The Ursinus Weekly, October 21, 1971

Nat. opinion poll indicates approval of legal abortion • President Pettit approves 3rd U.S.G.A. open dorm proposal • Action-packed Homecoming slated for Saturday, October 30 • Andrew Wyeth to receive degree on Founder\u27s Day • Ursinus professors present history forum October 20th • Editorial: Sign out • Focus: Rich Hofferman • Enforced adolescence: Place on the college community? • I.R. Club hosts to model U.N. • Probable parable • Spotlight: Pauline D. Pearson • Evening School enrolls 745; Numbers down • Women enjoy freedom with extended curfew • Soccer undefeated; 2-0-2 record • Third team rolls • Feiger\u27s field goal wins for Ursinushttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/1109/thumbnail.jp

The Ursinus Weekly, April 27, 1972

Ursinus suffers blackout; Transformer explodes • Dr. Helen T. Garrett dies • UC students experience teaching • Dr. Robert M. Veatch to speak at Ursinus College forum • Dr. Allan Lake Rice speaks at conference • Students inducted into Omicron Delta Epsilon • Ursinus seeks $200,000 gift • Lantern elects officers for \u2772-\u2773; Spring issue expected in late May • Editorial: Stop the war • Focus: Jane Siegel • Strike • Faculty portrait: Dr. Gayle Byerly • Guest column: Dr. Allan Rice on war and peace • Letters to the editor: The need of a psychologist; Open letter to security • W.C. rains on our parade • Sing sets record • Bartholomew wins two • Ursinus starts baseball season • Travelin\u27 5\u27s history told • Modern Dance Club: fun for allhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/1123/thumbnail.jp

The Ursinus Weekly, June 2, 1972

Campus Chest presents: You can\u27t take it with you • New gym named Helfferich Hall • U.C. receives $100,000 grant from Kresge Foundation • Ursinus to confer 261 degrees at June 4 commencement • Ursinus suffers blackout; Transformer explodes • Scrounge Lounge opens; Provides place for chat • Editorial: The year of optimism • U.C. arts festival attracts hundreds • ProTheatre presents: Marat / Sade • President presents Ronnie Hollyman • Object d\u27art appears; Graces Library steps • President Pettit approves 3rd U.S.G.A. open dorm proposal • Kevin Akey elected new USGA president • Renovations: a new look for Pfahler • Ursinus Meistersingers plan 34th annual tour • WRUC-FM presents Jaime Brockett concert • Ursinus math team ranked in top 20 • I.R.C. welcomes 120 students to M.U.N.C. on U.C. campus • A. Wyeth, H.C. Pitz, and J.W. Merriam receive honorary degrees • Obituaries: Dr. John Jacob Heilemann, professor of physics, dies; Dr. Helen T. Garrett dies; Mrs. Dorothy A. Towers dies; Longtime Paisley resident head • Swimmers, Snellbelles off to regionals • Snellbelles undefeated • Bears close season with 4-4 record • Messiah sung tonight; Annual U.C. tradition • Women enjoy freedom with extended curfew • Ursinus Harriers place second in Middle Atlantic Conferencehttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/1125/thumbnail.jp

The Ursinus Weekly, December 9, 1971

Gulf Oil Corporation awards scholarships to U.C. science scholars • Scrounge Lounge opens; Provides place for chat • Traditional banquet takes on a new look • Seven Ursinus seniors named to Who\u27s who • Memorial service: Dr. John Vorrath • Ecological concern group sponsors recycling project • Editorial: False alarm; Scrounge! • Focus: Stan Talley • Messiah sung tonight; Annual U.C. tradition • Faculty portrait: Mr. Walter Marsteller • Administration answers • Ursinus presents gift of $1,500 to Collegeville • Francis Davis speaks at Sigma Xi meeting • Slumming it • Critic\u27s choice: Thanksgiving, Marcus Welby M.D., Jamie Brockett and hayrides • Spotlight: Mr. Philip Harvey • Bears even record; Future looks good • Their work is never done • Letter to the editor • Soccer season closes: 4 wins, 7 losses, 3 ties • USGA notes • Outing Club braves cold • Ursinus Harriers place second in Middle Atlantic Conferencehttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/weekly/1114/thumbnail.jp

Accurate, rapid and high-throughput detection of strain-specific polymorphisms in Bacillus anthracis and Yersinia pestis by next-generation sequencing

