The Academics Athletics Trade-off: Universities and Intercollegiate Athletics

This analysis focuses on several key issues in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The intrinsic benefits of athletic programs are discussed in the first section. Trends in graduation rates and academic performance among athletes and how they correlate with the general student body are discussed in the second section. Finally, an overview of the revenues and expenses of athletic department budgets are discussed in an effort to gain a better understanding of the allocation of funds to athletics. In spite of recent growth in revenues and expenses, the athletic department budget comprises on average only 5 percent of the entire university budget at an FBS school, though spending and revenues have increased dramatically in recent years. In the grand scheme of things, American higher education faces several other, arguably more pressing, areas of reform. However, athletics is a significant and growing dimension of higher education that warrants in-depth examination

Identifying the quark content of the isoscalar scalar mesons f_0(980), f_0(1370), and f_0(1500) from weak and electromagnetic processes

The assignments of the isoscalar scalar mesons f0(980), f0(1370), and f0(1500) in terms of their qqbar substructure is still a matter of heated dispute. Here we employ the weak and electromagnetic decays D(s)(+) to f0+pi(+) and f0 two-photon decays, respectively, to identify the f0(980) and f0(1500) as mostly ssbar, and the f0(1370) as dominantly nonstrange, in agreement with previous work. The two-photon decays can be satisfactorily described with quark as well as with meson loops, though the latter ones provide a less model-dependent and more quantitative description.Comment: v1, 15 pages, plain LaTeX, 1 eps figure. v2, 18 pages, plain LaTeX (figure included). More discussion, especially on the f0(1370) and its empirical two-photon widt

Major impacts of climate change on deep-sea benthic ecosystems

The deep sea encompasses the largest ecosystems on Earth. Although poorly known, deep seafloor ecosystems provide services that are vitally important to the entire ocean and biosphere. Rising atmospheric greenhouse gases are bringing about significant changes in the environmental properties of the ocean realm in terms of water column oxygenation, temperature, pH and food supply, with concomitant impacts on deep-sea ecosystems. Projections suggest that abyssal (3000–6000 m) ocean temperatures could increase by 1°C over the next 84 years, while abyssal seafloor habitats under areas of deep-water formation may experience reductions in water column oxygen concentrations by as much as 0.03 mL L–1 by 2100. Bathyal depths (200–3000 m) worldwide will undergo the most significant reductions in pH in all oceans by the year 2100 (0.29 to 0.37 pH units). O2 concentrations will also decline in the bathyal NE Pacific and Southern Oceans, with losses up to 3.7% or more, especially at intermediate depths. Another important environmental parameter, the flux of particulate organic matter to the seafloor, is likely to decline significantly in most oceans, most notably in the abyssal and bathyal Indian Ocean where it is predicted to decrease by 40–55% by the end of the century. Unfortunately, how these major changes will affect deep-seafloor ecosystems is, in some cases, very poorly understood. In this paper, we provide a detailed overview of the impacts of these changing environmental parameters on deep-seafloor ecosystems that will most likely be seen by 2100 in continental margin, abyssal and polar settings. We also consider how these changes may combine with other anthropogenic stressors (e.g., fishing, mineral mining, oil and gas extraction) to further impact deep-seafloor ecosystems and discuss the possible societal implications

Kurt Symanzik - a stable fixed point beyond triviality

In 1970 Kurt Symanzik proposed a "precarious" phi**4-theory with a negative quartic coupling constant as a valid candidate for an asymptotically free theory of strong interactions. Symanzik's deep insight in the non-trivial properties of this theory has been overruled since then by the Hermitian intuition of generations of scientists, who considered or consider this actually non-Hermitian highly important theory to be unstable. This short - certainly controversial - communication tries to shed some light on the historical and formalistic context of Symanzik's theory in order to sharpen our (quantum) intuition about non-perturbative theoretical physics between (non)triviality and asymptotic freedom.Comment: 6 pages, no figures, new style files, revised for typos, improved discussion, new references adde

Limited Genetic Diversity Preceded Extinction of the Tasmanian Tiger

The Tasmanian tiger or thylacine was the largest carnivorous marsupial when Europeans first reached Australia. Sadly, the last known thylacine died in captivity in 1936. A recent analysis of the genome of the closely related and extant Tasmanian devil demonstrated limited genetic diversity between individuals. While a similar lack of diversity has been reported for the thylacine, this analysis was based on just two individuals. Here we report the sequencing of an additional 12 museum-archived specimens collected between 102 and 159 years ago. We examined a portion of the mitochondrial DNA hyper-variable control region and determined that all sequences were on average 99.5% identical at the nucleotide level. As a measure of accuracy we also sequenced mitochondrial DNA from a mother and two offspring. As expected, these samples were found to be 100% identical, validating our methods. We also used 454 sequencing to reconstruct 2.1 kilobases of the mitochondrial genome, which shared 99.91% identity with the two complete thylacine mitochondrial genomes published previously. Our thylacine genomic data also contained three highly divergent putative nuclear mitochondrial sequences, which grouped phylogenetically with the published thylacine mitochondrial homologs but contained 100-fold more polymorphisms than the conserved fragments. Together, our data suggest that the thylacine population in Tasmania had limited genetic diversity prior to its extinction, possibly as a result of their geographic isolation from mainland Australia approximately 10,000 years ago

