Resilient communities : the impact of social helping networks and structure on the differential success of rural Armenian households

Abstract from short.pdf file.Dissertation supervisor: Dr. David O'Brien.Includes vita.This mixed methods study examines the impact of social helping networks on rural Armenian households. This research uses original data gathered from a survey of four Armenian villages and 8 focus groups during the fall of 2015. Social capital, defined as the norms and networks that facilitate collective action, provides the theoretical framework from which social network structure, levels of support and trust proxy measures are derived. This study encourages the careful examination of social helping networks by development practitioners to understand the variation in the potential impacts on the differential success of Armenian households.Includes bibliographical references (pages 89-93)

Agile methods for agile universities

We explore a term, Agile, that is being used in various workplace settings, including the management of universities. The term may have several related but slightly different meanings. Agile is often used in the context of facilitating more creative problem-solving and advocating for the adoption, design, tailoring and continual updating of more innovative organizational processes. We consider a particular set of meanings of the term from the world of software development. Agile methods were created to address certain problems with the software development process. Many of those problems have interesting analogues in the context of universities, so a reflection on agile methods may be a useful heuristic for generating ideas for enabling universities to be more creative

Integration of lipidomics and transcriptomics data towards a systems biology model of sphingolipid metabolism

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sphingolipids play important roles in cell structure and function as well as in the pathophysiology of many diseases. Many of the intermediates of sphingolipid biosynthesis are highly bioactive and sometimes have antagonistic activities, for example, ceramide promotes apoptosis whereas sphingosine-1-phosphate can inhibit apoptosis and induce cell growth; therefore, quantification of the metabolites and modeling of the sphingolipid network is imperative for an understanding of sphingolipid biology.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this direction, the LIPID MAPS Consortium is developing methods to quantitate the sphingolipid metabolites in mammalian cells and is investigating their application to studies of the activation of the RAW264.7 macrophage cell by a chemically defined endotoxin, Kdo₂-Lipid A. Herein, we describe a model for the C₁₆-branch of sphingolipid metabolism (i.e., for ceramides with palmitate as the N-acyl-linked fatty acid, which is selected because it is a major subspecies for all categories of complex sphingolipids in RAW264.7 cells) integrating lipidomics and transcriptomics data and using a two-step matrix-based approach to estimate the rate constants from experimental data. The rate constants obtained from the first step are further refined using generalized constrained nonlinear optimization. The resulting model fits the experimental data for all species. The robustness of the model is validated through parametric sensitivity analysis.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A quantitative model of the sphigolipid pathway is developed by integrating metabolomics and transcriptomics data with legacy knowledge. The model could be used to design experimental studies of how genetic and pharmacological perturbations alter the flux through this important lipid biosynthetic pathway.</p

Infiltration in unsaturated layered fluvial deposits at Rio Bravo : photo essay and data summary.

An infiltration and dye transport experiment was conducted to visualize flow and transport processes in a heterogeneous, layered, sandy-gravelly fluvial deposit adjacent to Rio Bravo Boulevard in Albuquerque, NM. Water containing red dye followed by blue-green dye was ponded in a small horizontal zone ({approx}0.5 m x 0.5 m) above a vertical outcrop ({approx}4 m x 2.5 m). The red dye lagged behind the wetting front due to slight adsorption thus allowing both the wetting front and dye fronts to be observed in time at the outcrop face. After infiltration, vertical slices were excavated to the midpoint of the infiltrometer exposing the wetting front and dye distribution in a quasi three-dimensional manner. At small-scale, wetting front advancement was influenced by the multitude of local capillary barriers within the deposit. However at the scale of the experiment, the wetting front appeared smooth with significant lateral spreading {approx} twice that in the vertical, indicating a strong anisotropy due to the pronounced horizontal layering. The dye fronts exhibited appreciably more irregularity than the wetting front, as well as the influence of preferential flow features (a fracture) that moved the dye directly to the front, bypassing the fresh water between

