Rural-Urban Personality Differences in Utah Adolescents As Measured by the CPI

The CPI (California Psychological Inventory) was administered to 395 high school students to determine if personality differences exist between rural and urban adolescents in Utah. Of those tested, 219 were selected from three rural schools and 176 were selected from three urban schools. Ten of the eighteen individual scales of the CPI showed differences between rural and urban students at the

WRAPS – A SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING THE PROBABILITY OF PROKARYOTIC PROTEIN ANNOTATION CORRECTNESS

Advances in sequencing technology have resulted in the sequencing of whole genomes from many simple organisms such as fungi and bacteria, while allowing the assembly of much more complex genomes like humans and chimpanzees. Consequently, association of segments of newly sequenced genomes to specific function (i.e. annotation) is being completed by comparative study of protein coding regions from previously annotated genome data. While this is an ideal procedure to process and annotate huge number of available genomic sequences, this approach can potentially lead to propagating erroneous annotation in a public sequence repository and vastly diminish the integrity of these new annotation of genome sequences. In this project, the Wrongly Annotated Protein identification System (WRAPS) has been created to analyze previously annotated proteins quickly and efficiently. The likeliness that the protein is correctly annotated is determined by weighted scoring schema based on conservation of protein domain, the domains present in different reading frames, and isoelectric point. A study of 88,023 proteins of Yersinia, Staphylococcus, and Bacillus using WRAPS show that there are several proteins that can be considered wrongly annotated, as well as the correctness of annotation among these proteins

Subtle Teratogenic Effects of Locoweed in Rats

Locoweed, a well-known teratogenic plant affecting livestock, is prevalent in mountain regions of the Western United States. Two common species (Astragalus lentiginosus and A. wootoni), administered to pregnant rats, induced behavioral deviations in their offspring. Treated mothers consumed less feed and gained less wieght during gestation than controls when gavaged locoweed at the rate of 1 gram whole plant per day on days 7 through 17 of gestation. A. lentiginosus reduced pup weight at birth (13% less than controls) and this weight reduction (as much as 29% less than controls) continued at least four weeks. A. lentiginosus also reduced number of offspring born alive (34.9% less than controls) and number which survived until weaning (86.4% less than controls). No gross malformations were observed in the offspring of loco-treated dams. however, when the pups were subjected to behavioral testing (beginning at 30 days of age), deviations were observed. there was considerable difference among the treatment groups when tested with the activity wheel (P=.0000). Water-intubated controls did not differ from non-fed controls, but the two loco-treated groups differed in opposite directions from controls. A. lentiginosus offspring were more active (26.5%) overall than other groups, and had an abnormal pattern of activity in the day to evening night activity totals. A. wootoni offpsring were less active (25%) than other groups in the activity wheel. Significant differences among groups were also observed in the open-field test. The trend was toward decreased activity (P=.027; 31 and 43% less than controls - A. lentiginosus and A. wootoni respectively) and increased number of fecal boluses (P=.06; 45.5 and 19.3% more than controls - A. lentiginosus and A. wootoni respectively) in the loco-treated offspring. There were no significant differences in avoidance conditioning in a two-way shuttle box among the groups, though the loco offspring made fewer avoidance responses than controls. Alizarin Red-S staining of fetuses revealed no skeletal defects in the pups. Microscopic examination of maternal tissues showed the kidney and liver degenerative changes which are typical of locoweed intoxication: primarily vacuolation of proximal tubular epithelium and of the hepatocytes. Tissues from pups on day of birth also showed mild kidney and liver changes. Older pups had no visible microscopic deviations from normal. The results indicate that the locoweed teratogen produces behavioral deviations in the offspring of rats in the absence of gross malformations

THz generation using a reflective stair-step echelon

We present a novel method for THz generation in lithium niobate using a reflective stair-step echelon structure. The echelon produces a discretely tilted pulse front with less angular dispersion compared to a high groove-density grating. The THz output was characterized using both a 1-lens and 3-lens imaging system to set the tilt angle at room and cryogenic temperatures. Using broadband 800 nm pulses with a pulse energy of 0.95 mJ and a pulse duration of 70 fs (24 nm FWHM bandwidth, 39 fs transform limited width), we produced THz pulses with field strengths as high as 500 kV/cm and pulse energies as high as 3.1 $\mu$J. The highest conversion efficiency we obtained was 0.33%. In addition, we find that the echelon is easily implemented into an experimental setup for quick alignment and optimization.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figure

A literature review of the membership, roles, and processes of healthcare ethics committees

https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/student_scholarship_posters/1031/thumbnail.jp

Nonlinear two-dimensional terahertz photon echo and rotational spectroscopy in the gas phase

