Analysis of Hispanic School and College Enrollment in South Carolina, 2010 - 2014

The article focused on the analysis of Hispanic school and college enrollment in South Carolina (SC), 2010-2014. Datasets were obtained for selected counties of South Carolina from the U.S. Census Bureau the period of 2010 to 2014 and were grouped into four geographical regions for the analyses at the regional level. Distribution of total enrollment was divided into three groups, Elem-Mid School, High School, and College. Descriptive, graphical, and correlational analyses were used to analyze the data. The results showed that the Coastal region in SC had the highest distribution of Hispanics; as the Hispanic population increased, school enrollment increased in SC; the increase in enrollment in Elem-Mid school in all regions indicated an increase in the younger population; and Hispanic enrollment in precollege increased in SC, but decreased for the US. These results have implications for understanding Hispanic enrollment and in developing educational policies, especially in South Carolina

Discovering Agriculture-Related Careers Through Cypress

The primary objective of the Combining Youth Passion and Resources for Environmental Sciences Studies (CYPRESS) Project was to increase awareness and generate interest among minority students regarding agriculture-related careers, in rural SC. The students participated in 4H after-school programs, summer camps, and an Ag-Science course. There were also workshops for teachers and parents for them to support the students. Data from the project were analyzed using pre- and post-survey methods. The results revealed that 26% of 4H after-school participants were interested in pursuing agriculture-related careers; 43% of summer camp participants were interested in pursuing such careers, and 5% of the Ag-Science course participants were interested in pursuing such careers. Despite the low percentage response of the Ag-Science course participants, overall, CYPRESS exposed over 600 students to agriculture-related careers. This is expected to ultimately, have a positive impact on enrollment in agriculture-related majors. Keywords: Agriculture-Related Careers, Career Model, Career Preparation, 4-H After-School Programs, Minority Student

The state of the Martian climate

60°N was +2.0°C, relative to the 1981–2010 average value (Fig. 5.1). This marks a new high for the record. The average annual surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly for 2016 for land stations north of starting in 1900, and is a significant increase over the previous highest value of +1.2°C, which was observed in 2007, 2011, and 2015. Average global annual temperatures also showed record values in 2015 and 2016. Currently, the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of lower latitudes

Aβ Imaging: feasible, pertinent, and vital to progress in Alzheimer’s disease

status: publishe

A Second-Generation Device for Automated Training and Quantitative Behavior Analyses of Molecularly-Tractable Model Organisms

A deep understanding of cognitive processes requires functional, quantitative analyses of the steps leading from genetics and the development of nervous system structure to behavior. Molecularly-tractable model systems such as Xenopus laevis and planaria offer an unprecedented opportunity to dissect the mechanisms determining the complex structure of the brain and CNS. A standardized platform that facilitated quantitative analysis of behavior would make a significant impact on evolutionary ethology, neuropharmacology, and cognitive science. While some animal tracking systems exist, the available systems do not allow automated training (feedback to individual subjects in real time, which is necessary for operant conditioning assays). The lack of standardization in the field, and the numerous technical challenges that face the development of a versatile system with the necessary capabilities, comprise a significant barrier keeping molecular developmental biology labs from integrating behavior analysis endpoints into their pharmacological and genetic perturbations. Here we report the development of a second-generation system that is a highly flexible, powerful machine vision and environmental control platform. In order to enable multidisciplinary studies aimed at understanding the roles of genes in brain function and behavior, and aid other laboratories that do not have the facilities to undergo complex engineering development, we describe the device and the problems that it overcomes. We also present sample data using frog tadpoles and flatworms to illustrate its use. Having solved significant engineering challenges in its construction, the resulting design is a relatively inexpensive instrument of wide relevance for several fields, and will accelerate interdisciplinary discovery in pharmacology, neurobiology, regenerative medicine, and cognitive science

Interleukin-15 promotes intestinal dysbiosis with butyrate deficiency associated with increased susceptibility to colitis

Dysbiosis resulting in gut-microbiome alterations with reduced butyrate production are thought to disrupt intestinal immune homeostasis and promote complex immune disorders. However, whether and how dysbiosis develops before the onset of overt pathology remains poorly defined. Interleukin-15 (IL-15) is upregulated in distressed tissue and its overexpression is thought to predispose susceptible individuals to and have a role in the pathogenesis of celiac disease and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Although the immunological roles of IL-15 have been largely studied, its potential impact on the microbiota remains unexplored. Analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA-based inventories of bacterial communities in mice overexpressing IL-15 in the intestinal epithelium (villin-IL-15 transgenic (v-IL-15tg) mice) shows distinct changes in the composition of the intestinal bacteria. Although some alterations are specific to individual intestinal compartments, others are found across the ileum, cecum and feces. In particular, IL-15 overexpression restructures the composition of the microbiota with a decrease in butyrate-producing bacteria that is associated with a reduction in luminal butyrate levels across all intestinal compartments. Fecal microbiota transplant experiments of wild-type and v-IL-15tg microbiota into germ-free mice further indicate that diminishing butyrate concentration observed in the intestinal lumen of v-IL-15tg mice is the result of intrinsic alterations in the microbiota induced by IL-15. This reconfiguration of the microbiota is associated with increased susceptibility to dextran sodium sulfate-induced colitis. Altogether, this study reveals that IL-15 impacts butyrate-producing bacteria and lowers butyrate levels in the absence of overt pathology, which represent events that precede and promote intestinal inflammatory diseases

Labor Law

This Article surveys the 1992 decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit that impacted the area of traditional labor law. More specifically, the cases addressed in this Article include noteworthy decisions under the National Labor Relations Act ( NLRA ), the Labor Management Relations Act ( LMRA ), the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 ( FLSA ), the Occupational Safety and Hazard Act ( OSHA ), and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ( ERISA ). This Article does not discuss every case decided by the Eleventh Circuit addressing these federal labor laws during the survey year of 1992; also, this Article does not discuss every issue raised by the parties in the cases covered. Instead, this Article intends only to cover the major developments in the area of labor law this past year. As in years past, the Eleventh Circuit considered several cases covering a wide.variety of issues in the labor law sector. While some cases covered new ground, the majority of the cases simply revisited the old rules and attempted to clarify their use through the facts in the case presently before the court