Preservation and Restoration of Ireland\u27s Peatlands Will Reduce the Amount of Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere

Climate change, and the e¬ffects of climate change, are of critical importance to the planet and to those who inhabit it. Trees are being planted throughout the world, but they may not be the most efficient way to capture carbon from the atmosphere. This study performed an extensive literature search to determine the relevance of peatlands in capturing carbon. We found that less nitrogen is needed to capture carbon in peatlands than other types of soils, and that overall, the preservation and restoration of Ireland’s peatlands are a key part in combatting climate change by reducing the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

Microchip Analysis of Temperature and Humidity’s Effect on the Performance of Supply Voltage and Age

Semiconductor chips are commonly duplicated overseas and sold on the black market, which causes product failures worldwide and diminishes the reputation of the companies involved in the supply chain. Currently, companies use a burn-in test: this test involves equipment that is used to test and evaluate high power chips, boards, or products. This prevents defective chips from being incorporated into any finished devices. While this method is quite common, the process will never eliminate the possibility of failed chips. Some are random and cannot be traced back to their failure cause. This research aims to determine how temperature and humidity affects a microchip at its different stages of life. This project will use a DOE, Design of Experiments, Analysis to determine the trend between temperature, humidity, VCC, chip-to-chip variation, age and how it affects, VOH, VOL, VIH, VIL, and power consumption. To test the hypothesis that an older chip leads to more failures and particular environment can detect a defective chip based on the input conditions of temperature, humidity, VCC, chip-to-chip variation, and age, this research will design an autonomous environment that will reduce the amount of failed chips that are used in production. The system will adjust and maintain the temperature and humidity of a chamber where the microchip will be tested. The chamber read accurately and precisely as well as the microchip voltage inputs and outputs. These results suggest that all values of VOH, VOL, VIH, VIL, and power consumption can be read, calculated, and recorded onto a DOE Analysis excel sheet to observe the results and produce the required graphs of temperature and humidity vs VOH, VOL, VIH, VIL, and power consumption

Molecular genetics of developmental dyslexia

Developmental Dyslexia (DD) is a complex, cognitive disorder which is characterised by an impairment in reading despite adequate educational, motivational and intellectual opportunities. Family and twin studies have shown that this common neurodevelopmental disorder has a highly heritable component. The aim of this thesis was to identify novel susceptibility variants for DD using several approaches. A candidate gene study was conducted, testing variants within the genes CDC42, PRTG, KIAA0319L, DCDC2b and RIOK3 for association with DD in the Cardiff case-control sample. None of the variants within these genes showed a significant association withDD. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was conducted in collaboration with other groups as part of the NeuroDys consortium, using DD cases from Europe and population controls. 27 of the most significant SNPs identified were selected and genotyped in a larger replication sample. 8 of these showed a significant association with DD, with the most interesting SNPs within the gene SNX29. An additional GWAS was conducted by the NeuroDys consortium in the form of a pooling study using a larger array. 38 of the most significant SNPs identified were selected for individual genotyping after which 14 remained significant, with the most interesting within the genes TMC1 and WDR78. Another GWAS was conducted in the form of a pooling study using the Cardiff cases and screened controls only. 57 of the most significant SNPs identified were selected for individual genotyping of which 54 remained significant. This study highlighted a number of interesting genes and demonstrated the effect of using a homogeneous case-control sample when conducting pooling studies. Analysis of copy number variants (CNVs) was also conducted using data from the initial NeuroDys GWAS. This study highlighted the technical issues that can affect the outcome of such studies. As such, the CNVs in this study need to be validated before these results can be relied upon. To conclude, some interesting variants have been identified in this thesis but further work is required to confirm these findings

