Californians don’t see the need to adapt to wildfires unless they have close experience with them.

The past four years have seen vast wildfires in California which have burned millions of acres of land and killed over 100 people. In new research, Iris Hui and Bruce Cain look at how wildfires and their effects influence whether Californians support efforts to adapt to them. They find that, unless they have experienced wildfires close to them, most Californians think that wildfire adaptation is an individual’s responsibility. They also find that, compared to Democrats, Republicans are much less concerned about the harmful smoke wildfires produce

All Over the Map: The Diversity of Western Water Plans

Water presents a complex challenge to western state governments. Water is scarcer in the West than in the East and western states face challenges unknown to eastern ones. The textual analysis of their state water planning summaries produced by the US Army Corps of Engineers between late 2008 and 2009 confirms the differences in their policy priorities. However, there is also a wide variance among western states’ policies as the diversity in their water plans show. Water planning is a challenge not only because of the variability of the resource but also because water basins do not map our local, regional, or state political divisions and many types of users compete for the resource. In addition, states have to conform to certain federal constraints, like the Endangered Species Act, tribal rights, or interstate compacts, which curtail their leeway in deciding how to allocate and manage their water. Even accounting for these external constraints, the content of western water plans varies substantially. A typical state plan includes from an inventory of water uses, demand projections, and management recommendations. But not all state plans conform to this scheme. Regarding length, topics covered, frequency at which they are updated, and public involvement, they are all over the map. Many reasons might be behind the disparity, but among those, the funding allocated to planning and the relative power of different interest groups are quite salient. Water planning is a necessary tool to manage water, particularly in a climate change scenario. Planning is a state task but we believe the federal government is in a good position to promote standardized data collection on state water supply and by offering grants to the states. Good information and an informed menu of possible choices is a realistic goal that could in theory achieve bipartisan consensus and move us closer to an integrated and sustainable water resources management

GRB 211211A-like Events and How Gravitational Waves May Tell Their Origin

GRB 211211A is a rare burst with a genuinely long duration, yet its prominent kilonova association provides compelling evidence that this peculiar burst was the result of a compact binary merger. However, the exact nature of the merging objects, whether they were neutron star pairs, neutron star-black hole systems, or neutron star-white dwarf systems, remains unsettled. This Letter delves into the rarity of this event and the possibility of using current and next-generation gravitational wave detectors to distinguish between the various types of binary systems. Our research reveals an event rate density of $\gtrsim 5.67^{+13.04}_{-4.69} \times 10^{-3}\ \rm Gpc^{-3} yr^{-1}$ for GRB 211211A-like GRBs, which is significantly smaller than that of typical long and short GRB populations. We further calculated that if the origin of GRB 211211A is a result of a neutron star-black hole merger, it would be detectable with a significant signal-to-noise ratio, given the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA designed sensitivity. On the other hand, a neutron star-white dwarf binary would also produce a considerable signal-to-noise ratio during the inspiral phase at decihertz and is detectable by next-generation space-borne detectors DECIGO and BBO. However, to detect this type of system with millihertz space-borne detectors like LISA, Taiji, and TianQin, the event must be very close, approximately 3 Mpc in distance or smaller.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

A conserved strategy for inducing appendage regeneration

Can limb regeneration be induced? Few have pursued this question, and an evolutionarily conserved strategy has yet to emerge. This study reports a strategy for inducing regenerative response in appendages, which works across three species that span the animal phylogeny. In Cnidaria, the frequency of appendage regeneration in the moon jellyfish Aurelia was increased by feeding with the amino acid L-leucine and the growth hormone insulin. In insects, the same strategy induced tibia regeneration in adult Drosophila. Finally, in mammals, L-leucine and sucrose administration induced digit regeneration in adult mice, including dramatically from mid- phalangeal amputation. The conserved effect of L-leucine and insulin/sugar suggests a key role for energetic parameters in regeneration induction. The simplicity by which nutrient supplementation can induce appendage regeneration provides a testable hypothesis across animals

Study on the performance of the Sarawak Industrial and Entrepreneurial Information Centre (SIEIC) / Abdul Rahman Deen ... [et al.]