Wettability-independent bouncing on flat surfaces mediated by thin air films

The impingement of drops onto solid surfaces1, 2 plays a crucial role in a variety of processes, including inkjet printing, fog harvesting, anti-icing, dropwise condensation and spray coating3, 4, 5, 6. Recent efforts in understanding and controlling drop impact behaviour focused on superhydrophobic surfaces with specific surface structures enabling drop bouncing with reduced contact time7, 8. Here, we report a different universal bouncing mechanism that occurs on both wetting and non-wetting flat surfaces for both high and low surface tension liquids. Using high-speed multiple-wavelength interferometry9, we show that this bouncing mechanism is based on the continuous presence of an air film for moderate drop impact velocities. This submicrometre ‘air cushion’ slows down the incoming drop and reverses its momentum. Viscous forces in the air film play a key role in this process: they provide transient stability of the air cushion against squeeze-out, mediate momentum transfer, and contribute a substantial part of the energy dissipation during bouncing

Origin and Evolution of European Community-Acquired Methicillin- Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

ABSTRACT Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) was recognized in Europe and worldwide in the late 1990s. Within a decade, several genetically and geographically distinct CA-MRSA lineages carrying the small SCCmec type IV and V genetic elements and the Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) emerged around the world. In Europe, the predominant CA-MRSA strain belongs to clonal complex 80 (CC80) and is resistant to kanamycin/amikacin and fusidic acid. CC80 was first reported in 1993 but was relatively rare until the late 1990s. It has since been identified throughout North Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, with recent sporadic reports in sub-Saharan Africa. While strongly associated with skin and soft tissue infections, it is rarely found among asymptomatic carriers. Methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) CC80 strains are extremely rare except in sub-Saharan Africa. In the current study, we applied whole-genome sequencing to a global collection of both MSSA and MRSA CC80 isolates. Phylogenetic analyses strongly suggest that the European epidemic CA-MRSA lineage is derived from a PVL-positive MSSA ancestor from sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, the tree topology suggests a single acquisition of both the SCCmec element and a plasmid encoding the fusidic acid resistance determinant. Four canonical SNPs distinguish the derived CA-MRSA lineage and include a nonsynonymous mutation in accessory gene regulator C (agrC). These changes were associated with a star-like expansion into Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa in the early 1990s, including multiple cases of cross-continent imports likely driven by human migrations. IMPORTANCE With increasing levels of CA-MRSA reported from most parts of the Western world, there is a great interest in understanding the origin and factors associated with the emergence of these epidemic lineages. To trace the origin, evolution, and dissemination pattern of the European CA-MRSA clone (CC80), we sequenced a global collection of strains of the S. aureus CC80 lineage. Our study determined that a single descendant of a PVL-positive methicillin-sensitive ancestor circulating in sub-Saharan Africa rose to become the dominant CA-MRSA clone in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. In the transition from a methicillin-susceptible lineage to a successful CA-MRSA clone, it simultaneously became resistant to fusidic acid, a widely used antibiotic for skin and soft tissue infections, thus demonstrating the importance of antibiotic selection in the success of this clone. This finding furthermore highlights the significance of horizontal gene acquisitions and underscores the combined importance of these factors for the success of CA-MRSA

Transcriptome profiling of ontogeny in the acridid grasshopper Chorthippus biguttulus

Acridid grasshoppers (Orthoptera:Acrididae) are widely used model organisms for developmental, evolutionary, and neurobiological research. Although there has been recent influx of orthopteran transcriptomic resources, many use pooled ontogenetic stages obscuring information about changes in gene expression during development. Here we developed a de novo transcriptome spanning 7 stages in the life cycle of the acridid grasshopper Chorthippus biguttulus. Samples from different stages encompassing embryonic development through adults were used for transcriptomic profiling, revealing patterns of differential gene expression that highlight processes in the different life stages. These patterns were validated with semi-quantitative RT-PCR. Embryonic development showed a strongly differentiated expression pattern compared to all of the other stages and genes upregulated in this stage were involved in signaling, cellular differentiation, and organ development. Our study is one of the first to examine gene expression during post-embryonic development in a hemimetabolous insect and we found that only the fourth and fifth instars had clusters of genes upregulated during these stages. These genes are involved in various processes ranging from synthesis of biogenic amines to chitin binding. These observations indicate that post-embryonic ontogeny is not a continuous process and that some instars are differentiated. Finally, genes upregulated in the imago were generally involved in aging and immunity. Our study highlights the importance of looking at ontogeny as a whole and indicates promising directions for future research in orthopteran development

Negative Supercoiling Creates Single-Stranded Patches of DNA That Are Substrates for AID–Mediated Mutagenesis

Antibody diversification necessitates targeted mutation of regions within the immunoglobulin locus by activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID). While AID is known to act on single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), the source, structure, and distribution of these substrates in vivo remain unclear. Using the technique of in situ bisulfite treatment, we characterized these substrates—which we found to be unique to actively transcribed genes—as short ssDNA regions, that are equally distributed on both DNA strands. We found that the frequencies of these ssDNA patches act as accurate predictors of AID activity at reporter genes in hypermutating and class switching B cells as well as in Escherichia coli. Importantly, these ssDNA patches rely on transcription, and we report that transcription-induced negative supercoiling enhances both ssDNA tract formation and AID mutagenesis. In addition, RNaseH1 expression does not impact the formation of these ssDNA tracts indicating that these structures are distinct from R-loops. These data emphasize the notion that these transcription-generated ssDNA tracts are one of many in vivo substrates for AID