University Union: Becoming Syracuse University’s Official Programming Board and a College Programming Paradigm

This Capstone project completed per the requirements of the Renee Crown University Honors Program in form is part research paper, part personal narrative, part topical history, part business plan, part guide and resource, and part portfolio. It is structured in four critical parts. The first will be a history of programming at Syracuse University as it relates to the history of University Union, the university’s official programming board. This overview covers fifty years, beginning in 1962 with the founding of the board. Following this will be an assessment of the capacity of college programming to further the goals of unifying, educating, enriching and enhancing student bodies and lives at institutes around the country. In this phase of the paper, information gathered regarding University Union’s counterparts at other institutions of higher education is synthesized and evaluated. This section will bridge the gap between the past and present, the latter of which is focused on in the third section. The progress made by University Union in the past four years is evaluated and the author speaks to the position of the organization fiscally, structurally, and socially. The objective perspective taken in the prior sections informs these analyses of the aforementioned fields. The conclusion of this paper, which ultimately delivers the balance of the corresponding Capstone presentation, is focused on the final component of this write-up, the future. In this section the author outlines the responsible fiscal model to be utilized by the organization to best position itself for growth, success and ultimately sustainability

Production of the exopolysaccharide lasiodiplodan in a stirred-tank bioreactor

Polissacarídeos com propriedades biotecnológicas e atividades biológicas podem ser obtidos de plantas, algas, fungos filamentosos, leveduras e bactérias. Entre os polissacarídeos com atividades biológicas destacam-se as D-glucanas, as quais tem recebido grande atenção devido a seu potencial de atuação como imunoprotetor e como agente potencial para o tratamento de diferentes doenças (hipercolesterolemia, diabetes, problemas cardiovasculares, câncer). Recentes estudos demonstram a produção de β-D-glucana extracellular por fungos filamentosos em cultivo submerso. Neste contexto, o fungo ascomiceto Lasiodiplodia theobromae MMPI produz um exopolissacarídeo do tipo (1→6)-β-D-glucana denominado lasiodiplodana. O presente trabalho reporta a produção de lasiodiplodana pelo L. theobromae MMPI conduzida em biorreator de mistura através de fermentação submersa. O fungo foi cultivado em meio mínimo de sais minerais contendo glicose (20 g/L) como substrato limitante, pH inicial de pH 5.5, velocidade de agitação de 400 rpm, fluxo de ar de 0.8 vvm por 72 h a 28 ºC. Produção máxima de lasiodiplodana (9.53 g/L) foi verificada em 72 h. Foi obtido rendimento de 0.58 g/g em lasiodiplodana, rendimento em biomassa de 0.23 g/g, produtividade volumétrica em lasiodiplodana de 0.13 g/L.h e taxa de consumo de substrato de 0.23 g/L.h. Os resultados obtidos demonstraram que o L. theobromae MMPI apresentou elevada capacidade de produção de lasiodiplodana em fermentação submersa conduzida em biorreator de tanque de mistura. As condições de cultivo contribuíram tanto para a produção de lasiodiplodana como biomassa micelial

ASTRO Journals' Data Sharing Policy and Recommended Best Practices.

Transparency, openness, and reproducibility are important characteristics in scientific publishing. Although many researchers embrace these characteristics, data sharing has yet to become common practice. Nevertheless, data sharing is becoming an increasingly important topic among societies, publishers, researchers, patient advocates, and funders, especially as it pertains to data from clinical trials. In response, ASTRO developed a data policy and guide to best practices for authors submitting to its journals. ASTRO's data sharing policy is that authors should indicate, in data availability statements, if the data are being shared and if so, how the data may be accessed

Weed Seedbanks of the U.S. Corn Belt: Magnitude, Variation, Emergence, and Application

