Parent-Reported Homework Problems in the MTA Study: Evidence for Sustained Improvement with Behavioral Treatment

Parent-report of child homework problems was examined as a treatment outcome variable in the MTA-Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Five hundred seventy-nine children ages 7.0 to 9.9 were randomly assigned to either medication management, behavioral treatment, combination treatment, or routine community care. Results showed that only participants who received behavioral treatment (behavioral and combined treatment) demonstrated sustained improvements in homework problems in comparison to routine community care. The magnitude of the sustained effect at the 10-month follow-up assessment was small to moderate for combined and behavioral treatment over routine community care (d=.37, .40, respectively). Parent ratings of initial ADHD symptom severity was the only variable found to moderate these effects

ENSO‐Influenced Drought Drives Methane Flux Dynamics in a Tropical Wet Forest Soil

Global atmospheric methane growth rates have wildly fluctuated over the past three decades, which may be driven by the proportion of tropical land surface saturated by water. The El Niño/Southern Oscillation Event (ENSO) cycle drives large‐scale climatic trends globally, with El Niño events typically bringing drier weather than La Niña. In a lowland tropical wet forest in Costa Rica, we measured methane flux bimonthly from March 2016 to June 2017 and using an automated chamber system. We observed a strong drying trend for several weeks during the El Niño in 2016, reducing soil moisture below normal levels. In contrast, soil conditions had high water content prior to the drought and during the moderate La Niña that followed. Soil moisture varied across the period studied and significantly impacted methane flux. Methane consumption was greater during the driest part of the El Niño period, while during La Niña and other time periods, soils had lower methane consumption. The mean methane flux observed was −0.022 mg CH4‐C m−2 hr−1, and methane was consumed at all timepoints, with lower consumption in saturated soils. Our data show that month studied, and the correlation between soil type and month significantly drove methane flux trends. Our data indicate that ENSO cycles may impact biogenic methane fluxes, mediated by soil moisture conditions. Climate projections for Central America show dryer conditions and increased El Niño frequency, further exacerbating predicted drought. These trends may lead to negative climate feedbacks, with drier conditions increasing soil methane consumption from the atmosphere.National Science Foundation/[DEB‐1624623]/NSF/Estados UnidosNational Science Foundation/[DEB‐1442537]/NSF/Estados UnidosNational Science Foundation/[DEB‐1624658]/NSF/Estados UnidosNational Science Foundation/[DEB‐1442714]/NSF/Estados UnidosUnited States Department of Agriculture-National Institute of Food and Agriculture/[CA‐R‐PPA‐5093‐H/1005159]/USDA NIFA/Estados UnidosUCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigación en Biología Celular y Molecular (CIBCM)UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigación en Estructuras Microscópicas (CIEMIC

Heritable Epigenetic Variation among Maize Inbreds

Epigenetic variation describes heritable differences that are not attributable to changes in DNA sequence. There is the potential for pure epigenetic variation that occurs in the absence of any genetic change or for more complex situations that involve both genetic and epigenetic differences. Methylation of cytosine residues provides one mechanism for the inheritance of epigenetic information. A genome-wide profiling of DNA methylation in two different genotypes of Zea mays (ssp. mays), an organism with a complex genome of interspersed genes and repetitive elements, allowed the identification and characterization of examples of natural epigenetic variation. The distribution of DNA methylation was profiled using immunoprecipitation of methylated DNA followed by hybridization to a high-density tiling microarray. The comparison of the DNA methylation levels in the two genotypes, B73 and Mo17, allowed for the identification of approximately 700 differentially methylated regions (DMRs). Several of these DMRs occur in genomic regions that are apparently identical by descent in B73 and Mo17 suggesting that they may be examples of pure epigenetic variation. The methylation levels of the DMRs were further studied in a panel of near-isogenic lines to evaluate the stable inheritance of the methylation levels and to assess the contribution of cis- and trans- acting information to natural epigenetic variation. The majority of DMRs that occur in genomic regions without genetic variation are controlled by cis-acting differences and exhibit relatively stable inheritance. This study provides evidence for naturally occurring epigenetic variation in maize, including examples of pure epigenetic variation that is not conditioned by genetic differences. The epigenetic differences are variable within maize populations and exhibit relatively stable trans-generational inheritance. The detected examples of epigenetic variation, including some without tightly linked genetic variation, may contribute to complex trait variation

Inactivation of [Fe-S] Metalloproteins Mediates Nitric Oxide-Dependent Killing of Burkholderia mallei

BACKGROUND: Much remains to be known about the mechanisms by which O(2)-dependent host defenses mediate broad antimicrobial activity. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We show herein that reactive nitrogen species (RNS) generated by inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase (iNOS) account for the anti-Burkholderia mallei activity of IFNgamma-primed macrophages. Inducible NOS-mediated intracellular killing may represent direct bactericidal activity, because B. mallei showed an exquisite sensitivity to NO generated chemically. Exposure of B. mallei to sublethal concentrations of NO upregulated transcription of [Fe-S] cluster repair genes, while damaging the enzymatic activity of the [Fe-S] protein aconitase. To test whether [Fe-S] clusters are critical targets for RNS-dependent killing of B. mallei, a mutation was constructed in the NO-induced, [Fe-S] cluster repair regulator iscR. Not only was the iscR mutant hypersusceptible to iNOS-mediated killing, but its aconitase pool was readily oxidized by NO donors as compared to wild-type controls. Although killed by authentic H(2)O(2), which also oxidizes [Fe-S] clusters, B. mallei appear to be resilient to NADPH oxidase-mediated cytotoxicity. The poor respiratory burst elicited by this bacterium likely explains why the NADPH oxidase is nonessential to the killing of B. mallei while it is still confined within phagosomes. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Collectively, these findings have revealed a disparate role for NADPH oxidase and iNOS in the innate macrophage response against the strict aerobe B. mallei. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first instance in which disruption of [Fe-S] clusters is demonstrated as cause of the bactericidal activity of NO congeners

Integrated genomic characterization of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

We performed integrated genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic profiling of 150 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) specimens, including samples with characteristic low neoplastic cellularity. Deep whole-exome sequencing revealed recurrent somatic mutations in KRAS, TP53, CDKN2A, SMAD4, RNF43, ARID1A, TGFβR2, GNAS, RREB1, and PBRM1. KRAS wild-type tumors harbored alterations in other oncogenic drivers, including GNAS, BRAF, CTNNB1, and additional RAS pathway genes. A subset of tumors harbored multiple KRAS mutations, with some showing evidence of biallelic mutations. Protein profiling identified a favorable prognosis subset with low epithelial-mesenchymal transition and high MTOR pathway scores. Associations of non-coding RNAs with tumor-specific mRNA subtypes were also identified. Our integrated multi-platform analysis reveals a complex molecular landscape of PDAC and provides a roadmap for precision medicine

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio

Penilaian Kinerja Keuangan Koperasi di Kabupaten Pelalawan

This paper describe development and financial performance of cooperative in District Pelalawan among 2007 - 2008. Studies on primary and secondary cooperative in 12 sub-districts. Method in this stady use performance measuring of productivity, efficiency, growth, liquidity, and solvability of cooperative. Productivity of cooperative in Pelalawan was highly but efficiency still low. Profit and income were highly, even liquidity of cooperative very high, and solvability was good

Juxtaposing BTE and ATE – on the role of the European insurance industry in funding civil litigation

One of the ways in which legal services are financed, and indeed shaped, is through private insurance arrangement. Two contrasting types of legal expenses insurance contracts (LEI) seem to dominate in Europe: before the event (BTE) and after the event (ATE) legal expenses insurance. Notwithstanding institutional differences between different legal systems, BTE and ATE insurance arrangements may be instrumental if government policy is geared towards strengthening a market-oriented system of financing access to justice for individuals and business. At the same time, emphasizing the role of a private industry as a keeper of the gates to justice raises issues of accountability and transparency, not readily reconcilable with demands of competition. Moreover, multiple actors (clients, lawyers, courts, insurers) are involved, causing behavioural dynamics which are not easily predicted or influenced. Against this background, this paper looks into BTE and ATE arrangements by analysing the particularities of BTE and ATE arrangements currently available in some European jurisdictions and by painting a picture of their respective markets and legal contexts. This allows for some reflection on the performance of BTE and ATE providers as both financiers and keepers. Two issues emerge from the analysis that are worthy of some further reflection. Firstly, there is the problematic long-term sustainability of some ATE products. Secondly, the challenges faced by policymakers that would like to nudge consumers into voluntarily taking out BTE LEI

Search for stop and higgsino production using diphoton Higgs boson decays

Results are presented of a search for a "natural" supersymmetry scenario with gauge mediated symmetry breaking. It is assumed that only the supersymmetric partners of the top-quark (stop) and the Higgs boson (higgsino) are accessible. Events are examined in which there are two photons forming a Higgs boson candidate, and at least two b-quark jets. In 19.7 inverse femtobarns of proton-proton collision data at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV, recorded in the CMS experiment, no evidence of a signal is found and lower limits at the 95% confidence level are set, excluding the stop mass below 360 to 410 GeV, depending on the higgsino mass

Sequencing illustrates the transcriptional response of Legionella pneumophila during infection and identifies seventy novel small non-coding RNAs

Second generation sequencing has prompted a number of groups to re-interrogate the transcriptomes of several bacterial and archaeal species. One of the central findings has been the identification of complex networks of small non-coding RNAs that play central roles in transcriptional regulation in all growth conditions and for the pathogen’s interaction with and survival within host cells. Legionella pneumophila is a Gram-negative facultative intracellular human pathogen with a distinct biphasic lifestyle. One of its primary environmental hosts in the free-living amoeba Acanthamoeba castellanii and its infection by L. pneumophila mimics that seen in human macrophages. Here we present analysis of strand specific sequencing of the transcriptional response of L. pneumophila during exponential and post-exponential broth growth and during the replicative and transmissive phase of infection inside A. castellanii. We extend previous microarray based studies as well as uncovering evidence of a complex regulatory architecture underpinned by numerous non-coding RNAs. Over seventy new non-coding RNAs could be identified; many of them appear to be strain specific and in configurations not previously reported. We discover a family of non-coding RNAs preferentially expressed during infection conditions and identify a second copy of 6S RNA in L. pneumophila. We show that the newly discovered putative 6S RNA as well as a number of other non-coding RNAs show evidence for antisense transcription. The nature and extent of the non-coding RNAs and their expression patterns suggests that these may well play central roles in the regulation of Legionella spp