Project Liberty Research Articles

A Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of the Orbit Pipeline Project Jefferson, Liberty, and Chambers Counties, Texas

A Phase I Cultural Resources Survey of the Orbit Pipeline Project Jefferson, Liberty, and Chambers Counties, Texas

POET-DSM plans on-site enzyme manufacturing facility at Project Liberty

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is a rare genetic disease characterized by severe and persistent childhood infections. It is caused by the lack of an antipathogen oxidative burst, normally performed by phagocytic cells to contain and clear bacterial and fungal growth. Restoration of immune function can be achieved with heterologous bone marrow transplantation; however, autologous bone marrow transplantation would be a preferable option. Thus, a method is required to recapitulate the function of the diseased gene within the patient's own cells. Gene therapy approaches for CGD have employed randomly integrating viruses with concomitant issues of insertional mutagenesis, inaccurate gene dosage, and gene silencing. Here, we explore the potential of the recently described clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-Cas9 site-specific nuclease system to encourage repair of the endogenous gene by enhancing the levels of homologous recombination. Using induced pluripotent stem cells derived from a CGD patient containing a single intronic mutation in the CYBB gene, we show that footprintless gene editing is a viable option to correct disease mutations. Gene correction results in restoration of oxidative burst function in iPS-derived phagocytes by reintroduction of a previously skipped exon in the cytochrome b-245 heavy chain (CYBB) protein. This study provides proof-of-principle for a gene therapy approach to CGD treatment using CRISPR-Cas9.

Firms to make enzymes in Iowa

Poet-DSM Advanced Biofuels will add on-site enzyme manufacturing to Project Liberty, the joint venture’s cellulosic ethanol plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa. The plant is ramping up capacity and producing 265 L of ethanol per dry metric ton of corn stover, close to its target, the partners say. DSM supplies enzymes for the project, which opened in 2014. However, shipping enzymes to the site requires special handling processes. The on-site facility will produce a new, more effective enzyme mix, according to the firms.

Review: SS John W. Brown Museum, Project Liberty Ship

Book Review| August 01 2016 Review: SS John W. Brown Museum, Project Liberty Ship SS John W. Brown Museum, Baltimore, MD. Project Liberty Ship, Creators and Volunteer Staff. Ongoing. http://www.ssjohnwbrown.org. FrançOise B. Bonnell FrançOise B. Bonnell U.S. Army Women’S Museum Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar The Public Historian (2016) 38 (3): 139–144. https://doi.org/10.1525/tph.2016.38.3.139 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation FrançOise B. Bonnell; Review: SS John W. Brown Museum, Project Liberty Ship. The Public Historian 1 August 2016; 38 (3): 139–144. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/tph.2016.38.3.139 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentThe Public Historian Search This content is only available via PDF. © 2016 by The Regents of the University of California and the National Council on Public History2016 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Development of Sustainable Corn Stover Harvest Strategies for Cellulosic Ethanol Production

To prepare for a 2014 launch of commercial scale cellulosic ethanol production from corn/maize (Zea mays L.) stover, POET-DSM near Emmetsburg, IA has been working with farmers, researchers, and equipment dealers through “Project Liberty” on harvest, transportation, and storage logistics of corn stover for the past several years. Our objective was to evaluate seven stover harvest strategies within a 50-ha (125 acres) site on very deep, moderately well to poorly drained Mollisols, developed in calcareous glacial till. The treatments included the following: conventional grain harvest (no stover harvest), grain plus a second-pass rake and bale stover harvest, and single-pass grain plus cob-only biomass, grain plus vegetative material other than grain [(MOG) consisting of cobs, husks, and upper plant parts], grain plus all vegetative material from the ear shank upward (high cut), and all vegetative material above a 10 cm stubble height (low cut), with a John Deere 9750 STS combine, and grain plus direct baling of MOG with an AgCo harvesting system. Average grain yields were 11.4, 10.1, 9.7, and 9.5 Mg ha−1 for 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011, respectively. Average stover harvest ranged from 0 to 5.6 Mg ha−1 and increased N, P, and K removal by an average of 11, 1.6, and 15 kg Mg−1, respectively. Grain yield in 2009 showed a significant positive response to higher 2008 stover removal rates, but grain yield was not increased in 2010 or 2011 due to prior-year stover harvest. High field losses caused the direct-bale treatment to have significantly lower grain yield in 2011 because the AgCo system could not pick up the severely lodged crop. We conclude that decreases in grain yield across the 4 years were due more to seasonal weather patterns, spatial variability, and not rotating crops than to stover harvest.

