Digital Resources: FAMSI.org and the Beginnings of Digital Scholarship for the Ancient Americas

Author(s):  
Victoria Lyall

Launched in 1997, FAMSI.org established itself as the leading digital platform for the promotion and dissemination of Mesoamerican scholarship to the widest possible audience. The online arm of the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc., a nonprofit pledged to foster increased understanding of ancient Mesoamerican cultures, FAMSI.org crosscut disciplinary divisions and facilitated communication between scholars in the United States and those in Latin America. The eight-member Board of Directors and its advisory committee ensured that the foundation would harness the spirit of generosity and creativity that characterized the early days of the Internet for the benefit of a likewise emergent discipline. As the Website developed, FAMSI sought partnerships with and contributions from institutions around the world in order to make educational resources publicly available. The Website hosts a remarkable amount of primary research material, including image databases, contemporary and historical indigenous-language dictionaries, ethnographic videos, maps, and an up-to-date, searchable subject-specific bibliography, all of which are available in both English and Spanish and accessible at no cost to visitors. Between 1997 and 2006, the Website grew exponentially, but like many of its early counterparts, the site’s utility and navigability ultimately suffered as a result of the rapid development of new software and the obsolescence of existing digital platforms; searches became sluggish and unwieldy. While visitorship remained high for an academic site—over a million unique visitors a year—a 2012 survey indicated that scholars frequented only known parts of the site while novice users spent as little as a few minutes on the site. The global economic crisis of 2008 destabilized FAMSI’s funding, and in 2010 the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) assumed stewardship of the foundation as well as the Website. The museum began to maintain and review FAMSI.org, ultimately deciding to update and transform the Website into a new platform, AncientAmericas.org, which broadens the scope beyond that of Mesoamerica. FAMSI, with its dedication to research and online collaboration, became the principal resource for the research of ancient American cultures for both a scholarly and general audience beginning in the mid-1990s. Its enduring legacy is the spirit of interdisciplinary and international cooperation and generosity that it fostered.

2021 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 215-219
Author(s):  
Stephanie Y. Johng ◽  
Ranit Mishori ◽  
Valeriy R. Korostyshevskiy

Background and Objectives: Academic promotion is critical in academic medicine. Traditionally, peer-reviewed journal articles have been at the core of advancement deliberations. With the increasing prominence digital content and social media, an increasing number of academics have begun linking their scholarly value with their online activities. It is unclear whether and how US academic medical institutions have updated their promotion criteria to reflect the changing environment and digital practices of faculty members. Methods: We reviewed publicly available advancement and promotion policies and faculty handbooks of 148 allopathic medical schools in the United States (April 2018 through September 2018), to see if social media was explicitly included in their scholarship criteria. Results: Of the 148 allopathic institutions only 12 (8.1%) stated that digital and social media products would be factored into the scholarship and/or other domains of the promotion application. There were no associations between acceptability of social media in the tenure process and schools’ characteristics. Conclusions: Digital media use has the potential to distribute scholarship widely. Including digital scholarship in promotion would help destigmatize the use of digital platforms and promote science dissemination to the public. Medical institutions should embrace new models of digital scholarship and lead the way in defining and ensuring quality.


1970 ◽  
Vol 09 (02) ◽  
pp. 75-80
Author(s):  
B. G. Lamson ◽  
W. S. Russell ◽  
J. Fullmore ◽  
W. E. Nix

Total information and communication systems within hospitals have been designed, but successful complete implementation, to date, has not been achieved. Limited applications with both patient medical data, notably in the clinical laboratories, and in the hospital accounting offices have been numerous. Although total programs are not yet a reality, it is apparent that the computer will serve ultimately many communication requirements, both medical and financial, within the hospital.Sound hospital management requires that costs of all component operations be known in order that value judgments concerning worth and efficiency may be made. Accrual accounting systems which match revenue and expense over the same time period are a prerequisite. Cash and modified cash hospital accounting cannot provide current reliable data for sound decision making.Costs of hospital operations cannot be evaluated unless related to the characteristics of the patient service load. Average per diem costs mean little except when large similar populations of patients are being compared. A modern hospital accrual accounting system should be able to provide information concerning the costs of caring for specific diseases in patients with known age and sex and disease severity characteristics. Without information of this type, it will not be possible to objectively evaluate alternative systems of financing and organizing patient care.Medical record management offers the promise of prospective use of patient disease information in the planning and scheduling of facilities. The prose content of medical record summaries, such as diagnostic statements in tissue pathology, radiology, and admission and discharge diagnoses, may be susceptible to non-coded, full prose input into computer controlled diagnostic files. Thesauri in the several medical specialties will be necessary for this achievement.There is little immediate prospect for complete hospital communication systems that can be made available as a package to any hospital without substantial local alteration. Pilot projects in teaching centers should be viewed for the time being as opportunities to define objectives, evaluate feasibility, and determine degree of risk and expense.A brief survey of applications in the United States which have been successfully implemented or which appear suitable for successful implementation is recorded.Eleven general principles which have been associated with successful implementation of computer applications within the UCLA Hospital are enumerated.


