reflection to a theory or philosophy in order for attitudes to be brought to awareness and for new strategies to be developed.

Representations of culture in EIL : Cultural representation in Swedish EFL textbooks

The English language has become an international language and is globally used as a lingua franca. Therefore, there has been a shift in English-language education toward teaching English as an interna-tional language (EIL). Teaching from the EIL paradigm means that English is seen as an international language used in communication by people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. As the approach to English-language education changes from the traditional native-speaker, target country context, so does the role of culture within English-language teaching. The aim of this thesis is to in-vestigate and analyse cultural representations in two Swedish EFL textbooks used in upper-secondary school to see how they correspond with the EIL paradigm. This is done by focusing on the geograph-ical origin of the cultural content as well as looking at what kinds of culture are represented in the textbooks. A content analysis of the textbooks is conducted, using Kachru’s Concentric Circles of English as the model for the analysis of the geographical origin. Horibe’s model of the three different kinds of culture in EIL is the model used for coding the second part of the analysis. The results of the analysis show that culture of target countries and "Culture as social custom" dominate the cultural content of the textbook. Thus, although there are some indications that the EIL paradigm has influ-enced the textbooks, the traditional approach to culture in language teaching still prevails in the ana-lysed textbooks. Because of the relatively small sample included in the thesis, further studies need to be conducted in order to make conclusions regarding the Swedish context as a whole.