Pillars Of Prosperity: Leveraging Regional Assets To Grow Minnesota's Economy

Minnesota has always been rich with assets -- a skilled labor force, good jobs in diverse industries, globally competitive companies, and abundant lakes and parks that provide a high quality of life for the people who call it home.However, to maintain its strong economy and quality of life, Minnesota must adapt to fast-changing trends in the global economy, trends that affect each of the state's regions and communities differently.This report explores how the state of Minnesota -- the governor's administration together with the Minnesota Legislature -- can partner with regional networks to foster economic growth and extend prosperity to greater numbers of Minnesotans

The Orientation of Beavers (Castor Canadensis) When Cutting Trees

Author Institution: Department of Zoology, Ohio Wesleyan UniversityWe studied patterns in the orientation of cutting when beavers (Castor canadensis) cut trees around Alum Creek Lake in central Ohio. For 462 trees, we measured the slope at the base of the tree, the orientation of the cut relative to this slope, the distance of the tree from the water, the radius of the tree, and the symmetry of the cut. The land around Alum Creek Lake generally slopes toward the water, so to direct the fall of a tree towards the water a beaver should cut a symmetrical tree from the downhill side. Cutting from the downhill side occurred for trees >9.0 m from the water. Near the shore, trees tended to lean toward the water and would fall toward the water regardless of the side from which the beaver cut. At distances 30°) they cut predominantly from the uphill side. Beavers cut small trees (5.0 cm in diameter from the uphill side. Overall, enough factors interacted that no single pattern of cutting existed for all trees

Exact Solutions of the Saturable Discrete Nonlinear Schrodinger Equation

Exact solutions to a nonlinear Schr{\"o}dinger lattice with a saturable nonlinearity are reported. For finite lattices we find two different standing-wave-like solutions, and for an infinite lattice we find a localized soliton-like solution. The existence requirements and stability of these solutions are discussed, and we find that our solutions are linearly stable in most cases. We also show that the effective Peierls-Nabarro barrier potential is nonzero thereby indicating that this discrete model is quite likely nonintegrable

Decline in the Index of Biotic Integrity of Delaware Run, Ohio, over 50 Years

Author Institution: Department of Zoology, Ohio Wesleyan UniversityThe purpose of this study was to compare the present biotic integrity of a central Ohio headwater stream with the conditions in 1940. Major changes in fish faunal composition occurred in Delaware Run over this time period. Only 33% (11 of 33) of the totalspecies collected were present in both years. Indices of biotic integrity (IBI) estimated for the 1940 data indicated that the stream was in good condition then, whereas it is in fair to poor condition now. The primary differences are as follows: 1) an increase in abundance of tolerant species suggesting an increase in general pollution, 2) a decrease in percentage of insectivores together with an increase in percentage of generalists suggesting a reduction of the insect food base, 3) a decrease in the number of simple lithophilic spawners suggesting degradation of reproductive habitat through siltation, and 4) an increase in percentage of pioneering fishes suggesting increased temporal stresses in the stream. Although the stream was not in pristine condition in 1940, it has been degraded further in the past half century

Requirement for DNA Ligase IV during Embryonic Neuronal Development

The embryonic ventricular and subventricular zones (VZ/SVZ) contain the neuronal stem and progenitor cells and undergo rapid proliferation. The intermediate zone (IZ) contains nonreplicating, differentiated cells. The VZ/SVZ is hypersensitive to radiation-induced apoptosis. Ablation of DNA non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) proteins, XRCC4 or DNA ligase IV (LigIV), confers ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM)-dependent apoptosis predominantly in the IZ. We examine the mechanistic basis underlying these distinct sensitivities using a viable LigIV (Lig4(Y288C)) mouse, which permits an examination of the DNA damage responses in the embryonic and adult brain. Via combined analysis of DNA breakage, apoptosis, and cell-cycle checkpoint control in tissues, we show that apoptosis in the VZ/SVZ and IZ is activated by low numbers of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). Unexpectedly, high sensitivity in the VZ/SVZ arises from sensitive activation of ATM-dependent apoptosis plus an ATM-independent process. In contrast, the IZ appears to be hypersensitive to persistent DSBs. NHEJ functions efficiently in both compartments. The VZ/SVZ and IZ regions incur high endogenous DNA breakage, which correlates with VZ proliferation. We demonstrate a functional G(2)/M checkpoint in VZ/SVZ cells and show that it is not activated by low numbers of DSBs, allowing damaged VZ/SVZ cells to transit into the IZ. We propose a novel model in which microcephaly in LIG4 syndrome arises from sensitive apoptotic induction from persisting DSBs in the IZ, which arise from high endogenous breakage in the VZ/SVZ and transit of damaged cells to the IZ. The VZ/SVZ, in contrast, is highly sensitive to acute radiation-induced DSB formation

