Re-evaluation of the carcinogenic significance of hepatitis B virus integration in hepatocarcinogenesis

To examine the role of hepatitis B virus (HBV) integration in hepatocarcinogenesis, a systematic comparative study of both tumor and their corresponding non-tumor derived tissue has been conducted in a cohort of 60 HBV associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. By using Alu-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and ligation-mediated PCR, 233 viral-host junctions mapped across all human chromosomes at random, no difference between tumor and non-tumor tissue was observed, with the exception of fragile sites (P = 0.0070). HBV insertions in close proximity to cancer related genes such as hTERT were found in this study, however overall they were rare events. No direct correlation between chromosome aberrations and the number of HBV integration events was found using a sensitive array-based comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) assay. However, a positive correlation was observed between the status of several tumor suppressor genes (TP53, RB1, CDNK2A and TP73) and the number of chromosome aberrations (r = 0.6625, P = 0.0003). Examination of the viral genome revealed that 43% of inserts were in the preC/C region and 57% were in the HBV X gene. Strikingly, approximately 24% of the integrations examined had a breakpoint in a short 15 nt viral genome region (1820-1834 nt). As a consequence, all of the confirmed X gene insertions were C-terminal truncated, losing their growth-suppressive domain. However, the same pattern of X gene C-terminal truncation was found in both tumor and non-tumor derived samples. Furthermore, the integrated viral sequences in both groups had a similar low frequency of C1653T, T1753V and A1762T/G1764A mutations. The frequency and patterns of HBV insertions were similar between tumor and their adjacent non-tumor samples indicating that the majority of HBV DNA integration events are not associated with hepatocarcinogenesis

Developing a Library and Information Science Cataloging Course with an Interactive Authoring Tool

Library and Information Science (LIS) students, librarians or library staff may not fully understand cataloging and classification in a library setting. As a result, many of these individuals may not be able to perform important cataloging duties when needed. To address this need, instruction was developed to introduce the basics of cataloging and classification. The instruction included an introduction and three modules covering data standardization, cataloging tools, and classification structures. The goal of the instruction was to provide training to LIS graduate students, librarians and library staff to help them grasp basic cataloging and classification knowledge and skills applicable in a library setting. To foster learning, this instruction was designed to create an interactive learning environment, and followed Mayer’s (2009) multimedia learning principles. The instruction was assessed for its usability and learning effectiveness by 19 adult participants (n = 19). To evaluate the instruction’s usability, one in-person and two online semi-conducted interviews were conducted. To evaluate the instruction’s learning effectiveness, Google Forms were used to administer a demographic survey, a pretest, a posttest, and a post-instruction survey. The post-instruction survey asked about the participants’ learning experiences with the instruction. The results of the evaluation revealed some discrepancies between the views of the course designer and those of the participants. Through the usability and learning effectiveness testing, participants identified possible future enhancements regarding the instruction’s content, delivery, and software development. Keywords Libraries, Cataloging, Classification, Metadata, Multimedia learning, Online learning, Interactive authoring tool, Self-directed learnin

Practices, Challenges, and Prospects of Big Data Curation: a Case Study in Geoscience

Open and persistent access to past, present, and future scientific data is fundamental for transparent and reproducible data-driven research. The scientific community is now facing both challenges and opportunities caused by the growingly complex disciplinary data systems. Concerted efforts from domain experts, information professionals, and Internet technology experts are essential to ensure the accessibility and interoperability of the big data. Here we review current practices in building and managing big data within the context of large data infrastructure, using geoscience cyberinfrastructure such as Interdisciplinary Earth Data Alliance (IEDA) and EarthCube as a case study. Geoscience is a data-rich discipline with a rapid expansion of sophisticated and diverse digital data sets. Having started to embrace the digital age, the community have applied big data and data mining tools into the new type of research. We also identified current challenges, key elements, and prospects to construct a more robust and future-proof big data infrastructure for research and publication for the future, as well as the roles, qualifications, and opportunities for librarians/information professionals in the data era

