A Sucessful Academic Upgrading Programme Follow-up Over Five Semesters

This paper describes a programme which attempted to upgrade prospects of students entering Memorial University of Newfoundland Regional College in Corner Brook in September of 1976. The elements of the programme are described and results are presented which compare the academic performance of marginal students who parti- cipated in the programme with that of those marginal students who did not. The students were followed up for over a further four academic semesters and their academic results were compared at the end of each semester. The results demonstrate that except for a brief drop at the end of the second semester, the results of the students who participated in the programme were clearly superior to that of those in the com- parison groups for each of the other semesters. The factors associated with these differ- ences and their implications for further academic upgrading programmes are discussed.Cet article décrit un programme qui a comme but de revaloriser les perspectives d'avenir des étudiants admis à l'University Memorial de Newfoundland à Corner Brook en septem-bre 1976. Une comparaison du fonctionnement académique des étudiants marginaux qui ont participé à ce programme avec les étudiants qui n 'ont pas participé est présentée. Les étudiants ont été suivis pendant quatre semestres académiques et leurs résultats ont été comparés à la fin de chaque semestre. Les résultats démontrent, avec une seule exception d'une légère baisse à la fin du deuxième semestre, que ceux qui ont participé au programme avaient un fonctionnement académique supérieur à ceux des autres groupes de l'échantillonnage. Les facteurs associés à ces différences et les implications pour d'autres programmes similaires sont discutés

Obtaining New Insights for Biodiversity Conservation from Broad-Scale Citizen Science Data

Increasing public engagement in volunteer science1, either through data collection2 or processing3, is both raising public awareness of science and gathering useful information for scientists. While the payoffs of citizen science4 are potentially large, achieving them requires new approaches to data management and analysis that can only result from strong cross-disciplinary collaborations. This is especially true in ecology and conservation biology, where historically the understanding of species’ responses to environmental change has been constrained by the limited spatial5 or temporal scale6 of available data. Here we describe collaborative research in ecology, computer science, and statistics to generate essential information for conservation management of North American birds: accurate dynamic bird distributions models based on habitat associations across much of North America. Unique is our ability to describe the broad-scale dynamics of seasonal bird distributions and the associated seasonal patterns of habitat use. Our source of bird distribution data is eBird7, an online bird checklist program that currently gathers more than 74,000 checklists monthly from a large network of contributors. Our results were made possible through a data intensive scientific workflow8 that includes analytical methods merged from the fields of machine learning and statistics. We believe that this novel approach of data collection, synthesis, analysis, and visualization will serve as a hallmark for future research initiatives, with broad applicability across many scientific domains

Complement-Mediated Virus Infectivity Neutralisation by HLA Antibodies Is Associated with Sterilising Immunity to SIV Challenge in the Macaque Model for HIV/AIDS.

Sterilising immunity is a desired outcome for vaccination against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and has been observed in the macaque model using inactivated simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). This protection was attributed to antibodies specific for cell proteins including human leucocyte antigens (HLA) class I and II incorporated into virions during vaccine and challenge virus preparation. We show here, using HLA bead arrays, that vaccinated macaques protected from virus challenge had higher serum antibody reactivity compared with non-protected animals. Moreover, reactivity was shown to be directed against HLA framework determinants. Previous studies failed to correlate serum antibody mediated virus neutralisation with protection and were confounded by cytotoxic effects. Using a virus entry assay based on TZM-bl cells we now report that, in the presence of complement, serum antibody titres that neutralise virus infectivity were higher in protected animals. We propose that complement-augmented virus neutralisation is a key factor in inducing sterilising immunity and may be difficult to achieve with HIV/SIV Env-based vaccines. Understanding how to overcome the apparent block of inactivated SIV vaccines to elicit anti-envelope protein antibodies that effectively engage the complement system could enable novel anti-HIV antibody vaccines that induce potent, virolytic serological response to be developed

Clinical Implementation of Chromosomal Microarray Analysis: Summary of 2513 Postnatal Cases

BACKGROUND: Array Comparative Genomic Hybridization (a-CGH) is a powerful molecular cytogenetic tool to detect genomic imbalances and study disease mechanism and pathogenesis. We report our experience with the clinical implementation of this high resolution human genome analysis, referred to as Chromosomal Microarray Analysis (CMA). METHODS AND FINDINGS: CMA was performed clinically on 2513 postnatal samples from patients referred with a variety of clinical phenotypes. The initial 775 samples were studied using CMA array version 4 and the remaining 1738 samples were analyzed with CMA version 5 containing expanded genomic coverage. Overall, CMA identified clinically relevant genomic imbalances in 8.5% of patients: 7.6% using V4 and 8.9% using V5. Among 117 cases referred for additional investigation of a known cytogenetically detectable rearrangement, CMA identified the majority (92.5%) of the genomic imbalances. Importantly, abnormal CMA findings were observed in 5.2% of patients (98/1872) with normal karyotypes/FISH results, and V5, with expanded genomic coverage, enabled a higher detection rate in this category than V4. For cases without cytogenetic results available, 8.0% (42/524) abnormal CMA results were detected; again, V5 demonstrated an increased ability to detect abnormality. Improved diagnostic potential of CMA is illustrated by 90 cases identified with 51 cryptic microdeletions and 39 predicted apparent reciprocal microduplications in 13 specific chromosomal regions associated with 11 known genomic disorders. In addition, CMA identified copy number variations (CNVs) of uncertain significance in 262 probands; however, parental studies usually facilitated clinical interpretation. Of these, 217 were interpreted as familial variants and 11 were determined to be de novo; the remaining 34 await parental studies to resolve the clinical significance. CONCLUSIONS: This large set of clinical results demonstrates the significantly improved sensitivity of CMA for the detection of clinically relevant genomic imbalances and highlights the need for comprehensive genetic counseling to facilitate accurate clinical correlation and interpretation

