Parent perceptions of parent-school partnership efforts for students with disabilities

The study examined parent-school partnership efforts, as reported and perceived by parents of students with disabilities in a Mid-Atlantic State. Due to the high correlation between parent involvement and academic success, these qualitative comments were deemed vital to ongoing special education improvement in the state. The study utilized the State Education Agency parent survey data which was collected in accordance with the State Performance Plan / Annual Performance Report requirements under Section 616 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004. Survey responses from parents of students with disabilities were aggregated and analyzed for local education agencies. These comments were categorized by topic area, parents’ viewpoints, and themes to reveal the successes, obstacles, and experiences as perceived by parents of children with disabilities. Results indicate that parents express frequent concern regarding eligibility and evaluation, IEP Services, and Compliance with IEP, while they had frequent positive comments regarding adequate and qualified staff

Simulated acoustic emissions from coupled strings

We consider traveling transverse waves on two identical uniform taut strings that are elastically coupled through springs that gradually decrease their stiffness over a region of finite length. The wave system can be decomposed into two modes: an in-phase mode ( + ) that is transparent to the coupling springs, and an out-of-phase mode ( − ) that engages the coupling springs and can resonate at a particular location depending on the excitation frequency. The system exhibits linear mode conversion whereby an incoming ( + ) wave is reflected back from the resonance location both as a propagating ( + ) wave and an evanescent ( − ) wave, while both types emerge as propagating forward through the resonance location. We match a local transition layer expansion to the WKB expansion to obtain estimates of the reflection and transmission coefficients. The reflected waves may be an analog for stimulated emissions from the ear

How Effective Are Current International Laws in Combating Issues of Global Cyber Security?

One of the most serious threats or challenges to national and international security that we are facing today is cyber security. Currently, there are no bodies of international law that can be applied in order to hold states accountable for launching cyber-attacks against other states, and thus it is imperative that several obstacles be removed in order for the law to be applicable before we find ourselves in an all-out “World War C” (Segal, 2016). Critical infrastructure systems are at great risk from attacks that could lead to catastrophic events such as total power blackouts, the opening of dams, and serious economic turmoil. There is no doubt that we are on the brink of a very serious threat to international security, and the current inapplicability of international humanitarian law to this new realm of warfare is sincerely alarming

Predicting Watershed Characteristics Using Bacterial DNA

This study was conducted to determine if bacterial DNA present streams could be used to predict upstream watershed characteristics. Previous studies have found that bacterial composition in soil is influenced by land use. It was hypothesized that if the bacteria present in a stream is known that it can be used to predict upstream watershed characteristics. Collecting bacterial data involved sampling at 62 different sites in Oregon. The bacterial DNA from these samples were then extracted resulting in a spreadsheet of operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Land cover characteristics for each site were obtained by delineating each site’s watershed in StreamStats. The OTU and StreamStats data were used as inputs to create a model using support vector regression (SVR) in python to predict land cover characteristics. The SVR inputs kernel and C value were manipulated to improve the model along with the prevalence of OTUs. The largest Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) value obtained when manipulating the model for forest and shrub cover was 0.26 using an ‘rbf’ kernel, C value of 20433 and a prevalence greater than 91%. This indicates that the model produces a better prediction of land coverage than using the average of all the sites’ land cover.Key Words: land cover, bacterial DNA, support vector regression, Nash Sutcliffe efficienc

Spatial proteomics defines the content of trafficking vesicles captured by golgin tethers.

Intracellular traffic between compartments of the secretory and endocytic pathways is mediated by vesicle-based carriers. The proteomes of carriers destined for many organelles are ill-defined because the vesicular intermediates are transient, low-abundance and difficult to purify. Here, we combine vesicle relocalisation with organelle proteomics and Bayesian analysis to define the content of different endosome-derived vesicles destined for the trans-Golgi network (TGN). The golgin coiled-coil proteins golgin-97 and GCC88, shown previously to capture endosome-derived vesicles at the TGN, were individually relocalised to mitochondria and the content of the subsequently re-routed vesicles was determined by organelle proteomics. Our findings reveal 45 integral and 51 peripheral membrane proteins re-routed by golgin-97, evidence for a distinct class of vesicles shared by golgin-97 and GCC88, and various cargoes specific to individual golgins. These results illustrate a general strategy for analysing intracellular sub-proteomes by combining acute cellular re-wiring with high-resolution spatial proteomics

River Microbiome Composition Reflects Macroscale Climatic and Geomorphic Differences in Headwater Streams

Maintaining the quality and quantity of water resources in light of complex changes in climate, human land use, and ecosystem composition requires detailed understanding of ecohydrologic function within catchments, yet monitoring relevant upstream characteristics can be challenging. In this study, we investigate how variability in riverine microbial communities can be used to monitor the climate, geomorphology, land-cover, and human development of watersheds. We collected streamwater DNA fragments and used 16S rRNA sequencing to profile microbiomes from headwaters to outlets of the Willamette and Deschutes basins, two large watersheds prototypical of the U.S. Pacific Northwest region. In the temperate, north-south oriented Willamette basin, microbial community composition correlated most strongly with geomorphic characteristics (mean Mantel test statistic r = 0.19). Percentage of forest and shrublands (r = 0.34) and latitude (r = 0.41) were among the strongest correlates with microbial community composition. In the arid Deschutes basin, however, climatic characteristics were the most strongly correlated to microbial community composition (e.g., r = 0.11). In headwater sub-catchments of both watersheds, microbial community assemblages correlated with catchment-scale climate, geomorphology, and land-cover (r = 0.46, 0.38, and 0.28, respectively), but these relationships were weaker downstream. Development-related characteristics were not correlated with microbial community composition in either watershed or in small or large sub-catchments. Our results build on previous work relating streamwater microbiomes to hydrologic regime and demonstrate that microbial DNA in headwater streams additionally reflects the structural configuration of landscapes as well as other natural and anthropogenic processes upstream. Our results offer an encouraging indication that streamwater microbiomes not only carry information about microbial ecology, but also can be useful tools for monitoring multiple upstream watershed characteristics

Cyclin-dependent-like kinase 5 is required for pain signaling in human sensory neurons and mouse models

Cyclin-dependent-like kinase 5 (Cdkl5) gene mutations lead to an X-linked disorder that is characterized by infantile epileptic encephalopathy, developmental delay and hypotonia. However, we found that a substantial percentage of these patients also report a previously unrecognised anamnestic deficiency in pain perception. Consistent with a role in nociception, we discovered that Cdkl5 is expressed selectively in nociceptive dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons in mice and in iPS-derived human nociceptors. CDKL5 deficient mice display defective epidermal innervation and conditional deletion of Cdkl5 in DRG sensory neurons impairs nociception, phenocopying CDKL5 deficiency disorder in patients. Mechanistically, Cdkl5 interacts with CaMKIIα to control outgrowth as well as TRPV1-dependent signaling, which are disrupted in both Cdkl5 mutant murine DRG and human iPS-derived nociceptors. Together, these findings unveil a previously unrecognized role for Cdkl5 in nociception, proposing an original regulatory mechanism for pain perception with implications for future therapeutics in CDKL5 deficiency disorder

Caveolae protect endothelial cells from membrane rupture during increased cardiac output.

Caveolae are strikingly abundant in endothelial cells, yet the physiological functions of caveolae in endothelium and other tissues remain incompletely understood. Previous studies suggest a mechanoprotective role, but whether this is relevant under the mechanical forces experienced by endothelial cells in vivo is unclear. In this study we have sought to determine whether endothelial caveolae disassemble under increased hemodynamic forces, and whether caveolae help prevent acute rupture of the plasma membrane under these conditions. Experiments in cultured cells established biochemical assays for disassembly of caveolar protein complexes, and assays for acute loss of plasma membrane integrity. In vivo, we demonstrate that caveolae in endothelial cells of the lung and cardiac muscle disassemble in response to acute increases in cardiac output. Electron microscopy and two-photon imaging reveal that the plasma membrane of microvascular endothelial cells in caveolin 1(-/-) mice is much more susceptible to acute rupture when cardiac output is increased. These data imply that mechanoprotection through disassembly of caveolae is important for endothelial function in vivo