The Ursinus Weekly, April 22, 1957

Inter-fraternity weekend is scheduled for April 26 & 27 • Circulate petitions for class officers; Beginning April 22 • Students petition for rule change • Soph rules subject of MSGA meeting • Meistersingers annual tour begins April 28 • Ursinus Woman\u27s Club to hold buffet lunch, May 11 • Spirit Committee elect officers; Martin president • Final total given for Campus Chest; Goal exceeded • Senate studies revised hours for women students • WSGA, WAA, YM-YWCA elections held on April 16: King, Bennignus new Y presidents; Jewett, Justice WSGA, WAA heads • UC debaters vs. Villanova in third 1957 TV debate • Delta Pi Sigma election; Easter party with Sig Nu • SWC sees slides on Europe • Editorial: After the elections, what? • Impressions on an intellectual beggar • Royal humorist grants interview • Twenty-three empty minutes • This matter of rules • Play review: Submerged and Rehearsal • Bears beat Johns Hopkins, Albright in two thrillers • Sabrina Fair, a comedy: Final weeks of rehearsal • KDK has pizza party • Book additions recently received by Library • Pre-medders election; To hear talk by Dr. Subin • UC Summer school session slated for July 8 - Aug. 30https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/1427/thumbnail.jp

Thin metal electrode for AMTEC

An electrode having higher power output is formed of a thin, porous film (less than 1 micrometer) applied to a beta-alumina solid electrolyte (BASE). The electrode includes an open grid, current collector such as a series of thin, parallel, grid lines applied to the thin film and a plurality of cross-members such as loop of metal wire surrounding the BASE tube. The loops are electrically connected by a bus wire. The overall impedance of the electrode considering both the contributions from the bulk BASE and the porous electrode BASE interface is low, about 0.5 OHM/cm.sup.2 and power densities of over 0.3 watt/cm.sup.2 for extended periods

Primary reading exercises for use with the Durrell Analysis of Reading Difficulty

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Regulatory reform and productivity change in Indian banking

This paper examines the impact of regulatory reform on productivity growth and its components for Indian banks in 1992-2009. We estimate parametric and non-parametric efficiency frontiers, followed by Divisia and Malmquist indexes of Total Factor Productivity respectively. To account for technology heterogeneity among ownership types we utilise a metafrontier approach. Results are consistent across methodologies and show sustained productivity growth, driven mainly by technological progress. Furthermore, results indicate that different ownership types react differently to changes in the operating environment. The position of foreign banks becomes increasingly dominant and their production technology becomes the best practice in the industry

HIV-Neutralizing Activity of Cationic Polypeptides in Cervicovaginal Secretions of Women in HIV-Serodiscordant Relationships

HIV exposed seronegative (HESN) women represent the population most in need of a prophylactic antiviral strategy. Mucosal cationic polypeptides can potentially be regulated for this purpose and we here aimed to determine their endogenous expression and HIV neutralizing activity in genital secretions of women at risk of HIV infection.Cervicovaginal secretions (CVS) of Kenyan women in HIV-serodiscordant relationships (HESN, n = 164; HIV seropositive, n = 60) and low-risk controls (n = 72) were assessed for the cationic polypeptides HNP1–3, LL-37 and SLPI by ELISA and for HIV neutralizing activity by a PBMC-based assay using an HIV primary isolate. Median levels of HNP1–3 and LL-37 in CVS were similar across study groups. Neither HSV-2 serostatus, nor presence of bacterial vaginosis, correlated with levels of HNP1–3 or LL-37 in the HESN women. However, an association with their partner's viral load was observed. High viral load (>10,000 HIV RNA copies/ml plasma) correlated with higher levels of HNP1–3 and LL-37 (p = 0.04 and 0.03, respectively). SLPI was most abundant in the low-risk group and did not correlate with male partner's viral load in the HESN women. HIV neutralizing activity was found in CVS of all study groups. In experimental studies, selective depletion of cationic polypeptides from CVS rendered the remaining CVS fraction non-neutralizing, whereas the cationic polypeptide fraction retained the activity. Furthermore, recombinant HNP1–3 and LL-37 could induce neutralizing activity when added to CVS lacking intrinsic activity.These findings show that CVS from HESN, low-risk, and HIV seropositive women contain HIV neutralizing activity. Although several innate immune proteins, including HNP1–3 and LL-37, contribute to this activity these molecules can also have inflammatory properties. This balance is influenced by hormonal and environmental factors and in the present HIV serodiscordant couple cohort study we show that a partner's viral load is associated with levels of such molecules

Proceedings from the Turner Resource Network symposium: The crossroads of health care research and health care delivery

