New Voters Will Influence Outcome in New Hampshire Primary

In this data snapshot, authors Kenneth Johnson, Dante Scala, and Andrew Smith discuss factors going into New Hampshire\u27s 2020 Primary that could influence the outcome

Many new voters make the Granite State one to watch in November

A third of potential voters in New Hampshire during the fall of 2008 have become eligible to vote in the state. Further, these potential new voters are more likely to identify with the Democratic Party and less likely to identify as Republicans than are established New Hampshire voters, contributing to the state\u27s purple status

More poor kids in more poor places: children increasingly live where poverty persists

More poor kids in more poor places: children increasingly live where poverty persist

Repeat-Accumulate Codes for Reconciliation in Continuous Variable Quantum Key Distribution

This paper investigates the design of low-complexity error correction codes for the verification step in continuous variable quantum key distribution (CVQKD) systems. We design new coding schemes based on quasi-cyclic repeat-accumulate codes which demonstrate good performances for CVQKD reconciliation

The Increasing Diversity of America\u27s Youth

This brief documents how unfolding demographic forces have placed today’s children and youth at the forefront of America’s new racial and ethnic diversity. Authors Kenneth M. Johnson, Andrew Schaefer, Daniel T. Lichter, and Luke T. Rogers discuss how the rapidly changing racial and ethnic composition of the youth population has important implications for intergroup relations, ethnic identities, and electoral politics. They report that diversity is increasing among America’s youth because there are more minority children and fewer non-Hispanic white children. Minority births exceeded non-Hispanic white births for the first time in U.S. history in 2011 according to Census Bureau estimates. Both the declining number of non-Hispanic white women of prime child-bearing and growing numbers of minority women contributed to this change as did differential fertility rates. The largest gains in child diversity between 2000 and 2012 were in suburban and smaller metropolitan areas. Yet, child diversity is geographically uneven, with minimal diversity in some areas of the country and significant diversity in other areas. They conclude that natural population increase—particularly fertility rates—will continue to reshape the racial and ethnic mix of the country, and this change will be reflected first among the nation’s youngest residents

Sequence elements controlling expression of Barley stripe mosaic virus subgenomic RNAs in vivo.

Barley stripe mosaic virus (BSMV) contains three positive-sense, single-stranded genomic RNAs, designated alpha, beta, and gamma, that encode seven major proteins and one minor translational readthrough protein. Three proteins (alphaa, betaa, and gammaa) are translated directly from the genomic RNAs and the remaining proteins encoded on RNAbeta and RNAgamma are expressed via three subgenomic messenger RNAs (sgRNAs). sgRNAbeta1 directs synthesis of the triple gene block 1 (TGB1) protein. The TGB2 protein, the TGB2' minor translational readthrough protein, and the TGB3 protein are expressed from sgRNAbeta2, which is present in considerably lower abundance than sgRNAbeta1. A third sgRNA, sgRNAgamma, is required for expression of the gammab protein. We have used deletion analyses and site-specific mutations to define the boundaries of promoter regions that are critical for expression of the BSMV sgRNAs in infected protoplasts. The results reveal that the sgRNAbeta1 promoter encompasses positions -29 to -2 relative to its transcription start site and is adjacent to a cis-acting element required for RNAbeta replication that maps from -107 to -74 relative to the sgRNAbeta1 start site. The core sgRNAbeta2 promoter includes residues -32 to -17 relative to the sgRNAbeta2 transcriptional start site, although maximal activity requires an upstream hexanucleotide sequence residing from positions -64 to -59. The sgRNAgamma promoter maps from -21 to +2 relative to its transcription start site and therefore partially overlaps the gammaa gene. The sgRNAbeta1, beta2, and gamma promoters also differ substantially in sequence, but have similarities to the putative homologous promoters of other Hordeiviruses. These differences are postulated to affect competition for the viral polymerase, coordination of the temporal expression and abundance of the TGB proteins, and constitutive expression of the gammab protein

Giant Planet Occurrence in the Stellar Mass-Metallicity Plane

Correlations between stellar properties and the occurrence rate of exoplanets can be used to inform the target selection of future planet search efforts and provide valuable clues about the planet formation process. We analyze a sample of 1194 stars drawn from the California Planet Survey targets to determine the empirical functional form describing the likelihood of a star harboring a giant planet as a function of its mass and metallicity. Our stellar sample ranges from M dwarfs with masses as low as 0.2 Msun to intermediate-mass subgiants with masses as high as 1.9 Msun. In agreement with previous studies, our sample exhibits a planet-metallicity correlation at all stellar masses; the fraction of stars that harbor giant planets scales as f \propto 10^{1.2 [Fe/H]}. We can rule out a flat metallicity relationship among our evolved stars (at 98% confidence), which argues that the high metallicities of stars with planets are not likely due to convective envelope "pollution." Our data also rule out a constant planet occurrence rate for [Fe/H]< 0, indicating that giant planets continue to become rarer at sub-Solar metallicities. We also find that planet occurrence increases with stellar mass (f \propto Mstar), characterized by a rise from 3.5% around M dwarfs (0.5 Msun) to 14% around A stars (2 Msun), at Solar metallicity. We argue that the correlation between stellar properties and giant planet occurrence is strong supporting evidence of the core accretion model of planet formation.Comment: Fixed minor typos, modified the last paragraph of Section

DataQ: A Collaborative Platform for Sharing Knowledge and Developing Best Practices to Support Research Data in Libraries

Objective As librarians take on new roles in supporting the management of research data, they may require opportunities and tools for professional development. To address this need, librarians at the University of Colorado Boulder began exploring ways to offer librarians guidance for answering research data questions. Methods The DataQ project is an IMLS­funded effort by the University of Colorado Boulder Libraries, the Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA), and the Great Plains Network (GPN) to develop an online knowledge­base of research data questions and answers curated for and by the library community. Content will be crowd­sourced and reviewed by an editorial team. The site will also include links to resources, best practices, and practical approaches for working with researchers to address specific research data issues. Results The DataQ project is intended to address the growing need for resources to assist libraries with providing support for the research data needs of faculty and students. The project team is currently establishing its editorial team and designing the site and will be seeking content contributions during 2015. The project will also establish an online community of professionals who will collaborate in the development of practical, authoritative, and peer­reviewed answers to research data questions. Conclusions With the management and curation of research data becoming a priority for many institutions, libraries, as campus centers for research services and infrastructure, are often looked to as a point of support for research data questions, and practical tools, such as DataQ, are essential for supporting this work in libraries