Creating An Information Technology Security Program for Educators

Information Technology (IT) Security education has become a critical component to college curriculum within the past few years. Along with developing security courses and degrees, there is a need to train college educators and disseminate the security curriculum and best-practices to other colleges. St. Petersburg College implemented a project entitled Information Technology Security and Education for Educators (ITSCEE) designed to address Priority III of the “National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace”, establishment of a “national cyberspace training program.” The project was designed to produce three nationally relevant IT Security degree and certificate programs at the associate, advanced technical certificate, and baccalaureate levels. Also, the project was designed to provide training and an opportunity for the Florida Community College Faculty to obtain certification in the IT Security arena to assist their institutions in deploying relevant IT Security degree programs. This paper will describe the evolution of this project, the success in meeting goals, lessons learned and techniques and best practices other colleges may use to enhance their programs

Narrow Gender Gap in Upper Midwest

Much has been made during the 2004 election campaign of the divide between the political parties, with most of the country designated “blue” or “red” states. Geography, however, is not the only cleavage. Gender also has been an important divide since 1980. President Clinton benefited from far more support among women than among men, leading Republican Robert Dole by 16 points among women in 1996. The gender gap dissipated after September 11, 2001. The Humphrey Institute’s survey of likely voters in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa reveals relatively muted differences between men and women —often times within the margin of error.Center for the Study of Politics and Governance, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, UM

Mechanistic studies on bleomycin-mediated DNA damage: multiple binding modes can result in double-stranded DNA cleavage

Supplementary Data are available at NAR Online.The bleomycins (BLMs) are a family of natural glycopeptides used clinically as antitumor agents. In the presence of required cofactors (Fe[superscript 2+] and O[subscript 2]), BLM causes both single-stranded (ss) and double-stranded (ds) DNA damage with the latter thought to be the major source of cytotoxicity. Previous biochemical and structural studies have demonstrated that BLM can mediate ss cleavage through multiple binding modes. However, our studies have suggested that ds cleavage occurs by partial intercalation of BLM's bithiazole tail 3′ to the first cleavage site that facilitates its re-activation and re-organization to the second strand without dissociation from the DNA where the second cleavage event occurs. To test this model, a BLM A5 analog (CD-BLM) with β-cyclodextrin attached to its terminal amine was synthesized. This attachment presumably precludes binding via intercalation. Cleavage studies measuring ss:ds ratios by two independent methods were carried out. Studies using [[superscript 32]P]-hairpin technology harboring a single ds cleavage site reveal a ss:ds ratio of 6.7 ± 1.2:1 for CD-BLM and 3.4:1 and 3.1 ± 0.3:1 for BLM A2 and A5, respectively. In contrast with BLM A5 and A2, however, CD-BLM mediates ds-DNA cleavage through cooperative binding of a second CD-BLM molecule to effect cleavage on the second strand. Studies using the supercoiled plasmid relaxation assay revealed a ss:ds ratio of 2.8:1 for CD-BLM in comparison with 7.3:1 and 5.8:1, for BLM A2 and A5, respectively. This result in conjunction with the hairpin results suggest that multiple binding modes of a single BLM can lead to ds-DNA cleavage and that ds cleavage can occur using one or two BLM molecules. The significance of the current study to understanding BLM's action in vivo is discussed.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant GM 34454

Ten simple rules for implementing open and reproducible research practices after attending a training course

Open, reproducible, and replicable research practices are a fundamental part of science. Training is often organized on a grassroots level, offered by early career researchers, for early career researchers. Buffet style courses that cover many topics can inspire participants to try new things; however, they can also be overwhelming. Participants who want to implement new practices may not know where to start once they return to their research team. We describe ten simple rules to guide participants of relevant training courses in implementing robust research practices in their own projects, once they return to their research group. This includes (1) prioritizing and planning which practices to implement, which involves obtaining support and convincing others involved in the research project of the added value of implementing new practices; (2) managing problems that arise during implementation; and (3) making reproducible research and open science practices an integral part of a future research career. We also outline strategies that course organizers can use to prepare participants for implementation and support them during this process

Using structural MRI to identify bipolar disorders - 13 site machine learning study in 3020 individuals from the ENIGMA Bipolar Disorders Working Group

