Princesses persevere: Seeking representations of gender equity in modern fairy tales

Children today are expected to work seamlessly in a group dynamic in efforts toward a common goal. Children\u27s literature in the 21st century may not reflect this characteristic, especially in regards to equality of gendered characters. This research examined the presence of equity among characters in the 21st century children\u27s fairy tales, exhibited by collaboration in both mixed and same-gendered relationships. The researcher approached the literature in a qualitative manner, coding the text using a constant comparative method, while also describing the nuances of character relationships in regards to collaboration. Findings revealed that while gender equity was exhibited through examples of collaboration in retellings, it was demonstrated more frequently by the autonomy achieved by protagonists able to successfully resolve conflicts presented in the text, and subtly among characters sharing equity regardless of gender or station

Augmentation of Ras-induced cell transformation : a new role for miR-200a in malignancy.

Cancer is a multistep disease that begins with malignant cell transformation and frequently culminates in metastasis and death. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small regulatory 21-25-nt RNA molecules and are frequently deregulated in cancer. The majority of miRNAs are estimated to be co-expressed with neighboring miRNAs as clusters. Many miRNA clusters coordinately regulate multiple members of cellular signaling pathways or protein interaction networks. miR-200a is a member of the miR-200 family, which are known to be strong inhibitors of the epithelial to mesenchymal transition. As such, the tumor suppressive role of miR-200a in oncogenesis has been well studied; however, recent studies have found a proliferative role for this miRNA as well as a pro-metastatic role in the later steps of cancer progression. In this study, we employed a biphasic approach to determine miRNA involvement in malignant cell transformation. First, we screened 366 human miRNA minigenes to determine their effects on the four major cancer signaling pathways culminating in AP-1, NF-?B, c-Myc, or p53 transcriptional activity. The second phase of this study was an epithelial cell screening assay to determine the ability of miRNAs to transform epithelial cells. In our miRNA cluster profiling study, we found that miR-200a down-regulates p53 activity. miR-200a was demonstrated to directly target p53, reduce protein levels, and inhibit apoptosis. We also found that miR-200a enhances Ras-mediated transformation of MCF10A cells. Furthermore, miR-200a transforms MCF10A cells and induces tumorigenesis in immunocompromised mice by cooperating with a Ras mutant that activates the RalGEF effector pathway. These results demonstrate a role for miR-200a in malignant transformation and reveal a specific cellular environment in which miR-200a acts as an oncomiR rather than a tumor suppressor by cooperating with oncogene activation in the classical two hit model of cell transformation

Conserved substitution patterns around nucleosome footprints in eukaryotes and Archaea derive from frequent nucleosome repositioning through evolution.

Nucleosomes, the basic repeat units of eukaryotic chromatin, have been suggested to influence the evolution of eukaryotic genomes, both by altering the propensity of DNA to mutate and by selection acting to maintain or exclude nucleosomes in particular locations. Contrary to the popular idea that nucleosomes are unique to eukaryotes, histone proteins have also been discovered in some archaeal genomes. Archaeal nucleosomes, however, are quite unlike their eukaryotic counterparts in many respects, including their assembly into tetramers (rather than octamers) from histone proteins that lack N- and C-terminal tails. Here, we show that despite these fundamental differences the association between nucleosome footprints and sequence evolution is strikingly conserved between humans and the model archaeon Haloferax volcanii. In light of this finding we examine whether selection or mutation can explain concordant substitution patterns in the two kingdoms. Unexpectedly, we find that neither the mutation nor the selection model are sufficient to explain the observed association between nucleosomes and sequence divergence. Instead, we demonstrate that nucleosome-associated substitution patterns are more consistent with a third model where sequence divergence results in frequent repositioning of nucleosomes during evolution. Indeed, we show that nucleosome repositioning is both necessary and largely sufficient to explain the association between current nucleosome positions and biased substitution patterns. This finding highlights the importance of considering the direction of causality between genetic and epigenetic change

Climate Change and Resulting Floods: Using Social Capital to Strengthen Community Resilience in Eastwick, Philadelphia a known floodplain

