Housing Affordability in New York City

Throughout the centuries major cities had offered new opportunities to people seeking better life, New York City is not exception and continues to attract people from all over the world. Based on NYC population census, New York City has grown by almost half million its population in the last seven years. Because of this, residential real estate has been in great demand. Statistics show that less than 1% of residential units are vacant. However, the disparity in real estate prices continues to be a major social and economic issue for the citizens. Considering that the average median household income is less than $45.000 gross yearly and the considerable fair rent should be one third of the income, that means$1250 monthly. The average monthly rent in the five boroughs for one-bedroom apartment is $2.000. One must ask, how affordable is housing in New York City? To aid low and middles income households, city government created affordable housing programs. Although it has helped many families, do these programs continue to be effective? Is affordable housing affordable in our city? We will further discuss the history of affordable housing in New York City, the current and most effective programs in our city and how affordable is housing for a recent college graduate

A Web Implementation of A Generalized NEP

The Networks of Evolutionary Processors (NEPs) are computing mechanisms directly inspired from the behavior of cell populations more specifically the point mutations in DNA strands. These mechanisms are been used for solving NP-complete problems by means of a parallel computation postulation. This paper describes an implementation of the basic model of NEP using Web technologies and includes the possibility of designing some of the most common variants of it by means the use of the web page design which eases the configuration of a given problem. It is a system intended to be used in a multicore processor in order to benefit from the multi thread use

Coherent Patterning of Matter Waves with Subwavelength Localization

We propose the Subwavelength Localization via Adiabatic Passage (SLAP) technique to coherently achieve state-selective patterning of matter waves well beyond the diffraction limit. The SLAP technique consists in coupling two partially overlapping and spatially structured laser fields to three internal levels of the matter wave yielding state-selective localization at those positions where the adiabatic passage process does not occur. We show that by means of this technique matter wave localization down to the single nanometer scale can be achieved. We analyze in detail the potential implementation of the SLAP technique for nano-lithography with an atomic beam of metastable Ne* and for coherent patterning of a two-component 87Rb Bose-Einstein condensate.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Downy mildew resistance in B. oleracea

Downy mildew (Hyaloperonospora brassicae) is one of the most devastating and widely reported diseases on horticultural and agricultural Brassica plants worldwide. Yield losses can be up to 90-100% if environmental conditions are favourable for downy mildew, especially at the early stages of plant development. In recent years, downy mildew incidence has increased in many Brassica growing countries, most likely due to the steady rise of seasonal temperatures in some of these regions of the world caused by cli-mate change, making the disease more widespread. To palliate this, cultural and chemical techniques for controlling downy mildew have been reported to be ineffective due to the systemic nature of the disease. As a result, Brassica cultivars with inherent genetic resistance to this pathogen can provide the best and most cost-effective alternative to avoid yield losses in the future. To achieve this, in this thesis, I have created a collection of single spore H. brassicae isolates from 9 field isolates collected from distinct geographical locations in the UK and USA (Chapter 2). In Chapter 3, I assessed different sources of plant material at the cotyledon stage and identified new sources of resistance to H. brassicae. The host specificity of all H. brassicae isolates used in this thesis was very high, only being able to infect B. oleracea and a very few B. napus genotypes (Chapter 3). In Chapter 4, a specific F2 cross-segregating for a single dominant downy mildew resistant gene at the seedling and adult plant stage was used for genetic mapping using a bulk segregant analysis approach. The bulk segregant analysis was able to map the downy mildew resistance to an NLR cluster in the B. oleracea chromo-some 2. The NLR cluster was observed to have a high level of copy number variation when compared to other genome assemblies. Therefore, to resolve the NLR cluster, a draft genome assembly of the resistant parental line was created using long-read sequencing. I used the assembly to create diagnostic KASP markers of the resistance and validate them using 466 F2 individuals for marker-assisted selection. These newly identified sources of downy mildew resistance could provide a solid foundation to improve the management of this disease in the fields of many B. oleracea crops, especially vegetable crucifers. To date, only 4 sources of resistance to downy mildew have been mapped in B. oleracea. The new source of resistance located to the B. oleracea Chromosome 2 and the diagnostic KASP markers created in this thesis can be used in marker-assisted breeding selection to develop new commercial varieties resistant to downy mildew. Finally, the data generated in this thesis of the NLR cluster and sequences of the candidate genes based on the long-read draft genome assembly could be used to clone the gene responsible for the resistance

Resoluciones de archivo de procedimientos sancionadores en el sector minería por subsanación voluntaria, periodo 2019-2020

Los procedimientos sancionadores, son un conjunto de acciones a seguir para instruir las sanciones administrativas ejercidas por la administración pública. El Organismo.de Evaluación y Fiscalización Ambiental (OEFA), es una entidad del Estado que tiene por finalidad verificar si el administrado cumple la normativa ambiental, el no hacerlo puede resultar en dictado de medidas administrativas e iniciar un procedimiento sancionador; ejerce funciones fiscalizadoras directas en las actividades de minería en los estratos de la mediana y gran minería. El objetivo de la presente investigación fue describir cómo el OEFA, a través de la Dirección.de Fiscalización y Aplicación de Incentivos (primera instancia) y el Tribunal.de Fiscalización Ambiental (segunda instancia), analizaron la formulación de descargos por parte del administrado tendiente a la exclusión de responsabilidad administrativa por subsanación voluntaria, establecido en el literal f) del numeral 1 del artículo 257 del Texto Único Ordenado de la Ley del Procedimiento Administrativo General, Ley N°.27444, en los procedimientos sancionadores del sector minería de los años 2019 y 2020. Se evaluó un total de 64 resoluciones emitidas por la DFAI y el TFA, donde los órganos resolutorios para analizar las alegaciones realizadas por el administrado, se guiaron por ciertas características y requisitos como la temporalidad, voluntariedad, la reparación del daño y sus efectos, los antecedentes administrativos, y los precedentes de observancia obligatoria. Solo 15 de los 94 presuntos incumplimientos configuraron el causal de eximente de responsabilidad por subsanación voluntaria, disponiendo el archivo del PAS

Vascular deficits in Native American Women with Metabolic Syndrome during Dynamic Exercise

Native Americans of the Southwest are predisposed to vascular diseases due to health disparate lifestyles influenced by diet, lack of exercise and decreased access to health care. These factors together may be responsible for the co-morbidities developed with Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome (MetSyn) which are indicators of early onset cardiovascular disease. In a previous study, we evaluated Native Americans (NA) diagnosed with MetSyn or Type II Diabetes and compared the sedentary control NA and Caucasians (CA) during vascular measurements of FMD. We found that NA Control and MetSyn groups exhibited a decrease in vascular function during rate to peak and % dilation in the popliteal artery. Based on these previous findings we also evaluated the reactive vascular changes in the brachial and femoral arteries during dynamic handgrip (DHG) and single leg knee-kick (SLKK) to measure of the same groups in the previous study. PURPOSE: We hypothesize that the NA population with MetSyn will have lower vascular responses due to underlying vascular function restrictions compared to CA of the same groups and that similarly the sedentary control NA women would have blunted blood flow responses as seen in the FMD data. METHODS: 24 NA (Control=10, MetSyn=10) and 28 CA (Control=15, MetSyn=12) completed two visits. MetSyn women identified with 3 out of 5 criteria (high triglycerides, HDLRESULTS: During DHG the CA Controls have no significantly difference conductance (ml/min/mmHg/100ml limb volume) compared the NA control or MetSyn groups. However, during SLKK the femoral artery conductance was significantly lower the CA MetSyn (0.0015+0.001) compared to the CA control (0.0036+0.0006) at the higher workload (p=0.03). The NA Controls and MetSyn were lower 0.0031+0.0001, and 0.0012+0.0008) at the peak exercise however the findings were not significant. CONCLUSION: MetSyn NA and CA exhibited significant differences in vascular conductance in the limbs during dynamic exercise. In addition, normal healthy sedentary NA also had lower vascular conductance compared to the CA Control group indicating an ethnic difference

Dynamic Graded Muscle Exercise in Sedentary Metabolic Syndrome Women; Effects on Cardiac Workload

Metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) individuals presented declining sensitivity to insulin (p=.0201) as calculated by insulin sensitivity index (ISI-60) measurement. The young women categorized as MetSyn were previously found to have significantly lower (ISI-60) from healthy controls (Gomez, 2018), and had higher percent body fat (p\u3c .05), diminished HDL (p\u3c .05), and higher expenditure of Kcals (p=.04) compared to controls as measured by 7 day accelerometer. Cardiovascular modification is hypothesized to involve progressive dysfunction of the insulin mediated AKT/PKB eNOS pathway. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to identify if daily sedentary activity is associated with myocardial workload in the development of the metabolic disorder. We hypothesized metabolic syndrome individuals Rate Pressure Product (RPP) would be at elevated at rest and through various workloads of small muscle exercise. METHODS: We compared daily activity to heart function in order to identify possible myocardial workload, using Rate Pressure Product (RPP) between controls and MetSyn in women (RPP= HR×SBP). Dynamic graded handgrip and single leg kick exercises were used to measure any cardiovascular deficiency between MetSyn and controls. By taking SBP and HR for every workload, we identified differences in cardiac work. RESULTS: RPP values greater than 10,000 bpm/mmHg indicated an increased risk for heart disease, where metabolic syndrome group was found to have higher RPP (p=.02) indicating that their hearts work harder. We also identified that individuals with higher RPP have had more sedentary breaks as measured by accelerometer R=.396, p=.0227, n=33. For Handgrip workloads there was a significant increase of RPP between Unloaded, 1Kg, 2Kg (pCONCLUSION:Metsyn individuals are experiencing higher myocardial workloads. We predict that sedentary lifestyles along with developing metabolic deficiency are responsible for the observed increased myocardial workload in MetSyn women

Nitric Oxide Bioavailability at Peak Dynamic Handgrip Exercise in Young Metabolic Syndrome Women

The bioavailability of nitric oxide (NO) has been shown to contribute to vascular function during peak exercise. Young women with Metabolic Syndrome (MetSyn) have presented with a deficit in vascular conductance during exercise hyperemia. PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to measure changes in bioavailable blood NO levels at rest and during peak handgrip exercise to determine the mechanistic role of NO on dynamic vascular conductance in women with MetSyn compared to healthy controls during small muscle exercise. METHODS: In this study, 16 participants (7 MetSyn and 9 Controls) performed graded dynamic handgrip while beat-to-beat blood pressure (CNAP finger plethysmography), brachial artery diameter and blood flow with Doppler ultrasound and B-mode imaging were measured continuously. Exercise workload was increased in a ramp fashion (0.5 kg/min) at 30 contraction/min until task. At rest and immediately upon task failure, a venipuncture was performed to take rest and peak venous NO levels to be later measured by EPR Spectroscopy (Bruker Biospin EleXsys-II E-540 EPR L-band) at the UNM Health Science Center and Colorimetric Nitrate/Nitrite commercial ELISA kit. Whole blood was drawn into a prepared vacutainer in a 1:1 venous blood with deferoxamine (DF) chelator, in diethyldithiocarbamate (DETC) Krebs buffer. Plasma was preserved with EDTA and all samples were immediately flash frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at -80 degrees Celsius. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in resting NO values (p=0.034) and end NO concentration values (p=0.053) between MetSyn and control groups. However, the MetSyn showed higher resting and peak NO values than control group as measured by ELISA. The change in plasma NO did not show any significant changes from rest to peak exercise in both groups (MetSyn p=0.757, control p=0.562). However, EPR indicated a significance between rest and peak exercise (p\u3c0.05). There was no significant change in NO between the groups (p=0.633). The MetSyn group has a significantly diminished arterial conductance in the brachial artery during handgrip as well as an attenuated response in the femoral artery during dynamic leg kick. CONCLUSION: The colorimetric nitrate/nitrite ELISA did not prove to be a sensitive enough technique to measure the degree of change of NO concentrations at peak exercise. The whole blood EPR technique in our laboratory is a more robust signal for identifying these changes in a wider range of concentrations between rest and peak. Future projects include an expansion of the standard curve for NO EPR to identify the potential differences at rest between the two research groups as well as to identify any health disparate differences between the regional populations of New Mexico and West Texas. Research reported in this publication was supported by an Institutional Development Award (IDeA) from the National Institute of General Medicine Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under grant number P20GM103451

The Effect of Acute Consumption of Overtime Essential Amino Acids Sports Drink on Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness in the Older Sedentary Population

