Cyberbullying

Technology now allows people — often children — to bully online. Social messaging sites can open up the user to a variety of bullying techniques outside of the playground. How parents and other adults can help reduce bullying over the Internet is examined in this NebGuide. ... What can a parent do about cyberbullying? First, it’s important that parents and youth not reply or respond in any way to cyberbullies. Research indicates that being responsive may, in fact, escalate the activity. Instead, parents will need to think like a detective or lawyer. Document the activity with dates and times and print out any offensive materials. Keep the original email or other digital information, which can help computer specialists find the digital source. Use this information to report the activity to appropriate authorities, such as the school, local police department, state patrol, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), your Internet service provider (ISP), and/or groups like WiredSafety

Expression of KOC, S100P, mesothelin and MUC1 in pancreatico-biliary adenocarcinomas: development and utility of a potential diagnostic immunohistochemistry panel

<b>Background</b> Pancreatico-biliary adenocarcinomas (PBA) have a poor prognosis. Diagnosis is usually achieved by imaging and/or endoscopy with confirmatory cytology. Cytological interpretation can be difficult especially in the setting of chronic pancreatitis/cholangitis. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) biomarkers could act as an adjunct to cytology to improve the diagnosis. Thus, we performed a meta-analysis and selected KOC, S100P, mesothelin and MUC1 for further validation in PBA resection specimens.<p></p> <b>Methods</b> Tissue microarrays containing tumour and normal cores in a ratio of 3:2, from 99 surgically resected PBA patients, were used for IHC. IHC was performed on an automated platform using antibodies against KOC, S100P, mesothelin and MUC1. Tissue cores were scored for staining intensity and proportion of tissue stained using a Histoscore method (range, 0–300). Sensitivity and specificity for individual biomarkers, as well as biomarker panels, were determined with different cut-offs for positivity and compared by summary receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.<p></p> <b>Results</b> The expression of all four biomarkers was high in PBA versus normal ducts, with a mean Histoscore of 150 vs. 0.4 for KOC, 165 vs. 0.3 for S100P, 115 vs. 0.5 for mesothelin and 200 vs. 14 for MUC1 (p < .0001 for all comparisons). Five cut-offs were carefully chosen for sensitivity/specificity analysis. Four of these cut-offs, namely 5%, 10% or 20% positive cells and Histoscore 20 were identified using ROC curve analysis and the fifth cut-off was moderate-strong staining intensity. Using 20% positive cells as a cut-off achieved higher sensitivity/specificity values: KOC 84%/100%; S100P 83%/100%; mesothelin 88%/92%; and MUC1 89%/63%. Analysis of a panel of KOC, S100P and mesothelin achieved 100% sensitivity and 99% specificity if at least 2 biomarkers were positive for 10% cut-off; and 100% sensitivity and specificity for 20% cut-off.<p></p> <b>Conclusion</b> A biomarker panel of KOC, S100P and mesothelin with at least 2 biomarkers positive was found to be an optimum panel with both 10% and 20% cut-offs in resection specimens from patients with PBA.<p></p&gt

NLOAD : an interactive, web-based modeling tool for nitrogen management in estuaries

Author Posting. © Ecological Society of America, 2007. This article is posted here by permission of Ecological Society of America for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Ecological Applications 17, Supple. (2007): S17–S30, doi:10.1890/05-1460.1.Eutrophication of estuaries is an increasing global concern that requires development of new tools to identify causes, quantify conditions, and propose management options that address this environmental problem. Since eutrophication is often associated with increased inputs of land-derived nitrogen to estuaries, we developed NLOAD, a user-friendly, web-based tool that brings together six different published models that predict nitrogen loading to estuaries and two models that estimate nitrogen concentrations in coastal waters. Here we describe each of the models, demonstrate how NLOAD is designed to function, and then use the models in NLOAD to predict nitrogen loads to Barnegat Bay, New Jersey (USA). The four models that we used to estimate nitrogen loads to Barnegat Bay, when adjusted, all had similar results that matched well with measured values and indicated that Barnegat Bay receives roughly 26 kg N·ha−1·yr−1. Atmospheric deposition was the dominant source of nitrogen to Barnegat Bay, followed by fertilizer nitrogen. Wastewater in Barnegat Bay is diverted to an offshore outfall and contributes no nitrogen to the system. The NLOAD tool has an additional feature that allows managers to assess the effectiveness of a variety of management options to reduce nitrogen loads. We demonstrate this feature of NLOAD through simulations in which fertilizer inputs to the Barnegat Bay watershed are reduced. Even modest cutbacks in the use of fertilizers on agricultural fields and lawns can be shown to reduce the amount of N entering Barnegat Bay.Support for the NLOAD tool came from the Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technologies (CICEET, CICEET-UNH grants #02-610 and #04-833). Additional funding was received from Environmental Defense