• Climate change will produce intense weather events like increased precipitation and flooding • Based on climate projections, Philadelphia will be hotter and wetter, and will experience more frequent and intense weather events (OOS, 2016) •Floods are the second most common hazards in our city (OEM, 2017) • Vulnerable population such as children, people of color, elderly population and people with disability are severely impacted by climate change Poster presented at AHPA conference in Atlanta Georgia, United States.https://jdc.jefferson.edu/jcphposters/1013/thumbnail.jp

Investigation of Graduate Student Stress in Speech Language Pathology

The purpose of this research was to investigate the average stress levels and types of stressors experienced by graduate students (GS) in speech-language pathology (SLP) programs and the academic supports GS perceived to be helpful. An online survey examining stress was administered to 238 GS in SLP. The average stress level, types of stressors, demographic characteristics of participants related to their stress response, and reported academic program supports were analyzed. Correlation coefficients were computed to determine the relationship between reported stress, demographic variables, and program characteristics. Moderate and high levels of stress were reported by 96% of SLP GS as measured by the Academic Stress Scale. Lower levels of reported total stress were correlated with increased age, enrollment in a distance learning program, and being married or living with a partner. Participants most commonly mentioned frequent communication with faculty and access to on campus stress resources/education about stress management to be helpful. The results suggest that the majority of GS in SLP bear moderate and high levels of stress. Future research is warranted to investigate ways that faculty and student communication skills and academic supports can be implemented to aid in stress management

An Undergraduate Laboratory Manual for Analyzing a CRISPR Mutant with a Predicted Role in Regeneration

Exposing students to undergraduate research has reportedly improved students’ development of knowledge and skills in the laboratory, self-efficacy, satisfaction with their research, retention, and perseverance when faced with obstacles. Furthermore, utilizing authentic course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) includes all students enrolled in the class, giving those who may not otherwise have access to an independent undergraduate research project an opportunity to engage in the scientific process in context of an original, unanswered question. In the fall of 2016, second semester introductory biology students conducted a semester-long research project on the transcription factor Lin28a to determine the effect of Lin28a on regeneration in a CRISPR mutant. During ten laboratory periods, students completed four experiments: 1) genotyping mutants by PCR and RFLP, 2) neuromast regeneration after copper sulfate treatment, 3) measuring changes in gene expression by RT-PCR after fin clipping, and 4) swimming behavior. In the context of this class, students were challenged to design their own experiments, interpret their own data, and make connections among the experiments to draft a final paper presenting their results and conclusions. Here, we present a student laboratory manual that can be adapted to other relevant CRISPR mutants. Overall, this coursework aligns with Vision and Change, and these experiments gave students a taste of the questions, techniques, and experimental design currently used in the field of regenerative biology

Fast arbitration in dilated routers

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1996.Includes bibliographical references (p. 84-85).by Matthew E. Becker.M.Eng

The Wyoming carbon underground storage project: Geologic characterization of the Moxa Arch and Rock Springs Uplift

