From library skills to information literacy

The application of new technologies and the acquisition of new sources and methods of information dissemination, as well as the provision of libraries services, requires the special education of the users in order to take advantage of these sources and services. In this paper, an investigation of the Greek academic libraries and their user education sessions is attempted. This research aims to explore the user education sessions offered by the libraries, with special regards to the education, the type of user education sessions and their contents. For the collection of the elements, the questionnaire method is selected. The current situation as much as it concerns the libraries and the applied teaching methods at the Greek education institutions, is presented

A fully parameterized virtual coarse grained reconfigurable array for high performance computing applications

Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) have proven their potential in accelerating High Performance Computing (HPC) Applications. Conventionally such accelerators predominantly use, FPGAs that contain fine-grained elements such as LookUp Tables (LUTs), Switch Blocks (SB) and Connection Blocks (CB) as basic programmable logic blocks. However, the conventional implementation suffers from high reconfiguration and development costs. In order to solve this problem, programmable logic components are defined at a virtual higher abstraction level. These components are called Processing Elements (PEs) and the group of PEs along with the inter-connection network form an architecture called a Virtual Coarse-Grained Reconfigurable Array (VCGRA). The abstraction helps to reconfigure the PEs faster at the intermediate level than at the lower-level of an FPGA. Conventional VCGRA implementations (built on top of the lower levels of the FPGA) use functional resources such as LUTs to establish required connections (intra-connect) within a PE. In this paper, we propose to use the parameterized reconfiguration technique to implement the intra-connections of each PE with the aim to reduce the FPGA resource utilization (LUTs). The technique is used to parameterize the intra-connections with parameters that only change their value infrequently (whenever a new VCGRA function has to be reconfigured) and that are implemented as constants. Since the design is optimized for these constants at every moment in time, this reduces the resource utilization. Further, interconnections (network between the multiple PEs) of the VCGRA grid can also be parameterized so that both the inter- and intraconnect network of the VCGRA grid can be mapped onto the physical switch blocks of the FPGA. For every change in parameter values a specialized bitstream is generated on the fly and the FPGA is reconfigured using the parameterized run-time reconfiguration technique. Our results show a drastic reduction in FPGA LUT resource utilization in the PE by at least 30% and in the intra-network of the PE by 31% when implementing an HPC application

Cataloging conventional and digital objects: new tools with old names or old names to new tools?

Information concerning the creation of tools and bibliographic description standards of library material are referred. Detailed reference to their development and adjustment to the data created so as to reflect the new conditions and needs, the way these are formed in the contemporary environment, is made. We present the efforts made by the bibliographic agencies to develop new and to improve the traditional/conventional tools for the description of the conventional documents as well as the electronic resources available in the World Wide Web

Expression of NF-κB and IL-6 in oral precancerous and cancerous lesions: an immunohistochemical study

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the immunohistochemical expression of NF-κB and IL-6 in oral premalignant and malignant lesions and to investigate their possible correlation with the presence of subepithelial inflammation. Material and Methods: Thirty two oral premalignant lesions, clinically compatible with leukoplakia or erythroplakia, were investigated. Microscopically, 11 of them showed hyperkeratosis and acanthosis (epithelial hyperplasia) and 21 showed dysplasia of varying degrees. Nine cases of OSCC and four control cases of normal oral mucosa were also included in the study. Immunohistochemical staining with NF-κB (p65) and IL-6 was performed. IL-6 and nuclear NF-κB staining were assessed as positive or negative. For cytoplasmic localization of NF-κB, a total score combining intensity and percentage of positive epithelial cells was additionally calculated. The presence of inflammation was also recorded. Results: Intensity and total scores for NF-κΒ cytoplasmic immunostaining showed a statistically significant gradual increase from normal mucosa to OSCC (p=0.012 and p=0.026 respectively). Non-statistically significant increased NF-κΒ nuclear localization was detected in dysplasias and OSCCs. Positive statistical correlation was detected between the presence of inflammation and IL-6 expression (p=0.015). No correlation between NF-κΒ and IL-6 was detected. Conclusions: NF-κΒ is activated in the early stages of oral carcinogenesis. IL-6 may have an NF-κΒ-independent role, possibly through regulation of the inflammatory response

Transient lingual papillitis: a retrospective study of 11 cases and review of the literature

Transient lingual papillitis (TLP) is a common, under-diagnosed, inflammatory hyperplasia of one or multiple fungiform lingual that has an acute onset, and is painful and transient in nature. Eleven cases of TLP were diagnosed based on their clinical features. Information on demographics, clinical characteristics, symptoms, individual or family history of similar lesions, medical history, management and follow-up were extracted from the patients’ records. The English literature was reviewed on TLP differential diagnosis, pathogenesis and management. The study group included 8 females and 3 males (age: 10-53 years, mean age 31.7±12.88 years). Seven cases were classified as generalized form of TLP and 4 as localized form. Nine cases were symptomatic. Time to onset ranged from 1 to 14 days. A specific causative factor was not identified in any case and management was symptomatic. Although TLP is not considered as a rare entity, available information is limited. Diagnosis is rendered clinically, while biopsy is required in cases with a differential diagnostic dilemma. TLP should be included in the differential diagnosis of acute, painful tongue nodules