The Immigration Advocates Network: An Online Collaboration led by Pro Bono Net Provides Immigration - Related Resources

This is the story of how coalitions of organizations with a shared goal can collaborate online to provide learning and information resources that alone, they might never be able to offer. Pro Bono Net's Immigration Advocates Network, profiled here, is still a work in progress but one with quantifiable results in the present and great promise for the future

Creating a New Vision of the Urban High School

Provides an assessment of current school structure and explores the rational for changing the design of public education. Looks at recent efforts to organize and fund urban schools, in search of a solution to the problem of high school obsolescence

Comparison of male and female college students' interpretations of physical characteristics, socioeconomic status, and personality traits evoked by selected women's fashions

The purposes of this study were to ascertain whether individuals ascribe physical characteristics, socioeconomic status, and personality traits to perceived persons based on clothing worn and whether significant differences occur between males and females in terms of the number and types of comments evoked by clothing. The randomly selected respondents were 25 male and 25 female undergraduate students. Comments made by respondents relative to four selected women's dress designs were analyzed using a Type I analysis of variance (Lindquist, 1956). Hypotheses 1(A), 2(A), and 3(A) were confirmed based on the fact that the dress designs did evoke comments pertaining to the response categories of physical characteristics, socioeconomic status, and personality traits of individuals who would wear the designs. Data were significant at the .01 level confirming hypotheses 1(B), 2(B), and 3(B) that the four designs would evoke different numbers of comments for the response categories. Hypothesis 4, that differences would exist between male and female respondents in terms of total numbers of comments evoked within a response category, was not confirmed. Hypothesis 5 was partially confirmed based on the fact that significant interaction between sex and design was found to occur in the category of physical characteristics

A Toolkit for bulk PCR-based marker design from next-generation sequence data: application for development of a framework linkage map in bulb onion (Allium cepa L.)

BACKGROUND: Although modern sequencing technologies permit the ready detection of numerous DNA sequence variants in any organisms, converting such information to PCR-based genetic markers is hampered by a lack of simple, scalable tools. Onion is an example of an under-researched crop with a complex, heterozygous genome where genome-based research has previously been hindered by limited sequence resources and genetic markers. RESULTS: We report the development of generic tools for large-scale web-based PCR-based marker design in the Galaxy bioinformatics framework, and their application for development of next-generation genetics resources in a wide cross of bulb onion (Allium cepa L.). Transcriptome sequence resources were developed for the homozygous doubled-haploid bulb onion line ‘CUDH2150’ and the genetically distant Indian landrace ‘Nasik Red’, using 454™ sequencing of normalised cDNA libraries of leaf and shoot. Read mapping of ‘Nasik Red’ reads onto ‘CUDH2150’ assemblies revealed 16836 indel and SNP polymorphisms that were mined for portable PCR-based marker development. Tools for detection of restriction polymorphisms and primer set design were developed in BioPython and adapted for use in the Galaxy workflow environment, enabling large-scale and targeted assay design. Using PCR-based markers designed with these tools, a framework genetic linkage map of over 800cM spanning all chromosomes was developed in a subset of 93 F(2) progeny from a very large F(2) family developed from the ‘Nasik Red’ x ‘CUDH2150’ inter-cross. The utility of tools and genetic resources developed was tested by designing markers to transcription factor-like polymorphic sequences. Bin mapping these markers using a subset of 10 progeny confirmed the ability to place markers within 10 cM bins, enabling increased efficiency in marker assignment and targeted map refinement. The major genetic loci conditioning red bulb colour (R) and fructan content (Frc) were located on this map by QTL analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The generic tools developed for the Galaxy environment enable rapid development of sets of PCR assays targeting sequence variants identified from Illumina and 454 sequence data. They enable non-specialist users to validate and exploit large volumes of next-generation sequence data using basic equipment

AlliumMap-A comparative genomics resource for cultivated Allium vegetables

Background: Vegetables of the genus Allium are widely consumed but remain poorly understood genetically. Genetic mapping has been conducted in intraspecific crosses of onion (Allium cepa L.), A. fistulosum and interspecific crosses between A. roylei and these two species, but it has not been possible to access genetic maps and underlying data from these studies easily. Description: An online comparative genomics database, AlliumMap, has been developed based on the GMOD CMap tool at http://alliumgenetics.org. It has been populated with curated data linking genetic maps with underlying markers and sequence data from multiple studies. It includes data from multiple onion mapping populations as well as the most closely related species A. roylei and A. fistulosum. Further onion EST-derived markers were evaluated in the A. cepa x A. roylei interspecific population, enabling merging of the AFLP-based maps. In addition, data concerning markers assigned in multiple studies to the Allium physical map using A. cepa-A. fistulosum alien monosomic addition lines have been compiled. The compiled data reveal extensive synteny between onion and A. fistulosum. Conclusions: The database provides the first online resource providing genetic map and marker data from multiple Allium species and populations. The additional markers placed on the interspecific Allium map confirm the value of A. roylei as a valuable bridge between the genetics of onion and A. fistulosum and as a means to conduct efficient mapping of expressed sequence markers in Allium. The data presented suggest that comparative approaches will be valuable for genetic and genomic studies of onion and A. fistulosum. This online resource will provide a valuable means to integrate genetic and sequence-based explorations of Allium genomes

From cereus to anthrax and back again : the role of the PlcR regulator in the “cross-over” strain Bacillus cereus G9241

The plcR gene, which encodes the pleiotropic transcriptional regulator of secreted proteins found in most members of the Bacillus cereus group, is truncated in all Bacillus anthracis isolates. The current dogma suggests this truncation was evolved to accommodate the acquisition of the anthrax toxin regulator, AtxA. However, the B. cereus-B. anthracis “cross-over” strain Bacillus cereus G9241, isolated from a Louisiana welder suffering from an anthrax-like infection, appears to contradict the proposed dogma as it encodes intact copies of both regulators. Here we report that when cultured at 25 °C, cell free B. cereus G9241 culture supernatants are cytotoxic and haemolytic to various eukaryotic cells in addition to insect haemocytes from Manduca sexta. However, this cytotoxic and haemolytic activity of the culture supernatant is lost when the bacteria are grown at 37 °C, behaving much like the supernatants generated by B. anthracis. Using a combination of genetic and proteomic approaches, we identified several PlcR-regulated toxins secreted at 25 °C. We demonstrate that a limiting step for the production of these virulence factors at 37 °C exists within the PlcR-PapR regulation circuit in strain G9241, giving rise to the temperature-dependent haemolytic and cytotoxic activity of the culture supernatants. Differential expression of the protease responsible in processing the PlcR quorum sensing activator PapR appears to be responsible for this phenotype. This study confirms that B. cereus G9241 is able to ‘switch’ between B. cereus and B. anthracis–like phenotypes in a temperature-dependent manner, potentially accommodating the activities of both PlcR and AtxA

From cereus to anthrax and back again: Assessment of the temperature-dependent phenotypic switching in the "cross-over" strain Bacillus cereus G9241

Bacillus cereus G9241 was isolated from a Louisiana welder suffering from an anthrax-like infection. The organism carries two transcriptional regulators that have previously been proposed to be incompatible with each other in Bacillus anthracis: the pleiotropic transcriptional regulator PlcR found in most members of the Bacillus cereus group but truncated in all B. anthracis isolates, and the anthrax toxin regulator AtxA found in all B. anthracis strains and a few B. cereus sensu stricto strains. Here we report cytotoxic and hemolytic activity of cell free B. cereus G9241 culture supernatants cultured at 25°C to various eukaryotic cells. However, this is not observed at the mammalian infection relevant temperature 37°C, behaving much like the supernatants generated by B. anthracis. Using a combination of genetic and proteomic approaches to understand this unique phenotype, we identified several PlcR-regulated toxins to be secreted highly at 25°C compared to 37°C. Furthermore, results suggest that differential expression of the protease involved in processing the PlcR quorum sensing activator molecule PapR appears to be the limiting step for the production of PlcR-regulated toxins at 37°C, giving rise to the temperature-dependent hemolytic and cytotoxic activity of the culture supernatants. This study provides an insight on how B. cereus G9241 is able to “switch” between B. cereus and B. anthracis–like phenotypes in a temperature-dependent manner, potentially accommodating the activities of both PlcR and AtxA

Changes in daily mental health service use and mortality at the commencement and lifting of COVID-19 'lockdown' policy in 10 UK sites: a regression discontinuity in time design.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate changes in daily mental health (MH) service use and mortality in response to the introduction and the lifting of the COVID-19 'lockdown' policy in Spring 2020. DESIGN: A regression discontinuity in time (RDiT) analysis of daily service-level activity. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Mental healthcare data were extracted from 10 UK providers. OUTCOME MEASURES: Daily (weekly for one site) deaths from all causes, referrals and discharges, inpatient care (admissions, discharges, caseloads) and community services (face-to-face (f2f)/non-f2f contacts, caseloads): Adult, older adult and child/adolescent mental health; early intervention in psychosis; home treatment teams and liaison/Accident and Emergency (A&E). Data were extracted from 1 Jan 2019 to 31 May 2020 for all sites, supplemented to 31 July 2020 for four sites. Changes around the commencement and lifting of COVID-19 'lockdown' policy (23 March and 10 May, respectively) were estimated using a RDiT design with a difference-in-difference approach generating incidence rate ratios (IRRs), meta-analysed across sites. RESULTS: Pooled estimates for the lockdown transition showed increased daily deaths (IRR 2.31, 95% CI 1.86 to 2.87), reduced referrals (IRR 0.62, 95% CI 0.55 to 0.70) and reduced inpatient admissions (IRR 0.75, 95% CI 0.67 to 0.83) and caseloads (IRR 0.85, 95% CI 0.79 to 0.91) compared with the pre lockdown period. All community services saw shifts from f2f to non-f2f contacts, but varied in caseload changes. Lift of lockdown was associated with reduced deaths (IRR 0.42, 95% CI 0.27 to 0.66), increased referrals (IRR 1.36, 95% CI 1.15 to 1.60) and increased inpatient admissions (IRR 1.21, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.42) and caseloads (IRR 1.06, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.12) compared with the lockdown period. Site-wide activity, inpatient care and community services did not return to pre lockdown levels after lift of lockdown, while number of deaths did. Between-site heterogeneity most often indicated variation in size rather than direction of effect. CONCLUSIONS: MH service delivery underwent sizeable changes during the first national lockdown, with as-yet unknown and unevaluated consequences

Conventional direction to unconventional measures: using quantitative easing to shape Eurozone fiscal capacity

Eight years after the outbreak of the crisis, the Eurozone (EZ) fiscal policy remains fragmented at the national level. This paper fills the structural gap between the monetary and fiscal dimensions of EZ economic policy by suggesting a ‘conventional’ direction to the unconventional Quantitative Easing (QE) policy of the European Central Bank (ECB). We propose an evolution for QE to tackle the shortcomings of the current ‘decentralized’ fiscal policy in the EZ. In a nutshell, we suggest a change in the composition of QE asset purchases, focusing on buying European Investment Bank (EIB) bonds that, in turn, would be used to finance real investments through the Juncker Plan programme. The rationale of our proposal is legitimised by an overview of the gloomy macroeconomic conditions of the EZ, and the situation in ongoing policies. The mechanism is described in detail, with a discussion of both its strengths and possible limitations

Psychiatric disorders among older prisoners: a systematic review and comparison study against older people in the community

Objectives: Despite emerging evidence that older prisoners experience poor mental health, literature in this area is still limited. In the present systematic review and meta-analysis, we report on the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among older prisoners and compare our findings against community studies on older people. Methods: We searched on Assia, PsycInfo, MedLine, Embase, Web of Science, Google and Gov.uk. We carried out bias assessments, rated studies for quality and ran a heterogeneity test. We meta-analysed prevalence rates of psychiatric disorders through an aggregate weighted mean and calculated Relative Risk and statistical significance against community studies. Sensitivity analyses were further performed. Results: We reviewed nine studies and obtained the following prevalence: “Any psychiatric disorder” 38.4%, depression 28.3%, schizophrenia/psychoses 5.5%, bipolar disorder 4.5%, dementia 3.3%, cognitive impairment 11.8%, personality disorder 22.9%, alcohol abuse 15.9%, anxiety disorders 14.2%, PTSD 6.2%. Older prisoners were found to have higher RR for every single psychiatric disorder against older people in the community, with the sole exception of alcohol abuse (RR=1) and dementia (RR=.75). The prevalence rates were statistically significantly higher (p<.05) among the prisoners for “Any psychiatric disorder”, depression and personality disorder. Overall, the sensitivity analyses confirmed our original results. Conclusion: Our findings point at a high prevalence of every single psychiatric disorder among older prisoners, who also experience rates of dementia and alcohol abuse comparable to those reported in the community. Our results have relevant implications for policy and practice in this area. Further research is crucial to confirm findings from this study