Increased uptake and new therapies are needed to avert rising hepatitis C-related end stage liver disease in England: modelling the predicted impact of treatment under different scenarios.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Hepatitis C (HCV) related disease in England is predicted to rise, and it is unclear whether treatment at current levels will be able to avert this. The aim of this study was to estimate the number of people with chronic HCV infection in England that are treated and assess the impact and costs of increasing treatment uptake. METHODS: Numbers treated were estimated using national data sources for pegylated interferon supplied, dispensed, or purchased from 2006 to 2011. A back-calculation approach was used to project disease burden over the next 30 years and determine outcomes under various scenarios of treatment uptake. RESULTS: 5000 patients were estimated to have been treated in 2011 and 28,000 in total from 2006 to 2011; approximately 3.1% and 17% respectively of estimated chronic infections. Without treatment, incident cases of decompensated cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma were predicted to increase until 2035 and reach 2290 cases per year. Treatment at current levels should reduce incidence by 600 cases per year, with a peak around 2030. Large increases in treatment are needed to halt the rise; and with more effective treatment the best case scenario predicts incidence of around 500 cases in 2030, although treatment uptake must still be increased considerably to achieve this. CONCLUSIONS: If the infected population is left untreated, the number of patients with severe HCV-related disease will continue to increase and represent a substantial future burden on healthcare resources. This can be mitigated by increasing treatment uptake, which will have the greatest impact if implemented quickly

Linking protective GAB2 variants, increased cortical GAB2 expression and decreased Alzheimer's Disease pathology

GRB-associated binding protein 2 (GAB2) represents a compelling genome-wide association signal for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD) with reported odds ratios (ORs) ranging from 0.75–0.85. We tested eight GAB2 variants in four North American Caucasian case-control series (2,316 LOAD, 2,538 controls) for association with LOAD. Meta-analyses revealed ORs ranging from (0.61–1.20) with no significant association (all p>0.32). Four variants were hetergeneous across the populations (all p<0.02) due to a potentially inflated effect size (OR = 0.61–0.66) only observed in the smallest series (702 LOAD, 209 controls). Despite the lack of association in our series, the previously reported protective association for GAB2 remained after meta-analyses of our data with all available previously published series (11,952-22,253 samples; OR = 0.82–0.88; all p<0.04). Using a freely available database of lymphoblastoid cell lines we found that protective GAB2 variants were associated with increased GAB2 expression (p = 9.5×10−7−9.3×10−6). We next measured GAB2 mRNA levels in 249 brains and found that decreased neurofibrillary tangle (r = −0.34, p = 0.0006) and senile plaque counts (r = −0.32, p = 0.001) were both good predictors of increased GAB2 mRNA levels albeit that sex (r = −0.28, p = 0.005) may have been a contributing factor. In summary, we hypothesise that GAB2 variants that are protective against LOAD in some populations may act functionally to increase GAB2 mRNA levels (in lymphoblastoid cells) and that increased GAB2 mRNA levels are associated with significantly decreased LOAD pathology. These findings support the hypothesis that Gab2 may protect neurons against LOAD but due to significant population heterogeneity, it is still unclear whether this protection is detectable at the genetic level

word~river literary review (2011)

wordriver is a literary journal dedicated to the poetry, short fiction and creative nonfiction of adjuncts and part-time instructors teaching in our universities, colleges, and community colleges. Our premier issue was published in Spring 2009. We are always looking for work that demonstrates the creativity and craft of adjunct/part-time instructors in English and other disciplines. We reserve first publication rights and onetime anthology publication rights for all work published. We define adjunct instructors as anyone teaching part-time or full-time under a semester or yearly contract, nationwide and in any discipline. Graduate students teaching under part-time contracts during the summer or who have used up their teaching assistant time and are teaching with adjunct contracts for the remainder of their graduate program also are eligible.https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/word_river/1001/thumbnail.jp

Common variants at ABCA7, MS4A6A/MS4A4E, EPHA1, CD33 and CD2AP are associated with Alzheimer's disease

We sought to identify new susceptibility loci for Alzheimer's disease through a staged association study (GERAD+) and by testing suggestive loci reported by the Alzheimer's Disease Genetic Consortium (ADGC) in a companion paper. We undertook a combined analysis of four genome-wide association datasets (stage 1) and identified ten newly associated variants with P ≤ 1 × 10−5. We tested these variants for association in an independent sample (stage 2). Three SNPs at two loci replicated and showed evidence for association in a further sample (stage 3). Meta-analyses of all data provided compelling evidence that ABCA7 (rs3764650, meta P = 4.5 × 10−17; including ADGC data, meta P = 5.0 × 10−21) and the MS4A gene cluster (rs610932, meta P = 1.8 × 10−14; including ADGC data, meta P = 1.2 × 10−16) are new Alzheimer's disease susceptibility loci. We also found independent evidence for association for three loci reported by the ADGC, which, when combined, showed genome-wide significance: CD2AP (GERAD+, P = 8.0 × 10−4; including ADGC data, meta P = 8.6 × 10−9), CD33 (GERAD+, P = 2.2 × 10−4; including ADGC data, meta P = 1.6 × 10−9) and EPHA1 (GERAD+, P = 3.4 × 10−4; including ADGC data, meta P = 6.0 × 10−10)

Rare coding variants in PLCG2, ABI3, and TREM2 implicate microglial-mediated innate immunity in Alzheimer's disease

We identified rare coding variants associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in a 3-stage case-control study of 85,133 subjects. In stage 1, 34,174 samples were genotyped using a whole-exome microarray. In stage 2, we tested associated variants (P<1×10-4) in 35,962 independent samples using de novo genotyping and imputed genotypes. In stage 3, an additional 14,997 samples were used to test the most significant stage 2 associations (P<5×10-8) using imputed genotypes. We observed 3 novel genome-wide significant (GWS) AD associated non-synonymous variants; a protective variant in PLCG2 (rs72824905/p.P522R, P=5.38×10-10, OR=0.68, MAFcases=0.0059, MAFcontrols=0.0093), a risk variant in ABI3 (rs616338/p.S209F, P=4.56×10-10, OR=1.43, MAFcases=0.011, MAFcontrols=0.008), and a novel GWS variant in TREM2 (rs143332484/p.R62H, P=1.55×10-14, OR=1.67, MAFcases=0.0143, MAFcontrols=0.0089), a known AD susceptibility gene. These protein-coding changes are in genes highly expressed in microglia and highlight an immune-related protein-protein interaction network enriched for previously identified AD risk genes. These genetic findings provide additional evidence that the microglia-mediated innate immune response contributes directly to AD development

Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use in early acute respiratory distress syndrome : Insights from the LUNG SAFE study

Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s). Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.Background: Concerns exist regarding the prevalence and impact of unnecessary oxygen use in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). We examined this issue in patients with ARDS enrolled in the Large observational study to UNderstand the Global impact of Severe Acute respiratory FailurE (LUNG SAFE) study. Methods: In this secondary analysis of the LUNG SAFE study, we wished to determine the prevalence and the outcomes associated with hyperoxemia on day 1, sustained hyperoxemia, and excessive oxygen use in patients with early ARDS. Patients who fulfilled criteria of ARDS on day 1 and day 2 of acute hypoxemic respiratory failure were categorized based on the presence of hyperoxemia (PaO2 > 100 mmHg) on day 1, sustained (i.e., present on day 1 and day 2) hyperoxemia, or excessive oxygen use (FIO2 ≥ 0.60 during hyperoxemia). Results: Of 2005 patients that met the inclusion criteria, 131 (6.5%) were hypoxemic (PaO2 < 55 mmHg), 607 (30%) had hyperoxemia on day 1, and 250 (12%) had sustained hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use occurred in 400 (66%) out of 607 patients with hyperoxemia. Excess FIO2 use decreased from day 1 to day 2 of ARDS, with most hyperoxemic patients on day 2 receiving relatively low FIO2. Multivariate analyses found no independent relationship between day 1 hyperoxemia, sustained hyperoxemia, or excess FIO2 use and adverse clinical outcomes. Mortality was 42% in patients with excess FIO2 use, compared to 39% in a propensity-matched sample of normoxemic (PaO2 55-100 mmHg) patients (P = 0.47). Conclusions: Hyperoxemia and excess oxygen use are both prevalent in early ARDS but are most often non-sustained. No relationship was found between hyperoxemia or excessive oxygen use and patient outcome in this cohort. Trial registration: LUNG-SAFE is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02010073publishersversionPeer reviewe