Sea-ice microbial communities in the Central Arctic Ocean: Limited responses to short-term pCO(2) perturbations

The Arctic Ocean is more susceptible to ocean acidification than other marine environments due to its weaker buffering capacity, while its cold surface water with relatively low salinity promotes atmospheric CO 2 uptake. We studied how sea-ice microbial communities in the central Arctic Ocean may be affected by changes in the carbonate system expected as a consequence of ocean acidification. In a series of four experiments during late summer 2018 aboard the icebreaker Oden, we addressed microbial growth, production of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and extra- cellular polymeric substances (EPS), photosynthetic activity, and bacterial assemblage structure as sea-ice microbial communities were exposed to elevated partial pressures of CO 2 (pCO 2 ). We incubated intact, bottom ice-core sections and dislodged, under-ice algal aggregates (dominated by Melosira arctica) in separate experiments under approximately 400, 650, 1000, and 2000 micro atm pCO 2 for 10 d under different nutrient regimes. The results indicate that the growth of sea-ice algae and bacteria was unaffected by these higher pCO 2 levels, and concentrations of DOC and EPS were unaffected by a shifted inorganic C/N balance, resulting from the CO 2 enrichment. These central Arctic sea-ice microbial communities thus appear to be largely insensitive to short-term pCO 2 perturbations. Given the natural, seasonally driven fluctuations in the carbonate system of sea ice, its resident microorganisms may be sufficiently tolerant of large variations in pCO 2 and thus less vulnerable than pelagic communities to the impacts of ocean acidification, increasing the ecological importance of sea-ice microorganisms even as the loss of Arctic sea ice continue

Health Care Providers’ Experience with a Protocol for the Identification, Treatment, and Referral of Human-Trafficking Victims

Abstract The healthcare setting is thought to be one of the most promising places to identify victims of human trafficking. The present study was designed to relay the experiences of a sample of 10 healthcare providers and hospital administrators who developed and have used a protocol to identify victims of human trafficking since February 2014. To our knowledge, the protocol was one of the first to be adopted by any healthcare system in the U.S. Three primary themes emerged from the participant interviews. First, developing the protocol was challenging because at the time there were no predecessor examples. Second, providers reported that the protocol is simple to use and victim identification is easier because of it. Third, identifying and serving victims of human trafficking remains challenging, because there is still a deficit of trained providers and a lack of community resources for survivors. The field needs evidence that this and similar protocols improve users’ knowledge and skills, result in the better identification and treatment of trafficking victims, and ultimately improve public safety and public health

Scalable Collaborative Infrastructure for a Learning Healthcare System (SCILHS): Architecture

We describe the architecture of the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) funded Scalable Collaborative Infrastructure for a Learning Healthcare System (SCILHS, http://www.SCILHS.org) clinical data research network, which leverages the $48 billion dollar federal investment in health information technology (IT) to enable a queryable semantic data model across 10 health systems covering more than 8 million patients, plugging universally into the point of care, generating evidence and discovery, and thereby enabling clinician and patient participation in research during the patient encounter. Central to the success of SCILHS is development of innovative ‘apps’ to improve PCOR research methods and capacitate point of care functions such as consent, enrollment, randomization, and outreach for patient-reported outcomes. SCILHS adapts and extends an existing national research network formed on an advanced IT infrastructure built with open source, free, modular components

Uranus and Neptune missions: A study in advance of the next Planetary Science Decadal Survey

The ice giant planets, Uranus and Neptune, represent an important and relatively unexplored class of planet. Most of our detailed information about them comes from fleeting looks by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in the 1980s. Voyager, and ground-based work since then, found that these planets, their satellites, rings, and magnetospheres, challenge our understanding of the formation and evolution of planetary systems. We also now know that Uranus-Neptune size planets are common around other stars. These are some of the reasons ice giant exploration was a high priority in NASA's most recent Planetary Science Decadal Survey. In preparation for the next Decadal Survey, NASA, with ESA participation, conducted a broad study of possible ice giant missions in the 2024-2037 timeframe. This paper summarizes the key results of the study, and addresses questions that have been raised by the science community and in a recent NASA review. Foremost amongst these are questions about the science objectives, the science payload, and the importance of an atmospheric probe. The conclusions of the NASA/ESA study remain valid. In particular, it is a high priority to send an orbiter and atmospheric probe to at least one of the ice giants, with instrumentation to study all components of an ice giant system. Uranus and Neptune are found to be equally compelling as science targets. The two planets are not equivalent, however, and each system has things to teach us the other cannot. An additional mission study is needed to refine plans for future exploration of these worlds

In Silico Improvement of beta(3)-Peptide Inhibitors of p53 center dot hDM2 and p53 center dot hDMX

There is great interest in molecules capable of inhibiting the interactions between p53 and its negative regulators hDM2 and hDMX, as these molecules have validated potential against cancers in which one or both oncoproteins are overexpressed. We reported previously that appropriately substituted β(3)-peptides inhibit these interactions and, more recently, that minimally cationic β(3)-peptides are sufficiently cell permeable to upregulate p53-dependent genes in live cells. These observations, coupled with the known stability of β-peptides in a cellular environment, and the recently reported structures of hDM2 and hDMX, motivated us to exploit computational modeling to identify β-peptides with improved potency and/or selectivity. This exercise successfully identified a new β(3)-peptide, β53-16, that possesses the highly desirable attribute of high affinity for both hDM2 as well as hDMX and identifies the 3,4-dichlorophenyl moiety as a novel determinant of hDMX affinity. [Image: see text