2003 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 44-51
Author(s):  
Kristine Brown ◽  
James Sturges

With the continued influx of Mexican immigrants to the United States, especially to Southern California, health concerns and needs have increased among this population over the last several years. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) obtained a federal grant that provided resources to establish the Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC). COPC consists of comprehensive efforts to improve the overall well-being of the Angela Chanslor area within the City of Pomona in East Los Angeles. Focus areas of the project include 1) Education and Integrated Services, 2) Community Planning and Capacity Building for Neighborhood Revitalization and Safety, and 3) Job Development and Training. The focus of this paper is health promotion activities within Education and Integrated Services. The primary objective of this portion of the program was to provide residents with physical examinations and health screenings, health education, and medical and social service referrals. Topics discussed are the target community, general overview of COPC, Family Services Information and Referral Program (i.e. health promotion program within Education and Integrated Services), program impact and results, and suggestions for continued implementation and future efforts. / Con la influencia continua de inmigrantes Mexicanos a los Estados Unidos, especialmente al sur de California, ciertas necesidades con respecto a la salud han incrementado en esta poblacion en los ultimos anos. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona). Obtuvo ayuda Federal para establecer El Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC). El centro COPC consiste de esfuerzos conprensivos para mejorar el bienestar del area Angela Chanslor que esta ubicado en la Ciudad de Pomona en la parte Este de Los Angeles. Las partes enfocadas del proyecto incluyen, 1) Educacion y servicios Integrados, 2) Plan para la Comunidad y un Edificio de Capacitacion para la comunidad que dara revitalizacion y seguridad, 3) Y habrira trabajos y entrenamientos. El enfoque de este proyecto es de actividades en Promocion de Salud aliadas con educacion y Servicios Integrados. El objetivo principal de esta porcion del programa era de proveer a los residentes con examinaciones fisicas, educacion para la salud, y eran referidas a servicios medicos y sociales. Los topicos que son tratados son: La comunidad que sera ayudada, El enfoque general de COPC, informacion del programa para referir a servicios familiares, el impacto del programa y resultados, y sugerencias para implementar futuros esfuerzos.


2020 ◽  
pp. 37-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. E. Shastitko ◽  
O. A. Markova

Digital transformation has led to changes in business models of traditional players in the existing markets. What is more, new entrants and new markets appeared, in particular platforms and multisided markets. The emergence and rapid development of platforms are caused primarily by the existence of so called indirect network externalities. Regarding to this, a question arises of whether the existing instruments of competition law enforcement and market analysis are still relevant when analyzing markets with digital platforms? This paper aims at discussing advantages and disadvantages of using various tools to define markets with platforms. In particular, we define the features of the SSNIP test when being applyed to markets with platforms. Furthermore, we analyze adjustment in tests for platform market definition in terms of possible type I and type II errors. All in all, it turns out that to reduce the likelihood of type I and type II errors while applying market definition technique to markets with platforms one should consider the type of platform analyzed: transaction platforms without pass-through and non-transaction matching platforms should be tackled as players in a multisided market, whereas non-transaction platforms should be analyzed as players in several interrelated markets. However, if the platform is allowed to adjust prices, there emerges additional challenge that the regulator and companies may manipulate the results of SSNIP test by applying different models of competition.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-54
Author(s):  
Samuel H. Yamashita

In the 1970s, Japanese cooks began to appear in the kitchens of nouvelle cuisine chefs in France for further training, with scores more arriving in the next decades. Paul Bocuse, Alain Chapel, Joël Robuchon, and other leading French chefs started visiting Japan to teach, cook, and sample Japanese cuisine, and ten of them eventually opened restaurants there. In the 1980s and 1990s, these chefs' frequent visits to Japan and the steady flow of Japanese stagiaires to French restaurants in Europe and the United States encouraged a series of changes that I am calling the “Japanese turn,” which found chefs at fine-dining establishments in Los Angeles, New York City, and later the San Francisco Bay Area using an ever-widening array of Japanese ingredients, employing Japanese culinary techniques, and adding Japanese dishes to their menus. By the second decade of the twenty-first century, the wide acceptance of not only Japanese ingredients and techniques but also concepts like umami (savory tastiness) and shun (seasonality) suggest that Japanese cuisine is now well known to many American chefs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
William Straka ◽  
Shobha Kondragunta ◽  
Zigang Wei ◽  
Hai Zhang ◽  
Steven D. Miller ◽  
...  

