CBSE: an implementation case study

Over the last couple of years, the shift towards component based software engineering (CBSE) methods has become a cost effective way to get an application to implementation stage much earKer. Adoption of Component Based Development methods acknowledges the use of third party components wherever possible to reduce the cost of software development, shorten the development phase and provide a richer set of processing options for the end user. The use of these tools is particularly relevant in Web based applications, where commercial off the shelf (COTS) products are so prevalent. However, there are a number of risks associated with the use of component based development methods. This thesis investigates these risks within the context of a software engineering project and attempts to provide a means to minimise and or at least manage the risk potential when using component based development method

New partnerships for co-delivery of the 2030 agenda for sustainable development

Partnerships have become a corner stone of contemporary research that recognizes working across disciplines and co-production with intended users as essential to enabling sustainable resilience-building. Furthermore, research that addresses sustainable development challenges brings an urgent need to reflect on the ways that partnerships are supported, and for the disaster risk management and resilience communities, efforts to support realization of the wider 2030 Agenda for sustainable development bring particular pressures. In November 2019, the UK Disasters Research Group (DRG) brought together a number of key stakeholders focused on disaster risk, resilience, and sustainability research relevant to Official Development Assistance to consider how fit for purpose existing partnership models are for the pace of change required to deliver the priorities of the wider 2030 Agenda. Participants were invited to discuss how research partnerships across three levels (individual and project-based; national and institutional; and international) could be improved based on elements that facilitate robust partnerships and learning from aspects that hinder them. From the discussions, participants emphasized the importance of effective communication mechanisms in building partnerships, co-designing projects, and establishing shared objectives. Enhanced approaches to addressing equitable partnerships and funding more substantive timelines will be key to responding to the challenges of the 2030 Agenda

The molecular products and biogeochemical significance of lipid photooxidation in West Antarctic surface waters

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2018. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here under a nonexclusive, irrevocable, paid-up, worldwide license granted to WHOI. It is made available for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 232 (2018): 244-264, doi:10.1016/j.gca.2018.04.030.The seasonal depletion of stratospheric ozone over the Southern Hemisphere allows abnormally high doses of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) to reach surface waters of the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) in the austral spring, creating a natural laboratory for the study of lipid photooxidation in the shallow mixed layer of the marginal ice zone. The photooxidation of lipids under such conditions has been identified as a significant source of stress to microorganisms, and short-chain fatty acids altered by photochemical processes have been found in both marine aerosols and sinking marine particle material. However, the biogeochemical impact of lipid photooxidation has not been quantitatively compared at ecosystem scale to the many other biological and abiotic processes that can transform particulate organic matter in the surface ocean. We combined results from field experiments with diverse environmental data, including high-resolution, accurate-mass HPLC-ESI-MS analysis of lipid extracts and in situ measurements of ultraviolet irradiance, to address several unresolved questions about lipid photooxidation in the marine environment. In our experiments, we used liposomes — nonliving, cell-like aggregations of lipids — to examine the photolability of various moieties of the intact polar diacylglycerol (IP-DAG) phosphatidylcholine (PC), a structural component of membranes in a broad range of microorganisms. We observed significant rates of photooxidation only when the molecule contained the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). As the DHA-containing lipid was oxidized, we observed the steady ingrowth of a diversity of oxylipins and oxidized IP-DAG; our results suggest both the intact IPDAG the degradation products were amenable to heterotrophic assimilation. To complement our experiments, we used an enhanced version of a new lipidomics discovery software package to identify the lipids in water column samples and in several diatom isolates. The galactolipid digalactosyldiacylglycerol (DGDG), the sulfolipid sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol (SQDG) and the phospholipids PC and phosphatidylglycerol (PG) accounted for the majority of IP-DAG in the water column particulate (≥ 0.2 μm) size fraction; between 3.4 and 5.3 % of the IP-DAG contained fatty acids that were both highly polyunsaturated (i.e., each containing ≥ 5 double bonds). Using a broadband apparent quantum yield (AQY) that accounted for direct and Type I (i.e., radical-mediated) photooxidation of PUFA-containing IP-DAG, we estimated that 0.7 ± 0.2 μmol IP-DAG m-2 d-1 (0.5 ± 0.1 mg C m-2 d-1) were oxidized by photochemical processes in the mixed layer. This rate represented 4.4 % (range, 3-21 %) of the mean bacterial production rate measured in the same waters immediately following the retreat of the sea ice. Because our liposome experiments were not designed to account for oxidation by Type II photosensitized processes that often dominate in marine phytodetritus, our rate estimates may represent a sizeable underestimate of the true rate of lipid photooxidation in the water column. While production of such diverse oxidized lipids and oxylipins has been previously observed in terrestrial plants and mammals in response to biological stressors such as disease, we show here that a similar suite of molecules can be produced via an abiotic process in the environment and that the effect can be commensurate in magnitude with other ecosystem-scale biogeochemical processes.J.R.C. acknowledges support from a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) STAR Graduate Fellowship (Fellowship Assistance agreement FP-91744301-0). This work was also supported by U.S. National Science Foundation awards OCE-1059884 and PLR-1543328 to B.A.S.V.M., NSF award PLR- 1341479 to A. M., the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation through grant GBMF3301 to B.A.S.V.M., and a WHOI Ocean Ventures Fund award to J.R.C

