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• The median time to culture conversion is 61.2 days. • The duration of time to sputum culture conversion can be shortened when the nutritional status of patients is improved. • Favorable treatment outcomes can be enhanced when the duration of time to culture conversion is short. • Culture conversion and treatment outcomes are considered the most important indicator of treatment efficacy in TB treatment. • The intensive phase duration of injectable drugs can be shortened when the initial time to culture conversion is determined. This study aimed to consider the estimated time to multi-resistant tuberculosis culture conversion, and associated factors, in order to enhance evidence utilization in eastern Africa. We systematically identified available articles on multidrug-resistant tuberculosis culture conversion using PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Web of Science core collection, and Science Direct databases. A random-effects model was employed using the R 3.6.1 version and Stata/se 14 software. Nine articles with a sample size of 2458 multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients were included. The two-month culture conversion rate was 75.4%, with a median time of 61.2 days (interquartile range: 48.6-73.8). In the included studies, favorable treatment outcomes of MDR-TB patients were seen in 75% of the cases, while unfavorable treatment outcomes were seen in 18% (10% deaths, 7% defaulted, and 1% treatment failure) of the cases. The independent factor for delayed sputum culture conversion was body mass index below 18.5 kg/m2 (HR = 3.1, 95% CI: 2.0, 6.7). The median time to sputum culture conversion was 61.2 days, which is a reasonably short time. Body mass index was the identified associated factor leading to delayed culture conversion. Therefore, there is a need for awareness of how to improve the nutritional status of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients through appropriate nutritional supports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a follow-up study to a 2006 study of organizational arrangements of information resources in top-rated academic business library web sites, and offers an evaluation of those organizational arrangements. The study looks at the uses of academic business library web sites and their purpose as a gateway to library collections, how information is presented, access points available, and measures the benefits of the online collection organization by documenting how quickly information can be accessed. The article reports that alphabetical listing of databases is the most common method of web site organization, but academic business libraries have increased user-oriented features such as frequently asked questions (FAQ).

This work is a companion reproducible paper of a previous paper (Antol et al., 2021) in which we presented an alternative to the traditional paradigm of similarity searching in metric spaces called the Learned Metric Index. Inspired by the advance in learned indexing of structured data, we used machine learning models to replace index pivots, thus posing similarity search as a classification problem. This implementation proved to be more than competitive with the conventional methods in terms of speed and recall, proving the concept as viable. The aim of this publication is to make our source code, datasets, and experiments publicly available. For this purpose, we create a collection of Python3 software libraries, YAML reproducible experiment files, and JSON ground-truth files, all bundled in a Docker image – the Learned Metric Index Framework (LMIF) – which can be run using any Docker-compatible operating system on a CPU with Advanced vector extensions (AVX). We introduce a reproducibility protocol for our experiments using LMIF and provide a closer look at the experimental process. We introduce new experimental results by running the reproducibility protocol introduced herein and discussing the differences with the results reported in our primary work (Antol et al., 2021). Finally, we make an argument that these results can be considered weakly reproducible (in both of the performance metrics), since they point to the same conclusions derived in the primary paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A combination approach of a fragment screening and “SAR by catalog” was used for the discovery of bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) inhibitors. Initial screening of 3695-fragment library against bromodomain 1 of BRD4 using thermal shift assay (TSA), followed by initial hit validation, resulted in 73 fragment hits, which were used to construct a follow-up library selected from available screening collection. Additionally, analogs of inactive fragments, as well as a set of randomly selected compounds were also prepared (3 × 3200 compounds in total). Screening of the resulting sets using TSA, followed by re-testing at several concentrations, counter-screen, and TR-FRET assay resulted in 18 confirmed hits. Compounds derived from the initial fragment set showed better hit rate as compared to the other two sets. Finally, building dose-response curves revealed three compounds with IC 50  = 1.9–7.4 μM. For these compounds, binding sites and conformations in the BRD4 (4UYD) have been determined by docking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The synthesis and SAR of a series of novel pyrazolo-quinazolines as potent and selective MPS1 inhibitors are reported. We describe the optimization of the initial hit, identified by screening the internal library collection, into an orally available, potent and selective MPS1 inhibitor. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A two-part questionnaire was designed to elicit information on use of print and electronic resources by agricultural science students in Nigerian universities. 912 respondents from faculties of agriculture in three Nigerian universities completed the questionnaires. The results revealed that agricultural science students most prefer to use textbooks (42.1%) among print materials, while The Essential Electronic Agricultural Library (TEEAL) is the most preferred among electronic resources available in their libraries (52.2%). Major problems faced by the agricultural science students include inadequate access to full Internet connectivity and lack of skills on their part to use available electronic databases properly. The study recommends restructuring library collections by increasing the number of agricultural textbooks and databases to meet the information use and retrieval needs of agricultural science students. Other recommendations include establishing Internet-ready computer centers to complement teaching, learning, and research in the library. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA''s Terra platform has been widely used in geological and other science studies. In support of ASTER studies, a library of natural and man-made materials was compiled as the ASTER Spectral Library v1.2 and made available from http://speclib.jpl.nasa.gov. The library is a collection of contributions in a standard format with ancillary data from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS). A new version of the library (v2.0) is now available online or via CD, which includes major additions to the mineral and rock spectra. The ASTER library provides a comprehensive collection of over 2300 spectra of a wide variety of materials covering the wavelength range 0.4–15.4 µm. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

To help users find their way around the large number of titles available, public libraries organize the collection by placing titles on shelves by genre, by adding classification codes in their online catalogs, and by pictograms on book covers. However, users may have different perceptions of how titles are to be grouped in genres or categories. Public library collections will be more accessible when the way their collection is organized matches these users' perceptions. The authors show how user perceptions can be derived from library loan transaction data. To overcome the particular methodological issues in using such data, a method of ultrametric frees and latent class analysis is developed to determine segments of users and how they categorize the collection. Results show clear user categorizations that in particular respects differ from conventional public library categorizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of so-called protein scaffolds for the generation of novel binding proteins via combinatorial engineering has recently emerged as a powerful alternative to natural or recombinant antibodies. This concept requires an extraordinary stable protein architecture tolerating multiple substitutions or insertions at the primary structural level. With respect to broader applicability it should involve a type of polypeptide fold which is observed in differing natural contexts and with distinct biochemical functions, so that it is likely to be adaptable to novel molecular recognition purposes. The quickly growing number of approaches can be classified into three groups: carrier proteins for the display of single variegated loops, scaffolds providing rigid elements of secondary structure, and protein frameworks supporting a group of conformationally variable loops in a fixed spatial arrangement. Generally, such artificial receptor proteins should be based on monomeric and small polypeptides that are robust, easily engineered, and efficiently produced in inexpensive prokaryotic expression systems. Today, progress in protein library technology allows for the parallel development of immunoglobulin (Ig) as well as scaffold-based affinity reagents. Both biomolecular tools have the potential to complement each other, thus expanding the possibility to find an affinity reagent suitable for a given application. The repertoire of protein scaffolds hitherto recruited for combinatorial protein engineering purposes will probably be further expanded in the future, including both additional natural proteins and de novo designed proteins, contributing to the collection of libraries available at present. In this review both the structural features and the practical use of scaffold proteins will be discussed and exemplified. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article shares the author's perspectives on the collection management in academic libraries in the U.S. For him, the important element of academic libraries, which is collection, is slowly decreasing and mismanagement is prevalent in academic libraries. Furthermore, the availability of journal collections has been decreasing in libraries, however, such collections are rapidly becoming available in digital forms. In fact, studies and reports from librarians and vendors, show that digital journals are increasingly used each year. He concluded that in an increasingly digital and consortial world, the library as a place must give way to something such as the library as a mission.