Many Mountains to Tour: Survey of Cultural Icons in Tourist Sites of the Southern Tier

This paper presentation provides a survey of tourist sites in the Southern Tier of New York in an effort to document the kinds of cultural icons used to promote tourism. Meeting the challenge set by the conference theme, this presentation offers a fresh perspective of Appalachia by focusing on the emerging frontier of Appalachian Studies- that of Northern Appalachia. This part of the region, and specifically the Southern Tier of New York, has a creative and dynamic force shaping the local tourism industry. It is, subsequently, shaping local economies and politics, as well as representations of local communities. Sponsored by state-level officials and using celebrities, tourism promotion in the Southern Tier offers images of romantic vistas, culinary and vintner delights, and nostalgic by-ways of days by-gone. This presentation offers an analytic and often humorous account of the range of cultural icons at play in tourism sites of the Southern Tier. Tourism within Southern and Central Appalachia draws on a variety of class-based and occupational cultural icons ranging from the hillbilly to coal miners to artists and musicians and even to wealthy railroad tycoons. Other icons, like mountain retreats and refreshing waters, are more ecological. Comparing the kinds of icons found in tourist sites in New York’s Southern Tier to icons used in other parts of the Appalachian region might illuminate similar forces of cultural perceptions, similar patterns of recreational behavior, and shared values of tourists

Fully Dried Two-Dimensional Paper Network for Enzymatically Enhanced Detection of Nucleic Acid Amplicons

Two-dimensional paper networks (2DPNs) have enabled the use of paper-based platforms to perform multistep immunoassays for detection of pathogenic diseases at the point-of-care. To date, however, detection has required the user to provide multiple signal enhancement solutions and been limited to protein targets. We solve these challenges by using mathematical equations to guide the device design of a novel 2DPN, which leverages multiple fluidic inputs to apply fully dried solutions of hydrogen peroxide, diaminobenzidine, and horseradish peroxidase signal enhancement reagents to enhance the limit-ofdetection of numerous nucleic acid products. Upon rehydration in our unique 2DPN design, the dried signal enhancement solution reduces the limit-of-detection (LOD) of the device to 5 × 1011 nucleic acid copies/mL without increasing false positive detection. Our easy-to-use device retains activity after 28 days of dry storage and produces reliable signal enhancement 40 min after sample application. The fully integrated device demonstrated versatility in its ability to detect double-stranded and single-stranded DNA samples, as well as peptide nucleic acids

An Analysis of Aging-Related Needs and Programming Across the Extension North Central Region

As the U.S. population ages, Extension\u27s need for associated organizational readiness increases. We conducted a needs assessment with a sample of 1,028 Extension professionals in the Extension North Central Region (NCR) to identify the current scope of aging-related community needs. Health care, chronic disease prevention and management, housing, and transportation emerged from qualitative analysis as top aging-related needs. A rank-order analysis identified finances, healthy aging, and aging-friendly communities as chief community concerns. Additionally, the NCR Extension professionals indicated the importance of resources and programs and need for community capacity building related to aging issues, regardless of their programming area and/or responsibilities

Computational Modelling of Tissue-Engineered Cartilage Constructs

Cartilage is a fundamental tissue to ensure proper motion between bones and damping of mechanical loads. This tissue often suffers damage and has limited healing capacity due to its avascularity. In order to replace surgery and replacement of joints by metal implants, tissue engineered cartilage is seen as an attractive alternative. These tissues are obtained by seeding chondrocytes or mesenchymal stem cells in scaffolds and are given certain stimuli to improve establishment of mechanical properties similar to the native cartilage. However, tissues with ideal mechanical properties were not obtained yet. Computational models of tissue engineered cartilage growth and remodelling are invaluable to interpret and predict the effects of experimental designs. The current model contribution in the field will be presented in this chapter, with a focus on the response to mechanical stimulation, and the development of fully coupled modelling approaches incorporating simultaneously solute transport and uptake, cell growth, production of extracellular matrix and remodelling of mechanical properties.publishe

Genome-wide association study identifies 32 novel breast cancer susceptibility loci from overall and subtype-specific analyses.

Breast cancer susceptibility variants frequently show heterogeneity in associations by tumor subtype1-3. To identify novel loci, we performed a genome-wide association study including 133,384 breast cancer cases and 113,789 controls, plus 18,908 BRCA1 mutation carriers (9,414 with breast cancer) of European ancestry, using both standard and novel methodologies that account for underlying tumor heterogeneity by estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 status and tumor grade. We identified 32 novel susceptibility loci (P < 5.0 × 10-8), 15 of which showed evidence for associations with at least one tumor feature (false discovery rate < 0.05). Five loci showed associations (P < 0.05) in opposite directions between luminal and non-luminal subtypes. In silico analyses showed that these five loci contained cell-specific enhancers that differed between normal luminal and basal mammary cells. The genetic correlations between five intrinsic-like subtypes ranged from 0.35 to 0.80. The proportion of genome-wide chip heritability explained by all known susceptibility loci was 54.2% for luminal A-like disease and 37.6% for triple-negative disease. The odds ratios of polygenic risk scores, which included 330 variants, for the highest 1% of quantiles compared with middle quantiles were 5.63 and 3.02 for luminal A-like and triple-negative disease, respectively. These findings provide an improved understanding of genetic predisposition to breast cancer subtypes and will inform the development of subtype-specific polygenic risk scores

Measuring the Known Realities of Regional Icons from the Possible Imaginings of Appalachian Art: Techniques for Learning and Teaching About Appalachian Art

This presentation explores various methodologies for measuring images and icons in Appalachian visual art. The methodologies presented are especially geared to be useful as teaching techniques in classroom exercises pertaining to visual culture studies. Scholars within Appalachian Studies work tirelessly to debunk and explain stereotypes of Appalachia. These scholars acknowledge discourse of Appalachia as a region of backwards, primitive, isolated, mountain folk is, instead, an invented, stereotyped reality. This “reality,” however, contributes to the formation and expression of personal identity, experience, and even livelihood of people of Appalachia. This connection to identity and experiences brings into focus the persuasiveness and consumability of icons. Research techniques useful to understand the persuasiveness of icons and featured in this presentation include content analysis of visual works, free listing, and place observation, among others. Employed in dissertation fieldwork conducted in an Appalachian tourist site, these research methodologies help to determine both the frequencies of icons and their associated meanings. In addition to exploring the merit and usefulness of visual culture methodologies, this presentation hopes to bridge the gap between fieldwork and the classroom by providing activities that enable students to practice these methods. For example, this presentation provides a classroom exercise that helps students to quantitatively and qualitatively identify patterns of subjects and themes of icons found in tourist paintings. Another exercise helps students to analyze data derived from free listing conducted with artists and tourists as they described their perceptions of Appalachia

Touring the Extremities of Culture in New York\u27s Southern Tier

This paper explores ideas of regionalism in the counties of New York’s Southern Tier- the extreme north of Appalachia. Connecting experiences of Appalachian New York places and culture to experiences of place and culture throughout the Appalachian region helps to solidify the importance of the Southern Tier in Appalachian Studies. The basic question this paper addresses is “How do the counties of New York’s Southern Tier culturally relate to the rest of Appalachia?” This question is motivated by a cultural anthropological interest in tourism and museum studies, as these industries essentialize, frame, and display human behavior, values, and material culture. Often what is believed to be important in a population’s culture is preserved and housed in museums. In turn, such collections are promoted by tourism developers. This conveys incomplete and contrived representations of local place and culture to visiting tourists. Museums as tourist attractions, then, are rich repositories for what is deemed important or interesting about a population by themselves and/or by others. Tourist attractions and museums are couched in economic, political, historical, geographic, and social dynamics that reveal much about the struggle of representation. Vigilance against chronic cultural misrepresentation of Central and Southern Appalachia remains strong in Appalachian Studies. In Northern Appalachia, however, cultural misrepresentation is less recognized. This paper is based on field research within tourist attractions and of visitor reviews of museums located in New York’s Southern Tier. Analysis show nostalgia, race, and class as underlying forces in depictions of local culture

Transport of Bacillus Thuringiensis var. Kurstaki Via Fomites

The intentional and controlled release of an aerosolized bacterium provides an opportunity to investigate the implications of a biological attack. Since 2006, Los Alamos National Laboratory has worked with several urban areas, including Fairfax County, VA, to design experiments to evaluate biodefense concepts of operations using routine spraying of Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki (Btk). Btk is dispersed in large quantities as a slurry to control the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar. Understanding whether personnel and equipment pick up residual contamination during sampling activities and transport it to other areas is critical for the formulation of appropriate response and recovery plans. While there is a growing body of literature surrounding the transmission of viral diseases via fomites, there is limited information on the transport of Bacillus species via this route. In 2008, LANL investigated whether field sampling activities conducted near sprayed areas, post-spray, resulted in measurable cross-contamination of sampling personnel, equipment, vehicles, and hotel rooms. Viable Btk was detected in all sample types, indicating transport of the agent occurred via fomites