The twenty-first century will see an intense demand for information and knowledge. Trade liberalisation will offer expanding markets opportunities only to be reaped with market intelligence in the knowledge economy. Even businesses confined within national boundaries will need information to respond adequately to foreign competition. Besides serving as inputs to the business, industrial and entrepreneurial community, information and knowledge will also be the end-products for the increasingly sophisticated consuming public. Recognising the challenges of the new millennium, the Ministry of Industrial Development, Sarawak (MID) established the Sarawak Industrial and Entrepreneurial Information Centre (SIEIC) way back in 1995 (see Appendix 1 on Objectives, Functions, Activities and Facilities of SIEIC). The socio-economic and political scenario has changed drastically since 1995. The accelerated development of information technology (IT) has brought forth new opportunities as well as threats. Inter-governmental negotiations in the World Trade Organisation and various economic groupings are already in place. They will impinge on the Malaysian economy in general and the Sarawak economy in particular. The Asian financial crisis in 1997 and the ensuing economic recession have impacted on the local community. Malaysia's foreign exchange control and attempts at financial and banking restructuring thereafter further changes the business and investment climate. Above all is the resource constraint in achieving aspired objectives and targets

Pengurusan e-rekod penyelidikan, penerbitan dan latihan / Rosita Suhaimi... [et al.]

Publication, Training & Research Administration System (PuTRAS) telah dibangunkan untuk penyimpanan rekod penyelidikan, penerbitan dan latihan sesebuah universiti. Ianya amat penting bagi tujuan laporan, pemantauan, pengukuran dan perancangan halatuju akademia. Sistem ini adalah sebuah sistem bersepadu yang berasaskan Web bagi memudahkan pihak pengurusan untuk mengakses rekod-rekod tersebut secara efektif dan efisien. Laporan-laporan yang kerap digunapakai yang mengandungi maklumat yang terkini juga boleh dilihat melalui laman web oleh pihak pengurusan pada bila-bila masa melalui akses id pengguna dan kata laluan. Penggunaan sistem PuTRAS dapat menepati keperluan pihak pengurusan dan seterusnya mengatasi kesukaran yang dihadapi oleh Jawatankuasa Pengukuran Kualiti dalam mengumpul dan mengenalpasti Petunjuk Prestasi Utama (KPI) penglibatan pensyarah dalam bidang penyelidikan, perundingan dan penulisan. Ini adalah penting memandangkan penglibatan pensyarah dalam bidang penyelidikan, perundingan dan penulisan adalah merupakan criteria utama untuk mengukur prestasi dan produktiviti setiap staf akademik

Mixed hepatocellular cholangiocarcinoma tumors: Cholangiolocellular carcinoma is a distinct molecular entity

Background & Aims: Mixed hepatocellular cholangiocarcinoma (HCC-CCA) is a rare and poorly understood type of primary liver cancer. We aimed to perform a comprehensive molecular characterization of this malignancy.Methods: Gene expression profiling, DNA copy number detection, and exome sequencing using formalin-fixed samples from 18 patients with mixed HCC-CCA were performed, encompassing the whole histological spectrum of the disease. Comparative genomic analysis was carried out, using independent datasets of HCC (n = 164) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) (n = 149).Results: Integrative genomic analysis of HCC-CCAs revealed that cholangiolocellular carcinoma (CLC) represents a distinct biliaryderived entity compared with the stem-cell and classical types. CLC tumors were neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM) positive (6/6 vs. 1/12, p < 0.001), chromosomally stable (mean chromosomal aberrations 5.7 vs. 14.1, p = 0.008), showed significant upregulation of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta signaling and enrichment of inflammation-related and immune response signatures (p < 0.001). Stem-cell tumors were characterized by spaltlike transcription factor 4 (SALL4) positivity (6/8 vs. 0/10, p < 0.001), enrichment of progenitor-like signatures, activation of specific oncogenic pathways (i.e., MYC and insulin-like growth factor [IGF]), and signatures related to poor clinical outcome. In the classical type, there was a significant correlation in the copy number variation of the iCCA and HCC components, suggesting a clonal origin. Exome sequencing revealed an average of 63 non-synonymous mutations per tumor (2 mean driver mutations per tumor). Among those, TP53 was the most frequently mutated gene (6/21, 29%) in HCC-CCAs.Conclusions: Mixed HCC-CCA represents a heterogeneous group of tumors, with the stem-cell type characterized by features of poor prognosis, and the classical type with common lineage for HCC and iCCA components. CLC stands alone as a distinct biliary-derived entity associated with chromosomal stability and active TGF-b signaling.Lay summary: Molecular analysis of mixed hepatocellular cholangiocarcinoma (HCC-CCA) showed that cholangiolocellular carcinoma (CLC) is distinct and biliary in origin. It has none of the traits of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, within mixed HCC-CCA, stem-cell type tumors shared an aggressive nature and poor outcome, whereas the classic type showed a common cell lineage for both the HCC and the intrahepatic CCA component. The pathological classification of mixed HCC-CCA should be redefined because of the new molecular data provided. (C) 2017 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved