For the Love of Poetry and Mathematics: January 6, 2012

Together we combine to become twice what 60 could ever be.The same ghost looked into my eyes.Also, the center of the circle is inside the circle.There is no way to draw a line, other than a border line,A language as precise as poetry to delineate universe and being,Deceptive as one over n as n goes to infinity, summed.The world is a complex systemnot defined by any voice factored out of my voicelessness,the hypotenuse of course is the man who came between usdoubting every figured guess,so, inductively, all of God’s natural numbers fail. The poem above comprises lines or phrases from several pieces that were presented at “A Reading of Poetry with Mathematics” on Friday, January 6, 2012, during the Joint Mathematics Meetings in Boston, MA. The sources of the individual lines and the event as a whole will be discussed in the following

Musculo-Skeletal Stress Markers in Bioarchaeology: Indicators of Activity Levels or Human Variation? A re-analysis and Interpretation.

Musculoskeletal stress markers (MSM) have been widely used by bio-archaeologists as indicators of physical activity. These markers occur at the sites of attachment of soft tissue to bone. They are anomalies of bone formation or destruction at these sites and often called enthesopathies in clinical literature. The aims of this research were firstly to determine the aetiology of these features; in particular, whether they can be used as indicators of physical activity. Secondly, to create a new digital and quantifiable recording method, that is both cheap and simple to use. To achieve the first aim, several literature reviews were undertaken: of the bio-archaeological literature; of the anatomy of the attachment sites; of the relationship between trauma and enthesopathy formation; and of the relationship between enthesopathy formation and disease. Many diseases, for example DISH and ankylosing spondylitis, were found to be associated with enthesopathy formation. Findings of these reviews indicated current bio-archaeological recording methods and interpretive practises are at odds with clinical literature. The second aim had to take these factors into account. Pilot studies were undertaken to develop a new recording method. The final method used visual recording and measurement of enthese along with digitalisation of the surface in two-dimensions using a profile gauge. The digital curves were then quantified using roughness parameters commonly used in materials science. These described the surfaces and could also be used to determine whether this method was applicable to differentiate between normal entheses and those with enthesopathies. Discriminant function analysis demonstrated that this was possible. Stringent diagnostic criteria were also set in place to remove any individuals with possible disease-related enthesopathies. Using the same method, it was found that these could (in some circumstances) also be differentiated from the normal samples.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Preserving Apricots

This publication provides information on the proper selection, preparation, freezing, and canning of apricots

Online Language Arts Instruction in an Elementary Methods Course: Successes and Challenges

This paper describes the successes and challenges of an assistant professor and her students as they were forced to pivot mid-semester from a traditional face-to-face Elementary Language Arts Methods course to a completely online course due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Increased communication, identifying and sharing valuable resources, and adopting a more flexible attitude when it comes to writing instruction were among the successes of this now online course. While ensuring that online field experiences were meaningful was one of the biggest challenges. Takeaways were that increased communication and flexibility are vital parts of online learning, especially when in an unexpected context

Hfq binding changes the structure of Escherichia coli small noncoding RNAs OxyS and RprA, which are involved in the riboregulation of rpoS

OxyS and RprA are two small noncoding RNAs (sRNAs) that modulate the expression of rpoS, encoding an alternative sigma factor that activates transcription of multiple Escherichia coli stress-response genes. While RprA activates rpoS for translation, OxyS down-regulates the transcript. Crucially, the RNA binding protein Hfq is required for both sRNAs to function, although the specific role played by Hfq remains unclear. We have investigated RprA and OxyS interactions with Hfq using biochemical and biophysical approaches. In particular, we have obtained the molecular envelopes of the Hfq–sRNA complexes using small-angle scattering methods, which reveal key molecular details. These data indicate that Hfq does not substantially change shape upon complex formation, whereas the sRNAs do. We link the impact of Hfq binding, and the sRNA structural changes induced, to transcript stability with respect to RNase E degradation. In light of these findings, we discuss the role of Hfq in the opposing regulatory functions played by RprA and OxyS in rpoS regulation