Turner syndrome, a congenital condition that affects ∼1/2,500 births, results from absence or structural alteration of the second sex chromosome. There has been substantial effort by numerous clinical and genetic research groups to delineate the clinical, pathophysiological, cytogenetic, and molecular features of this multisystem condition. Questions about the molecular-genetic and biological basis of many of the clinical features remain unanswered, and health care providers and families seek improved care for affected individuals. The inaugural “Turner Resource Network (TRN) Symposium” brought together individuals with Turner syndrome and their families, advocacy group leaders, clinicians, basic scientists, physician-scientists, trainees and other stakeholders with interest in the well-being of individuals and families living with the condition. The goal of this symposium was to establish a structure for a TRN that will be a patient-powered organization involving those living with Turner syndrome, their families, clinicians, and scientists. The TRN will identify basic and clinical questions that might be answered with registries, clinical trials, or through bench research to promote and advocate for best practices and improved care for individuals with Turner syndrome. The symposium concluded with the consensus that two rationales justify the creation of a TRN: 1. inadequate attention has been paid to the health and psychosocial issues facing girls and women who live with Turner syndrome; 2. investigations into the susceptibility to common disorders such as cardiovascular or autoimmune diseases caused by sex chromosome deficiencies will increase understanding of disease susceptibilities in the general population.Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (U.S.) (Grant 1R13HD079209-01)March of Dimes Birth Defects FoundationAmerican Heart AssociationNational Institutes of Health (U.S.) Office of Women's HealthLeaping Butterfly MinistryTurner Syndrome Society of the United State

Two New Loci for Body-Weight Regulation Identified in a Joint Analysis of Genome-Wide Association Studies for Early-Onset Extreme Obesity in French and German Study Groups

Meta-analyses of population-based genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in adults have recently led to the detection of new genetic loci for obesity. Here we aimed to discover additional obesity loci in extremely obese children and adolescents. We also investigated if these results generalize by estimating the effects of these obesity loci in adults and in population-based samples including both children and adults. We jointly analysed two GWAS of 2,258 individuals and followed-up the best, according to lowest p-values, 44 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) from 21 genomic regions in 3,141 individuals. After this DISCOVERY step, we explored if the findings derived from the extremely obese children and adolescents (10 SNPs from 5 genomic regions) generalized to (i) the population level and (ii) to adults by genotyping another 31,182 individuals (GENERALIZATION step). Apart from previously identified FTO, MC4R, and TMEM18, we detected two new loci for obesity: one in SDCCAG8 (serologically defined colon cancer antigen 8 gene; p = 1.85610 x 10(-8) in the DISCOVERY step) and one between TNKS (tankyrase, TRF1-interacting ankyrin-related ADP-ribose polymerase gene) and MSRA (methionine sulfoxide reductase A gene; p = 4.84 x 10(-7)), the latter finding being limited to children and adolescents as demonstrated in the GENERALIZATION step. The odds ratios for early-onset obesity were estimated at similar to 1.10 per risk allele for both loci. Interestingly, the TNKS/MSRA locus has recently been found to be associated with adult waist circumference. In summary, we have completed a meta-analysis of two GWAS which both focus on extremely obese children and adolescents and replicated our findings in a large followed-up data set. We observed that genetic variants in or near FTO, MC4R, TMEM18, SDCCAG8, and TNKS/MSRA were robustly associated with early-onset obesity. We conclude that the currently known major common variants related to obesity overlap to a substantial degree between children and adults

NASA's Robotic Lunar Lander Development Program

NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory have developed several mission concepts to place scientific and exploration payloads ranging from 10 kg to more than 200 kg on the surface of the moon. The mission concepts all use a small versatile lander that is capable of precision landing. The results to date of the lunar lander development risk reduction activities including high pressure propulsion system testing, structure and mechanism development and testing, and long cycle time battery testing will be addressed. The most visible elements of the risk reduction program are two fully autonomous lander flight test vehicles. The first utilized a high pressure cold gas system (Cold Gas Test Article) with limited flight durations while the subsequent test vehicle, known as the Warm Gas Test Article, utilizes hydrogen peroxide propellant resulting in significantly longer flight times and the ability to more fully exercise flight sensors and algorithms. The development of the Warm Gas Test Article is a system demonstration and was designed with similarity to an actual lunar lander including energy absorbing landing legs, pulsing thrusters, and flight-like software implementation. A set of outdoor flight tests to demonstrate the initial objectives of the WGTA program was completed in Nov. 2011, and will be discussed

Extent of Linkage Disequilibrium in the Domestic Cat, Felis silvestris catus, and Its Breeds

Peer reviewe

Prospective Associations of Coronary Heart Disease Loci in African Americans Using the MetaboChip: The PAGE Study

Background: Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in African Americans. However, there is a paucity of studies assessing genetic determinants of CHD in African Americans. We examined the association of published variants in CHD loci with incident CHD, attempted to fine map these loci, and characterize novel variants influencing CHD risk in African Americans. Methods and Results: Up to 8,201 African Americans (including 546 first CHD events) were genotyped using the MetaboChip array in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study and Women's Health Initiative (WHI). We tested associations using Cox proportional hazard models in sex- and study-stratified analyses and combined results using meta-analysis. Among 44 validated CHD loci available in the array, we replicated and fine-mapped the SORT1 locus, and showed same direction of effects as reported in studies of individuals of European ancestry for SNPs in 22 additional published loci. We also identified a SNP achieving array wide significance (MYC: rs2070583, allele frequency 0.02, P = 8.1×10−8), but the association did not replicate in an additional 8,059 African Americans (577 events) from the WHI, HealthABC and GeneSTAR studies, and in a meta-analysis of 5 cohort studies of European ancestry (24,024 individuals including 1,570 cases of MI and 2,406 cases of CHD) from the CHARGE Consortium. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that some CHD loci previously identified in individuals of European ancestry may be relevant to incident CHD in African Americans