AbstractThe state of Wyoming, in the northwestern United States, produces 40% of the nation’s coal, most of which is transported out of the state. The remainder is used at power plants within Wyoming to generate approximately 7% of U.S. electricity. Carbon capture and storage from these power stations could significantly reduce U.S. carbon emissions. Wyoming statutes and rules proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality regarding subsurface carbon storage require that CO2 injection must not affect established or potential drinking water aquifers, oil and gas fields, or other mineral estates. Wyoming has several potential large-scale geologic carbon storage reservoirs that meet these criteria, in the form of saline aquifers in regional basins and uplifts. The Wyoming Carbon Underground Storage Project has recently been funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the state of Wyoming to 1) assess the CO2 storage potential of two possible locations in southwestern Wyoming: The Moxa Arch and the Rock Springs Uplift, 2) develop a system for displaced fluid management, 3) plan monitoring and verification activities, and 4) design infrastructure in preparation for geologic carbon sequestration. The Wyoming Carbon Underground Storage Project represents collaboration between the University of Wyoming, the Wyoming State Geologic Survey, ExxonMobil Corporation, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Baker Hughes Incorporated. The authors are involved primarily in the geologic stratigraphic and structural characterization of the Moxa Arch and Rock Springs Uplift.The Moxa Arch is an anticline that trends from the Uinta Mountains, 200 km north-northwest to the eastern front of the Wyoming fold-and-thrust belt. Potential storage reservoirs on this large geologic structure include the Jurassic Nugget Sandstone, the Mississippian Madison Limestone, and the Ordovician Bighorn Dolomite. The Nugget Sandstone is a heterogeneous and anisotropic eolian deposit that has been extensively exploited for oil and gas at certain locations on the Moxa Arch, which complicates its usage as a repository for carbon dioxide. The Madison Limestone is a proven storage reservoir; ExxonMobil has been injecting CO2 (up to 25 MMCFD) and H2S (up to 65 MMCFD) into the Madison Limestone on the Moxa Arch for seven years at the Shute Creek Gas Plant. The Bighorn Dolomite is stratigraphically complex with large variations in porosity and permeability due to primary burrowing and repeated dolomitization and dedolomitization. Depending on location on the anticline, the Nugget Sandstone lies 3 to 6.5 km below the surface (-1 to -4.5 km subsea), and the Bighorn Dolomite and Madison Limestone range from 4.5 to 8 km below the surface (-2.5 to -6 km subsea).The Moxa Arch is structurally uncomplicated; it is a basement-involved anticline formed by a west-vergent Late Cretaceous-age thrust fault, with gently-dipping limbs (0 to 5 degrees). Leakage risk is extremely low because impermeable evaporite (anhydrite) intervals overly the potential reservoirs, and preliminary interpretation of seismic data reveal that few faults exist other than the main thrust. The Naughton Power Plant, a 707 MW coal-fired power station emitting up to 6 Mt of CO2 per year, lies 30 km west of the crest of the anticline.The Rock Springs Uplift, 100 km east of the Moxa Arch, extends 80 km north from the Wyoming-Utah border. The target storage reservoirs are the Pennsylvanian Weber Sandstone (correlative to the Tensleep Sandstone) and the Mississippian Madison Limestone. The Weber Sandstone exhibits wide variations in reservoir properties (porosity and permeability) due to dune/interdune/intradune facies changes, and appears to have experienced local secondary diagenesis that further reduced porosity. The Madison Limestone is expected to have similar reservoir properties to its lithologic correlative on the Moxa Arch. The Weber Sandstone and Madison Limestone range in depth from 2 to 6 km below the surface (0.3 to -4.5 km subsea), depending on location on the anticline.The Rock Springs Uplift offers challenges for structural analysis. Like the Moxa Arch, the Uplift was formed by a Late Cretaceous-age west-vergent basement-involved reverse fault, but the limbs of the fold are at steeper dips (approximately 15 degrees on the west limb, shallower on the east limb), and these limbs are cut at depth by additional reverse faults. In a hydrocarbon field on the southeastern flank of the uplift there is a possibility that condensate is migrating from the Weber Sandstone along one of these reverse faults, suggesting that the trap is breached. In addition, a series of east-west trending normal faults cut Cretaceous shales at the surface, possibly with throws that exceed the thickness of the uppermost regional seal. It is necessary to determine if these east-west faults also compromise the Triassic units that could provide a seal above the Weber Sandstone. The Jim Bridger Power Plant (coal-fired) is located on the east flank of the Rock Springs Uplift; it has 2200 MW capacity and emits up to 18 Mt of CO2 per year.Future U.S. energy demands will draw heavily on Wyoming’s coal-fired power plants, and the state is taking steps to sequester the produced carbon. Wyoming hosts several large geologic traps that if properly risked and evaluated have promise as long-term, stable repositories for anthropogenic carbon dioxide. Based upon our preliminary assessment of the multiple clastic and carbonate receiving formations in the Moxa Arch and Rock Springs Uplift, and the experience of successful injection at ExxonMobil’s Shute Creek Gas Plant, these geologic structures in southwestern Wyoming are among the most promising large CO2 geologic storage sites in the United States