Kinship and Class: A Study of the Weyerhaeuser Family

381 pagesThis study is an attempt to increase our understanding of the class structure and political economy of the United States, through a detailed examination of one extended family of great wealth. Focusing on a single case, the study analyzes the multigenerational and inter-institutional linkages of this kinship group. Through use of a genealogy, kinship ties are traced through five generations. The genealogy also provides a medium for identifying the family's links to corporations, foundations, political processes, and institutions of the upper class. By demonstrating how one wealthy family coordinates its activities for the purpose of maintaining its social and economic position in society, this study suggests that other upper class families may operate in a similar manner. The study will show how the family, through a variety of institutions, coordinates its activities. The Family Office, the annual Family Meeting, various foundations, and several holding companies are examined as mechanisms of internal cohesiveness and of external control over other institutions. The potential for external control and influence also extends itself to several large corporations, to trade associations, the candidate selection process, churches, and schools

Tick IPM Outreach and Research Activities, NYS IPM Program, 2018

NYS IPM Type: Project ReportTicks and tick-borne diseases have become a significant public health issue in the Northeastern United States, including New York. With Lyme disease representing the number one vector-borne pathogen in the US, researchers are working to better understand the biology and ecology of ticks, while the medical community works toward improving diagnostic techniques and treatment. Despite these efforts, individuals continue to encounter ticks that may harbor pathogens. Therefore, starting in 2014 the New York State IPM Program established a new priority to develop, confirm, and/or promote methods for reducing the impact of ticks in community settings in a measureable way. By providing education about tick biology and ecology, combined with recommendations for personal protection, the goal is to reduce human interactions with ticks. To this end, the Community IPM program has engaged diverse audiences in learning about tick and host management, conducted research, assisted other organizations in disseminating their message, and applied for and received monies to create a tick outreach campaign, Don’t Get Ticked, NY, launched in 2018

School IPM Outreach and Research Activities, NYS IPM Program, 2017

NYS IPM Type: Project ReportNYS schools need assistance in reducing risks to children and others from both pests and the overuse of pesticides. In 2017, NYS IPM Program activities have resulted in school personnel becoming better informed and able to implement IPM in their school districts. Managing geese on school grounds was the focus of a demonstration project and associated outreach. A school IPM assessment tool was developed and began to be piloted. A phone survey of BOCES health & safety officers is providing input into school IPM outreach and implementation. The NYS IPM Program made several blogs and tweets throughout the year with IPM stories of relevance to the state’s schools and childcare facilities. NYS IPM Program staff made visits to several schools trouble shooting specific pest-related situations, collaborated with Cornell faculty on research of relevance to school IPM, and were involved in statewide, regional, and national collaborations involving school IPM outreach

The origin of efficient triplet state population in sulfur-substituted nucleobases

Elucidating the photophysical mechanisms in sulfur-substituted nucleobases (thiobases) is essential for designing prospective drugs for photo-and chemotherapeutic applications. Although it has long been established that the phototherapeutic activity of thiobases is intimately linked to efficient intersystem crossing into reactive triplet states, the molecular factors underlying this efficiency are poorly understood. Herein we combine femtosecond transient absorption experiments with quantum chemistry and nonadiabatic dynamics simulations to investigate 2-thiocytosine as a necessary step to unravel the electronic and structural elements that lead to ultrafast and near-unity triplet-state population in thiobases in general. We show that different parts of the potential energy surfaces are stabilized to different extents via thionation, quenching the intrinsic photostability of canonical DNA and RNA nucleobases. These findings satisfactorily explain why thiobases exhibit the fastest intersystem crossing lifetimes measured to date among bio-organic molecules and have near-unity triplet yields, whereas the triplet yields of canonical nucleobases are nearly zeroS.M., P.M. and L.G. thank the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) through project P25827, the COST action CM1204 (XLIC) and the Vienna Scientific Cluster (VSC) for the allocation of computational time. We also thank F. Plasser for assistance with the TheoDORE program. I.C. and L.M.-F. thank the Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid, the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Spain) for an FPU (L.M.-F.) grant, the Projects FOTOCARBON-CM S2013/MIT-2841 and No. CTQ2015-63997-C2, and the ERA-Chemistry Project PIM2010EEC-00751 for financial support, as well as the Centro de Computación Científica UAM for generous allocation of computational time. M.P., N.D. and C.E.C.-H. acknowledge the CAREER program of the National Science Foundation (Grant No. CHE-1255084) for financial suppor

