NMESys: An expert system for network fault detection

The problem of network management is becoming an increasingly difficult and challenging task. It is very common today to find heterogeneous networks consisting of many different types of computers, operating systems, and protocols. The complexity of implementing a network with this many components is difficult enough, while the maintenance of such a network is an even larger problem. A prototype network management expert system, NMESys, implemented in the C Language Integrated Production System (CLIPS). NMESys concentrates on solving some of the critical problems encountered in managing a large network. The major goal of NMESys is to provide a network operator with an expert system tool to quickly and accurately detect hard failures, potential failures, and to minimize or eliminate user down time in a large network

Strengthening Ontario\u27s System of Housing for People with Serious Mental Illness

This article describes recent work to support recommendations for improving Ontario’s system of housing for people with serious mental illness. This multifaceted project engaged stakeholders in discussions concerning strategies for improving the system based on (a) values that underlie housing programs, (b) evidence of effective housing practices, (c) the current status of the system, and (d) international practices for monitoring community mental health systems. Stakeholders reviewed summaries of the work and discussed implications for improving the provincial system of housing and supports. Recommendations are made for improving the system, focusing on both regional and provincial level actions

Tree growth and management in Ugandan agroforestry systems: effects of root pruning on tree growth and crop yield

Tree root pruning is a potential tool for managing below-ground competition when trees and crops are grown together in agroforestry systems. This study investigates its effects on growth and root distribution of Alnus acuminata (HB & K), Casuarina equisetifolia (L), Grevillea robusta (A. Cunn. ex R. Br), Maesopsis eminii (Engl.), and Markhamia lutea (Benth.) K. Schum. and on yield of adjacent crops in sub-humid Uganda. The trees were 3 years old at the commencement of the study, and most species were competing strongly with crops. Tree roots were pruned 41 months after planting by cutting and back-filling a trench to a depth of 0.3 m, at a distance of 0.3 m from the trees, on one side of the tree row. The trench was re-opened and roots re-cut at 50 and 62 months after planting. Effects on tree growth and root distribution were assessed over a 3 year period, and crop yield after the third root pruning at 62 months is reported here. Overall, root pruning had only a slight effect on tree growth: height growth was unaffected and diameter growth was reduced by only 4 %. A substantial amount of root re-growth was observed by 11 months after pruning. Tree species varied in the number and distribution of their roots, and Casuarina and Markhamia had considerably more roots per unit of trunk volume than the other tree species, especially in the surface soil layers. Casuarina and Maesopsis were the most competitive tree species with crops and Grevillea and Markhamia the least. Crop yield data provides strong evidence of the redistribution of root activity following root pruning, so that competition increased on the unpruned side of tree rows. Thus, one-sided root pruning will only be of use to farmers in a few circumstances. Key words: Alnus acuminata, Casuarina equisetifolia, Grevillea robusta, Maesopsis eminii, Markhamia lutea, root distribution, root functio

Preterm gut microbiota and metabolome following discharge from intensive care

The development of the preterm gut microbiome is important for immediate and longer-term health following birth. We aimed to determine if modifications to the preterm gut on the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) impacted the gut microbiota and metabolome long-term. Stool samples were collected from 29 infants ages 1–3 years post discharge (PD) from a single NICU. Additional NICU samples were included from 14/29 infants. Being diagnosed with disease or receiving increased antibiotics while on the NICU did not significantly impact the microbiome PD. Significant decreases in common NICU organisms including K. oxytoca and E. faecalis and increases in common adult organisms including Akkermansia sp., Blautia sp., and Bacteroides sp. and significantly different Shannon diversity was shown between NICU and PD samples. The metabolome increased in complexity, but while PD samples had unique bacterial profiles we observed comparable metabolomic profiles. The preterm gut microbiome is able to develop complexity comparable to healthy term infants despite limited environmental exposures, high levels of antibiotic administration, and of the presence of serious disease. Further work is needed to establish the direct effect of weaning as a key event in promoting future gut health

The chitobiose transporter, chbC, is required for chitin utilization in Borrelia burgdorferi

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The bacterium <it>Borrelia burgdorferi</it>, the causative agent of Lyme disease, is a limited-genome organism that must obtain many of its biochemical building blocks, including N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc), from its tick or vertebrate host. GlcNAc can be imported into the cell as a monomer or dimer (chitobiose), and the annotation for several <it>B. burgdorferi </it>genes suggests that this organism may be able to degrade and utilize chitin, a polymer of GlcNAc. We investigated the ability of <it>B. burgdorferi </it>to utilize chitin in the absence of free GlcNAc, and we attempted to identify genes involved in the process. We also examined the role of RpoS, one of two alternative sigma factors present in <it>B. burgdorferi</it>, in the regulation of chitin utilization.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using fluorescent chitinase substrates, we demonstrated an inherent chitinase activity in rabbit serum, a component of the <it>B. burgdorferi </it>growth medium (BSK-II). After inactivating this activity by boiling, we showed that wild-type cells can utilize chitotriose, chitohexose or coarse chitin flakes in the presence of boiled serum and in the absence of free GlcNAc. Further, we replaced the serum component of BSK-II with a lipid extract and still observed growth on chitin substrates without free GlcNAc. In an attempt to knockout <it>B. burgdorferi </it>chitinase activity, we generated mutations in two genes (<it>bb0002 </it>and <it>bb0620</it>) predicted to encode enzymes that could potentially cleave the β-(1,4)-glycosidic linkages found in chitin. While these mutations had no effect on the ability to utilize chitin, a mutation in the gene encoding the chitobiose transporter (<it>bbb04</it>, <it>chbC</it>) did block utilization of chitin substrates by <it>B. burgdorferi</it>. Finally, we provide evidence that chitin utilization in an <it>rpoS </it>mutant is delayed compared to wild-type cells, indicating that RpoS may be involved in the regulation of chitin degradation by this organism.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The data collected in this study demonstrate that <it>B. burgdorferi </it>can utilize chitin as a source of GlcNAc in the absence of free GlcNAc, and suggest that chitin is cleaved into dimers before being imported across the cytoplasmic membrane via the chitobiose transporter. In addition, our data suggest that the enzyme(s) involved in chitin degradation are at least partially regulated by the alternative sigma factor RpoS.</p