The Vehicle, Spring 2013

Vol. 54, Issue 1 Table of Contents About Face!: A Confederacy of ClichesKaren Neuberg page 8 HopeJames Coxpage 9 IN or OUTTaryn DeVriespage 12 The Imagination of a ChildMaxwell Collinspage 16 How Free to be a TreeLeann Kirchnerpage 18 CrowsValentina Canopage 19 Old West PhotosFred Pollackpage 20 Lava LampFred Pollackpage 21 Mort MotGerry Mark Nortonpage 23 If ILaura Adrianpage 24 Finding my MonkeyDavid Lewitzkypage 25 Slow DragDavid Lewitzkypage 26 Political ScienceElizabeth Marlowpage 27 ...Were Punctuated By...Elizabeth Marlowpage 28 St. E Pt 1Elizabeth Marlowpage 29 The Steamboat CaptainElizabeth Marlowpage 30 Pretty EyesRyan Sheapage 31 The World is RoundRyan Sheapage 32 End SongsJason Graffpage 33 The Sensitive Youth Grows UpRichard King Perkins IIpage 41 Colors and LightKyle Owenspage 42 RE-TARDKarlyn Thayerpage 44 Where Is Waldo?Riley Parishpage 57 Beneath Shifting SoundsHolly Daypage 58 Talking Shop with Mike Kardospage 60 Winnie Davis Neely Award winner: Paper CutsGregory Robert Petersonpage 68 Paper-Mache PoetryGregory Robert Petersonpage 69 James K. Johnson Award winners: ValveChristopher Robinsonpage 72 Dear MotherEliot Thompsonpage 76 Why Are There Bars on the WindowsEliot Thompsonpage 77 To Be a ScholarEliot Thompsonpage 79 OccidentalEliot Thompsonpage 80 Falling is for the ClumsyEliot Thompsonpage 81 Scary MonstersC. David Banyaipage 83 I Called My Grandmother DollyRashelle Spearpage 90 Tender FleshH R Greenpage 92 Faking ItShelby Koehnepage 95 Contributor\u27s notespage 101https://thekeep.eiu.edu/vehicle/1095/thumbnail.jp

The environmental costs and benefits of high-yield farming

How we manage farming and food systems to meet rising demand is pivotal to the future of biodiversity. Extensive field data suggest impacts on wild populations would be greatly reduced through boosting yields on existing farmland so as to spare remaining natural habitats. High-yield farming raises other concerns because expressed per unit area it can generate high levels of externalities such as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and nutrient losses. However, such metrics underestimate the overall impacts of lower-yield systems, so here we develop a framework that instead compares externality and land costs per unit production. Applying this to diverse datasets describing the externalities of four major farm sectors reveals that, rather than involving trade-offs, the externality and land costs of alternative production systems can co-vary positively: per unit production, land-efficient systems often produce lower externalities. For GHG emissions these associations become more strongly positive once forgone sequestration is included. Our conclusions are limited: remarkably few studies report externalities alongside yields; many important externalities and farming systems are inadequately measured; and realising the environmental benefits of high-yield systems typically requires additional measures to limit farmland expansion. Yet our results nevertheless suggest that trade-offs among key cost metrics are not as ubiquitous as sometimes perceived. There is an author correction to this article. See: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0138-5We are grateful for funding from the Cambridge Conservation Initiative Collaborative Fund and Arcadia, the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, the Kenneth Miller Trust the UK-China Virtual Joint Centre for Agricultural Nitrogen (CINAg, 780 BB/N013468/1, financed by the Newton Fund via BBSRC and NERC), BBSRC (BBS/E/C/000I0330), DEVIL (NE/M021327/1), U-GRASS (NE/M016900/1), Soils-R-GRREAT (NE/P019455/1), N-Circle (BB/N013484/1), BBSRC Soil to Nutrition (S2N) strategic programme (BBS/E/C/000I0330), UNAM-PAPIIT (IV200715), the Belmont Forum/FACEE-JPI (NE/M021327/1 ‘DEVIL’), and the Cambridge Earth System Science NERC DTP (NE/L002507/1); AB is supported by a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit award