Seedbanks and seedling emergence of annual weeds were examined in arable fields at eight locations in the Corn Belt. Seed densities were estimated by direct seed extraction from each of several soil cores in each sampled plot. Average total seedbank densities ranged from 600 to 162 000 viable seed m⁻² among locations. Coefficients of variation (CV) typically exceeded 50%. CV for seed densities of individual species usually exceeded 100%, indicating strongly aggregated distributions. CV were lower for species with dense seed populations than those with sparse seed populations. Variance of total seedbank densities was unstable when \u3c 10 cores were examined per plot, but stabilized at all locations when ≥ 15 cores were analyzed, despite a 12-fold difference in plot size and 270-fold difference in seed density among locations. Percentage viable seed that emerged as seedlings in field plots ranged from \u3c 1% for yellow rocket to 30% for giant foxtail. Redroot pigweed and common lambsquarters were the most frequently encountered species. Emergence percentages of these species were related inversely to rainfall or air temperatures in April or May, presumably because anoxia and/or high temperatures induced secondary dormancy in nondormant seed. From 50 to 90% of total seed in the seedbank were dead. This information can be employed by bioeconomic weed management models, which currently use coarse estimates of emergence percentages to customize recommendations for weed control

Urbanisation as a risk indicator for complex psychiatric disorders and forced admissions

Background To determine both prevalence and complexity of psychiatric disorders in the Amsterdam area in relation to other major cities and less urbanized areas in the Netherlands, and to assess whether this is related to higher levels of (coercive) admissions. Methods These associations were explored in a nationwide epidemiological study and the national admission register, and in a local study of the Amsterdam region examining health care use patterns. Results The admission rate for the whole of the Netherlands was twice as high in the group of most highly urbanized municipalities as in the group of least urbanized municipalities. The urban/rural variations in admission rates in the Netherlands are reflected in true psychiatric morbidity rates. The authors found an urban/rural difference in total annual prevalence figures for psychiatric disorders in the population. The difference was also found for the separate disorders, mood disorders and substance-induced disorders, but not for anxiety disorders. Both prevalence and complexity of psychopathology in terms of comorbidity and severity were significantly higher in Amsterdam compared to other larger cities in the Netherlands, as were the number of coercive admissions. Conclusion There is evidence regarding a link between urbanisation, the development of complex psychiatric disorders and the number of (forced) admissions to PICU's [1]

Risk of criminal victimisation in outpatients with common mental health disorders

Crime victimisation is a serious problem in psychiatric patients. However, research has focused on patients with severe mental illness and few studies exist that address victimisation in other outpatient groups, such as patients with depression. Due to large differences in methodology of the studies that address crime victimisation, a comparison of prevalence between psychiatric diagnostic groups is hard to make. Objectives of this study were to determine and compare one-year prevalence of violent and non-violent criminal victimisation among outpatients from different diagnostic psychiatric groups and to examine prevalence differences with the general population.Criminal victimisation prevalence was measured in 300 outpatients living in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with outpatients with depressive disorder (n = 102), substance use disorder (SUD, n = 106) and severe mental illness (SMI, n = 92) using a National Crime Victimisation Survey, and compared with a matched general population sample (n = 10865).Of all outpatients, 61% reported experiencing some kind of victimisation over the past year; 33% reported violent victimisation (3.5 times more than the general population) and 36% reported property crimes (1.2 times more than the general population). Outpatients with depression (67%) and SUD (76%) were victimised more often than SMI outpatients (39%). Younger age and hostile behaviour were associated with violent victimisation, while being male and living alone were associated with non-violent victimisation. Moreover, SUD was associated with both violent and non-violent victimisation.Outpatients with depression, SUD, and SMI are at increased risk of victimisation compared to the general population. Furthermore, our results indicate that victimisation of violent and non-violent crimes is more common in outpatients with depression and SUD than in outpatients with SMI living independently in the community

Influence of nutrients on enhancing laccase production by Botryosphaeria rhodina MAMB-05

The physiological requirements needed to enhance the production of laccases by the ascomycete Botryosphaeria rhodina MAMB-05 in submerged cultivation were examined under non-induced and induced (veratryl alcohol, VA) conditions. Under non-induced conditions (–VA), the initial pH, C:N ratio, and inorganic N source did not influence laccase production, in contrast to Tween 80, soybean oil, and copper, which significantly increased laccase production, and proline and urea, which suppressed laccase formation. In addition, Tween 60 could serve as the sole carbon source for the production of these enzymes. Under VA-induced conditions of fungal growth, factors such as inoculum type, time-point of addition of inducer, initial pH, C:N ratio, and type of N source, influenced the production of laccases; however, unlike the non-induced conditions, proline and urea did not act as suppressors. Each of these physiological conditions exerted different effects on biomass production. The nutritional conditions examined for B. rhodina MAMB-05 are discussed in relation to their influence on fungal growth and laccase production. [Int Microbiol 2007; 10(3):177-185