Bipolar disorders (BDs) are among the leading causes of morbidity and disability. Objective biological markers, such as those based on brain imaging, could aid in clinical management of BD. Machine learning (ML) brings neuroimaging analyses to individual subject level and may potentially allow for their diagnostic use. However, fair and optimal application of ML requires large, multi-site datasets. We applied ML (support vector machines) to MRI data (regional cortical thickness, surface area, subcortical volumes) from 853 BD and 2167 control participants from 13 cohorts in the ENIGMA consortium. We attempted to differentiate BD from control participants, investigated different data handling strategies and studied the neuroimaging/clinical features most important for classification. Individual site accuracies ranged from 45.23% to 81.07%. Aggregate subject-level analyses yielded the highest accuracy (65.23%, 95% CI = 63.47–67.00, ROC-AUC = 71.49%, 95% CI = 69.39–73.59), followed by leave-one-site-out cross-validation (accuracy = 58.67%, 95% CI = 56.70–60.63). Meta-analysis of individual site accuracies did not provide above chance results. There was substantial agreement between the regions that contributed to identification of BD participants in the best performing site and in the aggregate dataset (Cohen’s Kappa = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.829–0.831). Treatment with anticonvulsants and age were associated with greater odds of correct classification. Although short of the 80% clinically relevant accuracy threshold, the results are promising and provide a fair and realistic estimate of classification performance, which can be achieved in a large, ecologically valid, multi-site sample of BD participants based on regional neurostructural measures. Furthermore, the significant classification in different samples was based on plausible and similar neuroanatomical features. Future multi-site studies should move towards sharing of raw/voxelwise neuroimaging data

An investigation of neuroanatomical contributions to cognitive deficits associated with psychotic illness: A 4 year longitudinal follow-up study

Introduction: In general, individuals who experience a first-episode of psychosis (FEP) display deficits on a wide range of neuropsychological tasks compared to psychiatrically healthy individuals (Bora et al., 2014). Performance is poorer on tasks such as visual learning, working memory, executive functioning, attention, social cognition and processing speed with verbal learning, in particular, being one of the most consistently reported cognitive deficits in schizophrenia (Mesholam-Gately et al., 2009; Aas et al, 2014). This study aimed to examine the trajectory of cognitive deficits after an initial psychotic episode and to identify neuroanatomical abnormalities that are associated with cognitive domains which exhibit the poorest course over time. Method: Using a cognitive battery specifically designed for researching cognitive impairments in schizophrenia, the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery, this research investigated cognitive deficits at the presentation of a first psychotic episode and four years later. Cognitive profiles of age and gender matched healthy controls were also assessed at the same time points. All participants underwent structural MR scanning at the two time points. Cross-sectional neuroanatomical investigations were conducted with data from the four year time point, which also included a diffusion tensor imaging acquisition. These structural and diffusion MR analyses were conducted to assess whether the presence of neuroanatomical abnormalities was associated with the cognitive domains found to have the most progressive course following a first psychotic episode, namely verbal learning and processing speed. Specifically, (i) the arcuate fasciculus language-related network was investigated in relation to verbal cognition and (ii), due to the global operational nature of processing speed, a specifically chosen selection of global brain estimations were investigated in relation to processing speed deficits. Results: Individuals with psychosis performed significantly more poorly on all cognitive domains compared to psychiatrically healthy controls. Longitudinally, an initial psychotic episode appeared to be associated with an additional cost on verbal learning and two measures of processing speed over four years as these cognitive domains had marked poorer trajectory compared to the remaining cognitive domains (visual learning, working memory, attention and vigilance, reasoning and problem solving and social cognition). The neuroanatomical substrates for normal processing of verbal cognitive skills appeared to be altered in individuals with recent-onset psychosis, involving an aberrant role of right hemisphere fronto-temporal cortical regions. In relation to the processing speed composite score, divergent associations of global brain topology and interhemispheric integrity were found in controls and individuals with psychosis particularly with a visuo-spatial subscale, the symbol coding task, which may be indicative of pathology in the global interconnectedness of the brain in relation to processing speed impairments in psychosis. Abnormal associations in temporal lobe efficiency and anisotropy of the genu of the corpus callosum were associated with another visuo-spatial subscale of the processing speed composite score, the Trail Making Test. Conclusion: The findings of this thesis indicate that predominantly deficits of cognition remain stable four years following psychosis onset, with the exception of verbal learning and two measures of processing speed which presented with poorer longitudinal deficits in individuals with psychosis compared with controls. Investigations of the neural substrates of these cognitive domains revealed specific associations between neuroanatomy and cognition which contrasted between individuals with psychosis and controls and may be indicative of abnormalities in the neural substrates underlying verbal learning and processing speed performance in psychosis. In integrating the results of the neuroanatomical investigations, which employ different cognitive and neuroimaging methodologies, evidence emerged for a tentative shared abnormal neural substrate underpinning frontal and temporal regions. The neurodevelopmental model of schizophrenia identifies abnormal development in parietal regions in early adolescence followed by frontal and temporal cortices in later adolescence which coincide with the extent of first-episode psychosis and chronic cases in adulthood. As the course of verbal learning and processing speed follow a less stable trajectory four years following a first-episode, a continuation of these frontal-temporal disturbances may extend throughout illness course resulting in more chronic deficits in these two areas of cognition. Identifying specific anomalies in the brain which are associated with cognitive deficit progression in psychosis carries the potential to be targeted as biomarkers of the disorder, which could be especially beneficial in early disease detection as cognitive impairments primarily predate clinical symptoms.2019-02-2