The Interaction Between the Minimum Wage and the Federal EITC

In this fact sheet, authors Andrew Schaefer, Jessica Carson, Marybeth Mattingly, and Andrew Wink examine the interaction between the minimum wage and the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to determine whether a minimum wage increase would produce gains in the sum of earnings plus EITC dollars for low-income workers. They report that for workers earning the minimum wage, an increase would result in higher income; none would experience a lower net income due to changes in the federal EITC credit (though this may be offset by loss of other safety net program benefits). For some family types, increased income would come primarily from a higher minimum wage; for others, gains would also come from the higher-value federal EITC triggered by their higher earnings

MS-077: Gladys Kennedy World War II Letters

This collection of correspondence contains letters from all fronts and from many of Gladys’ “sweethearts.” It appears that she shipped her address out in the parts she made at the Depot and would get responses from some of the soldiers and sailors. Some of the letters are from soldiers and sailors abroad from her hometown of York Springs, Pennsylvania. Collection includes paperwork from a raise received by Kennedy in 1944.https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/findingaidsall/1146/thumbnail.jp

Nitric oxide orchestrates metabolic rewiring in M1 macrophages by targeting aconitase 2 and pyruvate dehydrogenase.

Profound metabolic changes are characteristic of macrophages during classical activation and have been implicated in this phenotype. Here we demonstrate that nitric oxide (NO) produced by murine macrophages is responsible for TCA cycle alterations and citrate accumulation associated with polarization. 13C tracing and mitochondrial respiration experiments map NO-mediated suppression of metabolism to mitochondrial aconitase (ACO2). Moreover, we find that inflammatory macrophages reroute pyruvate away from pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) in an NO-dependent and hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (Hif1α)-independent manner, thereby promoting glutamine-based anaplerosis. Ultimately, NO accumulation leads to suppression and loss of mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) complexes. Our data reveal that macrophages metabolic rewiring, in vitro and in vivo, is dependent on NO targeting specific pathways, resulting in reduced production of inflammatory mediators. Our findings require modification to current models of macrophage biology and demonstrate that reprogramming of metabolism should be considered a result rather than a mediator of inflammatory polarization

Non-Standard Errors

In statistics, samples are drawn from a population in a data-generating process (DGP). Standard errors measure the uncertainty in estimates of population parameters. In science, evidence is generated to test hypotheses in an evidence-generating process (EGP). We claim that EGP variation across researchers adds uncertainty: Non-standard errors (NSEs). We study NSEs by letting 164 teams test the same hypotheses on the same data. NSEs turn out to be sizable, but smaller for better reproducible or higher rated research. Adding peer-review stages reduces NSEs. We further find that this type of uncertainty is underestimated by participants

Sewer System Alternatives Evaluation for Potential Creswell Area Expansion in Harford County

Final project for ENCE422: Project Cost Accounting and Economics (Fall 2018). University of Maryland, College Park.This report summarizes the findings of the ENCE422 Fall 2018 class term project. Students were tasked with evaluating sewer system alternatives for the Creswell area expansion in Harford County. Student groups were to consider environmental impacts, community/social impacts, and perform financial analysis for the alternatives they chose to evaluate. This report extracts information from 14 separate team presentations and synthesizes it around the following structure; 1. Systems that Utilize Septic Tanks a. Traditional Septic System b. Orenco Effluent System c. Small Diameter Gravity Sewer System 2. System that Do Not Utilize Septic Tanks a. Traditional Gravity System b. Vacuum System c. Grinder Pump SystemHarford Count

ExploreASL: an image processing pipeline for multi-center ASL perfusion MRI studies