‘A Girl's Love’: Lord Alfred Douglas as Homoerotic Muse in the Poetry of Olive Custance

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Women: a Cultural Review on 15/09/2011, available online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09574042.2011.585045.This article explores the relationship between the poet Olive Custance and her husband Lord Alfred Douglas, arguing that Custance constructed Douglas as a male muse figure in her poetry, particularly the sequence ‘Songs of a Fairy Princess’ (Rainbows 1902). The introduction sets out Custance's problematic historical positioning as a ‘decadent’ poet who published nothing following the Great War, but whose work came too late to fit into strictly ‘fin de siècle’ categories. I suggest, however, that Custance's oscillating constructions of gender and sexuality make her more relevant to the concerns of modernity than has previously been acknowledged and her work anticipates what is now termed ‘queer’. The first main section of the article traces the cultural background of the fin de siècle male muse, arguing that Custance's key influences—male homoerotic writers such as Wilde and Pater—meant it was logical that she should imagine the muse as male, despite the problems associated with gender-reversals of the muse-poet relationship which have been identified by several feminist critics. I then move on to focus specifically on how Shakespearean discourses of gender performance and cross-dressing played a key role in Custance and Douglas's courtship, as they exchanged the fluid roles of ‘Prince’, ‘Princess’ and ‘Page’. The penultimate section of the article focuses on discourses of fairy tale and fantasia in Custance's ‘Songs of a Fairy Princess’ sequence, in which these fantasy roles contribute to a construction of Douglas as a feminised object, and the relationship between the ‘Prince’ and ‘Princess’ is described in terms of narcissistic sameness. My paper concludes by tracing the demise of Custance and Douglas's relationship; as Douglas attempted to be more ‘manly’, he sought to escape the role of object, resulting in Custance losing her male muse. But her sexually-dissident constructions of the male muse remain important experiments worthy of critical attention

Effects of the Foreclosure Crisis on Homeowners Associations

Report completed by a student enrolled in PA 5261: Housing Policy, taught by Dr. Edward Goetz in spring 2016.This project was completed as part of the 2015-2016 Resilient Communities Project (rcp.umn.edu) partnership with Carver County. To assess whether homeowners associations (HOAs) in Carver County are likely to benefit from the financial assistance that a home improvement area (HIA) would provide, a student in PA 5261: Housing Policy, assessed the number and location of townhouse and condominium HOAs and the age of buildings in the Carver County cities of Mayer, Norwood Young America, Chanhassen, Chaska, Victoria, Watertown, Waconia, Cologne, and Carver. Working in collaboration with project lead Brenda Lano from the Carver County Community Development Agency, the student reviewed previous research and case studies of HIAs in other communities, and ultimately concluded that there is a need for HIAs in Carver County. The students' final report is available.This project was supported by the Resilient Communities Project (RCP), a program at the University of Minnesota whose mission is to connect communities in Minnesota with U of MN faculty and students to advance local sustainability and resilience through collaborative, course-based projects. RCP is a program of the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA). More information at http://www.rcp.umn.edu.Showalter, Elizabeth. (2016). Effects of the Foreclosure Crisis on Homeowners Associations. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/184919

Woven Cover quilt by Elizabeth Huddleston Showalter

Image of Woven Cover quilt created in 1840-1850 by Elizabeth Huddleston Showalter. Also includes questionnaires describing the quilt completed by Uintah County D.U.P. Museum as part of the Utah Quilt Guild's documentation days held from 1988-1994. Bed covering Made while husband was sewing in the Civil war 1861-1864

Increasing Renters' Participation in City and Civic Life

Report and engagement diagram completed by students enrolled in PA 5145: Civic Participation in Public Affairs, taught by Kathy Quick in fall 2016.This project was completed as part of the 2016-2017 Resilient Communities Project (rcp.umn.edu) partnership with the City of Brooklyn Park. Renters make up a significant portion of the total Brooklyn Park population, but are historically less engaged in civic life. Brooklyn Park community engagement staff wanted to identify strategies to encourage greater participation in community life among renters. The goal of this project was to develop tailored communication strategies to better connect with renters and to help the city improve service delivery to areas with higher concentrations of renters. Three students in Kathy Quick’s PA 5145 course worked with City of Brooklyn Park project lead Lidiya Girma to develop a set of recommendations organized around three themes: building trust, direct engagement, and ongoing engagement. The final report and engagement diagram are available.This project was supported by the Resilient Communities Project (RCP), a program at the University of Minnesota whose mission is to connect communities in Minnesota with U of MN faculty and students to advance local sustainability and resilience through collaborative, course-based projects. RCP is a program of the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA). More information at http://www.rcp.umn.edu.Omar, Mustafa; Vohs, Margaret; Showalter, Elizabeth. (2016). Increasing Renters' Participation in City and Civic Life. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/184746