The Vehicle, Spring 2013

Vol. 54, Issue 1 Table of Contents About Face!: A Confederacy of ClichesKaren Neuberg page 8 HopeJames Coxpage 9 IN or OUTTaryn DeVriespage 12 The Imagination of a ChildMaxwell Collinspage 16 How Free to be a TreeLeann Kirchnerpage 18 CrowsValentina Canopage 19 Old West PhotosFred Pollackpage 20 Lava LampFred Pollackpage 21 Mort MotGerry Mark Nortonpage 23 If ILaura Adrianpage 24 Finding my MonkeyDavid Lewitzkypage 25 Slow DragDavid Lewitzkypage 26 Political ScienceElizabeth Marlowpage 27 ...Were Punctuated By...Elizabeth Marlowpage 28 St. E Pt 1Elizabeth Marlowpage 29 The Steamboat CaptainElizabeth Marlowpage 30 Pretty EyesRyan Sheapage 31 The World is RoundRyan Sheapage 32 End SongsJason Graffpage 33 The Sensitive Youth Grows UpRichard King Perkins IIpage 41 Colors and LightKyle Owenspage 42 RE-TARDKarlyn Thayerpage 44 Where Is Waldo?Riley Parishpage 57 Beneath Shifting SoundsHolly Daypage 58 Talking Shop with Mike Kardospage 60 Winnie Davis Neely Award winner: Paper CutsGregory Robert Petersonpage 68 Paper-Mache PoetryGregory Robert Petersonpage 69 James K. Johnson Award winners: ValveChristopher Robinsonpage 72 Dear MotherEliot Thompsonpage 76 Why Are There Bars on the WindowsEliot Thompsonpage 77 To Be a ScholarEliot Thompsonpage 79 OccidentalEliot Thompsonpage 80 Falling is for the ClumsyEliot Thompsonpage 81 Scary MonstersC. David Banyaipage 83 I Called My Grandmother DollyRashelle Spearpage 90 Tender FleshH R Greenpage 92 Faking ItShelby Koehnepage 95 Contributor\u27s notespage 101https://thekeep.eiu.edu/vehicle/1095/thumbnail.jp

A Comparison of Four Treatments for Generalized Convulsive Status Epilepticus

ABSTRACT Background and Methods Although generalized convulsive status epilepticus is a life-threatening emergency, the best initial drug treatment is uncertain. We conducted a five-year randomized, doubleblind, multicenter trial of four intravenous regimens: diazepam (0.15 mg per kilogram of body weight) followed by phenytoin (18 mg per kilogram), lorazepam (0.1 mg per kilogram), phenobarbital (15 mg per kilogram), and phenytoin (18 mg per kilogram). Patients were classified as having either overt generalized status epilepticus (defined as easily visible generalized convulsions) or subtle status epilepticus (indicated by coma and ictal discharges on the electroencephalogram, with or without subtle convulsive movements such as rhythmic muscle twitches or tonic eye deviation). Treatment was considered successful when all motor and electroencephalographic seizure activity ceased within 20 minutes after the beginning of the drug infusion and there was no return of seizure activity during the next 40 minutes. Analyses were performed with data on only the 518 patients with verified generalized convulsive status epilepticus as well as with data on all 570 patients who were enrolled. Results Three hundred eighty-four patients had a verified diagnosis of overt generalized convulsive status epilepticus. In this group, lorazepam was successful in 64.9 percent of those assigned to receive it, phenobarbital in 58.2 percent, diazepam and phenytoin in 55.8 percent, and phenytoin in 43.6 percent (P=0.02 for the overall comparison among the four groups). Lorazepam was significantly superior to phenytoin in a pairwise comparison (P=0.002). Among the 134 patients with a verified diagnosis of subtle generalized convulsive status epilepticus, no significant differences among the treatments were detected (range of success rates, 7.7 to 24.2 percent). In an intention-to-treat analysis, the differences among treatment groups were not significant, either among the patients with overt status epilepticus (P=0.12) or among those with subtle status epilepticus (P=0.91). There were no differences among the treatments with respect to recurrence during the 12- hour study period, the incidence of adverse reactions, or the outcome at 30 days. Conclusions As initial intravenous treatment for overt generalized convulsive status epilepticus, lorazepam is more effective than phenytoin. Although lorazepam is no more efficacious than phenobarbital or diazepam and phenytoin, it is easier to use. (N Engl J Med 1998;339:792-8.