Essential amino acids are necessary for nutrition whether obtained by digestion of proteins or by oral supplementation of amino acids. The elderly experience loss of skeletal muscles and decrease in their strength and function, which can lead to poor quality of life. Increased quantity and quality of proteins stimulates muscle protein synthesis that can help combat this natural aging process. Purpose: The aim of this study was to see if consumption of essential amino acid drink high concentrations of leucin (2040 mg/serving) during exercise will attenuate the condition of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness in the elderly. Also, we aimed to assess the degree of muscle flexibility and endurance followed the three-day exercise protocol. We hypothesized that the older participants acutely ingesting the essential amino acid supplement during the exercise regime will have increased physical performance and diminished symptoms of DOMS. Methods: In this study, 16 participants (6 P, 10 EAA-O) completed a health screening visit and an exercise routine (sit, stretch and reach, shoulder flexibility distance, MVC isometric handgrip, push-ups (reps), flexed arm hang (time), cable triceps extension (50% of one repetition max until failure), and a 1.5-mile run, with intermittent consumption of the sports drink) for three consecutive days. The study participants were randomly assigned to either the EAA-O group (6.6g of EAA-O + Gatorade) or the control group (Gatorade-only). The study design is a double blinded study as neither the recording analysis researchers nor study participants were aware of the assigned group. Results: The EAA-O group improved significantly from day one to two in flexed arm hang (p = 0.036) and the 1.5-mile run (p = 0.040). The EAA-O group improved significantly from day two to three in push-ups (p = 0.002), flexed arm hang (p = 0.035), and 1.5-mile run (0.001). The EAA-O group improved significantly from day one to three in push-ups (p = 0.045), flexed arm hang (p = 0.006), 1.5-mile run (p = 0.0003), and the top speed (p = 0.026). The placebo group did not improve significantly in any of the exercise parameters. Conclusions: Results suggest that the Overtime essential amino acid supplementation combined with training improves overall athletic performance in the older sedentary population. Research reported in this publication was supported by a research contract with Calwood Nutritionals and was approved by the ENMU IRB

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness Attenuation by Acute Consumption of Essential Amino Acids

BACKGROUND: Essential amino acids have been known to be necessary for protein nutrition whether they are obtained by eating proteins or by a formula of the essential amino acids. Studies have consistently demonstrated the acute benefits of protein supplementation on post-exercise muscle anabolism, which may facilitate the recovery of muscle function and performance. However, when protein supplements have been provided in research studies, acute changes in post-exercise protein synthesis and anabolic intracellular signaling have not resulted in measureable reductions in muscle damage and enhanced recovery of muscle function. PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to implement a specific content of essential amino acid supplements combined with a resistance and aerobic exercise routine and quantify the difference in strength, endurance and flexibility, during the time commonly associated with delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), between the first and last days of exercise. METHODS: In this study, 24 participants (12 EAA and 12 Controls) completed an exercise routine (sit and reach, shoulder flexibility distance, Maximum Voluntary Contraction Isometric Handgrip, 20 meters sprint (timed), push-ups (reps), 5 minutes rest (¼ bottle consumption of drink), chin-ups (reps) or flexed arm hang (time), 5 minutes rest (¼ bottle consumption of drink), dips (rep), 10 minute rest (¼ bottle consumption of drink), and a 1.5 mile run) for three consecutive days. At the end of first and last exercise visit, a venipuncture was performed to measure Creatine Kinase levels to be later measured by a commercial ELISA kit. The study participants were randomly assigned to either the EAA (6.6g) per day (EAA + Gatorade) group or the control (Gatorade) group. The study design is a double blind as neither the recording analysis researchers or study participants were aware of the assigned group. RESULTS: Both groups maintained the initial flexibility respectively throughout the three days of exercise. However, the EAA group randomly was more flexible (p\u3e0.05 Sit and Reach) at the first visit. For the resistance/power activities, the EAA group improved over the three day in the repetitions for push-ups and dips compared to the controls and from day 1. The control group had no significant change from day 1 to 3 in dips and chin-ups. The EAA group was faster in the 20-meter sprint and 1.5 mile run on the last day of exercise compared to the first while the control group was slower ; however, both group’s changes were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: The EAA group had an improvement over the three days of exercise compared to the placebo group. The data given in the results supports the initial claim that acute ingestion of this amino acid supplement provides increased athletic performance in sedentary participants as well as decreases the DOMS symptoms accompanied with the commencement of a new exercise regime. Research reported in this publication was supported by a research contract with Calwood Nutritionals