What's It Worth? The Economic Value of College Majors

Analyzes, by college major, gender and racial/ethnic distribution, median annual earnings, likelihood of unemployment and advanced degree attainment, and occupation and industry, as well as earnings differences within majors by race/ethnicity and gender

Bodyfat as a Predictor of the Peace Office Physical Aptitude Test in Police Cadets

Body composition is a measurement that is rarely assessed before police cadets enter the academy. The Peace Office Physical Aptitude Test (POPAT) is a required assessment for police cadets. PURPOSE: This pilot study aims to determine if body composition, upper body strength, and lower body power can predict performance on the POPAT in police cadets. METHODS: Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) cadets were asked to complete the handheld grip test to assess upper extremity strength, vertical jump to assess lower extremity power, and body fat percentage (%BF) using an ultrasound machine. Fat-Free Mass Index (FFMI) was used to determine lean muscle mass relevant to height. All cadets completed the POPAT assessment before starting the police academy. The ability of the predictor variables to predict POPAT performance was determined with a linear regression model. Significance was set at p \u3c 0.05. RESULTS: Forty cadets (32 males, eight females, aged 28.05 ± 7.17 years) completed testing. %BF was significantly and negatively correlated to the overall POPAT score (r = -0.787, p \u3c 0.01). %BF was significantly and negatively correlated to vertical jump (r = -0.834, p \u3c 0.01), handgrip (r = -0.508, p \u3c 0.01), and FFMI (r = -0.327, p \u3c 0.05). BF% and vertical jump explained about 65% of the variation in POPAT scores. CONCLUSION: Due to the significance of %BF and FFMI on a cadet’s performance on the POPAT, the MCSO’s body composition standards may need to be reevaluated

Exploratory Study of E-commerce Factors in the United States

This paper covers the findings of an exploratory study on the state of Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Consumer (B2C) e-commerce in Asia Pacific. An in-depth analysis of the critical success factors of e-commerce in that region is performed. In addition, it evaluates the effects of social culture on consumer behaviors, purchase patterns based on geographic architecture and convenience, physical and financial infrastructure, and the inherently unique market characteristics that may affect the development and growth of e-commerce. Finally, a comparative analysis of these findings is conducted between Asia and that of the United States

Testing for Genomic Control of Ephemeral Leaf Phenotypes in \u3cem\u3eArtemisia tridentata\u3c/em\u3e

Climate change is driving ever increasing ecological stresses on native plant communities. Furthering our understanding of how plants, particularly keystone species of important ecosystems, deal with these stresses will be essential for the success of conservation and restoration efforts Artemisia tridentate is a keystone species of western North America and has experience sharp population declines in recent decades due to human activity. During the late winter and early spring months, A. tridentate grows large ephemeral leaves that provide more surface area for light capture and photosynthesis while resources are abundant. Then, during the onset of drought stress during the summer months, the ephemeral leaves will drop. We hypothesize that the timing of ephemeral leaf dropping is correlated to important water use efficiency traits and are under genomic control. To test these hypotheses, plants of a population of A. tridentate near Marsing, ID were tracked and phenotyped from late spring though summer. Early and late ephemeral leaf dropping individuals then had their genomes sequenced for genetic association tests. We find that there are statistically significant differences for leaf phenotypes among individuals, suggesting that the water use efficiency will vary within the population. Genetic tests are on-going to determine if these traits are genetically determined

Adenosine kinase inhibition selectively promotes rodent and porcine islet β-cell replication

Diabetes is a pathological condition characterized by relative insulin deficiency, persistent hyperglycemia, and, consequently, diffuse micro- and macrovascular disease. One therapeutic strategy is to amplify insulin-secretion capacity by increasing the number of the insulin-producing β cells without triggering a generalized proliferative response. Here, we present the development of a small-molecule screening platform for the identification of molecules that increase β-cell replication. Using this platform, we identify a class of compounds [adenosine kinase inhibitors (ADK-Is)] that promote replication of primary β cells in three species (mouse, rat, and pig). Furthermore, the replication effect of ADK-Is is cell type-selective: treatment of islet cell cultures with ADK-Is increases replication of β cells but not that of α cells, PP cells, or fibroblasts. Short-term in vivo treatment with an ADK-I also increases β-cell replication but not exocrine cell or hepatocyte replication. Therefore, we propose ADK inhibition as a strategy for the treatment of diabetes.Stem Cell and Regenerative Biolog

Meta-Analysis Reveals Challenges and Gaps for Genome-to-Phenome Research Underpinning Plant Drought Response

