How a patchwork of state taxes contributes to menstrual inequity in the US

Federalism in the United States means that many policies are the responsibility of individual states rather than, or in addition to, the federal government. Shyam K. Sriram, Stacy Cavanaugh, Annie Faulkner, and Mackenzie Winchester-Daniel take a close look at state tax policies on menstrual products, finding that 26 states still impose such taxes, though many have tried and failed to repeal or reduce them. They write that these taxes imposing an often-significant burden on the physical and mental health of young girls, women, and people who menstruate, while at the same time generating very little revenue for the states who impose them

The Caltech CSN project collects sensor data from thousands of personal devices for realtime response to dangerous earthquakes

The proliferation of smartphones and other powerful sensor-equipped consumer devices enables a new class of Web application: community sense and response (CSR) systems, distinguished from standard Web applications by their use of community-owned commercial sensor hardware. Just as social networks connect and share human-generated content, CSR systems gather, share, and act on sensory data from users' Internet-enabled devices. Here, we discuss the Caltech Community Seismic Network (CSN) as a prototypical CSR system harnessing accelerometers in smartphones and consumer electronics, including the systems and algorithmic challenges of designing, building, and evaluating a scalable network for real-time awareness of dangerous earthquakes

Community Sense and Response Systems: Your Phone as Quake Detector

The proliferation of smartphones and other powerful sensor-equipped consumer devices enables a new class of Web application: community sense and response (CSR) systems, distinguished from standard Web applications by their use of community-owned commercial sensor hardware. Just as social networks connect and share human-generated content, CSR systems gather, share, and act on sensory data from users' Internet-enabled devices. Here, we discuss the Caltech Community Seismic Network (CSN) as a prototypical CSR system harnessing accelerometers in smartphones and consumer electronics, including the systems and algorithmic challenges of designing, building, and evaluating a scalable network for real-time awareness of dangerous earthquakes

Role of cytoskeletal abnormalities in the neuropathology and pathophysiology of type I lissencephaly

Type I lissencephaly or agyria-pachygyria is a rare developmental disorder which results from a defect of neuronal migration. It is characterized by the absence of gyri and a thickening of the cerebral cortex and can be associated with other brain and visceral anomalies. Since the discovery of the first genetic cause (deletion of chromosome 17p13.3), six additional genes have been found to be responsible for agyria–pachygyria. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge concerning these genetic disorders including clinical, neuropathological and molecular results. Genetic alterations of LIS1, DCX, ARX, TUBA1A, VLDLR, RELN and more recently WDR62 genes cause migrational abnormalities along with more complex and subtle anomalies affecting cell proliferation and differentiation, i.e., neurite outgrowth, axonal pathfinding, axonal transport, connectivity and even myelination. The number and heterogeneity of clinical, neuropathological and radiological defects suggest that type I lissencephaly now includes several forms of cerebral malformations. In vitro experiments and mutant animal studies, along with neuropathological abnormalities in humans are of invaluable interest for the understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms, highlighting the central role of cytoskeletal dynamics required for a proper achievement of cell proliferation, neuronal migration and differentiation

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

Alien Registration- Faulkner, Annie B. (Houlton, Aroostook County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/36207/thumbnail.jp

Alien Registration- Faulkner, Annie B. (Houlton, Aroostook County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/36207/thumbnail.jp

Late-Holocene occupation and coastal economy in Blue Mud Bay, northeast Arnhem Land: Preliminary archaeological findings

Twelve months of archaeological excavation and survey were conducted on the Blane Peninsula in Blue Mud Bay over three field seasons between 2000 and 2002. During this time, 141 sites were recorded, and 16 sites were excavated. Though archaeological work in the region prior to this study has not been extensive, some general patterns have been identified that are similar to those reported by other researchers across the tropical North of Australia. These patterns include the type of sites present, the use of similar resources; the distribution of sites across similar landscapes, and the timing and extent of occupation through the late-Holocene. The preliminary analysis of the archaeological evidence demonstrates Aboriginal occupation and marine resource exploitation on the Blane Peninsula from 3000 years ago to the present day. This evidence includes relative continuity in the range of shellfish species gathered, in the site locations used during this time, and in the patterns of shellfish discarded in midden deposits