Arterial spin labeling (ASL) has undergone significant development since its inception, with a focus on improving standardization and reproducibility of its acquisition and quantification. In a community-wide effort towards robust and reproducible clinical ASL image processing, we developed the software package ExploreASL, allowing standardized analyses across centers and scanners.The procedures used in ExploreASL capitalize on published image processing advancements and address the challenges of multi-center datasets with scanner-specific processing and artifact reduction to limit patient exclusion. ExploreASL is self-contained, written in MATLAB and based on Statistical Parameter Mapping (SPM) and runs on multiple operating systems. The toolbox adheres to previously defined international standards for data structure, provenance, and best analysis practice.ExploreASL was iteratively refined and tested in the analysis of >10,000 ASL scans using different pulse-sequences in a variety of clinical populations, resulting in four processing modules: Import, Structural, ASL, and Population that perform tasks, respectively, for data curation, structural and ASL image processing and quality control, and finally preparing the results for statistical analyses on both single-subject and group level. We illustrate ExploreASL processing results from three cohorts: perinatally HIV-infected children, healthy adults, and elderly at risk for neurodegenerative disease. We show the reproducibility for each cohort when processed at different centers with different operating systems and MATLAB versions, and its effects on the quantification of gray matter cerebral blood flow.ExploreASL facilitates the standardization of image processing and quality control, allowing the pooling of cohorts to increase statistical power and discover between-group perfusion differences. Ultimately, this workflow may advance ASL for wider adoption in clinical studies, trials, and practice

ExploreASL: an image processing pipeline for multi-center ASL perfusion MRI studies

Arterial spin labeling (ASL) has undergone significant development since its inception, with a focus on improving standardization and reproducibility of its acquisition and quantification. In a community-wide effort towards robust and reproducible clinical ASL image processing, we developed the software package ExploreASL, allowing standardized analyses across centers and scanners. The procedures used in ExploreASL capitalize on published image processing advancements and address the challenges of multi-center datasets with scanner-specific processing and artifact reduction to limit patient exclusion. ExploreASL is self-contained, written in MATLAB and based on Statistical Parameter Mapping (SPM) and runs on multiple operating systems. To facilitate collaboration and data-exchange, the toolbox follows several standards and recommendations for data structure, provenance, and best analysis practice. ExploreASL was iteratively refined and tested in the analysis of >10,000 ASL scans using different pulse-sequences in a variety of clinical populations, resulting in four processing modules: Import, Structural, ASL, and Population that perform tasks, respectively, for data curation, structural and ASL image processing and quality control, and finally preparing the results for statistical analyses on both single-subject and group level. We illustrate ExploreASL processing results from three cohorts: perinatally HIV-infected children, healthy adults, and elderly at risk for neurodegenerative disease. We show the reproducibility for each cohort when processed at different centers with different operating systems and MATLAB versions, and its effects on the quantification of gray matter cerebral blood flow. ExploreASL facilitates the standardization of image processing and quality control, allowing the pooling of cohorts which may increase statistical power and discover between-group perfusion differences. Ultimately, this workflow may advance ASL for wider adoption in clinical studies, trials, and practice

Decitabine limits escape from MEK inhibition in uveal melanoma

MEK inhibitors (MEKi) demonstrate anti‐proliferative activity in patients with metastatic uveal melanoma, but responses are short‐lived. In the present study, we evaluated the MEKi trametinib alone and in combination with drugs targeting epigenetic regulators, including DOT1L, EZH2, LSD1, DNA methyltransferases, and histone acetyltransferases. The DNA methyltransferase inhibitor (DNMTi) decitabine effectively enhanced the anti‐proliferative activity of trametinib in cell viability, colony formation, and 3D organoid assays. RNA‐Seq analysis showed the MEKi‐DNMTi combination primarily affected the expression of genes involved in G1 and G2/2M checkpoints, cell survival, chromosome segregation and mitotic spindle. The DNMTi‐MEKi combination did not appear to induce a DNA damage response (as measured by γH2AX foci) or senescence (as measured by β‐galactosidase staining) compared to either MEKi or DNMTi alone. Instead, the combination increased expression of the CDK inhibitor p21 and the pro‐apoptotic protein BIM. In vivo, the DNMTi‐MEKi combination was more effective at suppressing growth of MP41 uveal melanoma xenografts than either drug alone. Our studies indicate that DNMTi may enhance the activity of MEKi in uveal melanoma