George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts

This is a report on the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts (GRFA) following an internship with the organization from June until September 2011. This report consists of an organizational summary, an account of the internship, SWOT analysis, best practices and concluding thoughts. Modeled after the Thea Foundation in Little Rock, Arkansas, GRFA advocates the importance of art in youth development, and its mission is reflected by George Rodrigue’s testimony of the positive influence of art in his life

George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts

This is a report on the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts (GRFA) following an internship with the organization from June until September 2011. This report consists of an organizational summary, an account of the internship, SWOT analysis, best practices and concluding thoughts. Modeled after the Thea Foundation in Little Rock, Arkansas, GRFA advocates the importance of art in youth development, and its mission is reflected by George Rodrigue’s testimony of the positive influence of art in his life

Regulation of the FGF/ERK Signaling Pathway: Roles in Zebrafish Gametogenesis and Embryogenesis

Signaling cascades, such as the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway, play vital roles in early vertebrate development. Signals through these pathways are initiated by a growth factor or hormone, are transduced through a kinase cascade, and result in the expression of specific downstream genes that promote cellular proliferation, growth, or differentiation. Tight regulation of these signals is provided by positive or negative modulators at varying levels in the pathway, and is required for proper development and function. Two members of the dual-specificity phosphatase (Dusp) family, dusp6 and dusp2, are believed to be negative regulators of the ERK pathway and are expressed in both embryonic and adult zebrafish, but their specific roles in gametogenesis and embryogenesis remain to be fully understood. Using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology, we generated zebrafish lines harboring germ line deletions in dusp6 and dusp2. We do not detect any overt defects in dusp2 mutants, but we find that approximately 50% of offspring from homozygous dusp6 mutants do not proceed through embryonic development. These embryos are fertilized, but are unable to proceed past the first zygotic mitosis and stall at the one-cell stage for several hours before dying by 10 hours post fertilization. We demonstrate that dusp6 is expressed in the gonads of both male and female zebrafish, suggesting that loss of dusp6 causes defects in germ cell production. Notably, the 50% of homozygous dusp6 mutants that complete the first cell division appear to progress through embryogenesis normally and give rise to fertile adults. The fact that offspring of homozygous dusp6 mutants stall at the one-cell stage, prior to activation of the zygotic genome, suggests that loss of dusp6 affects gametogenesis. Further, since only approximately 50% of homozygous dusp6 mutants are affected, we postulate that ERK signaling is tightly regulated and that dusp6 is required to keep ERK signaling within a range that is permissive for gametogenesis. Lastly, since dusp6 is expressed throughout zebrafish embryogenesis, but dusp6 mutants do not exhibit defects after the first cell division, it is possible that other feedback regulators of the ERK pathway compensate for loss of dusp6 at later stages

Hardware implementation of the AES

Thesis (M.Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2003.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-98).This project implements a hardware solution to the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithm and interfaces to IBM's CoreConnect Bus Architecture. The project is IBM SoftCore compliant, is synthesized to the .18 micron CMOS double-well technology, runs at 133 MHz, and is approximately 706K for the 16x128 bit buffer implementation and 874K gates for the 32x128 bit buffer implementation. Data can be encrypted and decrypted at a throughput of 1Gbps. The work described in the paper was completed as a part of MIT's VI-A program in the ASIC Digital Cores III group of the Microelectronics Division at IBM.by Jennifer Maurer.M.Eng

Intent to Receive Pandemic Influenza A (H1N1) Vaccine, Compliance with Social Distancing and Sources of Information in NC, 2009

BACKGROUND:Public adherence to influenza vaccination recommendations has been low, particularly among younger adults and children under 2, despite the availability of safe and effective seasonal vaccine. Intention to receive 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) vaccine has been estimated to be 50% in select populations. This report measures knowledge of and intention to receive pandemic vaccine in a population-based setting, including target groups for seasonal and H1N1 influenza. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:On August 28-29, 2009, we conducted a population-based survey in 2 counties in North Carolina. The survey used the 30x7 two-stage cluster sampling methodology to identify 210 target households. Prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated. Knowledge of pandemic influenza A (H1N1) vaccine was high, with 165 (80%) aware that a vaccine was being prepared. A total of 133 (64%) respondents intended to receive pandemic vaccine, 134 (64%) intended to receive seasonal vaccine, and 109 (53%) intended to receive both. Reporting great concern about H1N1 infection (PR 1.55; 95%CI: 1.30, 1.85), receiving seasonal influenza vaccine in 2008-09 (PR 1.47; 95%CI: 1.18, 1.82), and intending to receive seasonal influenza vaccine in 2009-10 (PR 1.27; 95%CI: 1.14, 1.42) were associated with intention to receive pandemic vaccine. Not associated were knowledge of vaccine, employment, having children under age 18, gender, race/ethnicity and age. Reasons cited for not intending to get vaccinated include not being at risk for infection, concerns about vaccine side effects and belief that illness caused by pandemic H1N1 would be mild. Forty-five percent of households with children under 18 and 65% of working adults reported ability to comply with self-isolation at home for 7-10 days if recommended by authorities. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE:This is the first report of a population based rapid assessment used to assess knowledge and intent to receive pandemic vaccine in a community sample. Intention to receive pandemic and seasonal vaccines was higher than previously published reports. To reach persons not intending to receive pandemic vaccine, public health communications should focus on the perceived risk of infection and concerns about vaccine safety

2000 Ruby Yearbook

A digitized copy of the 2000 Ruby, the Ursinus College yearbook.https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/ruby/1103/thumbnail.jp

Low activities of digestive enzymes in the guts of herbivorous grouse (Aves: Tetraoninae)

Avian herbivores face the exceptional challenge of digesting recalcitrant plant material while under the selective pressure to reduce gut mass as an adaptation for fight. One mechanism by which avian herbivores may overcome this challenge is to maintain high activities of intestinal enzymes that facilitate the digestion and absorption of nutrients. However, previous studies in herbivorous animals provide equivocal evidence as to how activities of digestive enzymes may be adapted to herbivorous diets. For example, “rate-maximizing” herbivores generally exhibit rapid digesta transit times and high activities of digestive enzymes. Conversely, “yield-maximizing” herbivores utilize long gut retention times and express lower activities of digestive enzymes. Here, we investigated the activities of digestive enzymes (maltase, sucrase, aminopeptidase-N) in the guts of herbivorous grouse (Aves: Tetraoninae) and compared them to activities measured in several other avian species. We found that several grouse species exhibit activities of enzymes that are dramatically lower than those measured in other birds. We propose that grouse may use a “yield-maximizing” strategy of digestion, which is characterized by relatively long gut retention times and generally lower enzyme activities. These low activities of intestinal digestive enzyme could have ecological and evolutionary consequences, as grouse regularly consume plants with compounds known to inhibit digestive enzymes. However, more comprehensive studies on passage rates, digestibility, and microbial contributions will be necessary to understand the full process of digestion in herbivorous birds.acceptedVersio