DSM Joins Poet In Biofuels Push

Dutch specialty chemical firm DSM is entering the nascent cellulosic ethanol industry by forming a joint venture with Poet, a major U.S.-based corn ethanol producer. Poet-DSM Advanced Biofuels’ first task will be to launch Project Liberty, a 25 million-gal-per-year facility being built adjacent to Poet’s corn ethanol plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa. The venture then plans to license its technology to 26 other locations in Poet’s ethanol network. DSM will supply enzymes to break down corn residue, called corn stover, into C5 and C6 sugars, as well as yeast to ferment the sugars into ethanol. Poet will contribute other parts of the puzzle including the supply chain it has developed to deliver thousands of tons of stover to the plant. The two firms will equally share $250 million in capital costs for Project Liberty, which will begin production in the second half of 2013. In September 2011, the Department of Energy ...

Lessons Learned From the New York State Mental Health Response to the September 11, 2001, Attacks

Objective: In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center, the public mental health system in New York City mounted the largest mental health disaster response in history, called Project Liberty. The successes and challenges of Project Liberty are evaluated. Methods: The development of Project Liberty is summarized and analyzed from the perspective of the New York State and New York City officials and scientists who led the disaster response. Lessons learned that have implications for mental health support in future disaster responses are offered. Results: A high level of interagency collaboration, engagement of nongovernmental organizations to provide services, media education efforts, and ongoing program evaluation all contributed to the program's successes. Mental health professionals' limited experiences with trauma, options for funding treatment, duration of clinical program, and existing needs assessments methodologies all proved challenging. Conclusions: Project Liberty was a massive and invaluable resource during the years of rebuilding in New York City in the wake of the attacks. Challenges faced have led to lessons of generalizable import for other mental health responses to large-scale events. (Psychiatric Services 62:1085–1089, 2011)

Lessons Learned From the New York State Mental Health Response to the September 11, 2001, Attacks

In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center, the public mental health system in New York City mounted the largest mental health disaster response in history, called Project Liberty. The successes and challenges of Project Liberty are evaluated. The development of Project Liberty is summarized and analyzed from the perspective of the New York State and New York City officials and scientists who led the disaster response. Lessons learned that have implications for mental health support in future disaster responses are offered. A high level of interagency collaboration, engagement of nongovernmental organizations to provide services, media education efforts, and ongoing program evaluation all contributed to the program's successes. Mental health professionals' limited experiences with trauma, options for funding treatment, duration of clinical program, and existing needs assessments methodologies all proved challenging. Project Liberty was a massive and invaluable resource during the years of rebuilding in New York City in the wake of the attacks. Challenges faced have led to lessons of generalizable import for other mental health responses to large-scale events.

Integrating Mental Health Services into Humanitarian Relief Responses to Social Emergencies, Disasters, and Conflicts: A Case Study

Utilizing lessons learned from development and implementation of "Project Liberty" in New York City, created in response to the attacks of September 11, 2001, this paper explores the importance of integrating structured mental health services with community-based social service programs offered in large-scale humanitarian relief responses. Relevant international research studies illustrating similar integrated programs are also reviewed. The primary approach is community-based and resilience-enhancement focused, offering structure, stability, support, and community cohesion, with an added integrated screening component to identify persons with severe treatable mental health conditions. Because there is thus far little evidence that resilience-enhancing programs are effective for severe mental health conditions, a secondary program initiated in parallel would be staffed with more specialized providers offering services for those referred from the primary program. The key implication supports the establishment of more effective links between programs and professionals from different disciplines, who then can more effectively implement integrated program responses to large-scale disasters.

Outreach and peer-delivered mental health services in New York City following September 11, 2001.

Following the tragedy of September 11, 2001, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funded Project Liberty, an umbrella program operating from multiple sites throughout New York City to provide free crisis counseling and other assistance. One particular Project Liberty site provided peer support services for individuals with pre-existing psychiatric disabilities. This article reports on the outreach efforts undertaken by Project Liberty's Peer Initiative. As part of a broader qualitative study, face to face interviews were conducted with Project Liberty Peer Initiative staff and service recipients. Outreach was found to be a key strategy used to identify and connect with psychiatrically disabled individuals in need after disasters. Implications for the use of similar outreach strategies in future disaster planning and service delivery are described.

Project Liberty: New York's Crisis Counseling Program Created in the Aftermath of September 11, 2001

Project Liberty: New York's Crisis Counseling Program Created in the Aftermath of September 11, 2001

Did Project Liberty Displace Community-Based Medicaid Services in New York?

Did Project Liberty Displace Community-Based Medicaid Services in New York?

