(Un)Structuring for the Next Generation: New Possibilities for Library Data with NoSQL

For many years, libraries have relied upon relational databases (RDBMS) to store, manipulate, and query various types of data, and this database model works extremely well when data are highly structured. As the data become more complex, however, the relational database model strains under the burden of maintaining complex joins, which can decrease a database\u27s performance and limit its functionality. Furthermore, data are not always best represented in the RDBMS\u27s flat, tabular format. Library data often require flexibility and extensibility to accommodate the increasing volume and variety of library resources and metadata. To address these issues, transforming the underlying structure of data will be as important as transforming the data itself. NoSQL offers an alternative model for efficiently managing dynamic data

The Limits and Contradictions of Systemic Reform: The Philadelphia Story

In Philadelphia, the Annenberg Challenge was known as Children Achieving and was a districtwide systemic reform initiative designed and led by a small core group of District officials and external partners. This report examines the Children Achieving Challenge and the strategies the designers employed to improve teaching and learning in the public schools. Among the conditions associated with the Annenberg Challenge were requirements that two matching dollars be raised for each one received from the Annenberg Foundation and that an independent management structure be created to provide program, fiscal, and evaluation oversight of the grant. In Philadelphia, a business organization, Greater Philadelphia First, assumed these responsibilities, and with them, the challenge of working with the School District to build and sustain civic support for the improvement of the public schools

Diversification and Adaptive Capacity across Scales in an Emerging Post-Frontier Landscape of the Usumacinta Valley, Chiapas, Mexico

This study investigates impacts and implications of recent landscape change in rural Mexico, through a case study in the Usumacinta Valley of eastern Chiapas. It addresses types of livelihood diversification strategies associated with changing land cover from 1984–2013, and the processes and roles that vary by actors and their scales of influence. After widespread forest loss and the expansion of extensive cattle ranching during the twentieth century, the region has exhibited several new economic and livelihood strategies in recent decades. Results from a combination of satellite imagery analysis and individual interviews from a wide range of land use decision makers demonstrate the dynamism of this landscape. The introduction of new crops, including teak, rubber and oil palm, as well as off-farm work, continue to shape the social and physical landscape and differentially impact the adaptive capacities of residents. Results indicate that small landholders often need to incorporate more crops into their agricultural portfolio and increase off-farm activities, leading to an atomization of livelihood strategies. By contrast, large landholders are able to pursue more specialized and lucrative agricultural opportunities

Expression in Escherichia coli of a cloned DNA sequence encoding the pre-S2 region of hepatitis B virus

A DNA sequence encoding the entire pre-S2 region (amino acids 120-174; serotype ayw) of human hepatitis B virus envelope protein has been inserted into the lacZ gene of the plasmid pSKS105 yielding a recombinant, pWS3. Lac+ colonies of the Escherichia coli M182 (lacIOPZYA), isolated after transformation with pWS3, produced a pre-S2 peptide-ß-galactosidase fusion protein. This fusion protein, which comprised as much as 3% of the total bacterial protein, was purified to >90% homogeneity by affinity chromatography on p-aminophenyl-ß-D-thiogalactoside-Sepharose. It is immunoprecipitable with rabbit antibodies to a synthetic peptide corresponding to amino acids 120-145 of the pre-S2 region of serotype adw [pre-S(120-145)] or with antibodies to hepatitis B virus. pre-S(120-145) completely blocked the binding of either antibody to the pre-S2 peptide-ß-galactosidase fusion protein. These results indicate that there are antigenic determinants on the fusion protein that are closely related to, if not identical to, determinants on synthetic pre-S(120-145) and on pre-S2 sequences of native hepatitis B virus particles. Thus, bacteria transformed with pWS3 can provide an abundant source of pre-S2-ß-galactosidase fusion protein, which may prove useful either as a diagnostic reagent possessing marker enzyme activity suitable for ELISA tests or as an immunogen with potential to contribute to active prophylaxis of hepatitis B

Fifteen-S-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (15-S-HETE) specifically antagonizes the chemotactic action and glomerular synthesis of leukotriene B4 in the rat

