Who speaks for Palestine: the political struggle for Gaza

The responsibility for governing Gaza will have major political repercussions with a key point of the ability to bring in foreign investment after Israel withdraws. It also seems to point to a more moderate political outcome than many commentators have recently forecasted, and provides appropriate macro infrastructure projects on the table

Genetic and Biochemical Characterization of Ergot Alkaloid Synthesizing Fungi and their Symbionts

Ergot alkaloids are fungal tryptophan derived toxins which affect mammalian circulation and neurotransmission. These compounds are biosynthesized by a conserved genetic pathway, known as the ergot alkaloid synthesis (EAS) pathway by fungi belonging to the ascomycete families Trichocomaceae and Clavicipitaceae. Several Ipomoea species and related plants in the morning glory family harbor vertically transmitted symbiotic fungi in the genus Periglandula, also members of Clavicipitaceae, that produce ergot alkaloids. Metabolomic analysis of seeds identified a previously uncharacterized glycoside form of the pharmaceutically important ergot alkaloid, ergonovine. Several species belonging to the fungal genus Metarhizium have recently been shown to have the capacity to express lysergic acid derived compounds. Metarhizium species are prolific entomopathogens and have the capacity to form beneficial relationships with plants by colonizing their roots. Proteomics analysis showed that wildtype and knock out strains of Metarhizium brunneum infected insects had different antimicrobial peptide and protein expression profiles based on the presence of ergot alkaloids. Metabolomics analysis found that unlike with insects, M. brunneum does not produce ergot alkaloids when grown in conjunction with plants and factors known to promote microbial symbiosis and stress-response in plants were upregulated. Fungi from Trichocomaceae (genera include Penicillium) diverge from fungi in Clavicipitaceae at a middle step of the ergot alkaloid synthetic (EAS) pathway to produce fumigaclavines and related compounds. Penicillium biforme is a known producer of rugulovasine A/B, which has never been observed in Penicillium camemberti. Data presented here suggest that the ancestor of modern P. camemberti had the capacity to synthesize rugulovasines and other ergot alkaloid precursors but lost this capability due to a V13G mutation on the protein. Analysis of the genomes from P. camemberti and P. biforme revealed that the two species contain the same cluster of EAS genes, and both organisms express mRNA from these genes in specific culture conditions. Metabolomics analysis confirmed that the regulatory elements needed for EAS gene expression are functional in P. camemberti. These results show how genetic techniques and biochemical analysis can provide new insights into these organisms

Placing Color: Architectural Color & Facade Improvement Programs in Commercial Corridor Revitalization in Philadelphia

Exterior changes to existing and historic buildings in depressed historic areas signify financial investment and change, and have the potential to play a significant role in both urban preservation and revitalization. Changes to exterior architectural colors are perhaps the most visible signifier of such revitalization, as the use of color changes as a tool in façade improvement programs nationwide demonstrates. As part of façade improvement programs, changes to the exteriors of existing buildings in historic cities are most often a visual indication of adaptive reuse. Urban façade improvement programs that are dedicated to commercial corridor revitalization provide a variety of funding and services to business and property owners. The existence of such programs suggests that beautifying neighborhoods through changes to existing building exteriors will benefit business and property owners economically. This thesis proposes to explore and analyze the various government-sponsored façade improvement programs in Philadelphia to determine their impact on commercial corridor revitalization (or economic success as determined by the City) and on their long-term sustainability after initial investment. If façade improvement programs are indeed successful as indicators of change within a community, and thereby adaptive reuse of existing buildings, then the application of such programs within historic districts has the potential to dramatically impact the way we view, use, and reuse the existing built fabric of our cities. This thesis examines these programs and their application citywide through Philadelphia-specific case studies that are exclusive to façade improvements or upgrades rather than those that include façade improvements as part of a more comprehensive rehabilitation strategy for individual structures or neighborhoods

A statement in pattern

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Unintended Plagiarism Amongst International Students in Western Universities