The minimum energy expenditure shortest path method

This article discusses the addition of an energy parameter to the shortest path execution process; namely, the energy expenditure by a character during execution of the path. Given a simple environment in which a character has the ability to perform actions related to locomotion, such as walking and stair stepping, current techniques execute the shortest path based on the length of the extracted root trajectory. However, actual humans acting in constrained environments do not plan only according to shortest path criterion, they conceptually measure the path that minimizes the amount of energy expenditure. On this basis, it seems that virtual characters should also execute their paths according to the minimization of actual energy expenditure as well. In this article, a simple method that uses a formula for computing vanadium dioxide ($VO_2$) levels, which is a proxy for the energy expenditure by humans during various activities, is presented. The presented solution could be beneficial in any situation requiring a sophisticated perspective of the path-execution process. Moreover, it can be implemented in almost every path-planning method that has the ability to measure stepping actions or other actions of a virtual character

Dietary Habits of the Common Rodents in an Agrecosystem in Argentina

Dietary habits of five common rodents in agroecosystems on the central Argentine Pampa were studied for 15 months using microhistological analysis of stomach contents. All five rodent species were omnivorous, but proportions of major dietary items (arthropods, dicot leaves and seeds, monocot leaves and seeds) varied among species and seasons. Akodon azarae largely was entomophagous; arthropods formed 41-62% of the diet in all seasons. The other four species (Calomys musculinus, Calomys laucha, Bolomys obscurus, and Oligoryzomys flavescens) consumed most diet items throughout the year, but relative proportions varied among seasons. Leaves formed a relatively minor proportion of the diet (12- 16% overall for all species) throughout the year. All species except A. azarae consumed higher quantities of seeds (50-73% of stomach volume) than arthropods (15-35%) during autumn and winter but switched to higher quantities of arthropods (30-53%) in spring and summer. Diet breadth was narrower and overlap generally highest during winter when all species were forced to subsist on a reduced set of available resources. Of 28 plant species with \u3e2% cover in the environment, 25 were identified in stomachs of one or more of the five rodent species. The most important plant species in the diet were corn and soybeans (mostly grain), seed of Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense), chickweed (Stellaria media), and Amaranthus. High consumption of arthropods, especially by A. azarae, contraindicates the broad-scale use of rodenticides until the role of that rodent species in the control of pest insects can be ascertained

Dietary Habits of the Common Rodents in an Agrecosystem in Argentina

Dietary habits of five common rodents in agroecosystems on the central Argentine Pampa were studied for 15 months using microhistological analysis of stomach contents. All five rodent species were omnivorous, but proportions of major dietary items (arthropods, dicot leaves and seeds, monocot leaves and seeds) varied among species and seasons. Akodon azarae largely was entomophagous; arthropods formed 41-62% of the diet in all seasons. The other four species (Calomys musculinus, Calomys laucha, Bolomys obscurus, and Oligoryzomys flavescens) consumed most diet items throughout the year, but relative proportions varied among seasons. Leaves formed a relatively minor proportion of the diet (12- 16% overall for all species) throughout the year. All species except A. azarae consumed higher quantities of seeds (50-73% of stomach volume) than arthropods (15-35%) during autumn and winter but switched to higher quantities of arthropods (30-53%) in spring and summer. Diet breadth was narrower and overlap generally highest during winter when all species were forced to subsist on a reduced set of available resources. Of 28 plant species with \u3e2% cover in the environment, 25 were identified in stomachs of one or more of the five rodent species. The most important plant species in the diet were corn and soybeans (mostly grain), seed of Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense), chickweed (Stellaria media), and Amaranthus. High consumption of arthropods, especially by A. azarae, contraindicates the broad-scale use of rodenticides until the role of that rodent species in the control of pest insects can be ascertained

Effective, Robust Design of Community Mitigation for Pandemic Influenza: A Systematic Examination of Proposed US Guidance