The Astropy Problem

The Astropy Project (http://astropy.org) is, in its own words, "a community effort to develop a single core package for Astronomy in Python and foster interoperability between Python astronomy packages." For five years this project has been managed, written, and operated as a grassroots, self-organized, almost entirely volunteer effort while the software is used by the majority of the astronomical community. Despite this, the project has always been and remains to this day effectively unfunded. Further, contributors receive little or no formal recognition for creating and supporting what is now critical software. This paper explores the problem in detail, outlines possible solutions to correct this, and presents a few suggestions on how to address the sustainability of general purpose astronomical software

Factors associated with pastoral community knowledge and occurrence of mycobacterial infections in human-animal interface areas of Nakasongola and Mubende districts, Uganda

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are emerging opportunistic pathogens whose role in human and animal disease is increasingly being recognized. Major concerns are their role as opportunistic pathogens in HIV/AIDS infections. The role of open natural water sources as source and livestock/wildlife as reservoirs of infections to man are well documented. This presents a health challenge to the pastoral systems in Africa that rely mostly on open natural water sources to meet livestock and human needs. Recent study in the pastoral areas of Uganda showed infections with same genotypes of NTM in pastoralists and their livestock. The aim of this study was to determine the environmental, animal husbandry and socio-demographic factors associated with occurrence and the pastoral community knowledge of mycobacterial infections at the human-environment-livestock/wildlife interface (HELI) areas in pastoral ecosystems of Uganda.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Two hundred and fifty three (253) individuals were subjected to a questionnaire survey across the study districts of Nakasongola and Mubende. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Humans sharing of the water sources with wild animals from the forest compared to savannah ecosystem (OR = 3.3), the tribe of herding pastoral community (OR = 7.9), number of rooms present in household (3-5 vs. 1-2 rooms) (OR = 3.3) were the socio-demographic factors that influenced the level of knowledge on mycobacterial infections among the pastoral communities. Tribe (OR = 6.4), use of spring vs. stream water for domestic use (OR = 4.5), presence of sediments in household water receptacle (OR = 2.32), non separation of water containers for drinking and domestic use (OR = 2.46), sharing of drinking water sources with wild animals (OR = 2.1), duration of involvement of >5 yrs in cattle keeping (OR = 3.7) and distance of household to animal night shelters (>20 meters) (OR = 3.8) were significant socio-demographic factors associated with the risk of occurrence of mycobacterioses among the pastoral communities in Uganda.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The socio-demographic, environmental and household related factors influence the risk of occurrence as well as pastoralists' knowledge of mycobacterial infections in the pastoral households at the human-environment-livestock/wildlife pastoral interface areas of Uganda.</p

Network structure and transcriptomic vulnerability shape atrophy in frontotemporal dementia

Connections among brain regions allow pathological perturbations to spread from a single source region to multiple regions. Patterns of neurodegeneration in multiple diseases, including behavioural variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), resemble the large-scale functional systems, but how bvFTD-related atrophy patterns relate to structural network organization remains unknown. Here we investigate whether neurodegeneration patterns in sporadic and genetic bvFTD are conditioned by connectome architecture. Regional atrophy patterns were estimated in both genetic bvFTD (75 patients, 247 controls) and sporadic bvFTD (70 patients, 123 controls). First, we identified distributed atrophy patterns in bvFTD, mainly targeting areas associated with the limbic intrinsic network and insular cytoarchitectonic class. Regional atrophy was significantly correlated with atrophy of structurally- and functionally-connected neighbours, demonstrating that network structure shapes atrophy patterns. The anterior insula was identified as the predominant group epicentre of brain atrophy using data-driven and simulation-based methods, with some secondary regions in frontal ventromedial and antero-medial temporal areas. We found that FTD-related genes, namely C9orf72 and TARDBP, confer local transcriptomic vulnerability to the disease, modulating the propagation of pathology through the connectome. Collectively, our results demonstrate that atrophy patterns in sporadic and genetic bvFTD are jointly shaped by global connectome architecture and local transcriptomic vulnerability, providing an explanation as to how heterogenous pathological entities can lead to the same clinical syndrome.</p