Hot phonon effects on high field transport in GaN & AlN

We have studied the effects of hot phonons on the high-field transport in GaN & AlN. The dynamics of the non-equilibrium electron-LO phonon system is studied via an ensemble Monte-Carlo code. We find that under steady-state conditions the hot-phonons cause the randomization of the electron momentum and increase their mean energy leading to diffusive heating. Average electron energies of three and two times those in the equilibrium phonon cases are found for GaN and AlN at applied fields of 100 kV/cm and 350 kV/cm respectively. The electron velocity is reduced compared to the case with equilibrium phonons at the lattice temperature. In the transient regime peak velocities reached at overshoot are reduced when non-equilibrium phonons are taken into account

2021 Alumni Career Award: Hon. George Singal, 1967

The Hon. George Singal ’67 was selected to receive the Alumni Career Award, the Alumni Association’s highest honor. Singal has had a long, distinguished career in law. Singal arrived in the U.S. as a young immigrant following World War II. He rose in his profession to become a United States District Court judge. In 2019, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts appointed Singal to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court along with his District Court duties. In that role, Singal reviews and acts on government requests for electronic surveillance, physical searches, and other matters related to foreign intelligence gathering

Capacity strengthening in malaria research: the Gates Malaria Partnership.

The Gates Malaria Partnership (GMP) includes five African and four European partner institutions. Its research programme has five priority areas involving an extensive range of field-based studies. GMP research has contributed significantly to the development of new research consortia investigating strategies for improving means of malaria control, and has already had an impact on policy and practice. A substantial investment in innovative training activities in malaria has enhanced knowledge and practice of malaria control at all levels from policy making to local community involvement. Capacity development, notably through a PhD programme, has been an underlying feature of all aspects of the programme

Hand and torso pre-cooling does not enhance subsequent high-intensity cycling or cognitive performance in heat

The purpose of this study was to compare the separate and combined effects of two practical cooling methods (hand and torso) used prior to exercise on subsequent high-intensity cycling performance in heat. Ten trained male cyclists (V̇O2peak: 65.7 ± 10.7 ml.kg−1.min−1) performed four experimental trials (randomised within-subjects design) involving 30-min of pre-cooling (20-min seated; PRE-COOL, 10 min warm-up; PRE-COOL+WUP), while using a: (1) hand-cooling glove (CG); (2) cooling jacket (CJ); (3) both CG and CJ (CG+J); or (4) no-cooling (NC) control, followed by a cycling race simulation protocol (all performed in 35.0 ± 0.6°C and 56.6 ± 4.5% RH). During the 30-min of pre-cooling, no reductions in core (Tc) or mean skin temperature (Tsk) occurred; however, Tsk remained lower in the CJ and CG+J trials compared to NC and CG (p = 0.002–0.040, d= 0.55–1.01). Thermal sensation ratings also indicated that participants felt “hotter” during NC compared to all other trials during both PRE-COOL and PRE-COOL+WUP (p = 0.001–0.015, d= 1.0–2.19), plus the early stages of exercise (sets 1–2; p = 0.005–0.050, d= 0.56–1.22). Following cooling, no differences were found for absolute Tc and Tsk responses between trials over the entire exercise protocol (p > 0.05). Exercise and cognitive (working memory) performance also did not differ between trials (p = 0.843); however, cognitive performance improved over time in all trials (p < 0.001). In summary, pre-cooling (20-min seated and 10-min warm-up) in heat did not improve subsequent high-intensity cycling performance, cognitive responses and associated thermoregulatory strain (Tc and Tsk) compared to control

Animal disease and narratives of nature: Farmers' reactions to the neoliberal governance of bovine Tuberculosis

This paper examines the relationship between neoliberal styles of animal disease governance and farmers' understandings of disease and nature. In the UK, new styles of animal disease governance has promised to shift the costs and responsibilities of disease management to farmers, creating opportunities for farmers to take responsibility for disease control themselves and opening up new markets for disease control interventions. Focussing on the management of bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) and drawing on interviews with 65 cattle farmers, the paper examines how farmer responses to these new styles of animal disease governance are shaped by their own knowledges and understandings of nature and disease. In particular, the paper examines how two key narratives of nature – the idea of ‘natural balance’ and ‘clean and dirty badgers’ – lead farmers to think about the control of bTB in wildlife (such as the choice between badger culling and/or vaccination) in very specific ways. However, whilst discourses of cost and responsibility appear to open up choice opportunities for farmers, that choice is constrained when viewed from the perspective of farmer subjectivities and narratives of nature. Discourses of neoliberalism as control rather than choice are therefore revealed, drawing attention to the complexities and plural strategies of neoliberal governance