Background: In the event of biocrimes or infectious disease outbreaks, high-resolution genetic characterization for identifying the agent and attributing it to a specific source can be crucial for an effective response. Until recently, in-depth genetic characterization required expensive and time-consuming Sanger sequencing of a few strains, followed by genotyping of a small number of marker loci in a panel of isolates at or by gel-based approaches such as pulsed field gel electrophoresis, which by necessity ignores most of the genome. Next-generation, massively parallel sequencing (MPS) technology (specifically the Applied Biosystems sequencing by oligonucleotide ligation and detection (SOLiD™) system) is a powerful investigative tool for rapid, cost-effective and parallel microbial whole-genome characterization. Results: To demonstrate the utility of MPS for whole-genome typing of monomorphic pathogens, four Bacillus anthracis and four Yersinia pestis strains were sequenced in parallel. Reads were aligned to complete reference genomes, and genomic variations were identified. Resequencing of the B. anthracis Ames ancestor strain detected no false-positive single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and mapping of reads to the Sterne strain correctly identified 98% of the 133 SNPs that are not clustered or associated with repeats. Three geographically distinct B. anthracis strains from the A branch lineage were found to have between 352 and 471 SNPs each, relative to the Ames genome, and one strain harbored a genomic amplification. Sequencing of four Y. pestis strains from the Orientalis lineage identified between 20 and 54 SNPs per strain relative to the CO92 genome, with the single Bolivian isolate having approximately twice as many SNPs as the three more closely related North American strains. Coverage plotting also revealed a common deletion in two strains and an amplification in the Bolivian strain that appear to be due to insertion element-mediated recombination events. Most private SNPs (that is, a, variant found in only one strain in this set) selected for validation by Sanger sequencing were confirmed, although rare falsepositive SNPs were associated with variable nucleotide tandem repeats. Conclusions: The high-throughput, multiplexing capability, and accuracy of this system make it suitable for rapid whole-genome typing of microbial pathogens during a forensic or epidemiological investigation. By interrogating nearly every base of the genome, rare polymorphisms can be reliably discovered, thus facilitating high-resolution strain tracking and strengthening forensic attribution

A View from the Past Into our Collective Future: The Oncofertility Consortium Vision Statement

Today, male and female adult and pediatric cancer patients, individuals transitioning between gender identities, and other individuals facing health extending but fertility limiting treatments can look forward to a fertile future. This is, in part, due to the work of members associated with the Oncofertility Consortium. The Oncofertility Consortium is an international, interdisciplinary initiative originally designed to explore the urgent unmet need associated with the reproductive future of cancer survivors. As the strategies for fertility management were invented, developed or applied, the individuals for who the program offered hope, similarly expanded. As a community of practice, Consortium participants share information in an open and rapid manner to addresses the complex health care and quality-of-life issues of cancer, transgender and other patients. To ensure that the organization remains contemporary to the needs of the community, the field designed a fully inclusive mechanism for strategic planning and here present the findings of this process. This interprofessional network of medical specialists, scientists, and scholars in the law, medical ethics, religious studies and other disciplines associated with human interventions, explore the relationships between health, disease, survivorship, treatment, gender and reproductive longevity. The goals are to continually integrate the best science in the service of the needs of patients and build a community of care that is ready for the challenges of the field in the future

A single introduction of Yersinia pestis to Brazil during the 3rd plague pandemic.

Yersinia pestis was introduced to Brazil during the third plague pandemic and currently exists in several recognized foci. There is currently limited available phylogeographic data regarding Y. pestis in Brazil. We generated whole genome sequences for 411 Y. pestis strains from six Brazilian foci to investigate the phylogeography of Y. pestis in Brazil; these strains were isolated from 1966 to 1997. All 411 strains were assigned to a single monophyletic clade within the 1.ORI population, indicating a single Y. pestis introduction was responsible for the successful establishment of endemic foci in Brazil. There was a moderate level of genomic diversity but little population structure among the 411 Brazilian Y. pestis strains, consistent with a radial expansion wherein Y. pestis spread rapidly from the coast to the interior of Brazil and became ecologically established. Overall, there were no strong spatial or temporal patterns among the Brazilian strains. However, strains from the same focus tended to be more closely related and strains isolated from foci closer to the coast tended to fall in more basal positions in the whole genome phylogeny than strains from more interior foci. Overall, the patterns observed in Brazil are similar to other locations affected during the 3rd plague pandemic such as in North America and Madagascar

The Mountain Meadows Massacre and "poisoned springs": scientific testing of the more recent, anthrax theory

It has been recorded that one of the possible causes that eventually escalated into the 1857 manslaughter at Mountain Meadows in Southern Utah was the poisoning of an open spring by the Fancher-Baker party as they crossed the Utah territory on their way from Arkansas to California. Historical accounts report that a number of cattle died, followed by human casualties from those that came in contact with the dead animals. Even after the Arkansas party departed, animals continued to perish and people were still afflicted by some unknown plague. Proctor Hancock Robison, a local 14-year-old boy, died shortly after skinning one of the "poisoned" cows. A careful review of the historical records, along with the more recent scientific literature, seems to exclude the likelihood of actual poisoning in favor of a more recent theory that would point to the bacterium Bacillus anthracis as the possible cause of human and animal deaths. In order to test this hypothesis, Proctor's remains were exhumed, identified through mitochondrial DNA analysis, and tested for the presence of anthrax spores. Although preliminary testing of remains and soil was negative, description of the clinical conditions that affected Proctor and other individuals does not completely rule out the hypothesis of death by anthrax