Julia A. Kelly

Toxin and Enzyme Characterization of Staphylococcus aureus Isolates from Patients With and Without Toxic Shock Syndrome

Abstract Vaginal isolates ofStaphylococcus aureusfrom 19 patients with menstrual toxic shock syndrome elaborated high concentrations of pyrogenic exotoxin C, but produced low amounts of hemolysin, ...

Drug-vitamin D interactions: A systematic review of the literature

Extensive media coverage of the potential health benefits of vitamin D supplementation has translated into substantial increases in supplement sales over recent years. Yet, the potential for drug-vitamin D interactions is rarely considered. This systematic review of the literature was conducted to evaluate the extent to which drugs affect vitamin D status or supplementation alters drug effectiveness or toxicity in humans. Electronic databases were used to identify eligible peer-reviewed studies published through September 1, 2010. Study characteristics and findings were abstracted, and quality was assessed for each study. A total of 109 unique reports met the inclusion criteria. The majority of eligible studies were classified as class C (nonrandomized trials, case-control studies, or time series) or D (cross-sectional, trend, case report/series, or before-and-after studies). Only 2 class C and 3 class D studies were of positive quality. Insufficient evidence was available to determine whether lipase inhibitors, antimicrobial agents, antiepileptic drugs, highly active antiretroviral agents, or H2 receptor antagonists alter serum 25(OH)D concentrations. Atorvastatin appears to increase 25(OH)D concentrations, whereas concurrent vitamin D supplementation decreases concentrations of atorvastatin. Use of thiazide diuretics in combination with calcium and vitamin D supplements may cause hypercalcemia in the elderly or those with compromised renal function or hyperparathyroidism. Larger studies with stronger study designs are needed to clarify potential drug-vitamin D interactions, especially for drugs metabolized by cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4). Healthcare providers should be aware of the potential for drug-vitamin D interactions.

Staphylococcal Pyrogenic Exotoxin Type C: Further Characterization

Staphylococcal pyrogenic exotoxin type C was purified by differential precipitation with ethanol and resolubilization in water followed by thin-layer isoelectric focusing. The purified toxin migrated as a homogeneous protein when re-electrofocused in polyacrylamide (isoelectric point, 7.2), when subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (molecular weight, 22,000 daltons), and when reacted against hyperimmune antisera in an Ouchterlony immunodiffusion plate. A 2200-fold purification of the toxin could be obtained. Pyrogenic exotoxin C was elaborated by all of 44 Staphylococcus aureus isolates from patients with toxic shock syndrome when the strains were tested in a blind manner, but five of 37 control isolates produced toxin (p less than 0.001). Furthermore, all of 91 additional isolates from patients with toxic shock syndrome from diverse geographic locations were positive for toxin. In contrast, 158 of 609 (26%) S. aureus isolates not associated with toxic shock syndrome and one of 22 Staphylococcus epidermidis isolates were positive for pyrogenic exotoxin type C. The biological properties of pyrogenic exotoxin C included pyrogenicity, enhancement of susceptibility to endotoxin shock, enhancement of skin reactivity to give a positive Dick reaction, suppressions of IgM synthesis, and nonspecific T-lymphocyte mitogenicity.

Multiauthorship, an Indicator of the Trend Toward Team Research in Ecology

Older scientists are aware that before World War II most research was published by single authors, whereas since then the trend has been toward team research and multiauthored papers. We have investigated this trend in ecology by counting the number of research articles with 1 author, and with 2, 3, 4, 5, and more than 5 authors, in the British Journal of Ecology and the American Ecology since the latter began in 1920. They exhibit similar patterns, which we show decade by decade.

Managing the grey literature of a discipline through collaboration : AgEcon search

ABSTRACT AgEcon Search, http://www.agecon.lib.umn.edu, is an important and ground-breaking example of an alternative method of delivering current research results to many potential users. AgEcon Search, through a distributed model, collects and disseminates the grey literature of the fields of agricultural and resource economics. The development of this widely-used Web resource was possible through the cooperation between academic institutions, academic libraries, professional associations, and government agencies. This article will provide examples of other collaborative efforts, outline the development of AgEcon Search and its proposed growth into AgEcon Search International, and discuss the prototype it provides for other disciplines.