Dual inhibition of glycolysis and glutaminolysis as a therapeutic strategy in the treatment of ovarian cancer

Cancer cell metabolism is required to support the biosynthetic demands of cell growth and cell division, and to maintain reduction oxidaton (redox) homeostasis. This study was designed to test the effects of glucose and glutamine on ovarian cancer cell growth and explore the inter-relationship between glycolysis and glutaminolysis. The SKOV3, IGROV-1 and Hey ovarian cancer cell lines were assayed for glucose, pyruvate and glutamine dependence by analyzing cytotoxicity, cell cycle progression, apoptosis and ATP production. As determined by MTT assay, glucose stimulated cell growth while the combination of glucose, glutamine and pyruvate resulted in the greatest stimulation of cell proliferation. Furthermore, 2-deoxy-glucose (2-DG) and 3-bromopyruvate (3-BP) induced apoptosis, caused G1 phase cell cycle arrest and reduced glycolytic activity. Moreover, 2-DG in combination with a low dose of aminooxyacetate (AOA) synergistically increased the sensitivity to 2-DG in the inhibition of cell growth in the ovarian cancer cell lines. These studies suggest that dual inhibition of glycolysis and glutaminolysis may be a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of ovarian cancer

Eastern Oregon liming guide

Liming is a new practice for the inland Pacific Northwest, necessitated by soil acidification caused by nitrogen fertilization. This publication provides guidance on how to evaluate cropping systems for lime need and how to determine lime application rate.Published May 2013. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalogKeywords: lime application, soil acidification, lime, eastern Oregon crop production, soil p

Multi-site genetic analysis of diffusion images and voxelwise heritability analysis : a pilot project of the ENIGMA–DTI working group

The ENIGMA (Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis) Consortium was set up to analyze brain measures and genotypes from multiple sites across the world to improve the power to detect genetic variants that influence the brain. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) yields quantitative measures sensitive to brain development and degeneration, and some common genetic variants may be associated with white matter integrity or connectivity. DTI measures, such as the fractional anisotropy (FA) of water diffusion, may be useful for identifying genetic variants that influence brain microstructure. However, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) require large populations to obtain sufficient power to detect and replicate significant effects, motivating a multi-site consortium effort. As part of an ENIGMA–DTI working group, we analyzed high-resolution FA images from multiple imaging sites across North America, Australia, and Europe, to address the challenge of harmonizing imaging data collected at multiple sites. Four hundred images of healthy adults aged 18–85 from four sites were used to create a template and corresponding skeletonized FA image as a common reference space. Using twin and pedigree samples of different ethnicities, we used our common template to evaluate the heritability of tract-derived FA measures. We show that our template is reliable for integrating multiple datasets by combining results through meta-analysis and unifying the data through exploratory mega-analyses. Our results may help prioritize regions of the FA map that are consistently influenced by additive genetic factors for future genetic discovery studies. Protocols and templates are publicly available at (http://enigma.loni.ucla.edu/ongoing/dti-working-group/)

The Victorian Newsletter (Spring 1972)

The Victorian Newsletter is edited for the English X Group of the Modern Language Association by William E. Buckler, New York University, Washington Square, New York, N.Y. 10003Mrs. Gamp as the Great Mother: A Dickensian Use of the Archetype / Veronica M. S. Kennedy -- Rossetti's Changing Style: The Revisions of "My Sister's Sleep" / Herbert Sussman -- The Sketch of the Three Masks in Romola / W. J. Sullivan -- Tory-Radicalism and "The Two Nations" in Disraeli's Sybil / Patrick Brantlinger -- Two Notes on Religion in David Copperfield / E. Pearlman -- In Memoriam and The Excursion: A Matter of Comparison / Stuart F. C. Niermeier -- Past or Future Mindscapes: Pictures in Jane Eyre / M. B. McLaughlin -- The Midsummer Eves of Shakespeare and Christina Rossetti / Warren Herendeen -- A Victorian "Modest Proposal" / Charles T. Dougherty -- Recent Publications: A Selected List / Arthur F. Minerof -- English X New