Bats of the Monongahela National Forest

Populations of bats across the eastern United States have experienced significant declines in recent years. Insight into their distributions and habitat associations, as well as understanding population trends, will aid in conservation efforts. In this study, the geographic distributions of the 10 species of bats found in the Monongahela National Forest of West Virginia were analyzed, using maximum entropy modeling and mist-netting data from 1997 through 2012. Forest type, hydrologic features, elevation, land-cover type, and distance to caves were typically the most important explanatory variables within these models, although results varied among species. By understanding these foraging habitat associations and locations of bats, forest personnel will be able to use these localized data to guide their management decisions. Trends in species diversity and abundance also were examined. Species diversity remained mostly stable and although not significant, a decline in abundance over time indicated decreases in some populations of bats, particularly by those species affected by white-nose syndrome

Performance of Solid-State Sensors for Continuous, Real-Time Measurement of Soil CO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e Concentrations

Recent advances in sensor technology provide a robust capability for continuous measurement of soil gases. The performance of solid-state CO2 sensors (Model GMM220 series, Vaisala, Inc., Helsinki, Finland) was evaluated in laboratory, greenhouse, and irrigated winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). In ambient CO2 concentration, the GMM222 sensor averaged 427 ± 8.3 μL L−1. Under variable CO2 concentrations, the sensor was slightly lower than concentrations measured with an infrared gas analyzer (IRGA). In greenhouse pots planted with triticale (Triticale hexaploide Lart.) and an agricultural field of irrigated winter wheat, soil CO2 concentration exceeded the 10,000 μL L−1 limit of the GMM222. Alternatively, the GMM221 sensor, designed to measure between 0 and 20,000 μL L−1, showed soil CO2 concentrations were between 14,000 and 16,000 μL L−1. The GMM222 accurately measures real-time soil CO2 concentrations under field conditions that were within the sensor detection limit. However, periods of high biological soil activity require the GMM221 sensor with a higher detection limit

A Magnetic Resonance Realization of Decoherence-Free Quantum Computation

We report the realization, using nuclear magnetic resonance techniques, of the first quantum computer that reliably executes an algorithm in the presence of strong decoherence. The computer is based on a quantum error avoidance code that protects against a class of multiple-qubit errors. The code stores two decoherence-free logical qubits in four noisy physical qubits. The computer successfully executes Grover's search algorithm in the presence of arbitrarily strong engineered decoherence. A control computer with no decoherence protection consistently fails under the same conditions.Comment: 5 pages with 3 figures, revtex4, accepted by Physical Review Letters; v2 minor revisions to conten

Surgical treatment of breast cancer among the elderly in the United States

BACKGROUND: Breast-conserving therapy (BCT) has emerged as the preferred treatment for most women with early stage breast cancer. However, there is concern for underuse in the elderly, with previously documented low rates of BCT and large variations in practice patterns. The authors' purpose was to examine patterns and correlates of BCT for breast cancer in the elderly US population. METHODS: The primary outcome was receipt of BCT. The 2003 to 2004 Medicare inpatient, outpatient, and carrier files were used to identify incident breast cancer patients and the American Medical Association to ascertain surgeon information. The primary independent variables were US state where treatment was performed along with patient and surgeon sociodemographic information. Multivariate logistic regression was used for the analyses. RESULTS: BCT was performed in 81.8% of patients (N = 20,032). Variation in use of BCT across states was low, ranging from 74.2% in Utah to 84.0% in New Mexico. Several factors were significantly associated with low use of BCT: advanced patient age (>85 vs 3 vs ≤3: OR, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.24-0.28), and low socioeconomic status (SES) (lowest quintile vs highest quintile SES: OR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.52-0.68). Variation in use of BCT by surgeon was low, although female surgeons aged 40 to 49 years and ≥60 years had significantly higher use compared with younger men. CONCLUSIONS: BCT has become the primary management among elderly breast cancer patients. Despite earlier studies to the contrary, there is now little variation in BCT use among Medicare patients. Cancer 2011. © 2010 American Cancer Society.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/83176/1/25617_ftp.pd