The Types, Frequencies, and Findability of Disciplinary Grey Literature within Prominent Subject Databases and Academic Institutional Repositories

INTRODUCTION In many disciplines grey literature, or works that are more ephemeral in nature and are not typically published through traditional scholarly channels, are heavily used alongside traditional materials and sources. We were interested in the type and frequency of grey literature in subject databases and in North American institutional repositories (IRs) as well as what disciplines use grey literature. METHODS Over 100 subject databases utilized by academic researchers and the IRs of over 100 academic institutions were studied. Document type, search capabilities, and level of curation were noted. RESULTS Grey literature was present in the majority (68%) of the literature databases and almost all IRs (95%) contained grey literature. DISCUSSION Grey literature was present in the subject databases across all broad disciplines including arts and humanities. In these resources the most common types of grey literature were conference papers, technical reports, and theses and dissertations. The findability of the grey literature in IRs varied widely as did evidence of active collection development. CONCLUSION Recommendations include the development of consistent metadata standards for grey literature to enhance searching within individual resources as well as supporting future interoperability. An increased level of collection development of grey literature in institutional repositories would facilitate preservation and increase the findability and reach of grey literature.

Use of the Paid Open Access Option in Hybrid Open Access Journals in Agriculture: A Mixed-Methods Study

USAIN 2016 Conference Session: Tuesday (April 26) – 9:30-10:30am Contributed Papers Session 3: Open Access / Scholarly Communication – Moderator: Inga Haugen

Subject Repositories as Preservation Mechanisms

Years ago librarians began taking advantage of the incredible benefits offered by the movement of information to an online environment by creating new mechanisms like repositories to house and preserve digital content. The focus for most repositories has been on gathering fairly current material, or on books (e.g., HathiTrust) and commercial journal articles (e.g., JSTOR). The content scope for many “institutional” academic repositories is often focused on documents produced by researchers at a specific institution or organization rather than on resources in a specific subject area. In 1994 two far-sighted librarians decided to experiment with a brand new Internet protocol called Gopher to share agricultural and applied economics working papers between several departments at universities in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. Researchers in agricultural and applied economics have long maintained a tradition of sharing preliminary papers with colleagues to gather comments and suggestions for improvement by paper mailing (and later e-mailing) them to others working on similar studies. In the new Gopher-based system, papers were added to a homegrown database and then shared on the Internet via a subject repository, AgEcon Search (http://ageconsearch.umn.edu). In only 20 years that little database—one of the first subject repositories in the world—has evolved into an internationally recognized and utilized online home for over 75,000 documents from over 250 universities, institutions, and organizations around the world. The vision for AgEcon Search has been extended to incorporate the preservation of retrospective papers.

Society of the quarter: the rich (and often free) literature of agricultural and applied economics associations.

If you hear or see an expert quoted about ethanol or other alternative fuels, he or she could very well be an agricultural economist—ditto if the topic is microfinance or the Farm Bill. Researchers and librarians looking for information on food safety, biofuels, international trade, or land use may not realize that (a) a good deal of the current work in these areas appears in the literature of agricultural and applied economics, or (b) much of this literature is freely available on the web. When many of the professional associations in agricultural economics began earlier in the 20th century, farm management was a predominant topic, and in time, agribusiness. Today the field has broadened its scope and often is referred to as applied economics, which may include agricultural, consumer, development, energy, environmental, and resource economics and policy. A number of academic departments changed their names, and, in 2008, the American Agricultural Economics Association (the largest U.S.based professional association) became the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

AgEcon Search: History and Future of a Collaborative Subject Repository

ABSTRACT AgEcon Search is a free-to-user subject repository containing the full text of the grey literature and small press journals of agricultural and applied economics. It has developed over the last 14 years, through a close relationship between librarians and economists. Growth in international documents is in the future plan for AgEcon Search, and the developers hope it will serve as a prototype for subject repositories in other disciplines.