Adipose segmentation in small animals at 7T: a preliminary study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Small animal MRI at 7 Tesla (T) provides a useful tool for adiposity research. For adiposity researchers, separation of fat from surrounding tissues and its subsequent quantitative or semi- quantitative analysis is a key task. This is a relatively new field and a priori it cannot be known which specific biological questions related to fat deposition will be relevant in a specific study. Thus it is impossible to predict what accuracy and what spatial resolution will be required in all cases and even difficult what accuracy and resolution will be useful in most cases. However the pragmatic time constraints and the practical resolution ranges are known for small animal imaging at 7T. Thus we have used known practical constraints to develop a method for fat volume analysis based on an optimized image acquisition and image post processing pair.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We designed a fat segmentation method based on optimizing a variety of factors relevant to small animal imaging at 7T. In contrast to most previously described MRI methods based on signal intensity of T1 weighted image alone, we chose to use parametric images based on Multi-spin multi-echo (MSME) Bruker pulse sequence which has proven to be particularly robust in our laboratory over the last several years. The sequence was optimized on a T1 basis to emphasize the signal. T2 relaxation times can be calculated from the multi echo data and we have done so on a pixel by pixel basis for the initial step in the post processing methodology. The post processing consists of parallel paths. On one hand, the weighted image is precisely divided into different regions with optimized smoothing and segmentation methods; and on the other hand, a confidence image is deduced from the parametric image according to the distribution of relaxation time relationship of typical adipose. With the assistance of the confidence image, a useful software feature was implemented to which enhances the data and in the end results in a more reliable and flexible method for adipose evaluation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this paper, we describe how we arrived at our recommended procedures and key aspects of the post-processing steps. The feasibility of the proposed method is tested on both simulated and real data in this preliminary research. A research tool was created to help researchers segment out fat even when the anatomical information is of low quality making it difficult to distinguish between fat and non-fat. In addition, tool is designed to allow the operator to make adjustments to many of the key steps for comparison purposes and to quantitatively assess the difference these changes make. Ultimately our flexible software lets the researcher define key aspects of the fat segmentation and quantification.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Combining the full T2 parametric information with the optimized first echo image information, the research tool enhances the reliability of the results while providing more flexible operations than previous methods. The innovation in the method is to pair an optimized and very specific image acquisition technique to a flexible but tuned image post processing method. The separation of the fat is aided by the confidence distribution of regions produced on a scale relevant to and dictated by practical aspects of MRI at 7T.</p

Functional mapping of brain synapses by the enriching activity-marker SynaptoZip

Ideally, elucidating the role of specific brain circuits in animal behavior would require the ability to measure activity at all involved synapses, possibly with unrestricted field of view, thus even at those boutons deeply located into the brain. Here, we introduce and validate an efficient scheme reporting synaptic vesicle cycling in vivo. This is based on SynaptoZip, a genetically encoded molecule deploying in the vesicular lumen a bait moiety designed to capture upon exocytosis a labeled alien peptide, Synbond. The resulting signal is cumulative and stores the number of cycling events occurring at individual synapses. Since this functional signal is enduring and measurable both online and ex post, SynaptoZip provides a unique method for the analysis of the history of synaptic activity in regions several millimeters below the brain surface. We show its broad applicability by reporting stimulus-evoked and spontaneous circuit activity in wide cortical fields, in anesthetized and freely moving animals

Working in the Public Interest Law Conference

The two-day conference included a variety of panel discussions and roundtables on such topics as: civil liberties; race and the criminal justice system; decriminalizing mental illness; funding public defender systems; the media\u27s role in the law; immigration; lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered youth in state sponsored institutions; environmental justice; and women\u27s reproductive rights

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead