Evaluation and comparison of tropical analyses during DST-5 and DST-6

Data systems tests were conducted to assess the adequacy of the global data base for numerical analysis and forecasting and in the process to determine the impact of meteorological satellite data. The results of these tests indicate that the satellite data impact is model and season dependent but definitely dependent on the method of data assimilation and the numerical model used to produce the analyses or initial conditions

Casting a wide net: use of diverse model organisms to advance toxicology

© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Hahn, M. E., & Sadler, K. C. Casting a wide net: use of diverse model organisms to advance toxicology. Disease Models & Mechanisms, 13, (2020): dmm.043844, doi: 10.1242/dmm.043844.Toxicology – the study of how chemicals interact with biological systems – has clear relevance to human health and disease. Persistent exposure to natural and synthetic chemicals is an unavoidable part of living on our planet; yet, we understand very little about the effects of exposure to the vast majority of chemicals. While epidemiological studies can provide strong statistical inference linking chemical exposure to disease, research in model systems is essential to elucidate the mechanisms of action and to predict outcomes. Most research in toxicology utilizes a handful of mammalian models that represent a few distinct branches of the evolutionary tree. This narrow focus constrains the understanding of chemical-induced disease processes and systems that have evolved in response to exposures. We advocate for casting a wider net in environmental toxicology research to utilize diverse model systems, including zebrafish, and perform more mechanistic studies of cellular responses to chemical exposures to shift the perception of toxicology as an applied science to that of a basic science. This more-inclusive perspective will enrich the field and should remain central to research on chemical-induced disease.K.C.S. acknowledges support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)(5R01AA018886). M.E.H. acknowledges support from the National Institute ofEnvironmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) through the Boston University SuperfundResearch Program (P42ES007381) and the Woods Hole Center for Oceans andHuman Health (NIEHS grant P01ES028938 and National Science Foundation grantOCE-1840381)

Controlling platinum, ruthenium, and osmium reactivity for anticancer drug design

The main task of the medicinal chemist is to design molecules that interact specifically with derailed or degenerating processes in a diseased organism, translating the available knowledge of pathobiochemical and physiological data into chemically useful information and structures. Current knowledge of the biological and chemical processes underlying diseases is vast and rapidly expanding. In particular the unraveling of the genome in combination with, for instance, the rapid development of structural biology has led to an explosion in available information and identification of new targets for chemotherapy. The task of translating this wealth of data into active and selective new drugs is an enormous, but realistic, challenge. It requires knowledge from many different fields, including molecular biology, chemistry, pharmacology, physiology, and medicine and as such requires a truly interdisciplinary approach. Ultimately, the goal is to design molecules that satisfy all the requirements for a candidate drug to function therapeutically. Therapeutic activity can then be achieved by an understanding of and control over structure and reactivity of the candidate drug through molecular manipulation

Green IT principles in Cypriot organizations.

It is not only due to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) that our planet faces such problems as unstable climate change and other environmental depredations. Nevertheless, ICT does have some impact - through the pollution caused by hardware manufacture and disposal and through lifetime energy consumption. ICT also has a positive role to play via such green technologies as cloud computing and digital distribution. In developed countries, with mature ICT infrastructures, there have been some substantial moves to apply green conservation principles, but in developing countries there is potentially a conflict between ‘catching up’ fast at any environmental cost or trying to implement more environmental methodologies and technologies from the start. Cyprus is a small developing nation with a steady economy, promising development prospects and a largely well-educated population. As such Cyprus seems like a good place to find out which way this conflict is likely to go. To explore this proposition, a pilot questionnaire, designed to discover the organizational awareness and application of a number of appropriate issues (for example, virtualization, e-waste management), was administered to IT personnel in a selection of Cypriot organizations of differing sizes and sectors. As a result a picture has been developed of how green a typical Cypriot organization might be. Subsequently, some guidelines were constructed to assist Cypriot or similar organizations to adopt environmentally-friendlier ICT practices

Achieving quality improvement through understanding and evaluating information systems development methodologies