Teaching a Cataloging/Metadata Course in a Changing World: Experience and Reflection

In this paper, we explore the most essential knowledge and skills to impart in an introductory-level cataloging and metadata course. We use the basic cataloging and metadata class in the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Library and Information Science Program as a case study, sharing our experiences, thoughts, and planned future direction in teaching cataloging, classification, metadata, and information organization. We investigate what University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Library and Information Science (LIS) students expect to learn from the class, as well as how they perceive knowledge of and skills in cataloging and metadata affecting their career paths. We also inquire into topics that the students are interested in exploring related to cataloging and metadata. We examine emerging trends and evaluate which information and skills are most useful for LIS students and new librarians to learn for their library careers. These ideas are built upon our own experiences teaching these topics. This article synthesizes literature review, observation of trends within cataloging and metadata, and surveys taken by students enrolled in the course.                                             

Incorporating Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) Projects in Technical Services: an Examination of Possibilities and Potential Pitfalls

This presentation will showcase work being done at an academic library to encode a collection of manuscripts on Cleveland and the Western Reserve in XML format following TEI guidelines, and address the objectives of and rationale for this endeavor. "The Manuscripts Relating to the Early History of the Western Reserve, 1795-1869" collection consists of over 200 manuscripts, and includes correspondences, journals, business records, government documents, and land surveys. This collection, housed at the Western Reserve Historical Society, is being transcribed and encoded by technical services staff. Such work is sometimes labor-intensive and timeconsuming. The project also raises a number of issues, including: Why perform text encoding at all? Should such work be left to scholars in the Digital Humanities instead? How can librarians and digital humanists collaborate? And how practical is it for technical services units to undertake such work? We will address these issues

2018 ALA Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits

The American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter meeting was held in Denver, Colorado from February 9-13, 2018

Incorporating Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) Projects in Technical Services: an Examination of Possibilities and Potential Pitfalls

This presentation will showcase work being done at an academic library to encode a collection of manuscripts on Cleveland and the Western Reserve in XML format following TEI guidelines, and address the objectives of and rationale for this endeavor. "The Manuscripts Relating to the Early History of the Western Reserve, 1795-1869" collection consists of over 200 manuscripts, and includes correspondences, journals, business records, government documents, and land surveys. This collection, housed at the Western Reserve Historical Society, is being transcribed and encoded by technical services staff. Such work is sometimes labor-intensive and timeconsuming. The project also raises a number of issues, including: Why perform text encoding at all? Should such work be left to scholars in the Digital Humanities instead? How can librarians and digital humanists collaborate? And how practical is it for technical services units to undertake such work? We will address these issues

Growth and New Directions: CALA Academic Resources and Repository System

The Chinese American Librarians Association’s Academic Resources & Repository System (CALASYS) was established in 2013 and has been growing gradually ever since. To seek sustainable and greater growth in the future, the CALASYS 2019-2020 Committee reviewed previous efforts and explored new potentials in the repository’s content development, interface and functionality improvement and community engagement. This presentation will cover several issues that the Committee has addressed since its forming: developing new content for CALASYS such as a new top-level collection called ”Chinese Culture Heritage & Chinese Studies” and its children collections including the CALA Best Book Award Collection; starting or resuming testing on several Omeka plugins whose implementation would enhance the system’s functionality and performance significantly, such as Exhibit Builder, User Profile, Search by Metadata, CSS Editor and Geolocation; exploring other Omeka instances’ interfaces and improving the CALASYS’ appearance and presentation. This poster will also cover the continuing development of the CALA Archives, CALA Chapter Collections and CALA Member Scholarly Achievements collection, metadata editing and enhancement, statistics and usage of the repository, as well as involving students and CALA members in working with the repository. To develop an organization’s institutional repository is a long-term task, this presentation will conclude with a discussion of the lessons learned and strategies and tips on working with the repository for the committee members and the community