The travels of Joseph Beal Steere in Brazil, Peru and Ecuador (1870-1873)

Joseph Beal Steere (1842-1940) was sent by the University of Michigan in a trip around the world, from 1870 (September) to 1875, to collect materials in all departments of natural and human sciences for the University's Museum. He went from New York to Brazil (São Luís, Maranhão), proceeding up the Amazon, and spent about eighteen months on that river and some of its tributaries. Arrived at the head of navigation of the Amazon, at the mouth of the Río Santiago (Peru), he floated back two hundred miles on a raft, to reach the mouth of the Huallaga. He ascended this river to Yurimaguas, going thence across the Andes. He made part of the journey on foot and horseback; on the way he spent some time in the old cities of Moyobamba, Chachapoyas and Cajamarca. He struck the sea-coast at a town called Huanchaco, near the city of Trujillo; thence he went to Lima; and from there to Guayaquil; and thence, overland, to Quito, continually adding to his store of specimens. While at Quito, he ascended the volcano Pichincha and went to the bottom of the crater. He returned from Quito to Lima and made an excursion along the coast of Peru, collecting old Peruvian pottery from graves, etc. From Lima he went to Cerro de Pasco mining regions, making collections of minerals. Returning to Lima, he crossed the Pacific in a ship bound for Macao, China. From Macao he jouneyed successively to Hong Kong and Canton; from Canton to the Island of Formosa, where he spent six or eight months making journeys among the savages of the interior. From Formosa he went, via Hong Kong and Canton, to the Philippine Islands, and spent ten months there; he visited several places never before visited by naturalists, and found forty new species of birds. From the Philippines he went to Singapore, thence to Malacca, and made a trip through the Dutch Moluccas, touching at several places in the islands of Java, Macassar, Amboina and Ternate. From these islands he returned to Singapore, and from there, via Suez Canal and the Mediterranean, to Marseilles, stopping at Naples. He went through France by rail and via London and Liverpool went home, after an absence of little more than three years. Periodically he wrote letters telling of his adventures and impressions, with notes on the regions visited, to a weekly magazine edited in Ann Arbor, the Peninsular Courier and Family Visitant, where they were published. The 62 letters written by Steere in South America (Brazil, Peru and Ecuador) are here transcribed and commented.Joseph Beal Steere (1842-1940) foi enviado pela Universidade de Michigan numa viagem ao redor do mundo, de 1870 (setembro) até 1875, para coletar espécimes em todas as áreas das ciências naturais e humanas para o Museu da Universidade. De Nova Iorque embarcou para o Brasil (São Luís, Maranhão), subindo depois o rio Amazonas e permaneceu 18 meses nesse rio e alguns de seus afluentes. Chegado ao término da navegação do Amazonas, na boca do rio Santiago (Peru), desceu numa balsa, por duzentas milhas, para chegar à boca do Huallaga. Subiu este rio até Yurimaguas, de onde atravessou os Andes. Parte da viagem foi feita a pé ou a cavalo, e no caminho passou algum tempo nas antigas cidades de Moyobamba, Chachapoyas e Cajamarca. Atingiu a costa em uma cidade chamada Huanchaco, perto da cidade de Trujillo, e daí foi para Lima, depois para Guayaquil, e, por terra, a Quito, sempre coletando. Em Quito subiu o vulcão Pichincha e foi até o fundo de sua cratera. De volta a Quito e Lima fez uma excursão pela costa do Peru, coletando antiga cerâmica peruana em túmulos etc. De Lima foi à região mineira de Cerro de Pasco, para coletar minerais. Finalmente, partiu da capital peruana e cruzou o Pacífico num navio que se dirigia a Macau, na China. De Macau viajou sucessivamente a Hong Kong e Cantão, de Cantão à ilha de Formosa, onde permaneceu de seis a oito meses fazendo viagens entre os selvagens do interior. De Formosa, via Hong Kong e Cantão, foi para as Filipinas, onde passou dez meses, visitando muitos lugares nunca antes visitados por naturalistas e encontrou quarenta espécies novas de aves. Das Filipinas foi a Cingapura, daí para Malaca, e viajou pelas Molucas Holandesas, parando em lugares como Java, Macassar, Amboina e Ternate. Dessas ilhas regressou a Cingapura e dali, via o Canal de Suez e o Mediterrâneo, foi a Marselha, com uma escala em Nápoles. Cruzando a França por trem, chegou a Londres e de Liverpool voltou para os Estados Unidos, depois de uma ausência de pouco mais de três anos. Periodicamente escrevia cartas narrando suas aventuras e impressões, com notas sobre as regiões visitadas, ao Peninsular Courier and Family Visitant, uma revista semanal editada em Ann Arbor, onde eram publicadas. As 62 cartas escritas por Steere na América do Sul (Brasil, Peru e Equador) são transcritas abaixo, com comentários