Beyond the Tutorial: Complex Content Models in Fedora 3

4th International Conference on Open RepositoriesThis presentation was part of the session : Fedora User Group PresentationsDate: 2009-05-21 08:30 AM – 10:00 AMThe University of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center recently began a pilot project to create a digital collection of learning objects stored in a Fedora 3.1 repository. This pilot project is the proof-of-concept of many ideas and discussions, extending back for over five years, concerning the problem of storing, searching, and retrieving heterogeneous objects and object types, linked together in complex relations, in a way that is loosely coupled with front-end user display applications. During the course of this presentation, we will describe the issues we've confronted implementing increasingly rich digital collections over the past decade (including some real-life examples of complex digital objects), models we have developed with to resolve many of those issues, and how we have started implementing those models in Fedora 3.1, using the new Content Model functionality

Long-term U.S transportation electricity use considering the effect of autonomous-vehicles: Estimates & policy observations

In this paper, we model three layers of transportation disruption – first electrification, then autonomy, and finally sharing and pooling – in order to project transportation electricity demand and greenhouse gas emissions in the United States to 2050. Using an expanded kaya identity framework, we model vehicle stock, energy intensity, and vehicle miles traveled, progressively considering the effects of each of these three disruptions. We find that electricity use from light duty vehicle transport will likely be in the 570–1140 TWh range, 13–26%, respectively, of total electricity demand in 2050. Depending on the pace at which the electric sector decarbonizes, this increase in electric demand could correspond to a decrease in LDV greenhouse gas emissions of up to 80%. In the near term, rapid and complete transport electrification with a carbon-free grid should remain the cornerstones of transport decarbonization policy. However, long-term policy should also aim to mitigate autonomous vehicles’ potential to increase driving mileage, urban and suburban sprawl, and traffic congestion while incentivizing potential energy efficiency improvements through both better system management and the lightweighting of an accident-free vehicle fleet

Health Literacy Skills of Aging Populations and Its Impact on the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) represents a threat to both the economic and social well being of Switzerland. Cardiovascular disease is easily a preventable disease, yet continues to take over the world. One’s ability to read and comprehend health information from medical professionals is a vital component of maintaining and improving an individuals’ overall health. Health literacy can have an impact on the effectiveness of preventive interventions in health behaviors and the success of health outcomes. Studies have shown that well-educated and financially improved persons have a higher health competence than lower educated persons.1 Given that cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in the developed country of Switzerland, it is evident that the prevention of the disease is affected by health education. The lifestyle behaviors and foundations of adult health are laid in early life, especially for cardiovascular disease patients. Cardiovascular disease prevention strategies must go beyond addressing the environmental, political and social factors that determine the risk of CVD, but the need to address health education, health literacy, health communication and individual health behaviors.2 Health literacy is a necessary ingredient for improved community, greater adherence to cardiovascular treatment regimens, greater ability to engage in appropriate self-care, improve health status, and greater efficiency and cost savings to the health system as a whole.3 In this study, I have examined the relationship between health literacy and health outcomes, especially regarding cardiovascular disease (and its risk factors), to determine if higher health literacy skills in elderly patients are correlated with successful prevention and interventions strategies

A Minnesota Lawyer\u27s Guide to the Indian Child Welfare Act

Practice Guid

A multicopper oxidase-related protein is essential for insect viability, longevity and ovary development

Citation: Peng Z, Green PG, Arakane Y, Kanost MR, Gorman MJ (2014) A Multicopper Oxidase-Related Protein Is Essential for Insect Viability, Longevity and Ovary Development. PLOS ONE 9(10): e111344. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0111344Typical multicopper oxidases (MCOs) have ten conserved histidines and one conserved cysteine that coordinate four copper atoms. These copper ions are required for oxidase activity. During our studies of insect MCOs, we discovered a gene that we named multicopper oxidase-related protein (MCORP). MCORPs share sequence similarity with MCOs, but lack many of the copper-coordinating residues. We identified MCORP orthologs in many insect species, but not in other invertebrates or vertebrates. We predicted that MCORPs would lack oxidase activity due to the absence of copper-coordinating residues. To test this prediction, we purified recombinant Tribolium castaneum (red flour beetle) MCORP and analyzed its enzymatic activity using a variety of substrates. As expected, no oxidase activity was detected. To study MCORP function in vivo, we analyzed expression profiles of TcMCORP and Anopheles gambiae (African malaria mosquito) MCORP, and assessed RNAi-mediated knockdown phenotypes. We found that both MCORPs are constitutively expressed at a low level in all of the tissues we analyzed. Injection of TcMCORP dsRNA into larvae resulted in 100% mortality prior to adult eclosion, with death occurring mainly during the pharate pupal stage or late pharate adult stage. Injection of TcMCORP dsRNA into pharate pupae resulted in the death of approximately 20% of the treated insects during the pupal to adult transition and a greatly shortened life span for the remaining insects. In addition, knockdown of TcMCORP in females prevented oocyte maturation and, thus, greatly decreased the number of eggs laid. These results indicate that TcMCORP is an essential gene and that its function is required for reproduction. An understanding of the role MCORP plays in insect physiology may help to develop new strategies for controlling insect pests