Important Role In Access Research Articles

Çevrimiçi Kütüphane Kataloglarına Yönelik Kullanıcı Beklentileri: Ankara Üniversitesi ve Hacettepe Üniversitesi Kütüphaneleri Örneği

Gelişen web teknolojileri, bilgi kaynaklarına erişimde önemli bir role sahip olan çevrimiçi kütüphane kataloglarının işlevlerinin artırılmasına ve yeni nesil kütüphane kataloglarının oluşturulmasına katkı sağlamaktadır. Etkileşim, paylaşım ve katılımı ön planda tutan yeni nesil kütüphane katalogları, geliştirilen özellikleriyle kullanıcıların bilgi kaynaklarına erişimlerinde ve bu kaynakları kullanımlarında önemli bir etki yaratmaktadır. Bu çalışmada, kullanıcıların bilgi arama davranışlarından hareket ederek, onların çevrimiçi kütüphane kataloglarını kullanma biçimlerini belirlemek ve bu kataloglara sosyal ağ özelliklerinin kazandırılması ile ilgili gereksinimlerini/ beklentilerini saptamak amaçlanmıştır. Betimleme yönteminin kullanıldığı çalışma kapsamında, Ankara Üniversitesi ve Hacettepe Üniversitesi’nden toplam 179 kişiyle yapılandırılmış görüşme gerçekleştirilmiştir. Çalışma sonucunda, kullanıcıların bilimsel bilgi arama davranışlarında ilk olarak arama motorlarına başvurdukları; kütüphane kataloglarını üçüncü sırada tercih ettikleri; kütüphane kataloglarında çoğunlukla kaynakların içeriklerine erişim sağlayan bilgileri görmek istedikleri ve erişim için fasat yapılar ve heceleme algoritmaları gibi unsurları önemsedikleri belirlenmiştir.

Journal Article Growth and Reading Patterns

Academic libraries' electronic collections play an important role in access to journal articles for academics around the world. Academics have access to more articles through electronic collections than at any other time in history. They demonstrate the value of those resources by the time they invest in finding, reading, and citing journal articles. There are some differences in reading and citing patterns based on subject discipline, but a majority of faculty members in all disciplines say that reading articles and citing them are important to writing grant proposals, grant reports, and articles.

Analysis of binding modes of ligands to multiple conformations of CYP3A4

Cytochromes P450 (CYPs) are extremely versatile enzymes capable of catalyzing a vast number of compounds, and CYP3A4 is no exception metabolizing approximately half of the currently marketed drugs, besides endogenous compounds. To metabolize such a variety of compounds, CYP3A4 has to be extremely flexible, which makes interaction studies difficult. We employ a multi-conformational docking setup where conformations are generated by several molecular dynamics simulations to analyze the binding modes of various ligands, and the docking is considered successful if the ligand site of catalysis (SOC) is within 6.0 Å of the haem Fe. While docking with the X-ray structure proved unsuccessful with all ligands, the multi-conformational docking achieved successful binding of each ligand to at least one protein conformation. Analysis of the docked solutions highlights residues in the active site cavity that may have an important role in access, binding and stabilization of the ligand.

Community demographics and access to health care among U.S. Hispanics.

To explore the influence of the communities in which Hispanics live on their access to health care. 1996-2002 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data, linked to secondary data sources and including 14,504 observations from 8,371 Mexican American respondents living in metropolitan areas. We use multivariate probit regression models, stratified by individuals' insurance status, for analyses of four dependent variables measuring access to health care. We measure community characteristics at the zip code tabulation area level, and key independent variables of interest are the percentage of the population that speaks Spanish and percentage of the population that is immigrant Hispanic. Each of these measures is interacted with individual-level measures of nativity and length of U.S. residency. For Mexican American immigrants, living in an area populated by relatively more Spanish speakers or more Hispanic immigrants is associated with better access to care. The associations are generally stronger for more recent immigrants compared with those who are better established. Among U.S.-born Mexican Americans who are uninsured, living in areas more heavily populated with Spanish-speaking immigrants is negatively associated with access to care. The results suggest that characteristics of the local population, including language and nativity, play an important role in access to health care among U.S. Hispanics, and point to the need for further study, including analyses of other racial and ethnic groups, using different geographic constructs for describing the local population, and, to the extent possible, more specific exploration of the mechanisms through which these characteristics may influence access to care.

The effect of donor race on the survival of Black Americans undergoing liver transplantation for chronic hepatitis C: Is racial mismatch a predictor of graft survival?

