An Integrated Drought Index (IDI) Incorporating Physical and Social Aspects

The purpose of this research was to determine significant bio-physical (physical and environmental) and social variables that can be integrated into a drought index to predict areas susceptible to drought. Severe drought events are capable of causing millions of dollars in damage. The 1988 drought caused the United States approximately $40 billion in damage. Drought forecasting, modeling, and detection have, therefore, become imperative to understand the social, economic and environmental impacts of droughts, and also to explore how these impacts play a role in the occurrence of a drought. A number of drought indices widely used in the U.S. rely on physical and meteorological factors to describe and predict drought conditions. Though social factors, especially, urbanization seem to contribute to the occurrence and severity of a drought they are rarely used in drought prediction and monitoring. In this research, the following research questions were answered to aid with drought prediction by incorporating physical and social variables: (1) Which physical parameters are significant in drought forecasting? (2) Can a social variable be used as a predictor for drought? If so, what impact does it have on drought severity

Interactive molecular dynamics in virtual reality from quantum chemistry to drug binding: An open-source multi-person framework

© 2019 Author(s). As molecular scientists have made progress in their ability to engineer nanoscale molecular structure, we face new challenges in our ability to engineer molecular dynamics (MD) and flexibility. Dynamics at the molecular scale differs from the familiar mechanics of everyday objects because it involves a complicated, highly correlated, and three-dimensional many-body dynamical choreography which is often nonintuitive even for highly trained researchers. We recently described how interactive molecular dynamics in virtual reality (iMD-VR) can help to meet this challenge, enabling researchers to manipulate real-time MD simulations of flexible structures in 3D. In this article, we outline various efforts to extend immersive technologies to the molecular sciences, and we introduce "Narupa," a flexible, open-source, multiperson iMD-VR software framework which enables groups of researchers to simultaneously cohabit real-time simulation environments to interactively visualize and manipulate the dynamics of molecular structures with atomic-level precision. We outline several application domains where iMD-VR is facilitating research, communication, and creative approaches within the molecular sciences, including training machines to learn potential energy functions, biomolecular conformational sampling, protein-ligand binding, reaction discovery using "on-the-fly" quantum chemistry, and transport dynamics in materials. We touch on iMD-VR's various cognitive and perceptual affordances and outline how these provide research insight for molecular systems. By synergistically combining human spatial reasoning and design insight with computational automation, technologies such as iMD-VR have the potential to improve our ability to understand, engineer, and communicate microscopic dynamical behavior, offering the potential to usher in a new paradigm for engineering molecules and nano-architectures

ANKRD26 and Its Interacting Partners TRIO, GPS2, HMMR and DIPA Regulate Adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 Cells

Partial inactivation of the Ankyrin repeat domain 26 (Ankrd26) gene causes obesity and diabetes in mice and increases spontaneous and induced adipogenesis in mouse embryonic fibroblasts. However, it is not yet known how the Ankrd26 protein carries out its biological functions. We identified by yeast two-hybrid and immunoprecipitation assays the triple functional domain protein (TRIO), the G protein pathway suppressor 2 (GPS2), the delta-interacting protein A (DIPA) and the hyaluronan-mediated motility receptor (HMMR) as ANKRD26 interacting partners. Adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 cells was increased by selective down-regulation of Ankrd26, Trio, Gps2, Hmmr and Dipa. Furthermore, GPS2 and DIPA, which are normally located in the nucleus, were translocated to the cytoplasm, when the C-terminus of ANKRD26 was introduced into these cells. These findings provide biochemical evidence that ANKRD26, TRIO, GPS2 and HMMR are novel and important regulators of adipogenisis and identify new targets for the modulation of adipogenesis

Association of Activating KIR Copy Number Variation of NK Cells with Containment of SIV Replication in Rhesus Monkeys

While the contribution of CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes to early containment of HIV-1 spread is well established, a role for NK cells in controlling HIV-1 replication during primary infection has been uncertain. The highly polymorphic family of KIR molecules expressed on NK cells can inhibit or activate these effector cells and might therefore modulate their activity against HIV-1-infected cells. In the present study, we investigated copy number variation in KIR3DH loci encoding the only activating KIR receptor family in rhesus monkeys and its effect on simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) replication during primary infection in rhesus monkeys. We observed an association between copy numbers of KIR3DH genes and control of SIV replication in Mamu-A*01– rhesus monkeys that express restrictive TRIM5 alleles. These findings provide further evidence for an association between NK cells and the early containment of SIV replication, and underscore the potential importance of activating KIRs in stimulating NK cell responses to control SIV spread

Managing risk in cocoa production: assessing the potential of climate-smart crop insurance in Ghana

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Disparities in potential years of life lost due to intimate partner violence: Data from 16 states for 2006-2015.

BackgroundIntimate partner violence can lead to deaths of one or both partners and others (i.e., corollary victims). Prior studies do not enumerate the societal cost of intimate partner violence-related fatalities, exclude corollary victims from most analyses, and do not describe groups who bear the highest societal costs from intimate partner violence.ObjectiveWe examine racial/ethnic and gender-based disparities in potential years of life lost (PYLL) among intimate partners and corollary victims of intimate partner violence-related mortality.MethodsWe used 16 US states' 2006-2015 National Violent Death Reporting System data to estimate PYLL among intimate partners (n = 6,282) and corollary victims (n = 1,634) by victims' race/ethnicity and sex. We describe fatalities by sex, race/ethnicity, age, and victim-suspect relationships and used hierarchical linear models to examine PYLL per death differences by victims' sex and race/ethnicity.ResultsNearly 290,000 years of potential life were lost by partner and corollary victims as a result of IPV in 16 states during the decade of study. Most partner victims were female (59%); most corollary victims were male (76%). Female intimate partners died 5.1 years earlier (95% CI: 4.4., 5.9) than males, and female corollary victims died 3.6 years (1.9, 5.5) earlier than males. Racial/ethnic minorities died nine or more years earlier than their White counterparts. White males had the lowest PYLL per death of all sex/race groups.ImplicationsIntimate partner violence-related fatalities exact a high societal cost, and the burden of that cost is disproportionately high among racial/ethnic minorities. Future interventions targeting specific sex and race/ethnic groups might help reduce disparities in intimate partner violence burden

Health Diagnoses and Service Utilization in the Year Before Youth and Young Adult Suicide

OBJECTIVE: Suicide rates among young people are rising. Health care visits provide opportunities for identification and intervention, yet studies have been limited by small or circumscribed samples. This study sought to expand the knowledge base by examining health care encounters and diagnoses among young people who later died by suicide. METHODS: This case-control study examined diagnoses of mental and general medical disorders and health care utilization in the 30 and 365 days before suicide death in nine large U.S. health care systems. Data (years 2000-2015) from 445 suicide decedents ages 10-24 years were matched with data from 4,450 control group patients. RESULTS: Suicide decedents were more likely to have at least one mental disorder diagnosis (51% vs. 16%; adjusted OR [AOR]=5.74, 95% CI=4.60-7.18) and had higher rates of nearly all mental health conditions. Substance use disorders were common (12%) and more likely (AOR=8.50, 95% CI=5.53-13.06) among suicide decedents. More than one in three (42%) suicide decedents had a health care visit in the month before death, and nearly all (88%) had a visit in the previous year. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the greater likelihood of suicide associated with mental disorder diagnoses, such disorders were present among only 51% of suicide decedents. High rates of health care utilization among suicide decedents indicate a need for improving identification of mental health conditions and suicide risk across the health care system. Increased substance use screening may help identify youths at high risk because substance use disorders were significantly more prevalent and likely among suicide decedents