A Dynamical Resolution of the Sigma Term Puzzle

We propose a resolution of the puzzle posed by the discrepancy between the pion-nucleon sigma term inferred from pion-nucleon scattering, and that deduced from baryon mass splittings using the Zweig rule. We show that there is a significant hypercharge-dependent dynamical contribution to baryon masses, not hitherto included in the analysis, which may be estimated using the scale Ward identity, and computed by solution of the Schwinger-Dyson equation for the quark self-energy. We find that the discrepancy is completely resolved without the need for any Zweig rule violation.Comment: 14 pages and 4 figures (not included), plain TeX and harvmac, DFTT 92/69 and OUTP-92-35

Temporal and regional intestinal changes in permeability, tight junction, and cytokine gene expression following ovariectomy-induced estrogen deficiency

The work presented within this study was funded in part by NCCIH (R01AT007695) and NIDDK (R01DK101050Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Extragenic suppressor mutations in ΔripA disrupt stability and function of LpxA

Abstract Background Francisella tularensis is a Gram-negative bacterium that infects hundreds of species including humans, and has evolved to grow efficiently within a plethora of cell types. RipA is a conserved membrane protein of F. tularensis, which is required for growth inside host cells. As a means to determine RipA function we isolated and mapped independent extragenic suppressor mutants in ∆ripA that restored growth in host cells. Each suppressor mutation mapped to one of two essential genes, lpxA or glmU, which are involved in lipid A synthesis. We repaired the suppressor mutation in lpxA (S102, LpxA T36N) and the mutation in glmU (S103, GlmU E57D), and demonstrated that each mutation was responsible for the suppressor phenotype in their respective strains. We hypothesize that the mutation in S102 altered the stability of LpxA, which can provide a clue to RipA function. LpxA is an UDP-N-acetylglucosamine acyltransferase that catalyzes the transfer of an acyl chain from acyl carrier protein (ACP) to UDP-N-acetylglucosamine (UDP-GlcNAc) to begin lipid A synthesis. Results LpxA was more abundant in the presence of RipA. Induced expression of lpxA in the ΔripA strain stopped bacterial division. The LpxA T36N S102 protein was less stable and therefore less abundant than wild type LpxA protein. Conclusion These data suggest RipA functions to modulate lipid A synthesis in F. tularensis as a way to adapt to the host cell environment by interacting with LpxA.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110509/1/12866_2014_Article_336.pd

Neural correlates of taste reactivity in autism spectrum disorder.

Selective or \u27picky\u27 eating habits are common among those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These behaviors are often related to aberrant sensory experience in individuals with ASD, including heightened reactivity to food taste and texture. However, very little is known about the neural mechanisms that underlie taste reactivity in ASD. In the present study, food-related neural responses were evaluated in 21 young adult and adolescent males diagnosed with ASD without intellectual disability, and 21 typically-developing (TD) controls. Taste reactivity was assessed using the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile, a clinical self-report measure. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to evaluate hemodynamic responses to sweet (vs. neutral) tastants and food pictures. Subjects also underwent resting-state functional connectivity scans.The ASD and TD individuals did not differ in their hemodynamic response to gustatory stimuli. However, the ASD subjects, but not the controls, exhibited a positive association between self-reported taste reactivity and the response to sweet tastants within the insular cortex and multiple brain regions associated with gustatory perception and reward. There was a strong interaction between diagnostic group and taste reactivity on tastant response in brain regions associated with ASD pathophysiology, including the bilateral anterior superior temporal sulcus (STS). This interaction of diagnosis and taste reactivity was also observed in the resting state functional connectivity between the anterior STS and dorsal mid-insula (i.e., gustatory cortex).These results suggest that self-reported heightened taste reactivity in ASD is associated with heightened brain responses to food-related stimuli and atypical functional connectivity of primary gustatory cortex, which may predispose these individuals to maladaptive and unhealthy patterns of selective eating behavior. Trial registration: (clinicaltrials.gov identifier) NCT01031407. Registered: December 14, 2009