Severe drought conditions and extreme weather events are increasing worldwide with climate change, threatening the persistence of native plant communities and ecosystems. Many studies have investigated the genomic basis of plant responses to drought. However, the extent of this research throughout the plant kingdom is unclear, particularly among species critical for the sustainability of natural ecosystems. This study aimed to broaden our understanding of genome-to-phenome (G2P) connections in drought-stressed plants and identify focal taxa for future research. Bioinformatics pipelines were developed to mine and link information from databases and abstracts from 7730 publications. This approach identified 1634 genes involved in drought responses among 497 plant taxa. Most (83.30%) of these species have been classified for human use, and most G2P interactions have been described within model organisms or crop species. Our analysis identifies several gaps in G2P research literature and database connectivity, with 21% of abstracts being linked to gene and taxonomy data in NCBI. Abstract text mining was more successful at identifying potential G2P pathways, with 34% of abstracts containing gene, taxa, and phenotype information. Expanding G2P studies to include non-model plants, especially those that are adapted to drought stress, will help advance our understanding of drought responsive G2P pathways

Reversal of β cell de-differentiation by a small molecule inhibitor of the TGFβ pathway

Dysfunction or death of pancreatic β cells underlies both types of diabetes. This functional decline begins with β cell stress and de-differentiation. Current drugs for type 2 diabetes (T2D) lower blood glucose levels but they do not directly alleviate β cell stress nor prevent, let alone reverse, β cell de-differentiation. We show here that Urocortin 3 (Ucn3), a marker for mature β cells, is down-regulated in the early stages of T2D in mice and when β cells are stressed in vitro. Using an insulin expression-coupled lineage tracer, with Ucn3 as a reporter for the mature β cell state, we screen for factors that reverse β cell de-differentiation. We find that a small molecule inhibitor of TGFβ receptor I (Alk5) protects cells from the loss of key β cell transcription factors and restores a mature β cell identity even after exposure to prolonged and severe diabetes. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.02809.00

A Haploid Pseudo-Chromosome Genome Assembly for a Keystone Sagebrush Species of Western North American Rangelands

Increased ecological disturbances, species invasions, and climate change are creating severe conservation problems for several plant species that are widespread and foundational. Understanding the genetic diversity of these species and how it relates to adaptation to these stressors are necessary for guiding conservation and restoration efforts. This need is particularly acute for big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata; Asteraceae), which was once the dominant shrub over 1,000,000 km2 in western North America but has since retracted by half and thus has become the target of one of the largest restoration seeding efforts globally. Here, we present the first reference-quality genome assembly for an ecologically important subspecies of big sagebrush (A. tridentata subsp. tridentata) based on short and long reads, as well as chromatin proximity ligation data analyzed using the HiRise pipeline. The final 4.2-Gb assembly consists of 5,492 scaffolds, with nine pseudo-chromosomal scaffolds (nine scaffolds comprising at least 90% of the assembled genome; n = 9). The assembly contains an estimated 43,377 genes based on ab initio gene discovery and transcriptional data analyzed using the MAKER pipeline, with 91.37% of BUSCOs being completely assembled. The final assembly was highly repetitive, with repeat elements comprising 77.99% of the genome, making the Artemisia tridentata subsp. tridentata genome one of the most highly repetitive plant genomes to be sequenced and assembled. This genome assembly advances studies on plant adaptation to drought and heat stress and provides a valuable tool for future genomic research

PI3K/mTOR Dual Inhibitor PF-04691502 Is a Schedule-Dependent Radiosensitizer for Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors

Patients with advanced-stage gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs) have a poor overall prognosis despite chemotherapy and radiotherapy (e.g., peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT)). Better treatment options are needed to improve disease regression and patient survival. The purpose of this study was to examine a new treatment strategy by combining PI3K/mTOR dual inhibition and radiotherapy. First, we assessed the efficacy of two PI3K/mTOR dual inhibitors, PF-04691502 and PKI-402, to inhibit pAkt and increase apoptosis in NET cell lines (BON and QGP-1) and patient-derived tumor spheroids as single agents or combined with radiotherapy (XRT). Treatment with PF-04691502 decreased pAkt (Ser473) expression for up to 72 h compared with the control; in contrast, decreased pAkt expression was noted for less than 24 h with PKI-402. Simultaneous treatment with PF-04691502 and XRT did not induce apoptosis in NET cells; however, the addition of PF-04691502 48 h after XRT significantly increased apoptosis compared to PF-04691502 or XRT treatment alone. Our results demonstrate that schedule-dependent administration of a PI3K/mTOR inhibitor, combined with XRT, can enhance cytotoxicity by promoting the radiosensitivity of NET cells. Moreover, our findings suggest that radiotherapy, in combination with timed PI3K/mTOR inhibition, may be a promising therapeutic regimen for patients with GEP-NET

Probing scrambling using statistical correlations between randomized measurements

We propose and analyze a protocol to study quantum information scrambling using statistical correlations between measurements, which are performed after evolving a quantum system from randomized initial states. We prove that the resulting correlations precisely capture the so-called out-of-time-ordered correlators and can be used to probe chaos in strongly-interacting, many-body systems. Our protocol requires neither reversing time evolution nor auxiliary degrees of freedom, and can be realized in state-of-the-art quantum simulation experiments.Comment: This version v2 (8 pages, 7 figures) includes important new results compared to our original submission. (1) We present a protocol and corresponding mathematical proof to access OTOCs with local operations, and which can be realized in quantum simulation experiments with available technology. (2) We illustrate the realization of the protocols with different examples for Hubbard and spin model