An improved method for surface immobilisation of RNA: application to small Non-Coding RNA - mRNA pairing

Characterisation of RNA and its intermolecular interactions is increasing in importance as the inventory of known RNA functions continues to expand. RNA-RNA interactions are central to post-transcriptional gene regulation mechanisms in bacteria, and the interactions of bacterial small non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) with their mRNA targets are the subject of much current research. The technology of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is an attractive approach to studying these interactions since it is highly sensitive, and allows interaction measurements to be recorded in real-time. Whilst a number of approaches exist to label RNAs for surface-immobilisation, the method documented here is simple, quick, efficient, and utilises the high-affinity streptavidin-biotin interaction. Specifically, we ligate a biotinylated nucleotide to the 3' end of RNA using T4 RNA ligase. Although this is a previously recognised approach, we have optimised the method by our discovery that the incorporation of four or more adenine nucleotides at the 3' end of the RNA (a poly-A-tail) is required in order to achieve high ligation efficiencies. We use this method within the context of investigating small non-coding RNA (sRNA)-mRNA interactions through the application of surface technologies, including quantitative SPR assays. We first focus on validating the method using the recently characterised Escherichia coli sRNA-mRNA pair, MicA-ompA, specifically demonstrating that the addition of the poly-A-tail to either RNA does not affect its subsequent binding interactions with partner molecules. We then apply this method to investigate the novel interactions of a Vibrio cholerae Qrr sRNA with partner mRNAs, hapR and vca0939; RNA-RNA pairings that are important in mediating pathogenic virulence. The calculated binding parameters allow insights to be drawn regarding sRNA-mRNA interaction mechanisms

Cervical and breast cancer screening uptake among women with serious mental illness: a data linkage study

Background Breast and cancer screening uptake has been found to be lower among women with serious mental illness (SMI). This study aims to corroborate these findings in the UK and to identify variation in screening uptake by illness/treatment factors, and primary care consultation frequency. Methods Linked population-based primary and secondary care data from the London borough of Lambeth (UK) were used to compare breast and cervical screening receipt among linked eligible SMI patients (n = 625 and n = 1393), to those without SMI known only to primary care (n = 106,554 and n = 25,385) using logistic regression models adjusted first for socio-demographic factors and second, additionally for primary care consultation frequency. Results Eligible SMI patients were less likely to have received breast (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 0.69, 95 % confidence interval (CI), 0.57 - 0.84, p < 0.001) or cervical screening (adjusted OR 0.72, CI: 0.60 - 0.85, p < 0.001). Schizophrenia diagnosis, depot injectable antipsychotic prescription, and illness severity and risk were associated with the lowest odds of uptake of breast (adjusted ORs 0.46 to 0.59, all p < 0.001) and cervical screening (adjusted ORs 0.48 - 0.65, all p < 0.001). Adjustments for consultation frequency further reduced effect sizes for all subgroups of SMI patient, in particular for cervical screening. Conclusions Women with SMI are less likely to receive breast and cervical cancer screening than comparable women without SMI. Higher primary care consultation rates among SMI patients is likely a mediating factor between SMI status and uptake, particularly for cervical screening - a service organised in primary care. To tackle health disparities linked to SMI, efforts at increasing screening uptake are key and should be targeted at women with other markers of illness severity or risk, beyond SMI status alone

Combined fluorescence lifetime and surface topographical imaging of biological tissue

In this work a combined fluorescence lifetime and surface topographical imaging system is demonstrated. Based around a 126 × 192 time resolved single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) array operating in time correlated single-photon counting (TCSPC) mode, both the fluorescence lifetime and time of flight (ToF) can be calculated on a pixel by pixel basis. Initial tests on fluorescent samples show it is able to provide 4 mm resolution in distance and 0.4 ns resolution in lifetime. This combined modality has potential biomedical applications such as surgical guidance, endoscopy and diagnostic imaging. The system is demonstrated on both ovine and human pulmonary tissue samples, where it offers excellent fluorescence lifetime contrast whilst also giving a measure of the distance to the sample surfac