How Should Addiction-Related Research at the National Institutes of Health be Reorganized?

The decades-old debate about the optimum organizational structure of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has reached a crescendo with the recent deliberations of the Scientific Management Review Board, which, despite the lack of a crisis, proposed a structural reorganization that would dissolve the two institutes and create a new institute for substance use, abuse, and addiction, in hope of new scientific and public health advances (Collins, 2010). For a new institute to succeed, a multitude of potential challenges need to be negotiated effectivel

The UK Centre for Astrobiology:A Virtual Astrobiology Centre. Accomplishments and Lessons Learned, 2011-2016

Authors thank all those individuals, UK research councils, funding agencies, nonprofit organisations, companies and corporations and UK and non-UK government agencies, who have so generously supported our aspirations and hopes over the last 5 years and supported UKCA projects. They include the STFC, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC), the EU, the UK Space Agency, NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), The Crown Estate, Cleveland Potash and others. The Astrobiology Academy has been supported by the UK Space Agency (UKSA), National Space Centre, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Dynamic Earth, The Royal Astronomical Society, The Rotary Club (Shetlands) and the NASA Astrobiology Institute.The UK Centre for Astrobiology (UKCA) was set up in 2011 as a virtual center to contribute to astrobiology research, education, and outreach. After 5 years, we describe this center and its work in each of these areas. Its research has focused on studying life in extreme environments, the limits of life on Earth, and implications for habitability elsewhere. Among its research infrastructure projects, UKCA has assembled an underground astrobiology laboratory that has hosted a deep subsurface planetary analog program, and it has developed new flow-through systems to study extraterrestrial aqueous environments. UKCA has used this research backdrop to develop education programs in astrobiology, including a massive open online course in astrobiology that has attracted over 120,000 students, a teacher training program, and an initiative to take astrobiology into prisons. In this paper, we review these activities and others with a particular focus on providing lessons to others who may consider setting up an astrobiology center, institute, or science facility. We discuss experience in integrating astrobiology research into teaching and education activities.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Macrophyte abundance in Waquoit Bay : effects of land-derived nitrogen loads on seasonal and multi-year biomass patterns

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2008. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Springer for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Estuaries and Coasts 31 (2008): 532-541, doi:10.1007/s12237-008-9039-6.Anthropogenic inputs of nutrients to coastal waters have rapidly restructured coastal ecosystems. To examine the response of macrophyte communities to land-derived nitrogen loading, we measured macrophyte biomass monthly for six years in three estuaries subject to different nitrogen loads owing to different land uses on the watersheds. The set of estuaries sampled had nitrogen loads over the broad range of 12 to 601 kg N ha-1 y-1. Macrophyte biomass increased as nitrogen loads increased, but the response of individual taxa varied. Specifically, biomass of Cladophora vagabunda and Gracilaria tikvahiae increased significantly as nitrogen loads increased. The biomass of other macroalgal taxa tended to decrease with increasing load, and the relative proportion of these taxa to total macrophyte biomass also decreased. The seagrass, Zostera marina, disappeared from the higher loaded estuaries, but remained abundant in the estuary with the lowest load. Seasonal changes in macroalgal standing stock were also affected by nitrogen load, with larger fluctuations in biomass across the year and higher minimum biomass of macroalgae in the higher loaded estuaries. There were no significant changes in macrophyte biomass over the six years of this study, but there was a slight trend of increasing macroalgal biomass in the latter years. Macroalgal biomass was not related to irradiance or temperature, but Z. marina biomass was highest during the summer months when light and temperatures peak. Irradiance might, however, be a secondary limiting factor controlling macroalgal biomass in the higher loaded estuaries by restricting the depth of the macroalgal canopy. The relationship between the bloom-forming macroalgal species, C. vagabunda and G. tikvahiae, and nitrogen loads suggested a strong connection between development on watersheds and macroalgal blooms and loss of seagrasses. The influence of watershed land uses largely overwhelmed seasonal and inter-annual differences in standing stock of macrophytes in these temperate estuaries.This research was supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technologies (CICEET-UNH#99-304, NOAA NA87OR512), NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve Graduate Research Fellowship NERRS GRF, #NA77OR0228), and an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) STAR Fellowship for Graduate Environmental Study (U-915335-01-0) awarded to J. Hauxwell. S. Fox was supported by a NOAA NERRS GRF (#NA03NOS4200132) and an EPA STAR Graduate Research Fellowship. We also thank the Quebec-Labrador Foundation Atlantic Center for the Environment's Sounds Conservancy Program and the Boston University Ablon/Bay Committee for their awarding research funds