Chronic liver diseases are the 12th leading cause of death in the United States, and the burden of disease has been projected to increase substantially in the next several decades. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the most common disorder leading to liver transplantation, and its late-stage complications are expected to result in increased hospitalizations and morbidity. The epidemiology of chronic hepatitis C, the natural history of the disease, and its response to therapy are greatly influenced by racial and ethnic differences. African Americans exhibit a higher prevalence of hepatitis C–positive viral serology, and in comparison with nonHispanic whites, they are twice as likely to get infected with genotype 1, which reduces the probability of sustained virological clearance when they are treated. The dissimilarity in viral clearance has been speculated to be a function of racial variation in immunological reactivity. A study of HCV-specific CD41 cell response indicated that even though African Americans have a significantly greater proliferative response to HCV NS3NS5 antigens than non-Hispanic whites, the HCV-specific CD41 T-cell proliferative response is dysfunctional, and the production of gamma interferon, a cytokine that inhibits protein synthesis and RNA replication of subgenomic and genomic HCV replicons, is reduced in this population. The speculated dysfunctional immunological reactivity would explain partially why African Americans progress more often to cirrhosis than nonHispanic whites. Nevertheless, more recently, the National Institutes of Health–sponsored Viral Resistance to Antiviral Therapy of Chronic Hepatitis C (VIRAHEP-C) study, with all of its substudies, has failed to show any racial difference in viral genetics or immunological variability to which the lack of response to antiviral treatment could be attributed. Race also seems to play an important role in access to liver transplantation and in graft survival post–orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Prior to the introduction of the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD), liver organ allocation was based on subjective parameters such as severity of ascites and grade of hepatic encephalopathy. Several studies performed during the pre-MELD era illustrated that African American were underrepresented on the transplant waiting list and among recipients of transplantation. African Americans were also more likely to be referred for liver transplantation at a later stage of their disease in comparison with white patients and had a higher probability of becoming too ill or dying while waiting for liver transplantation. The use of the MELD scoring system has provided a more objective method for the assessment of severity of liver disease and eliminated race as a predictor of organ allocation and as a risk factor for death on the waiting list. The effect of race and ethnicity on post–liver transplantation outcomes has also been extensively reviewed; the most common findings are the reduced 2and 5-year patient survival observed in African Americans after liver transplantation and the in-

Access to Justice: The Quality of the Procedure

The quality of procedures is believed to play an important role in access to justice. It is assumed, that the quality of a procedure is high if people evaluate it as fair. Fair procedures are likely to improve access to justice. For the purpose of the present paper, the quality of procedures is determined in terms of people's perceptions of procedural justice. Pocedural justice refers to various aspects that a procedure should meet in order to be perceived as fair by its users. Research on procedural justice has a long tradition within the field of social psychology. It was therefore decided to focus on the theoretical and empirical framework of social psychology in order to define and evaluate the quality of procedures. Other frameworks, such as legal, philosophical and economic perspectives, are not discussed here. Various indicators of procedural justice as well as potential factors influencing people's evaluations of procedural justice have been identified in past research. Factors that were found to affect procedural justice perceptions include cultural aspects, features of the outcome, as well as characteristics of the dispute. In addition, recent research has indicated that people may also rely on emotional information when evaluating procedural justice. This aspect seems to be of particular importance in the legal context as conflicts are generally characterised by negative emotions which may then influence people's justice judgments. The present paper discusses the most relevant research findings and theories of procedural justice. In addition, the different conceptualisations of justice and their relevance for the purpose of evaluating the quality of procedures are discussed in more detail in order to determine which indicators of procedural justice are most relevant and should therefore be incorporated into a measurement method to assess the quality of procedures.

Hormonal Correlates of Social Rank in an Asocial Species, the Common Brushtail Possum (Trichosurus vulpecula)

AbstractDominance hierarchies play an important role in access to mates or resources in many species. Rank is sometimes correlated with circulating testosterone levels or morphological traits such as body weight. The relationship of glucocorticoid secretion and rank, however, is less clear. In this study, we investigated the relationship of male rank to body weight, circulating testosterone and cortisol concentrations in captive possum triads (Trichosurus vulpecula). We carried out two experiments to examine hierarchy formation and the effects of castration of the dominant male during the non‐breeding season. A third experiment measured the effects of removal of the dominant male from a stable hierarchy during the breeding season. We found that dominant male rank was significantly correlated with higher circulating testosterone levels during periods of hierarchy formation and during the breeding season but not during periods of hierarchy stability in the non‐breeding season. Lack of correlation between plasma testosterone concentration and rank after male castration suggests that stable social rank is not dependent on hormone level and may be more dependent on behavioural traits. Any biocontrol measures that rely on manipulation of hormone levels may be unreliable when applied to unstable hierarchical situations, including the establishment of territories by subadult males, and the pre‐breeding season when circulating testosterone concentrations peak in males and a period of hierarchy establishment may occur.

Physician referrals to physical therapists for the treatment of spine disorders

Background context Individuals with spine disorders often seek care from physical therapists (PTs). Because most insurance plans will reimburse only for PT services prescribed by a physician, physicians play an important role in access to and the appropriate use of PTs. Problems with access to or inappropriate use of PTs may affect the quality and cost of care received by patients with spine problems. Purpose To identify factors associated with physician referrals to PTs for the treatment of spine disorders. Study design/setting Cross-sectional analysis of data collected at 20 US spine centers (1998–2002). Patient sample A total of 30,255 patients with spine disorders who were seen for an initial evaluation. Outcome measure Whether the physician made a PT referral. Methods A logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with physician referrals to PTs. Explanatory variables included health-related characteristics, compensation-related characteristics, past provider use, demographics, and patient expectations. Center effects were also accounted for in the analysis. Results Of the total sample, 38% was referred to a PT. Although several health-related variables explained variation in PT referral, other variables were also associated with PT referral. Patients who were older or male were less likely to be referred. Patients who were more educated were more likely to be referred. There was also significant center-to-center variation in PT referral. Conclusions Variation in PT referral, as a result of factors other than health and need, may be indicative of problems with access to or inappropriate use of PT.

O enfoque da acessibilidade no planejamento da localização e dimensão de serviços de saúde

Geographical localization and size are two factors which play an important role in accessibility to health services. This accessibility, in its turn, is a basic requirement for ensuring the access of the population to health. A study was undertaken, in Santo Amaro, a suburb of the city of S. Paulo, Brazil, on the application of a methodology which takes into account the relationships among the geographical, demographic and social variables, in each particular situation, leading to the formulation of alternative proposals for the localization and size of health services. The kind of approach to each situation employed in this study proved fundamental in opening up a broad range of possibilities for the study of other subjects through the application of the same methodology, especially recommended for the implanting of local health systems.