Since the 70s literally hundreds of different methods and tools have appeared each claiming to ease the life of the developer and the user by achieving improved productivity without compromising the quality of the software artefact. These methodologies range from integrated collections of procedures to single technique, notations, 4GLs and tools for supporting the process at the various stages of the systems lifecycle [1, 2, 3, 4]. This paper discusses how an organisation wishing to improve their development practices embarks onto the time-consuming and expensive process of evaluation of methods and tools. The underlying complexity and application domain will themselves be decisive in the choice of methodology. The improvement process starts with the understanding phase. Here, we need to identify the important features of a methodology such as usability, portability, adaptability and functionality, and the nature of the problem(s) the methodology will apply to. We draw the distinction between problem, methodology (procedures, techniques) and tools and discuss their interrelationships [4, 7]. The evaluation phase starts with the specification of acceptance criteria and it involves the study of the features identified during the understanding phase against these criteria. Evaluations can be qualitative and quantitative

The global campus project: using e-learning to extend access to new polpulations of students.

The Global Campus (GC) project started in May 1999 between the School of Computing Science (SCS) of Middlesex University (MU) and the Regional Information Technology and Software Engineering Centre (RITSEC) in Cairo[1]. RITSEC were keen to further develop their collaboration with Middlesex University and it was decided to launch a complete MSc programme in Distance Learning (DL) mode. This was in line with the University strategy to expand its provision overseas to meet the vast demand for British higher education abroad by offering e-learning supported programmes to provide access to students who would otherwise be unable to benefit due to the prohibitive costs of studying in the UK. At the time there was a worldwide demand for IT/Computing academic qualifications offering good employment opportunities. Professor Mark Woodman, who joined the School from Open University, played a key role in specifying the pedagogy, determining the structure of the Web-based material and choosing the technology for delivering and implementing the e-learning programmes. During the course of the project, GC programmes were delivered to students at seven collaborative partner institutions located in five countries: China, Cyprus, Egypt, Hong Kong and Singapore. These programmes were part of the portfolio of the Business Information Systems (BIS) Academic group of the SCS and the same programmes were also delivered to students at our London campus. All programmes employed the same course management, assessment and quality control procedures so that all students had an equivalent learning experience. These procedures complied with the standards laid down by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) of the Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE). The paper is an attempt to analyse our experience once the project came to an end with the start of the Academic year 2007/8

Using e-Learning to extend access to new populations of students and reduce cost of programme delivery

This paper evaluates the Global Campus e-learning programmes offered by the School of Computing. The programmes are delivered to students at seven collaborative partner institutions located in China, Cyprus, Egypt, Hong Kong and Singapore. The same programmes are also delivered to students at our London campus. All programmes employ the same course management assessment and quality-control procedures so that all students ahave an equivalent learning experience. These procedures comply with the standards laid down by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) of the Higher Education Funding Council of of England (HEFCE). Recently a sustainability analysis was completed correlating programme income with staff salary costs for all programmes offered by the University. Using these figures we have been able to estimate the benefits of delivering the programmes with Global Campus e-learning materials in terms both of learning enhancement and cost reduction

Specification of high-level application programming interfaces (SemSorGrid4Env)

This document defines an Application Tier for the SemsorGrid4Env project. Within the Application Tier we distinguish between Web Applications - which provide a User Interface atop a more traditional Service Oriented Architecture - and Mashups which are driven by a REST API and a Resource Oriented Architecture. A pragmatic boundary is set to enable initial development of Web Applications and Mashups; as the project progresses an evaluation and comparison of the two paradigms may lead to a reassessment of where each can be applied within the project, with the experience gained providing a basis for general guidelines and best practice. Both Web Applications and Mashups are designed and delivered through an iterative user-centric process; requirements generated by the project case studies are a key element of this approach

Characterization of insertion sequence IS605 in halanaerobium hydrogeniformans

Insertion sequences are the smallest prokaryotic transposable elements. These genes play a significant evolutionary role by promoting genome plasticity. Insertion sequences are highly diverse elements that have largely been uncharacterized. As such, the ability to accurately identify, annotate, and infer genomic impact of insertion sequences is lacking. The study of new insertion sequences contributes knowledge to their annotation and evolution. Halanaerobium hydrogeniformans is a unique organism with an abnormally high number of insertion sequences. A family of insertion sequences, IS200/605, showed several interesting distinctions from other elements in the genome, including severe open reading frame degradation, and was characterized in detail. This research uses bioinformatics tools to present an in depth characterization of a single insertion sequence family in H. hydrogeniformans. From these results insertion sequence activity can be inferred, including transposition capability, element interaction, and insertion sequence evolution --Abstract, page iii