In recent years, many western universities have experienced a notable increase of plagiarism and other behaviors that fall under the umbrella of academic dishonesty amongst students at various levels. Concurrently, higher-educational institutions have also seen a large rise in the enrollment of international students with extremely diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. A growing body of research has connected higher rates of plagiarism, in western universities during this time period, to international students in particular. This article reviews the current literature in this area, with a focus on the most common factors that put international students in western universities at a higher risk for unintended plagiarism than their counterpart domestic peers. The results showcase a complex myriad of factors that put international students at risk, such as new cultural, financial, or time stresses; underdeveloped language skills; the inability to self-advocate; and cultural differences in both schooling systems and viewing sources. Considering these factors, several practical implementations are recommended for institutions of higher education, with the aim of lessening international students’ risk factors of unintentional plagiarism, while simultaneously building academic confidence and community

Optimal power flow using a genetic algorithm and linear algebra

Artificial intelligence is used to help a hypothetical electric utility meet is electric load economically. The optimal power flow problem (OPF) problem is an optimization problem, in which the utility strives to minimize its costs while satisfying all of its constraints. A genetic algorithm (GA)---a specific type of artificial intelligence-is employed to perform this optimization. To speed convergence, some theory from linear algebra is incorporated into the algorithm.;A GA provides several advantages over more traditional OPF algorithms. For instance, a GA does not constrain the shape of the generators\u27 cost curves and is flexible enough to incorporate control devices such as tap-changing transformers and static VAR compensators.;In the literature, GA-based methods typically use the GA to find the real power and voltage magnitude at each generation bus. To enforce the inequality constraints on voltage magnitudes and angles, these algorithms must compute these quantities for all buses. This requires the solution of the load-flow equations, a set of nonlinear equations that provide real and reactive power in terms of voltage magnitude and angle. Solving for the voltage quantities is computationally intensive when performed repeatedly through the iterations of a method. In contrast, the GA-OPF method presented here reduces the number of load-flow solutions by having the GA find the voltage magnitude and angle at each bus. The real and reactive power are then found by direct substitution into the load-flow equations. To narrow the search for the optimal solution, a vector space is derived that contains all solutions meeting the inequality constraints. This speeds convergence of the algorithm by eliminating a large number of illegal solutions.;The effectiveness of this method is demonstrated on three test systems---the Steinberg and Smith example, the IEEE 30-bus test system, and the IEEE 118-bus test system. For the first two examples, the GA-OPF algorithm finds an answer that agrees with published results. For the 118-bus system, the GA-OPF demonstrates its ability to enforce emission constraints and its potential to be used with larger systems. Thus, the GA-OPF algorithm is shown to be a valid tool to perform this optimization

Older adults recently started on psychotropic medication: where are the symptoms?

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111783/1/gps4187.pd

Physical-layer Performance Evaluation of a High-performance LAN- LAN Interconnection via Satellite

With the proliferation of computer networks comes the need for better internetworking techniques for more efficient communication. A Ka-band satellite link between two high- performance local-area networks (LANs) is described. the LANs are assumed to use the High-performance Parallel Interface (HIPPI), which is a parallel point-to-point interface affording data rate near 1 Gbit/s. In order to maintain the parallel structure, the data lines share the satellite channel by code- division multiple access (CDMA). Two CDMA coding schemes are examined, namely Gold codes and Barker codes. Since HIPPI is a synchronous system, a modification to each of the CDMA codes is described to improve performance. For each of the CDMA codes, two modulation schemes, multiple-amplitude minimum-shift-keying (MAMSK) and continuous- phase frequency-shift-keying (CPFSK) are modeled. In order to obtain acceptable bit-error-rate (BER) performance, equalization of the channel to compensate for the satellite nonlinearities is described. The satellite channel is simulated for each of the four possibilities of CDMA code and modulation scheme in order to predict BER performance. It is found that MAMSK outperforms CPFSK for a low signal-to-noise ratio, but CPFSK outperforms MAMSK for a high signal-to-noise ratio

No End in Sight: Benzodiazepine Use in Older Adults in the United States

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135540/1/jgs14379_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135540/2/jgs14379.pd