Impact of a Media Campaign for Disaster Mental Health Counseling in Post-September 11 New York

After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the New York State Office of Mental Health (NYOMH) initiated a three-phase multifaceted, multilingual media campaign that advertised the availability of counseling services. This study evaluated the association between patterns of spending within this campaign and the volume of calls received and referred to a counseling program. Spending on television, radio, print, and other advertising was examined, as was the corresponding volume of calls to the NetLife hotline seeking referrals to counseling services. From September 2001 to December 2002, $9.38 million was spent on Project Liberty media campaigns. Call volumes increased during months when total monthly expenditures peaked. Initially, flyers, billboards, and other material items accounted for most monthly expenses. Over time, spending for television and radio advertisements increased, whereas other advertising declined. Temporal patterns show that in periods after an increase in media spending, call volumes increased independently of other sentinel events such as the one-year anniversary of the attacks. Sustained advertising through multiple media outlets appeared to be effective in encouraging individuals to seek mental health services.

Service Utilization and Event Reaction Patterns Among Children Who Received Project Liberty Counseling Services

Service Utilization and Event Reaction Patterns Among Children Who Received Project Liberty Counseling Services

Clients' Satisfaction With Project Liberty Counseling Services

Clients' Satisfaction With Project Liberty Counseling Services

Screening for Complicated Grief Among Project Liberty Service Recipients 18 Months After September 11, 2001

Screening for Complicated Grief Among Project Liberty Service Recipients 18 Months After September 11, 2001

Clusters of Event Reactions Among Recipients of Project Liberty Mental Health Counseling

This study aimed to determine a pattern in the frequency with which individuals who manifested distress reactions resembling diagnostic syndromes of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder accessed services provided by Project Liberty. Hierarchical cluster analysis was applied to 31 reactions to stress (event reactions) shown by 465,428 recipients of Project Liberty counseling, to determine how well event reactions mapped onto traditional diagnostic criteria. Service recipients were tracked when they first sought Project Liberty counseling during the 27 months after the attacks. Those who reported three or more reactions associated with these clusters were characterized as having possible diagnosable conditions. Strong consistent clusters corresponding to traumatic stress and depressive symptoms emerged, with 26 percent, 16 percent, and 8 percent of service recipients rated as having possible PTSD, major depressive disorder, or both, respectively. Taken together, this group constituted over 40 percent of service recipients served by Project Liberty almost every month throughout the 27 months of its existence. Event reactions, as reported by Project Liberty crisis counselors, many of whom were nonclinicians, mapped coherently onto diagnostic syndromes, suggesting that a checklist of such reactions may be useful to disaster counselors as a cost-effective screening and planning instrument. The steady entry over time into Project Liberty counseling by a substantial number of individuals experiencing high levels of distress underscores the need for providing long-term access to mental health services postdisaster.

Effectiveness of Two Methods of Obtaining Feedback on Mental Health Services Provided to Anonymous Recipients

Effectiveness of Two Methods of Obtaining Feedback on Mental Health Services Provided to Anonymous Recipients

Outcomes of Enhanced Counseling Services Provided to Adults Through Project Liberty

Project Liberty provided brief crisis counseling to 753,015 residents of New York City and surrounding counties after the attacks on the World Trade Center. Most regained predisaster functioning after counseling. For those who did not, Project Liberty provided enhanced services by specially trained, licensed mental health professionals. Individuals receiving crisis counseling and enhanced services responded to confidential telephone interviews about 18 and 24 months, respectively, after the attacks. Impairment was compared between groups to determine whether enhanced services recipients reported improved functioning and fewer symptoms of depression, posttraumatic stress, and complicated grief. Crisis counseling recipients (N=153) were interviewed once and enhanced services recipients (N=76) were interviewed twice about symptomatology and daily functioning. The samples did not differ in age or gender. Significantly greater proportions of enhanced services recipients reported knowing someone who died as a result of the attacks, having been involved in rescue efforts, or having lost their job because of the attacks. Compared with crisis counseling respondents, enhanced services recipients at their first interview reported significantly more symptoms of depression, grief, and traumatic stress and significantly poorer daily functioning in five life areas. At follow-up, enhanced services respondents reported significant improvement in three of five functioning domains, significantly fewer symptoms of depression and grief, and marginally less traumatic stress. Recipients of enhanced services were more impaired than people who received only crisis counseling. On the basis of reports from service recipients, meaningful improvements in functioning and symptoms may be associated with the receipt of enhanced services.

Demographic Characteristics of Individuals Who Received Project Liberty Crisis Counseling Services

Demographic Characteristics of Individuals Who Received Project Liberty Crisis Counseling Services