Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Voters in the 2000 US Presidential Election

Lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals (LGBs) in the United States are strikingly more likely to vote for Democratic presidential candidates than are heterosexuals. LGBs are one of the Democratic Party’s most loyal voting blocs, despite the absence of one of the most important mechanisms for creating party identification: inter-generational transmission. We use the 2000 Presidential election to examine whether LGB voters overwhelmingly chose Al Gore because they viewed him as superior to George W. Bush on LGB-related policy issues or because of their greater overall liberalism and Democratic Party identification. We also examine the impact of socialization within the LGB community for generating political liberalism, Democratic Party identification, and interest in LGB policies. Using logit analysis on a 2000 Harris Interactive poll of 13,000 Americans, including 1,000 LGBs, we find that concern for LGB rights, policy liberalism, and party identification all played a role in the LGB vote. Analysis of the LGB sub-sample supports a model of political socialization within the LGB community leading to stronger interest in LGB rights, liberalism, Democratic party identification, and support for Gore

Development of superconducting YBa2Cu3O(x) wires with low resistance electrical contacts

Materials exhibiting superconductivity above liquid nitrogen temperatures (77 K) will enable new applications of this phenomena. One of the first commercial applications of this technology will be superconducting magnets for medical imaging. However, a large number of aerospace applications of the high temperature superconducting materials have also been identified. These include magnetic suspension and balance of models in wind tunnels and resistanceless leads to anemometers. The development of superconducting wires fabricated from the ceramic materials is critical for these applications. The progress in application of a patented fiber process developed by Clemson University for the fabrication of superconducting wires is reviewed. The effect of particle size and heat treatment on the quality of materials is discussed. Recent advances made at Christopher Newport College in the development of micro-ohm resistance electrical contacts which are capable of carrying the highest reported direct current to this material is presented

Towards a consensus around standards for smartphone apps and digital mental health

Mental disorders impact one in four people worldwide, yet access to care is challenging for those who suffer from them1. Mental health apps offer the potential to overcome access barriers for the nearly three billion people projected to own a smartphone by 2020. Although there are over 10,000 mental health apps commercially available, there are few resources available to help end users (patients, clinicians and health care organizations) to evaluate the quality and suitability of these products. Thus, there is an urgent need for an agreement about appropriate standards, principles and practices in research and evaluation of these tools.We represent leaders in mHealth research, industry and health care systems from around the globe, and we seek here to promote consensus on implementing these standards and principles for the evaluation of mental health apps. At a minimum, standards should include consideration of: a) data safety and privacy, b) effectiveness, c) user experience/adherence, d) data integration. Our consensus on the challenges and recommendations in each of these areas is presented below

Distinct 5′ UTRs regulate XIAP expression under normal growth conditions and during cellular stress

X-chromosome linked inhibitor of apoptosis, XIAP, is cellular caspase inhibitor and a key regulator of apoptosis. We and others have previously shown that XIAP expression is regulated primarily at the level of protein synthesis; the 5′ untranslated region (UTR) of XIAP mRNA contains an Internal Ribosome Entry Site (IRES) that supports cap-independent expression of XIAP protein during conditions of pathophysiological stress, such as serum deprivation or gamma irradiation. Here, we show that XIAP is encoded by two distinct mRNAs that differ in their 5′ UTRs. We further show that the dominant, shorter, 5′ UTR promotes a basal level of XIAP expression under normal growth conditions. In contrast, the less abundant longer 5′ UTR contains an IRES and supports cap-independent translation during stress. Our data suggest that the combination of alternate regulatory regions and distinct translational initiation modes is critical in maintaining XIAP levels in response to cellular stress and may represent a general mechanism of cellular adaptation

Guidelines for Genome-Scale Analysis of Biological Rhythms

Genome biology approaches have made enormous contributions to our understanding of biological rhythms, particularly in identifying outputs of the clock, including RNAs, proteins, and metabolites, whose abundance oscillates throughout the day. These methods hold significant promise for future discovery, particularly when combined with computational modeling. However, genome-scale experiments are costly and laborious, yielding “big data” that are conceptually and statistically difficult to analyze. There is no obvious consensus regarding design or analysis. Here we discuss the relevant technical considerations to generate reproducible, statistically sound, and broadly useful genome-scale data. Rather than suggest a set of rigid rules, we aim to codify principles by which investigators, reviewers, and readers of the primary literature can evaluate the suitability of different experimental designs for measuring different aspects of biological rhythms. We introduce CircaInSilico, a web-based application for generating synthetic genome biology data to benchmark statistical methods for studying biological rhythms. Finally, we discuss several unmet analytical needs, including applications to clinical medicine, and suggest productive avenues to address them