BACKGROUND: The US government proposes pandemic influenza mitigation guidance that includes isolation and antiviral treatment of ill persons, voluntary household member quarantine and antiviral prophylaxis, social distancing of individuals, school closure, reduction of contacts at work, and prioritized vaccination. Is this the best strategy combination? Is choice of this strategy robust to pandemic uncertainties? What are critical enablers of community resilience? METHODS AND FINDINGS: We systematically simulate a broad range of pandemic scenarios and mitigation strategies using a networked, agent-based model of a community of explicit, multiply-overlapping social contact networks. We evaluate illness and societal burden for alterations in social networks, illness parameters, or intervention implementation. For a 1918-like pandemic, the best strategy minimizes illness to <1% of the population and combines network-based (e.g. school closure, social distancing of all with adults' contacts at work reduced), and case-based measures (e.g. antiviral treatment of the ill and prophylaxis of household members). We find choice of this best strategy robust to removal of enhanced transmission by the young, additional complexity in contact networks, and altered influenza natural history including extended viral shedding. Administration of age-group or randomly targeted 50% effective pre-pandemic vaccine with 7% population coverage (current US H5N1 vaccine stockpile) had minimal effect on outcomes. In order, mitigation success depends on rapid strategy implementation, high compliance, regional mitigation, and rigorous rescinding criteria; these are the critical enablers for community resilience. CONCLUSIONS: Systematic evaluation of feasible, recommended pandemic influenza interventions generally confirms the US community mitigation guidance yields best strategy choices for pandemic planning that are robust to a wide range of uncertainty. The best strategy combines network- and case-based interventions; network-based interventions are paramount. Because strategies must be applied rapidly, regionally, and stringently for greatest benefit, preparation and public education is required for long-lasting, high community compliance during a pandemic

Advanced simulation for analysis of critical infrastructure : abstract cascades, the electric power grid, and Fedwire.

Critical Infrastructures are formed by a large number of components that interact within complex networks. As a rule, infrastructures contain strong feedbacks either explicitly through the action of hardware/software control, or implicitly through the action/reaction of people. Individual infrastructures influence others and grow, adapt, and thus evolve in response to their multifaceted physical, economic, cultural, and political environments. Simply put, critical infrastructures are complex adaptive systems. In the Advanced Modeling and Techniques Investigations (AMTI) subgroup of the National Infrastructure Simulation and Analysis Center (NISAC), we are studying infrastructures as complex adaptive systems. In one of AMTI's efforts, we are focusing on cascading failure as can occur with devastating results within and between infrastructures. Over the past year we have synthesized and extended the large variety of abstract cascade models developed in the field of complexity science and have started to apply them to specific infrastructures that might experience cascading failure. In this report we introduce our comprehensive model, Polynet, which simulates cascading failure over a wide range of network topologies, interaction rules, and adaptive responses as well as multiple interacting and growing networks. We first demonstrate Polynet for the classical Bac, Tang, and Wiesenfeld or BTW sand-pile in several network topologies. We then apply Polynet to two very different critical infrastructures: the high voltage electric power transmission system which relays electricity from generators to groups of distribution-level consumers, and Fedwire which is a Federal Reserve service for sending large-value payments between banks and other large financial institutions. For these two applications, we tailor interaction rules to represent appropriate unit behavior and consider the influence of random transactions within two stylized networks: a regular homogeneous array and a heterogeneous scale-free (fractal) network. For the stylized electric power grid, our initial simulations demonstrate that the addition of geographically unrestricted random transactions can eventually push a grid to cascading failure, thus supporting the hypothesis that actions of unrestrained power markets (without proper security coordination on market actions) can undermine large scale system stability. We also find that network topology greatly influences system robustness. Homogeneous networks that are 'fish-net' like can withstand many more transaction perturbations before cascading than can scale-free networks. Interestingly, when the homogeneous network finally cascades, it tends to fail in its entirety, while the scale-free tends to compartmentalize failure and thus leads to smaller, more restricted outages. In the case of stylized Fedwire, initial simulations show that as banks adaptively set their individual reserves in response to random transactions, the ratio of the total volume of transactions to individual reserves, or 'turnover ratio', increases with increasing volume. The removal of a bank from interaction within the network then creates a cascade, its speed of propagation increasing as the turnover ratio increases. We also find that propagation is accelerated by patterned transactions (as expected to occur within real markets) and in scale-free networks, by the 'attack' of the most highly connected bank. These results suggest that the time scale for intervention by the Federal Reserve to divert a cascade in Fedwire may be quite short. Ongoing work in our cascade analysis effort is building on both these specific stylized applications to enhance their fidelity as well as embracing new applications. We are implementing markets and additional network interactions (e.g., social, telecommunication, information gathering, and control) that can impose structured drives (perturbations) comparable to those seen in real systems. Understanding the interaction of multiple networks, their interdependencies, and in particular, the underlying mechanisms for their growth/evolution is paramount. With this understanding, appropriate public policy can be identified to guide the evolution of present infrastructures to withstand the demands and threats of the future