The COVID-19 pandemic has infected almost 73 million people and is responsible for over 1.63 million fatalities worldwide since early December 2019, when it was first reported in Wuhan, China. In the early stages of the pandemic, social distancing measures, such as lockdown restrictions, were applied in a non-uniform way across the world to reduce the spread of the virus. While such restrictions contributed to flattening the curve in places like Italy, Germany, and South Korea, it plunged the economy in the United States to a level of recession not seen since WWII, while also improving air quality due to the reduced mobility. Using daily Earth observation data (Day/Night Band (DNB) from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Suomi-NPP and NO2 measurements from the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument TROPOMI) along with monthly averaged cell phone derived mobility data, we examined the economic and environmental impacts of lockdowns in Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; Washington DC from February to April 2020—encompassing the most profound shutdown measures taken in the U.S. The preliminary analysis revealed that the reduction in mobility involved two major observable impacts: (i) improved air quality (a reduction in NO2 and PM2.5 concentration), but (ii) reduced economic activity (a decrease in energy consumption as measured by the radiance from the DNB data) that impacted on gross domestic product, poverty levels, and the unemployment rate. With the continuing rise of COVID-19 cases and declining economic conditions, such knowledge can be combined with unemployment and demographic data to develop policies and strategies for the safe reopening of the economy while preserving our environment and protecting vulnerable populations susceptible to COVID-19 infection.


Author(s):  
Sharon C Perelman ◽  
Steven Erde ◽  
Lynda Torre ◽  
Tunaidi Ansari

Abstract COVID-19 quickly immobilized healthcare systems in the United States during the early stages of the outbreak. While much of the ensuing response focused on supporting the medical infrastructure, Columbia University College of Dental Medicine pursued a solution to triage and safely treat patients with dental emergencies amidst the pandemic. Considering rapidly changing guidelines from governing bodies, dental infection control protocols and our clinical faculty's expertise, we modeled, built, and implemented a screening algorithm, which provides decision support as well as insight into COVID-19 status and clinical comorbidities, within a newly integrated Electronic Health Record (EHR). Once operationalized, we analyzed the data and outcomes of its utilization and found that it had effectively guided providers in triaging patient needs in a standardized methodology. This article describes the algorithm's rapid development to assist faculty providers in identifying patients with the most urgent needs, thus prioritizing treatment of dental emergencies during the pandemic.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Kang Wang ◽  
Weicheng Duan ◽  
Yijie Duan ◽  
Yuxin Yu ◽  
Xiuyi Chen ◽  
...  

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) cases have increased rapidly in recent decades, which is associated with various genetic abnormalities. To provide a better understanding of the genetic factors in ASD, we assessed the global scientific output of the related studies. A total of 2944 studies published between 1997 and 2018 were included by systematic retrieval from the Web of Science (WoS) database, whose scientific landscapes were drawn and the tendencies and research frontiers were explored through bibliometric methods. The United States has been acting as a leading explorer of the field worldwide in recent years. The rapid development of high-throughput technologies and bioinformatics transferred the research method from the traditional classic method to a big data-based pipeline. As a consequence, the focused research area and tendency were also changed, as the contribution of de novo mutations in ASD has been a research hotspot in the past several years and probably will remain one into the near future, which is consistent with the current opinions of the major etiology of ASD. Therefore, more attention and financial support should be paid to the deciphering of the de novo mutations in ASD. Meanwhile, the effective cooperation of multi-research centers and scientists in different fields should be advocated in the next step of scientific research undertaken.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S400-S400
Author(s):  
Thomas D Dieringer ◽  
Glen Huang ◽  
Paul R Allyn ◽  
Jeffrey Klausner

Abstract Background Homelessness has been a growing issue in the United States and worldwide. Bartonella quintana, the causative agent of “Trench fever”, is a well known illness among homeless populations in urban centers. While many cases of B. quintana are self limited, the disease can have advanced presentations including endocarditis. We present a short case series of three cases of B. quintana infective endocarditis (IE) in homeless individuals in Los Angeles and review the literature of cases of B. quintana IE in the homeless population. Methods Here we report three cases of B. quintana IE encountered in homeless individuals at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) hospital system. A literature review was also conducted. PubMed was searched for published cases of human IE secondary to B. quintana in homeless individuals. Results All three patients were male with ages ranging from 39 to 57 years old with a history of homelessness and alcohol use. Presentations were subacute to chronic in nature consisting of constitutional symptoms as well as a range of symptoms corresponding with heart and renal failure. Each patient was found to have varying degrees of aortic insufficiency with either identified aortic valve vegetation or valvular thickening. Diagnosis was made with a combination of Bartonella serologies and whole genome sequencing PCR. All three patient’s courses were complicated by renal failure at varying points limiting the use of gentamicin for the full treatment course. Two patients ultimately underwent aortic valve replacement due to severe aortic insufficiency and completed therapy with doxycycline and rifampin. A single patient was discharged with plan to complete doxycycline and rifampin therapy however was lost to follow up. A literature review of 10 manuscripts describing 13 cases of B. quintana IE were identified. All the patients were male and the median age was 45. Six of the cases were in Europe and eight were in North America. All cases had left sided valve involvement (10 aortic, 6 mitral, 3 both valves). No cases of right sided IE were identified. Conclusion B. quintana IE should be considered in homeless patients with a clinical presentation concerning for IE. A combination of serology and PCR testing can be useful in diagnosis of this uncommon cause of infective endocarditis. Disclosures Jeffrey Klausner, MD, MPH, Nothing to disclose


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