WormBase 2016: expanding to enable helminth genomic research

WormBase (www.wormbase.org) is a central repository for research data on the biology, genetics and genomics of Caenorhabditis elegans and other nematodes. The project has evolved from its original remit to collect and integrate all data for a single species, and now extends to numerous nematodes, ranging from evolutionary comparators of C. elegans to parasitic species that threaten plant, animal and human health. Research activity using C. elegans as a model system is as vibrant as ever, and we have created new tools for community curation in response to the ever-increasing volume and complexity of data. To better allow users to navigate their way through these data, we have made a number of improvements to our main website, including new tools for browsing genomic features and ontology annotations. Finally, we have developed a new portal for parasitic worm genomes. WormBase ParaSite (parasite.wormbase.org) contains all publicly available nematode and platyhelminth annotated genome sequences, and is designed specifically to support helminth genomic research

The ASTRO-H X-ray Observatory

The joint JAXA/NASA ASTRO-H mission is the sixth in a series of highly successful X-ray missions initiated by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS). ASTRO-H will investigate the physics of the high-energy universe via a suite of four instruments, covering a very wide energy range, from 0.3 keV to 600 keV. These instruments include a high-resolution, high-throughput spectrometer sensitive over 0.3-2 keV with high spectral resolution of Delta E < 7 eV, enabled by a micro-calorimeter array located in the focal plane of thin-foil X-ray optics; hard X-ray imaging spectrometers covering 5-80 keV, located in the focal plane of multilayer-coated, focusing hard X-ray mirrors; a wide-field imaging spectrometer sensitive over 0.4-12 keV, with an X-ray CCD camera in the focal plane of a soft X-ray telescope; and a non-focusing Compton-camera type soft gamma-ray detector, sensitive in the 40-600 keV band. The simultaneous broad bandpass, coupled with high spectral resolution, will enable the pursuit of a wide variety of important science themes.Comment: 22 pages, 17 figures, Proceedings of the SPIE Astronomical Instrumentation "Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2012: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray

2017 Research & Innovation Day Program

A one day showcase of applied research, social innovation, scholarship projects and activities.https://first.fanshawec.ca/cri_cripublications/1004/thumbnail.jp

Hitomi (ASTRO-H) X-ray Astronomy Satellite

The Hitomi (ASTRO-H) mission is the sixth Japanese x-ray astronomy satellite developed by a large international collaboration, including Japan, USA, Canada, and Europe. The mission aimed to provide the highest energy resolution ever achieved at E  >  2  keV, using a microcalorimeter instrument, and to cover a wide energy range spanning four decades in energy from soft x-rays to gamma rays. After a successful launch on February 17, 2016, the spacecraft lost its function on March 26, 2016, but the commissioning phase for about a month provided valuable information on the onboard instruments and the spacecraft system, including astrophysical results obtained from first light observations. The paper describes the Hitomi (ASTRO-H) mission, its capabilities, the initial operation, and the instruments/spacecraft performances confirmed during the commissioning operations for about a month

Accelerating Medicines Partnership® Schizophrenia (AMP® SCZ): Rationale and Study Design of the Largest Global Prospective Cohort Study of Clinical High Risk for Psychosis

This article describes the rationale, aims, and methodology of the Accelerating Medicines Partnership® Schizophrenia (AMP® SCZ). This is the largest international collaboration to date that will develop algorithms to predict trajectories and outcomes of individuals at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis and to advance the development and use of novel pharmacological interventions for CHR individuals. We present a description of the participating research networks and the data processing analysis and coordination center, their processes for data harmonization across 43 sites from 13 participating countries (recruitment across North America, Australia, Europe, Asia, and South America), data flow and quality assessment processes, data analyses, and the transfer of data to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Data Archive (NDA) for use by the research community. In an expected sample of approximately 2000 CHR individuals and 640 matched healthy controls, AMP SCZ will collect clinical, environmental, and cognitive data along with multimodal biomarkers, including neuroimaging, electrophysiology, fluid biospecimens, speech and facial expression samples, novel measures derived from digital health technologies including smartphone-based daily surveys, and passive sensing as well as actigraphy. The study will investigate a range of clinical outcomes over a 2-year period, including transition to psychosis, remission or persistence of CHR status, attenuated positive symptoms, persistent negative symptoms, mood and anxiety symptoms, and psychosocial functioning. The global reach of AMP SCZ and its harmonized innovative methods promise to catalyze the development of new treatments to address critical unmet clinical and public health needs in CHR individuals

BHPR research: qualitative1. Complex reasoning determines patients' perception of outcome following foot surgery in rheumatoid arhtritis