Awarding gaps in higher education by ethnicity, schooling and family background

Previous research has established that undergraduate students in the UK who had attended private schools perform less well at university, on average, than equivalent students who had been educated at a state school prior to university (Smith and Naylor, 2001 and 2005; Crawford, 2014a). This well-known result has provided an evidence base for the use of contextualised offers in admissions across the sector (Schwartz Report, 2004; Hubble and Bolton, 2020) as an instrument for enhancing social mobility. In the current paper, we use a rich dataset for a particular university to examine whether the negative association between private schooling and class of degree awarded holds across all students, independent of ethnicity: we find that it does not. For White students, we obtain the standard result that private schooling is associated negatively with class of degree. However, in stark contrast, among students whose ethnicity is self-reported as either Black, Asian or Mixed Ethnicity, attendance at a private school prior to university is, on average, associated positively with the class of degree awarded. On further exploration, we find this is driven by a strong positive association among Black students and students of Mixed Ethnicity; the overarching category of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnicity conceals substantive differences within the category. Among Asian students, the absence of any association between private schooling and degree class, on average, masks a very strong negative association for those from lower socioeconomic status backgrounds. We discuss and interpret our results in the context of hypotheses within the literatures on schooling effects and on the ethnicity awarding gap in higher education

Converting GLX2-1 into an Active Glyoxalase II

Arabidopsis thaliana glyoxalase 2-1 (GLX2-1) exhibits extensive sequence similarity with GLX2 enzymes but is catalytically inactive with SLG, the GLX2 substrate. In an effort to identify residues essential for GLX2 activity, amino acid residues were altered at positions 219, 246, 248, 325, and 328 in GLX2-1 to be the same as those in catalytically active human GLX2. The resulting enzymes were overexpressed, purified, and characterized using metal analyses, fluorescence spectroscopy, and steady-state kinetics to evaluate how these residues affect metal binding, structure, and catalysis. The R246H/N248Y double mutant exhibited low level S-lactoylglutathione hydrolase activity, while the R246H/N248Y/Q325R/R328K mutant exhibited a 1.5−2-fold increase in kcat and a decrease in Km as compared to the values exhibited by the double mutant. In contrast, the R246H mutant of GLX2-1 did not exhibit glyoxalase 2 activity. Zn(II)-loaded R246H GLX2-1 enzyme bound 2 equiv of Zn(II), and 1H NMR spectra of the Co(II)-substituted analogue of this enzyme strongly suggest that the introduced histidine binds to Co(II). EPR studies indicate the presence of significant amounts a dinuclear metal ion-containing center. Therefore, an active GLX2 enzyme requires both the presence of a properly positioned metal center and significant nonmetal, enzyme−substrate contacts, with tyrosine 255 being particularly important

Effect of Treatment for HCV on the Development of HCC in a Predominately African American Medical Center Population

Introduction Direct Acting Antivirals (DAA) are effective in Hepatitis C (HCV) patients with cirrhosis, but viral elimination may occur in a setting where the HCC development pathway has already begun. Our objective was to determine whether achieving a sustained virologic response (SVR) prior to diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) improved outcomes in our predominately African American population. Methods We reviewed the medical records of 96 HCV patients diagnosed with HCC between 2015 and 2019 Primary outcomes were defined as either alive, death/hospice, or transplant. Tumor size was measured as non-small (\u3e 5cm or multiple tumors) or small (\u3c 5cm). The study was approved by the WSU IRB and data analysis performed using the SAS-JMP statistical software. Results Of the 96 patients with HCV who developed HCC, only 17 (18%) were treated for their HCV prior to diagnosis. There was no significant difference in the gender, race, and age of treated or non-treated patients. Hospice/death rates were found to be lower in the treated group when compared to those who were not treated prior to diagnosis (47% compared to 81% p = 0.0078). However, there was no significant difference in tumor size between these two groups (29% compared to 25%, p = 0.7297). Conclusions Most patients with HCC in this study did not receive treatment for their HCV prior to HCC diagnosis, which is likely due to the recent development timeline of the highly effective DAAs. Prior treatment of HCV leads to better outcomes than with no treatment, although this was not due to a smaller tumor size at diagnosis. Therefore, this could be due to some other unknown mechanism which may benefit from further subsequent investigation. Indeed, as many of the patients treated for HCV with DAA have not yet developed HCC or have yet to otherwise have final outcomes, we will need to continue to monitor our patient population into the future for further analysis

Isolation, Characterization, and Mapping of a Human Acid β-Galactosidase cDNA

A λgt11 human testicular cDNA library was screened with degenerate oligonucleotide probe mixtures based on amino acid sequence data generated from cyanogen bromide fragments and tryptic fragments of purified human β-galactosidase.Six positive clones were identified after screening 2 x 106 plaques. The sequences of these six clones were determined and found to be derived from two different cDNAs. The sequence of the longest of these cDNAs is nearly identical to that recently determined by Oshima et al. (1988). It codes for a 76-kD protein and all 11 peptides that were generated from the purified enzyme. The second clone is shorter by 393 bp in the central portion of the coding region. Analysis by Northern blotting revealed the presence of a single mRNA species of 2.45 kb in lymphoblasts and testicular tissue. It is deduced from the amino acid sequence data that proteolytic processing of the precursor form of β-galactosidase must occur by cleavage in the carboxy-terminal portion of the polypeptide perhaps around amino acid 530 at a uniquely hydrophilic sequence. Using a probe generated from the 3\u27 region of the cDNA, we have mapped the locus coding for human β-galactosidase to chromosome 3p21-3pter