Computer-based facility scheduling

Imperial Users onl

Reconceptualizing Archives and Scholarly Editions

Waters's paper given November 8, 2008, at the Forum on Academic Publishing in the Humanities

The emerging digital infrastructure for research in the humanities

This article advances the thesis that three decades of investments by national and international funders, combined with those of scholars, technologists, librarians, archivists, and their institutions, have resulted in a digital infrastructure in the humanities that is now capable of supporting end-to-end research workflows. The article refers to key developments in the epigraphy and paleography of the premodern period. It draws primarily on work in classical studies but also highlights related work in the adjacent disciplines of Egyptology, ancient Near East studies, and medieval studies. The argument makes a case that much has been achieved but it does not declare “mission accomplished.” The capabilities of the infrastructure remain unevenly distributed within and across disciplines, institutions, and regions. Moreover, the components, including the links between steps in the workflow, are generally far from user-friendly and seamless in operation. Because further refinements and additional capacities are still much needed, the article concludes with a discussion of key priorities for future work

New Discoveries on Protein Recruitment and Regulation during the Early Stages of the DNA Damage Response Pathways

Maintaining genomic stability and properly repairing damaged DNA is essential to staying healthy and preserving cellular homeostasis. The five major pathways involved in repairing eukaryotic DNA include base excision repair (BER), nucleotide excision repair (NER), mismatch repair (MMR), non-homologous end joining (NHEJ), and homologous recombination (HR). When these pathways do not properly repair damaged DNA, genomic stability is compromised and can contribute to diseases such as cancer. It is essential that the causes of DNA damage and the consequent repair pathways are fully understood, yet the initial recruitment and regulation of DNA damage response proteins remains unclear. In this review, the causes of DNA damage, the various mechanisms of DNA damage repair, and the current research regarding the early steps of each major pathway were investigated. © 2024 by the authors

Investigating intra-host and intra-herd sequence diversity of foot-and-mouth disease virus

Due to the poor-fidelity of the enzymes involved in RNA genome replication, foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus samples comprise of unique polymorphic populations. In this study, deep sequencing was utilised to characterise the diversity of FMD virus (FMDV) populations in 6 infected cattle present on a single farm during the series of outbreaks in the UK in 2007. A novel RT–PCR method was developed to amplify a 7.6 kb nucleotide fragment encompassing the polyprotein coding region of the FMDV genome. Illumina sequencing of each sample identified the fine polymorphic structures at each nucleotide position, from consensus level changes to variants present at a 0.24% frequency. These data were used to investigate population dynamics of FMDV at both herd and host levels, evaluate the impact of host on the viral swarm structure and to identify transmission links with viruses recovered from other farms in the same series of outbreaks. In 7 samples, from 6 different animals, a total of 5 consensus level variants were identified, in addition to 104 sub-consensus variants of which 22 were shared between 2 or more animals. Further analysis revealed differences in swarm structures from samples derived from the same animal suggesting the presence of distinct viral populations evolving independently at different lesion sites within the same infected animal

Aetiology of community-acquired neonatal sepsis in low and middle income countries

99% of the approximate 1 million annual neonatal deaths from life-threatening invasive bacterial infections occur in developing countries, at least 50% of which are from home births or community settings. Data concerning aetiology of sepsis in these settings are necessary to inform targeted therapy and devise management guidelines. This review describes and analyses the bacterial aetiology of community-acquired neonatal sepsis in developing countries

Antigen-Specific B Cell Responses of Vaccinated, Neonatal Calves

The immune response of newborn calves to early vaccination is often variable and frequently characterized by marginal or nonexistent antibody responses. The B cell subpopulation of immune cells is pivotal in the production of antibody and has not been characterized completely in the newborn calf. Results from this research describe the composition and antigen-specific responses of B cell populations in preruminant calves vaccinated at an early age. Although preliminary, these data indicate that the responsiveness of B cell population in young calves is dependent on the nature of the vaccine and less on animal maturity. This research provides important new information regarding the immune responsiveness of the neonatal calf to vaccination

High-Growth Rate Fails to Enhance Adaptive Immune Responses in Neonatal Calves and Decreases Immune Cell Viability

The objective of the current study was to investigate the effects of different feeding rates achieving three targeted growth rates (No Growth, Low Growth, and High Growth) on adaptive immune responses of neonatal calves vaccinated with Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) and ovalbumin (OVA) 3 wks after initiation of dietary treatments. The daily growth rates for No-, Low-, and High-growth calves were different throughout the experimental period and averaged 0.11 ± 0.02 kg, 0.58 ± .02, and 1.16 ± 0.04 kg, respectively. Adaptive immune responses generally were not affected by growth rate. Ovalbumin-specific IgG1 and IgG2 concentrations after vaccination were not affected by growth rate. Interferon (IFN)-γ and nitric oxide (NO) secretion by PPD-stimulated mononuclear leukocytes (MNL) also were not affected by growth rate. Antigen (i.e., PPD)-elicited delayed-type hypersensitivity in No-growth calves was greater than Lowgrowth but similar to High-growth calves. Viability of MNL, CD4+, CD8+, and γδTCR+ cells in stimulated and non-stimulated cultures from High-growth calves was substantially lower compared with No- and Low-growth calves. These results suggest protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) in the absence of weight loss does not affect negatively adaptive immune responses of calves and that increasing growth rate or plane of nutrition above maintenance requirements does not benefit adaptive immune responses. High rates of growth, however, may affect negatively immune cell viability, with potentially deleterious effects on the calf’s resistance to infectious disease

Developing proactive communication strategies for a potential pandemic

Communication through the Australian media during a potential avian influenza epidemic could act to inform the public OR misinform, contributing to unnecessary public panic and undesirable responses. This project is part of ongoing research to assess Australians’ knowledge and perceptions of bird flu which will allow the development of public service advertising messages for use by the Australian government in the event of a bird flu outbreak or pandemic. Focus group and CATI survey results on bird flu perceptions were used by an Australian advertising agency to prepare two campaign concepts. The concepts (story boards and print ads) were tested using focus groups by two independent market research companies in July 2006. This paper reports on the results of the ad-testing, and provides recommendations for the development and refinement of a public communication campaign to minimise public panic during a bird flu outbreak or pandemic in Australia