Background: Foot surgery is common in patients with RA but research into surgical outcomes is limited and conceptually flawed as current outcome measures lack face validity: to date no one has asked patients what is important to them. This study aimed to determine which factors are important to patients when evaluating the success of foot surgery in RA Methods: Semi structured interviews of RA patients who had undergone foot surgery were conducted and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis of interviews was conducted to explore issues that were important to patients. Results: 11 RA patients (9 ♂, mean age 59, dis dur = 22yrs, mean of 3 yrs post op) with mixed experiences of foot surgery were interviewed. Patients interpreted outcome in respect to a multitude of factors, frequently positive change in one aspect contrasted with negative opinions about another. Overall, four major themes emerged. Function: Functional ability & participation in valued activities were very important to patients. Walking ability was a key concern but patients interpreted levels of activity in light of other aspects of their disease, reflecting on change in functional ability more than overall level. Positive feelings of improved mobility were often moderated by negative self perception ("I mean, I still walk like a waddling duck”). Appearance: Appearance was important to almost all patients but perhaps the most complex theme of all. Physical appearance, foot shape, and footwear were closely interlinked, yet patients saw these as distinct separate concepts. Patients need to legitimize these feelings was clear and they frequently entered into a defensive repertoire ("it's not cosmetic surgery; it's something that's more important than that, you know?”). Clinician opinion: Surgeons' post operative evaluation of the procedure was very influential. The impact of this appraisal continued to affect patients' lasting impression irrespective of how the outcome compared to their initial goals ("when he'd done it ... he said that hasn't worked as good as he'd wanted to ... but the pain has gone”). Pain: Whilst pain was important to almost all patients, it appeared to be less important than the other themes. Pain was predominately raised when it influenced other themes, such as function; many still felt the need to legitimize their foot pain in order for health professionals to take it seriously ("in the end I went to my GP because it had happened a few times and I went to an orthopaedic surgeon who was quite dismissive of it, it was like what are you complaining about”). Conclusions: Patients interpret the outcome of foot surgery using a multitude of interrelated factors, particularly functional ability, appearance and surgeons' appraisal of the procedure. While pain was often noted, this appeared less important than other factors in the overall outcome of the surgery. Future research into foot surgery should incorporate the complexity of how patients determine their outcome Disclosure statement: All authors have declared no conflicts of interes

Building for Disaster

In today’s political climate, public mood appears receptive to rolling back various regulations. To inform the public discourse on these matters, however, it is important to consider the costs and benefits of the regulation at stake, that is, to compare the benefits of the regulation against the cost it imposes. The recent catastrophic events of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Nate bring to the forefront the regulatory debate over building codes. Strong and well-enforced building codes increase the costs of property construction, but they also have the potential to reduce future property damage from hurricanes in vulnerable areas. Twenty-five years ago, Hurricane Andrew devastated south Florida. At that time, Hurricane Andrew was the costliest disaster in U.S. history. Andrew revealed that construction practices and code enforcement in Florida for the 20 years prior had deteriorated, leading to increased damage when the hurricane struck. In response, the state of Florida created the Florida Building Code (FBC), fully enacted in 2001, as the strongest statewide building code in the United States. The FBC was based on national model codes developed by the International Code Council and heavily emphasized wind-engineering principles. Still, amid recent concerns about the increased costs of construction, efforts are underway to weaken the stringency of the FBC, long held as the gold standard. On the other hand, the extensive damage wrought by Hurricane Harvey in Texas has renewed conversations in that state about the need for stronger building codes. Currently, Texas has some of the most lenient building code standards in the country. Because increased costs of construction is often the fundamental argument against more stringent codes, the key question, then, from an economic perspective is: Has the reduction in damage from hurricanes exceeded the increased cost to comply with the strong statewide code? To answer this question, we conducted a study of the difference in damage to homes built before and after enactment of the FBC in 2001 from the windstorms that struck Florida in the 10 years after the FBC was put in place. During the period 2001 to 2010, Florida experienced seven land-falling hurricanes, four of which reached category three or higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane strength. In our analysis, we first quantified the reduction of residential property wind damage due to the implementation of the FBC using realized insurance policy, claim, and paid insured loss data across the entire state of Florida spanning the years 2001 to 2010 provided to us by the Insurance Services Office (ISO). We found that homes built to the FBC suffered 53 percent less damage than homes built prior to the implementation of the FBC. In addition, homes built to the FBC were less likely to file a claim than were older homes. Taken together, the full reduction in damage to new versus older homes amounts to 72 percent. Although the reduction in damage from homes built to the FBC is striking, the economic public policy litmus test of the statewide code is how that benefit compares to the cost of complying with the code. Following from our claim-based empirical loss estimations, we further assessed the economic effectiveness of the FBC through a benefit-cost analysis. We have found that for different samples of our loss data, the benefit-cost ratios range from a low of 2.67 to a high of 7.93. In other words, comparing the increased construction cost to the expected reduction in windstorm damage across the life of the home shows anywhere from $2 to$8 in expected damage reduction—the benefit—for every dollar of increased cost. These results easily support the conclusion that the FBC is good public policy from an economic perspective. It is quite possible that other states at risk of events such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and windstorms would be likely to achieve similar benefit-to-cost results were they to emulate Florida and increase their building code standards. For example, the city of Moore, Oklahoma adopted a relatively stringent wind resistant building code after the 2013 tornado there caused $2 billion in damage and killed 24 people, including seven children at Plaza Towers Elementary School. When the Moore code is considered statewide, the benefit-to-cost comparison is$3 in benefits for each $1 in cost. Further, both of these studies have only considered the avoided damages to property. Additional benefits, and, hence, larger benefit-cost ratios would be expected when also considering avoided fatalities and injuries and avoided longer-term indirect damages to a community. The momentum to adopt stronger building codes ebbs as memories fade of what the winds from a major hurricane can do. Our research reminds us that political leaders should strive to look beyond the politics of the moment and make long-term decisions that advance overall net benefits to society