Reading for Information

Practice formulating questions of these four types about passages you read for information or pleasure. 

Dr Julian Park, Department of Agriculture, University of Reading (for information and exercises in Chapter 2) ... 

When you read the Elements Handbook, you need to read for information. Here are some tools that the Elements Handbook has to help you find that information. 

The author is indebted to Marty Cohn (Reading) for information on developmental data. 

Scientific insti uments can easily pi oduce and collect huge amounts of data. Nevertheless, it is seldom possible to read the relevant information in these data directly. Therefore more elaborate method. have to be applied for information extraction. 

Figure 4.4 The general protocol for information extraction from an herbal text (A-E) is paired with case examples from our work with the Ambonese Herbal by Rumphius. (A) Text is digitized. (B) Through either manual reading or automated extraction the plant name(s), plant part(s), and symptoms or disorders are identified. (C) These extracted data are then updated (as necessary) to reflect current names of the plants, using the International Plant Names Index (IPNI), and the pharmacological function(s) of the described medicinal plants are extrapolated from the mentioned symptoms and disorders. (D) The current botanical names are queried against a natural products database such as the NAPRALERT database to determine whether the plant has been previously examined. (E) Differential tables are generated that separate the plants examined in the literature from plants that may warrant further examination for bioactivity. (Adapted from Trends in Pharmacological Sciences, with permission.) See color plate.

Such errors include mis-reading certificate or report data supplied by the producers, using secondary information from catalogs and/or literature listings, and reporting incorrect data. For the correct use of a RM/CRM, it is essential to read the information that accompanies the product once an appropriate RM/CRM has been obtained. The only reliable source of information is the Certificate of Analysis or Report of Assigned Values issued with the RM/CRM, and it must be the most up to date version available. Failure to follow a producer s recommendation will invariably result in error. 

The btjok fills a gap and is mandatory reading for everyone involved in u.sing or administering chemical information in academic and industrial research and development, patent matters or corporate managcmeni. 

Because the potential developed across a stabilized zirconia electrolyte is simply related to the free energy of the reactions taking place in the surrounding cell, the material can be used to measure the free energy of formation of an oxide. (Details of cells and cell types for this task are outside the scope of this book and only principles will be outlined. For information on these techniques see the Further Reading section at the end of this chapter.)... 

A card may be a typical card or another type of device, such as a key fob or wand. These cards store electronic information, which can range from a simple code (i.e., the alphanumeric code on a Proximity card) to individualized personal data (i.e., biometric data on a Smartcard). The card reader reads the information stored on the card and sends it to the control unit, which determines the appropriate action to take when a card is presented. For example, in a card access system, the control unit compares the information on the card to stored access authorization information to determine if the card holder is authorized to proceed through the door. If the information stored in the card reader system indicates that the key is authorized to allow entrance through the doorway, the system disengages the lock and the key holder can proceed through the door. 

Willner and coworkers [168] demonstrated the applicability of this method for a range of applications including the magneto-switching of DNA hybridization and polymerization for programmed DNA chips, of photocatalytically activated reactions using CdS nanoparticles for optobioelectronic systems [169], and of quinone oxidation and reduction for write-read-erase information storage systems [170]. 

Metabolites in urine or feces provide the energetically least expensive, and evolutionarily probably the original, chemical signals in vertebrates. Much of history of evolution has concerned the development by living things of responses to metabolites, sometimes their own and sometimes produced by others. Those organisms which developed satisfactory responses succeeded, and those which did not, failed. (Lucas, 1944). Interested parties, such as members of the opposite sex, can then spy and read pertinent information about sexual and dominance status, health and body condition, quality of diet, and more. For instance, female goldfish release sex pheromones in their urine that... 

The table of contents will immediately tell you whether there is a chapter about your topic, so you won t have to read the entire book in order to find the information you need. If there is no table of contents, turn to the back of the book and check the index for an alphabetical list of topics. If your topic is still not listed in the index, chances are that, although the title or cover may be catchy, or the book claims to talk about your topic, the author cannot really provide you with key information. If this is the case, don t worry. Two other strategic places to check for information are ... 

---