Fifteen-S-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (15-S-HETE) specifically antagonizes the chemotactic action and glomerular synthesis of leukotriene B4 in the rat. In models of experimental glomerulonephritis, there is temporal concordance between the shift in the glomerular cellular infiltrate from neutrophils (PMN) to macrophages/monocytes and the suppression of glomerular leukotriene B4 (LTB4) generation. Since macrophages are a rich source of 15-lipoxygenase (15-LO) products, we investigated whether the principal product of arachidonate 15-lipoxy-genation, 15-S-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (15-S-HETE), was capable of antagonizing the proinflammatory actions of LTB4 in the rat. PMN exhibited chemotaxis to LTB4 in a dose dependent manner with an LC50 of 10-8 M. When rat neutrophils were pre-treated with 15-S-HETE, chemotaxis to LTB4 was inhibited in a dose dependent manner (maximal at 30 µM 15-S-HETE) but, the same concentration did not inhibit chemotaxis to n-formyl-1-methionyl-1-phenylalanine (FMP). 12-S-HETE (30µM) did not inhibit chemotaxis to LTB4. Glomeruli from rats injected with nephrotoxic serum three hours earlier generated increased levels of LTB4; prior exposure of such glomeruli to 15-S-HETE totally normalized LTB4 production. The glomerular production of 15-S-HETE and LTB4 was also determined 3 hours, 72 hours and 2 weeks after administration of nephrotoxic serum. Whereas there was an early, short-lived, burst of LTB4 followed by a return to baseline levels, the production of 15-S-HETE increased steadily over the two week period and was present in amounts fivefold greater than LTB4. Thus, these studies assign a role for locally generated 15-LO derivatives in arresting LTB4-promoted PMN infiltration and suppressing LTB4 synthesis. Coupled with our previous demonstration of counterregula-tory interactions between lipoxins and cysteinyl leukotrienes, the current studies provide further support for a generalized anti-inflammatory role for 15-LO products through specific antagonism and/or inhibition of leukotriene synthesis and biologic activities

Distinguishing Land Change from Natural Variability and Uncertainty in Central Mexico with MODIS EVI, TRMM Precipitation, and MODIS LST Data

Precipitation and temperature enact variable influences on vegetation, impacting the type and condition of land cover, as well as the assessment of change over broad landscapes. Separating the influence of vegetative variability independent and discrete land cover change remains a major challenge to landscape change assessments. The heterogeneous Lerma-Chapala-Santiago watershed of central Mexico exemplifies both natural and anthropogenic forces enacting variability and change on the landscape. This study employed a time series of Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) composites from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectoradiometer (MODIS) for 2001–2007 and per-pixel multiple linear regressions in order to model changes in EVI as a function of precipitation, temperature, and elevation. Over the seven-year period, 59.1% of the variability in EVI was explained by variability in the independent variables, with highest model performance among changing and heterogeneous land cover types, while intact forest cover demonstrated the greatest resistance to changes in temperature and precipitation. Model results were compared to an independent change uncertainty assessment, and selected regional samples of change confusion and natural variability give insight to common problems afflicting land change analyses

The Ursinus Weekly, May 7, 1962

Curtain Club\u27s The Girls in 509 scheduled Friday and Saturday • Fraser & Dingman selected head soph rulers to enliven \u2762 frosh customs program • Canterbury Club features speaker, CBS church film • Awards highlight waiters\u27 banquet • Dennis recovering from heart attack • Moyer attends ISC meeting at E-town • World traveler slated to address IRC tonight • Yippee-i-o theme of Spring Festival featuring queen, festivities Saturday • Campus politicers reconcile riffs at annual banquet • Hudnut & students plan jazz seminar • Cub & Key Society meets at Staigers • Editorial: Beauty versus popularity; Turning the tables • Shenanigan \u2762 senior show theme • Dozing technique requires practice • Sesquicentennial fetes continue in nearby Norristown • Obscurity, neglect & confusion mark UC\u27s undeveloped college museum • Tennismen win over LaSalle, drop PMC heartbreaker • Lacrossers swamp West Chesterettes • Baseballers smash Haverford, F&M, lose to E-Towners • Trackmen trounce PMC & Dickinson, upset by Hopkins • UC & West Chester swap wins to open softball season • Greek gleaningshttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/1319/thumbnail.jp