A Case for Peering of Content Delivery Networks

The proliferation of Content Delivery Networks (CDN) reveals that existing content networks are owned and operated by individual companies. As a consequence, closed delivery networks are evolved which do not cooperate with other CDNs and in practice, islands of CDNs are formed. Moreover, the logical separation between contents and services in this context results in two content networking domains. But present trends in content networks and content networking capabilities give rise to the interest in interconnecting content networks. Finding ways for distinct content networks to coordinate and cooperate with other content networks is necessary for better overall service. In addition to that, meeting the QoS requirements of users according to the negotiated Service Level Agreements between the user and the content network is a burning issue in this perspective. In this article, we present an open, scalable and Service-Oriented Architecture based system to assist the creation of open Content and Service Delivery Networks (CSDN) that scale and support sharing of resources with other CSDNs.Comment: Short Article (Submitted in DS Online as Work in Progress

CedarLogic 2.0 Update

CedarLogic is the Cedarville University’s student-developed, digital logic simulator. Engineering and Computer Science students use this software for several of their classes. Our primary goal for this update is adding black boxes, buses, and cross-platform compatibility. Our additional improvements in user-friendliness and functionality will give students an improved CedarLogic experience

A case study of the patient wait experience in an emergency department with therapy dogs

The quality of patient healthcare is a growing concern in Canada’s hospital emergency departments (ED) due to increasing wait times and associated adverse outcomes. A developing body of literature indicates that therapy dogs can positively impact the patient experience. In 2016, members of our team partnered with the Royal University Hospital (RUH) in Saskatchewan to become the first ED in Canada to integrate a visiting therapy dog to positively impact the patient wait experience. The aim of this preliminary case study was to examine if and how this unique initiative impacted patients’ feelings during their ED wait. A brief questionnaire was completed with one-hundred and twenty-four patients pre and post-therapy dog visit and a research observer documented the encounters. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data revealed that visiting with a therapy dog in the ED appeared to improve patients’ feelings. Specifically, patients’ perceived comfort levels increased and their distress levels decreased, and the encounters were considered by patients to be a welcome distraction from the stressful ED environment. Our team, comprised of clinicians, researchers, therapy dog handlers and patient advocates documented the advantages and challenges of implementing the initiative. The outcomes support further study of patients’ wait time experiences in the ED and the utility of a visiting therapy dog

Microbiome and infectivity studies reveal complex polyspecies tree disease in Acute Oak Decline

Decline-diseases are complex and becoming increasingly problematic to tree health globally. Acute Oak Decline (AOD) is characterized by necrotic stem lesions and galleries of the bark-boring beetle, Agrilus biguttatus, and represents a serious threat to oak. Although multiple novel bacterial species and Agrilus galleries are associated with AOD lesions, the causative agent(s) are unknown. The AOD pathosystem therefore provides an ideal model for a systems-based research approach to address our hypothesis that AOD lesions are caused by a polymicrobial complex. Here we show that three bacterial species, Brenneria goodwinii, Gibbsiella quercinecans and Rahnella victoriana, are consistently abundant in the lesion microbiome and possess virulence genes used by canonical phytopathogens that are expressed in AOD lesions. Individual and polyspecies inoculations on oak logs and trees demonstrated that B. goodwinii and G. quercinecans cause tissue necrosis and, in combination with A. biguttatus, produce the diagnostic symptoms of AOD. We have proved a polybacterial cause of AOD lesions, providing new insights into polymicrobial interactions and tree disease. This work presents a novel conceptual and methodological template for adapting Koch’s postulates to address the role of microbial communities in disease

Insight into trade‐off between wood decay and parasitism from the genome of a fungal forest pathogen

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/91191/1/j.1469-8137.2012.04128.x.pd

A Low Dose of Dietary Resveratrol Partially Mimics Caloric Restriction and Retards Aging Parameters in Mice

Resveratrol in high doses has been shown to extend lifespan in some studies in invertebrates and to prevent early mortality in mice fed a high-fat diet. We fed mice from middle age (14-months) to old age (30-months) either a control diet, a low dose of resveratrol (4.9 mg kg−1 day−1), or a calorie restricted (CR) diet and examined genome-wide transcriptional profiles. We report a striking transcriptional overlap of CR and resveratrol in heart, skeletal muscle and brain. Both dietary interventions inhibit gene expression profiles associated with cardiac and skeletal muscle aging, and prevent age-related cardiac dysfunction. Dietary resveratrol also mimics the effects of CR in insulin mediated glucose uptake in muscle. Gene expression profiling suggests that both CR and resveratrol may retard some aspects of aging through alterations in chromatin structure and transcription. Resveratrol, at doses that can be readily achieved in humans, fulfills the definition of a dietary compound that mimics some aspects of CR

Recommendations for enterovirus diagnostics and characterisation within and beyond Europe.

Enteroviruses (EV) can cause severe neurological and respiratory infections, and occasionally lead to devastating outbreaks as previously demonstrated with EV-A71 and EV-D68 in Europe. However, these infections are still often underdiagnosed and EV typing data is not currently collected at European level. In order to improve EV diagnostics, collate data on severe EV infections and monitor the circulation of EV types, we have established European non-polio enterovirus network (ENPEN). First task of this cross-border network has been to ensure prompt and adequate diagnosis of these infections in Europe, and hence we present recommendations for non-polio EV detection and typing based on the consensus view of this multidisciplinary team including experts from over 20 European countries. We recommend that respiratory and stool samples in addition to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood samples are submitted for EV testing from patients with suspected neurological infections. This is vital since viruses like EV-D68 are rarely detectable in CSF or stool samples. Furthermore, reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) targeting the 5'noncoding regions (5'NCR) should be used for diagnosis of EVs due to their sensitivity, specificity and short turnaround time. Sequencing of the VP1 capsid protein gene is recommended for EV typing; EV typing cannot be based on the 5'NCR sequences due to frequent recombination events and should not rely on virus isolation. Effective and standardized laboratory diagnostics and characterisation of circulating virus strains are the first step towards effective and continuous surveillance activities, which in turn will be used to provide better estimation on EV disease burden

Identification of 12 new susceptibility loci for different histotypes of epithelial ovarian cancer.

To identify common alleles associated with different histotypes of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), we pooled data from multiple genome-wide genotyping projects totaling 25,509 EOC cases and 40,941 controls. We identified nine new susceptibility loci for different EOC histotypes: six for serous EOC histotypes (3q28, 4q32.3, 8q21.11, 10q24.33, 18q11.2 and 22q12.1), two for mucinous EOC (3q22.3 and 9q31.1) and one for endometrioid EOC (5q12.3). We then performed meta-analysis on the results for high-grade serous ovarian cancer with the results from analysis of 31,448 BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers, including 3,887 mutation carriers with EOC. This identified three additional susceptibility loci at 2q13, 8q24.1 and 12q24.31. Integrated analyses of genes and regulatory biofeatures at each locus predicted candidate susceptibility genes, including OBFC1, a new candidate susceptibility gene for low-grade and borderline serous EOC