Lewis J. Sundquist: Augustana Alum of 1886

Lewis J. Sundquist graduated from Augustana in 1886. We will discuss his career as a pastor, his family history, and his genealogy

Solitons in nonlocal nonlinear media: exact results

We investigate the propagation of one-dimensional bright and dark spatial solitons in a nonlocal Kerr-like media, in which the nonlocality is of general form. We find an exact analytical solution to the nonlinear propagation equation in the case of weak nonlocality. We study the properties of these solitons and show their stability.Comment: 9 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Striatal Hypodensities, Not White Matter Hypodensities on CT, Are Associated with Late-Onset Depression in Alzheimer's Disease

This study examined whether there were neuroanatomical differences evident on CT scans of individuals with dementia who differed on depression history. Neuroanatomical variables consisted of visual ratings of frontal lobe deep white matter, subcortical white matter, and subcortical gray matter hypodensities in the CT scans of 182 individuals from the Study of Dementia in Swedish Twins who were diagnosed with dementia and had information on depression history. Compared to individuals with Alzheimer's disease and no depression, individuals with Alzheimer's disease and late-onset depression (first depressive episode at age 60 or over) had a greater number of striatal hypodensities (gray matter hypodensities in the caudate nucleus and lentiform nucleus). There were no significant differences in frontal lobe deep white matter or subcortical white matter. These findings suggest that late-onset depression may be a process that is distinct from the neurodegenerative changes caused by Alzheimer's disease

Nature, Nurture, and the Meaning of Educational Attainment: Differences by Sex and Socioeconomic Status

Estimated heritability of educational attainment (EA) varies widely, from 23% to 80%, with growing evidence suggesting the degree to which genetic variation contributes to individual differences in EA is highly dependent upon situational factors. We aimed to decompose EA into influences attributable to genetic propensity and to environmental context and their interplay, while considering influences of rearing household economic status (HES) and sex. We use the Project Talent Twin and Sibling Study, drawn from the population-representative cohort of high school students assessed in 1960 and followed through 2014, to ages 68−72. Data from 3552 twins and siblings from 1741 families were analyzed using multilevel regression and multiple group structural equation models. Individuals from less-advantaged backgrounds had lower EA and less variation. Genetic variance accounted for 51% of the total variance, but within women and men, 40% and 58% of the total variance respectively. Men had stable genetic variance on EA across all HES strata, whereas high HES women showed the same level of genetic influence as men, and lower HES women had constrained genetic influence on EA. Unexpectedly, middle HES women showed the largest constraints in genetic influence on EA. Shared family environment appears to make an outsized contribution to greater variability for women in this middle stratum and whether they pursue more EA. Implications are that without considering early life opportunity, genetic studies on education may mischaracterize sex differences because education reflects different degrees of genetic and environmental influences for women and men

The Project Talent Twin and Sibling Study: Zygosity and New Data Collection

The Project Talent Twin and Sibling (PTTS) study includes 4481 multiples and their 522 nontwin siblings from 2233 families. The sample was drawn from Project Talent, a U.S. national longitudinal study of 377,000 individuals born 1942–1946, first assessed in 1960 and representative of U.S. students in secondary school (Grades 9–12). In addition to the twins and triplets, the 1960 dataset includes 84,000 siblings from 40,000 other families. This design is both genetically informative and unique in facilitating separation of the ‘common’ environment into three sources of variation: shared by all siblings within a family, specific to twin-pairs, and associated with school/community-level factors. We term this the GIFTS model for genetics, individual, family, twin, and school sources of variance. In our article published in a previous Twin Research and Human Genetics special issue, we described data collections conducted with the full Project Talent sample during 1960–1974, methods for the recent linking of siblings within families, identification of twins, and the design of a 54-year follow-up of the PTTS sample, when participants were 68–72 years old. In the current article, we summarize participation and data available from this 2014 collection, describe our method for assigning zygosity using survey responses and yearbook photographs, illustrate the GIFTS model applied to 1960 vocabulary scores from more than 80,000 adolescent twins, siblings and schoolmates and summarize the next wave of PTTS data collection being conducted as part of the larger Project Talent Aging Study