Sources of inversion variation in the small single copy (SSC) region of chloroplast genomes

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141571/1/ajb21751.pd

An analysis of trends, frequencies and factors influencing the development of resistance to phosphine in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) in Australia

Although resistance to phosphine, the key disinfestant used worldwide in the stored grain environment has been an ongoing industry issue, studies on its trend over large geographic region and over long period of time is very limited. In this study, we critically analysed 20 years' phosphine resistance diagnosis data for the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) stored in the Australian Grain Insect Resistance Database. Resistance diagnosis on a staggering 6336 samples, along with information on storage types and treatment history was interrogated to establish trends and frequencies of resistance development in this species and factors that may have contributed towards these resistance occurences. Using descriptive statistics, linear and trend analysis and a well established Bayesian hurdle model, we determined that strong resistance in T. castaneum was significantly more prevalent in quarantine intereceptions than in central storages and on farms. The strong resistance incidences had been confined to eastern states of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, whereas it is yet to be detected in the state of Western Australia. We could not establish any significant correlation between the strong resistance development and any commodity or treatments. After an initial increasing trend in incidences since the first detection of strong resistance in 1997 in this species, the frequency was stabilised during 2001–08; after which there had been an upward trend since 2009 till the last survey in 2013. The conclusions derived from this analyses highlighted the importance of a resistance monitoring program with relevant information being used in Australia as the basis for ongoing and future phosphine resistance management strategies. This research may also proved valuable towards devising similar strategies in overseas countries with phosphine resistance problems

Usability and Psychosocial Impact of Decision Support to Increase Sexual Health Education in American Indian and Alaska Native Communities

Despite sexual and reproductive health disparities, few evidence-based sexual health education programs exist for American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth, with even fewer tools available to assist AI/AN communities in adopting, implementing, and maintaining such programs. iCHAMPSS (Choosing And Maintaining effective Programs for Sex education in Schools) is a theory- and web-based decision-support-system designed to address dissemination barriers and increase the reach and fidelity of evidence-based programs (EBPs), specifically sexual health education programs. To investigate the potential of iCHAMPSS in AI/AN communities, we pilot-tested iCHAMPSS with adult stakeholders (N = 36) from agencies across the country that serve AI/AN communities. Stakeholders were recruited to review selected iCHAMPSS tools over two weeks in spring 2016. Pre- and post-surveys were administered to assess usability constructs, short-term psychosocial outcomes, and perceived feasibility. Data were analyzed using descriptive and non-parametric statistics. iCHAMPSS was perceived as acceptable, easy to use, credible, appealing, more helpful than current resources, and impactful of EBP adoption, implementation, and maintenance. Conversely, using iCHAMPSS significantly increased participants’ perceived barriers to adopting an EBP (p = 0.01). Overall, AI/AN stakeholders responded positively to iCHAMPSS, indicating the potential for adaptation to support the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based sexual health education in AI/AN communities

Offspring ADHD as a risk factor for parental marital problems: Controls for genetic and environmental confounds

Background: Previous studies have found that child attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with more parental marital problems. However, the reasons for this association are unclear. The association might be due to genetic or environmental confounds that contribute to both marital problems and ADHD. Method: Data were drawn from the Australian Twin Registry, including 1,296 individual twins, their spouses, and offspring. We studied adult twins who were discordant for offspring ADHD. Using a discordant twin pairs design, we examined the extent to which genetic and environmental confounds, as well as measured parental and offspring characteristics, explain the ADHD-marital problems association. Results: Offspring ADHD predicted parental divorce and marital conflict. The associations were also robust when comparing differentially exposed identical twins to control for unmeasured genetic and environmental factors, when controlling for measured maternal and paternal psychopathology, when restricting the sample based on timing of parental divorce and ADHD onset, and when controlling for other forms of offspring psychopathology. Each of these controls rules out alternative explanations for the association. Conclusion: The results of the current study converge with those of prior research in suggesting that factors directly associated with offspring ADHD increase parental marital problems

The Longitudinal association Between Sexual Violence Victimization and Sexual Risk Behavior in adolescence

Being a victim of sexual violence (SV) is generally believed to be associated with subsequent sexual risk behavior (SRB) during adolescence. While this assumption makes intuitive sense, it is based on methodologically limited research, including a reliance on cross-sectional data. to address this gap in research, we test whether experiencing SV victimization in early adolescence is associated with self-reported SRB approximately two years later. The sample comprised 4,618 youth (58% female; 52% Hispanic; 39% Black) attending 44 schools in the southern United States. Self-reported data were collected using an audio computer-assisted self-interview (ACASI). Baseline data were collected when students were in 7th or 8th grade and follow-up data were collected approximately 24 months later when students were in 9th or 10th grade. Indices of SRB included behaviors related to oral, vaginal, and anal sex (e.g., number of partners, number of times without a condom). Girls, but not boys, who reported SV victimization at baseline reported engaging more frequently in all oral and vaginal SRBs at 24 month follow-up compared to their non-victimized female counterparts. Additionally, girls reporting SV victimization reported more anal sex partners than non-victimized girls. Girls who are victims of SV engage in significantly more SRB by early high school placing them at greater risk to contract STIs and become pregnant. Victims of SV should be screened for SRB and provided access to the appropriate resources. Teen pregnancy and STI prevention planning should consider SV victimization in their strategy planning

Evaluation of aid to diagnosis of pigmented skin lesions in general practice: controlled trial randomized by practice

Objectives: To determine whether an aid to the diagnosis of pigmented skin lesions reduces the ratio of benign lesions to melanomas excised in general practice. Design: Controlled trial randomised by practice. Setting: General practices in Perth, Western Australia. Participants: 468 general practitioners in 223 practices. Interventions: Intervention practices were given an algorithm and instant camera to assist with the diagnosis of pigmented skin lesions. All practices were given national guidelines on managing melanoma. Main outcome measures: Ratio of benign pigmented lesions to melanomas excised. Analyses conducted with and without inclusion of seborrhoeic keratoses. Results: At baseline the ratios of benign to malignant lesions were lower in the intervention group than in the control group. During the trial period the ratios were higher in the intervention group (19:1 v 17:1 without seborrhoeic keratoses and 29:1 v 26:1 with seborrhoeic keratoses). After adjustment for patients' age, sex, and socioeconomic status, the ratio was 1.02 times higher (95% confidence interval 0.68 to 1.51, P = 0.94) in the intervention group when seborrhoeic keratoses were not included and 1.03 times higher (0.71 to 1.50, P = 0.88) when seborrhoeic keratoses were included. General practitioners in the intervention group were less likely than those in the control group to excise the most recent pigmented skin lesion they managed (22% v 48%, P < 0.001) and to refer the patient to a specialist (16% v 27%, P = 0.06). Conclusions: Provision of the algorithm and camera did not decrease the ratio of benign pigmented skin lesions to melanomas excised by general practitioners

Stripes in Doped Antiferromagnets: Single-Particle Spectral Weight

Recent photoemission (ARPES) experiments on cuprate superconductors provide important guidelines for a theory of electronic excitations in the stripe phase. Using a cluster perturbation theory, where short-distance effects are accounted for by exact cluster diagonalization and long-distance effects by perturbation (in the hopping), we calculate the single-particle Green's function for a striped t-J model. The data obtained quantitatively reproduce salient (ARPES-) features and may serve to rule out "bond-centered" in favor of "site-centered" stripes.Comment: final version as appeared in PRL; (c) 2000 The American Physical Society; 4 pages, 4 figure