We built a system to guide decisions regarding the amount of genomic sequencing required to develop diagnostic DNA signatures, which are short sequences that are sufficient to uniquely identify a viral species. We used our existing DNA diagnostic signature prediction pipeline, which selects regions of a target species genome that are conserved among strains of the target (for reliability, to prevent false negatives) and unique relative to other species (for specificity, to avoid false positives). We performed simulations, based on existing sequence data, to assess the number of genome sequences of a target species and of close phylogenetic relatives (''near neighbors'') that are required to predict diagnostic signature regions that are conserved among strains of the target species and unique relative to other bacterial and viral species. For DNA viruses such as variola (smallpox), three target genomes provide sufficient guidance for selecting species-wide signatures. Three near neighbor genomes are critical for species specificity. In contrast, most RNA viruses require four target genomes and no near neighbor genomes, since lack of conservation among strains is more limiting than uniqueness. SARS and Ebola Zaire are exceptional, as additional target genomes currently do not improve predictions, but near neighbor sequences are urgently needed. …

Semi-weekly newspaper from Clifton, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Semi-weekly newspaper from Clifton, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Semi-weekly newspaper from Clifton, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Modern comparative genomics has been established, in part, by the sequencing and annotation of a broad range of microbial species. To gain further insights, new sequencing efforts are now dealing with the variety of strains or isolates that gives a species definition and range; however, this number vastly outstrips our ability to sequence them. Given the availability of a large number of microbial species, new whole genome approaches must be developed to fully leverage this information at the level of strain diversity that maximize discovery. Here, we describe how optical mapping, a single-molecule system, was used to identify and annotate chromosomal alterations between bacterial strains represented by several species. Since whole-genome optical maps are ordered restriction maps, sequenced strains of Shigella flexneri serotype 2a (2457T and 301), Yersinia pestis (CO 92 and KIM), and Escherichia coli were aligned as maps to identify regions of homology and to further characterize them as possible insertions, deletions, inversions, or translocations. Importantly, an unsequenced Shigella flexneri strain (serotype Y strain AMC[328Y]) was optically mapped and aligned with two sequenced ones to reveal one novel locus implicated in serotype conversion and several other loci containing insertion sequence elements or phage-related gene insertions. Our results suggest …

I'd like to welcome you to the Agent 2004 conference. As most of you are aware, this conference is the fifth in a series of meetings that began in 1999. A conference followed the next year in 2000. The 2001 conference was skipped because of some conflicts with other conferences, and the conferences have proceeded annually since then. We have the proceedings of the previous conferences available here on CDs. One CD has the proceedings from 1999, 2000, and 2002; the other contains last year's proceedings. The purpose of these conferences is to advance the state of the computational social sciences and to integrate the social sciences with the decision sciences and something that is traditionally known as the management sciences. Those of you in the operations/research area are familiar with the traditional school of modeling simulation that emerged from that scientific area. This conference will bring together a different group of people to talk about the topic of agent-based theories and simulations. This fifth agent conference is one of a group of conferences held annually around the country. Most of you are probably aware of the CASOS Conference held at Carnegie Mellon University, usually in July. UCLA holds the …

Daily newspaper from Baytown, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Daily newspaper from Perry, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Tri-weekly student newspaper from Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas that includes local, state and campus news along with advertising.

Biweekly newspaper from Harper, Texas that includes community news along with advertising.

Semi-weekly newspaper from Livingston, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Tulia, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with extensive advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Tulsa, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Dell City, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Program for a concert produced by the Black Academy of Arts and Letters for June 30-31, 2004 at the Clarence Muse Cafe Theatre.

Daily newspaper from Perry, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Holliday, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Program for a banquet held to announce the winner of the Amelia Earhart Aviation Service Award. The program includes a history of the award and Earhart's involvement in Zonta International, an invocation, and a list of previous winners of the award.

Program for a musical performance produced by the Black Academy of Arts and Letters on January 17, 2004 at the Clarence Muse Cafe Theatre.

Semiweekly newspaper from Brady, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Semiweekly newspaper from Brady, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Program for the annual Black Music and the Civil Rights Movement Concert celebrating civil rights and the work of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and produced by the Black Academy of Arts and Letters for January 18, 2004 at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center.

Weekly newspaper from Canadian, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with some advertising.

Weekly newspaper from Pawhuska, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.