The BioGRID interaction database: 2013 update

The Biological General Repository for Interaction Datasets (BioGRID: http//thebiogrid.org) is an open access archive of genetic and protein interactions that are curated from the primary biomedical literature for all major model organism species. As of September 2012, BioGRID houses more than 500 000 manually annotated interactions from more than 30 model organisms. BioGRID maintains complete curation coverage of the literature for the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe and the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. A number of themed curation projects in areas of biomedical importance are also supported. BioGRID has established collaborations and/or shares data records for the annotation of interactions and phenotypes with most major model organism databases, including Saccharomyces Genome Database, PomBase, WormBase, FlyBase and The Arabidopsis Information Resource. BioGRID also actively engages with the text-mining community to benchmark and deploy automated tools to expedite curation workflows. BioGRID data are freely accessible through both a user-defined interactive interface and in batch downloads in a wide variety of formats, including PSI-MI2.5 and tab-delimited files. BioGRID records can also be interrogated and analyzed with a series of new bioinformatics tools, which include a post-translational modification viewer, a graphical viewer, a REST service and a Cytoscape plugin

International prevalence of adolescent non-suicidal self-injury and deliberate self-harm

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The behaviours of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and deliberate self-harm (DSH) are prevalent among adolescents, and an increase of rates in recent years has been postulated. There is a lack of studies to support this postulation, and comparing prevalence across studies and nations is complicated due to substantial differences in the methodology and nomenclature of existing research.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a systematic review of current (2005 - 2011) empirical studies reporting on the prevalence of NSSI and DSH in adolescent samples across the globe.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Fifty-two studies fulfilling the inclusion criteria were obtained for analysis. No statistically significant differences were found between NSSI (18.0% SD = 7.3) and DSH (16.1% SD = 11.6) studies. Assessment using single item questions led to lower prevalence rates than assessment with specific behaviour checklists. Mean prevalence rates have not increased in the past five years, suggesting stabilization.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>NSSI and DSH have a comparable prevalence in studies with adolescents from different countries. The field would benefit from adopting a common approach to assessment to aide cross-cultural study and comparisons.</p

The BioGRID interaction database: 2015 update

The Biological General Repository for Interaction Datasets (BioGRID: http://thebiogrid.org) is an open access database that houses genetic and protein interactions curated from the primary biomedical literature for all major model organism species and humans. As of September 2014, the BioGRID contains 749 912 interactions as drawn from 43 149 publications that represent 30 model organisms. This interaction count represents a 50% increase compared to our previous 2013 BioGRID update. BioGRID data are freely distributed through partner model organism databases and meta-databases and are directly downloadable in a variety of formats. In addition to general curation of the published literature for the major model species, BioGRID undertakes themed curation projects in areas of particular relevance for biomedical sciences, such as the ubiquitin-proteasome system and various human disease-associated interaction networks. BioGRID curation is coordinated through an Interaction Management System (IMS) that facilitates the compilation interaction records through structured evidence codes, phenotype ontologies, and gene annotation. The BioGRID architecture has been improved in order to support a broader range of interaction and post-translational modification types, to allow the representation of more complex multi-gene/protein interactions, to account for cellular phenotypes through structured ontologies, to expedite curation through semi-automated text-mining approaches, and to enhance curation quality control