Multifaceted Faculty Network Design and Management: Practice and Experience Report

We report on our experience on multidimensional aspects of our faculty's network design and management, including some unique aspects such as campus-wide VLANs and ghosting, security and monitoring, switching and routing, and others. We outline a historical perspective on certain research, design, and development decisions and discuss the network topology, its scalability, and management in detail; the services our network provides, and its evolution. We overview the security aspects of the management as well as data management and automation and the use of the data by other members of the IT group in the faculty.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures, TOC and index; a short version presented at C3S2E'11; v6: more proofreading, index, TOC, reference

The State of Latino Health and Mental Health

The Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños/Hunter College and Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service collaborated on this report to review the health and mental health status of Latinos/as. This analysis integrates national and local statistics from published reports and scholarly articles. Based on the analysis of Hispanic health and mental health, the authors have generated a set of recommendations for policies targeting the health and mental health needs of Latinos/as and promoting their overall well-being. Aside from these specific recommendations, they call for more disaggregated data collection about Hispanic subgroups

A barnavirus sequence mined from a transcriptome of the Antarctic pearlwort Colobanthus quitensis.

Because so few viruses in the family Barnaviridae have been reported, we searched for more of them in public sequence databases. Here, we report the complete coding sequence of Colobanthus quitensis associated barnavirus 1, mined from a transcriptome of the Antarctic pearlwort Colobanthus quitensis. The 4.2-kb plus-strand sequence of this virus encompasses four main open reading frames (ORFs), as expected for barnaviruses, including ORFs for a protease-containing polyprotein, an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase whose translation appears to rely on - 1 ribosomal frameshifting, and a capsid protein that is likely to be translated from a subgenomic RNA. The possible derivation of this virus from a fungus associated with C. quitensis is discussed

Purification and characterization of an alcohol dehydrogenase from 1,2-propanediol-grown Desulfovibriostrain HDv

The sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio strain HDv (DSM 6830) grew faster on (S)- and on (R, S)-1,2-propanediol (µmax 0.053 h–1) than on (R)-propanediol (0.017 h–1) and ethanol (0.027 h–1). From (R, S)-1,2-propanediol-grown cells, an alcohol dehydrogenase was purified. The enzyme was oxygen-labile, NAD-dependent, and decameric; the subunit mol. mass was 48 kDa. The N-terminal amino acid sequence indicated similarity to alcohol dehydrogenases belonging to family III of NAD-dependent alcohol dehydrogenases, the first 21 N-terminal amino acids being identical to those of the Desulfovibrio gigas alcohol dehydrogenase. Best substrates were ethanol and propanol (Km of 0.48 and 0.33 mM, respectively). (R, S)-1,2-Propanediol was a relatively poor substrate for the enzyme, but activities in cell extracts were high enough to account for the growth rate. The enzyme showed a preference for (S)-1,2-propanediol over (R)-1,2-propanediol. Antibodies raised against the alcohol dehydrogenase of D. gigas showed cross-reactivity with the alcohol dehydrogenase of Desulfovibrio strain HDv and with cell extracts of six other ethanol-grown sulfate-reducing bacteria.

Whole-genome sequencing to understand the genetic architecture of common gene expression and biomarker phenotypes.

Initial results from sequencing studies suggest that there are relatively few low-frequency (<5%) variants associated with large effects on common phenotypes. We performed low-pass whole-genome sequencing in 680 individuals from the InCHIANTI study to test two primary hypotheses: (i) that sequencing would detect single low-frequency-large effect variants that explained similar amounts of phenotypic variance as single common variants, and (ii) that some common variant associations could be explained by low-frequency variants. We tested two sets of disease-related common phenotypes for which we had statistical power to detect large numbers of common variant-common phenotype associations-11 132 cis-gene expression traits in 450 individuals and 93 circulating biomarkers in all 680 individuals. From a total of 11 657 229 high-quality variants of which 6 129 221 and 5 528 008 were common and low frequency (<5%), respectively, low frequency-large effect associations comprised 7% of detectable cis-gene expression traits [89 of 1314 cis-eQTLs at P < 1 × 10(-06) (false discovery rate ∼5%)] and one of eight biomarker associations at P < 8 × 10(-10). Very few (30 of 1232; 2%) common variant associations were fully explained by low-frequency variants. Our data show that whole-genome sequencing can identify low-frequency variants undetected by genotyping based approaches when sample sizes are sufficiently large to detect substantial numbers of common variant associations, and that common variant associations are rarely explained by single low-frequency variants of large effect

Effectiveness of a web- and mobile phone-based intervention to promote physical activity and healthy eating in middle-Aged males: Randomized controlled trial of the manup study

Background: The high number of adult males engaging in low levels of physical activity and poor dietary practices, and the health risks posed by these behaviours, necessitate broad-reaching intervention strategies. IT-based (web and mobile phone) interventions can be accessed by large numbers of people, yet there are few reported IT-based interventions targeting males’ physical activity and dietary practices. Objective: This study examines the effectiveness of a 9-month IT-based intervention to improve the physical activity, dietary behaviours and health literacy in middle-aged males compared to a print-based intervention. Methods: Participants, recruited offline (e.g. newspaper ads), were randomized into either an IT-based or print-based intervention arm on a 2:1 basis in favour of the fully automated IT-based arm. Participants were adult males aged 35-54 years living in two regional cities in Queensland Australia who could access the internet, owned a mobile phone and were able to increase their activity level. The intervention, ManUp, was informed by social cognitive and self regulation theories and was specifically designed to target males. Educational materials were provided and self-monitoring of physical activity and nutrition behaviours was promoted. Intervention content was the same in both intervention arms, only the delivery mode differed, and content could be accessed throughout the 9-month study period. Participants’ physical activity, dietary behaviours, and health literacy were measured using online surveys at baseline, 3 months and 9 months. Results: A total of 301 participants completed baseline assessments, 205 in the ITbased arm and 96 in the print-based arm. A total of 124 participants completed all three assessments. There were no significant between group differences in physical 5 activity and dietary behaviours (p ≥0.05). Participants reported an increased number of minutes and sessions of physical activity at 3 months (b(exp)=1.45, 95% CI=1.09-1.95; b(exp)=1.61, 95% CI=1.17-2.22) and 9 months (b(exp)=1.55, 95% CI=1.14-2.10; b(exp)=1.51, 95% CI=1.15-2.00). Overall dietary behaviours improved at 3 months (b(exp)=1.07, 95% CI=1.03-1.11) and 9 months (b(exp)=1.10, 95% CI=1.05-1.13). The proportion of participants in both groups eating higher-fibre bread and low-fat milk increased at 3 months (b(exp) = 2.25, 95% CI = 1.29-3.92; b(exp)=1.65, 95% CI = 1.07-2.55). Participants in the IT-based arm were less likely to report that 30 minutes of physical activity per day improves health (b(exp)=0.48, 95% CI=0.26-0.90) and more likely to report that vigorous intensity physical activity 3 times per week is essential (b(exp)=1.70, 95% CI=1.02-2.82). The average number of logins to the IT-platform at 3 and 9 months was 6.99 (SE=0.86) and 9.22 (SE=1.47), respectively. The average number of self-monitoring entries at 3 and 9 months was 16.69 (SE=2.38) and 22.51 (SE=3.79), respectively. Conclusions: The ManUp intervention was effective in improving physical activity and dietary behaviours in middle aged males with no significant differences between IT- and print-based delivery modes

Asteroid exploration and utilization

The Earth is nearing depletion of its natural resources at a time when human beings are rapidly expanding the frontiers of space. The resources possessed by asteroids have enormous potential for aiding and enhancing human space exploration as well as life on Earth. Project STONER (Systematic Transfer of Near Earth Resources) is based on mining an asteroid and transporting raw materials back to Earth. The asteroid explorer/sample return mission is designed in the context of both scenarios and is the first phase of a long range plan for humans to utilize asteroid resources. Project STONER is divided into two parts: asteroid selection and explorer spacecraft design. The spacecraft design team is responsible for the selection and integration of the subsystems: GNC, communications, automation, propulsion, power, structures, thermal systems, scientific instruments, and mechanisms used on the surface to retrieve and store asteroid regolith. The sample return mission scenario consists of eight primary phases that are critical to the mission

Natural Products Chemistry and Taxonomy of the Marine Cyanobacterium Blennothrix cantharidosmum

A Papua New Guinea field collection of the marine cyanobacterium Blennothrix cantharidosmum was investigated for its cytotoxic constituents. Bioassay-guided isolation defined the cytotoxic components as the known compounds lyngbyastatins 1 and 3. However, six new acyl proline derivatives, tumonoic acids D−I, plus the known tumonoic acid A were also isolated. Their planar structures were defined from NMR and MS data, while their stereostructures followed from a series of chiral chromatographies, degradation sequences, and synthetic approaches. The new compounds were tested in an array of assays, but showed only modest antimalarial and inhibition of quorum sensing activities. Nevertheless, these are the first natural products to be reported from this genus, and this inspired a detailed morphologic and 16S rDNA-based phylogenetic analysis of the producing organism

A systematic review on 'Foveal Crowding' in visually impaired children and perceptual learning as a method to reduce Crowding

Contains fulltext : 102577.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Background - This systematic review gives an overview of foveal crowding (the inability to recognize objects due to surrounding nearby contours in foveal vision) and possible interventions. Foveal crowding can have a major effect on reading rate and deciphering small pieces of information from busy visual scenes. Three specific groups experience more foveal crowding than adults with normal vision (NV): 1) children with NV, 2) visually impaired (VI ) children and adults and 3) children with cerebral visual impairment (CVI). The extent and magnitude of foveal crowding as well as interventions aimed at reducing crowding were investigated in this review. The twofold goal of this review is : [A] to compare foveal crowding in children with NV, VI children and adults and CVI children and [B] to compare interventions to reduce crowding. Methods - Three electronic databases were used to conduct the literature search: PubMed, PsycINFO (Ovid), and Cochrane. Additional studies were identified by contacting experts. Search terms included visual perception, contour interaction, crowding, crowded, and contour interactions. Results - Children with normal vision show an extent of contour interaction over an area 1.5-3x as large as that seen in adults NV. The magnitude of contour interaction normally ranges between 1-2 lines on an acuity chart and this magnitude is even larger when stimuli are arranged in a circular configuration. Adults with congenital nystagmus (CN) show interaction areas that are 2x larger than those seen adults with NV. The magnitude of the crowding effect is also 2x as large in individuals with CN as in individuals with NV. Finally, children with CVI experience a magnitude of the crowding effect that is 3x the size of that experienced by adults with NV. Conclusions - The methodological heterogeneity, the diversity in paradigms used to measure crowding, made it impossible to conduct a meta-analysis. This is the first systematic review to compare crowding ratios and it shows that charts with 50% interoptotype spacing were most sensitive to capture crowding effects. The groups that showed the largest crowding effects were individuals with CN, VI adults with central scotomas and children with CVI. Perceptual Learning seems to be a promising technique to reduce excessive foveal crowding effects.14 p