Ultrafast two-dimensional spectroscopy utilizes correlated multiple light-matter interactions for retrieving dynamic features that may otherwise be hidden under the linear spectrum. Its extension to the terahertz regime of the electromagnetic spectrum, where a rich variety of material degrees of freedom reside, remains an experimental challenge. Here we report ultrafast two-dimensional terahertz spectroscopy of gas-phase molecular rotors at room temperature. Using time-delayed terahertz pulse pairs, we observe photon echoes and other nonlinear signals resulting from molecular dipole orientation induced by three terahertz field-dipole interactions. The nonlinear time-domain orientation signals are mapped into the frequency domain in two-dimensional rotational spectra which reveal J-state-resolved nonlinear rotational dynamics. The approach enables direct observation of correlated rotational transitions and may reveal rotational coupling and relaxation pathways in the ground electronic and vibrational state.Comment: 31 pages, 14 figure

Global magnetic cycles in rapidly rotating younger suns

Observations of sun-like stars rotating faster than our current sun tend to exhibit increased magnetic activity as well as magnetic cycles spanning multiple years. Using global simulations in spherical shells to study the coupling of large-scale convection, rotation, and magnetism in a younger sun, we have probed effects of rotation on stellar dynamos and the nature of magnetic cycles. Major 3-D MHD simulations carried out at three times the current solar rotation rate reveal hydromagnetic dynamo action that yields wreaths of strong toroidal magnetic field at low latitudes, often with opposite polarity in the two hemispheres. Our recent simulations have explored behavior in systems with considerably lower diffusivities, achieved with sub-grid scale models including a dynamic Smagorinsky treatment of unresolved turbulence. The lower diffusion promotes the generation of magnetic wreaths that undergo prominent temporal variations in field strength, exhibiting global magnetic cycles that involve polarity reversals. In our least diffusive simulation, we find that magnetic buoyancy coupled with advection by convective giant cells can lead to the rise of coherent loops of magnetic field toward the top of the simulated domain.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, from IAU 273: The Physics of Sun and Star Spot

Rapid and Precise Determination of Zero-Field Splittings by Terahertz Time-Domain Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Zero-field splitting (ZFS) parameters are fundamentally tied to the geometries of metal ion complexes. Despite their critical importance for understanding the magnetism and spectroscopy of metal complexes, they are not routinely available through general laboratory-based techniques, and are often inferred from magnetism data. Here we demonstrate a simple tabletop experimental approach that enables direct and reliable determination of ZFS parameters in the terahertz (THz) regime. We report time-domain measurements of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) signals associated with THz-frequency ZFSs in molecular complexes containing high-spin transition-metal ions. We measure the temporal profiles of the free-induction decays of spin resonances in the complexes at zero and nonzero external magnetic fields, and we derive the EPR spectra via numerical Fourier transformation of the time-domain signals. In most cases, absolute values of the ZFS parameters are extracted from the measured zero-field EPR frequencies, and the signs can be determined by zero-field measurements at two different temperatures. Field-dependent EPR measurements further allow refined determination of the ZFS parameters and access to the g-factor. The results show good agreement with those obtained by other methods. The simplicity of the method portends wide applicability in chemistry, biology and material science.Comment: 36 pages, 30 figures, 1 tabl

Raw and Count Data Comparability of Hip-Worn ActiGraph GT3X+ and Link Accelerometers

To enable inter- and intrastudy comparisons it is important to ascertain comparability among accelerometer models. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare raw and count data between hip-worn ActiGraph GT3X+ and GT9X Link accelerometers. Methods: Adults (n = 26 (n = 15 women); age, 49.1 T 20.0 yr) wore GT3X+ and Link accelerometers over the right hip for an 80-min protocol involving 12–21 sedentary, household, and ambulatory/exercise activities lasting 2–15 min each. For each accelerometer, mean and variance of the raw (60 Hz) data for each axis and vector magnitude (VM) were extracted in 30-s epochs. A machine learning model (Montoye 2015) was used to predict energy expenditure in METs from the raw data. Raw data were also processed into activity counts in 30-s epochs for each axis and VM, with Freedson 1998 and 2011 count-based regression models used to predictMETs. Time spent in sedentary, light, moderate, and vigorous intensities was derived from predicted METs from each model. Correlations were calculated to compare raw and count data between accelerometers, and percent agreement was used to compare epoch-by-epoch activity intensity. Results: For raw data, correlations for mean acceleration were 0.96 T 0.05, 0.89 T 0.16, 0.71 T 0.33, and 0.80 T 0.28, and those for variance were 0.98 T 0.02, 0.98 T 0.03, 0.91 T 0.06, and 1.00 T 0.00 in the X, Y, and Z axes and VM, respectively. For count data, corresponding correlations were 1.00 T 0.01, 0.98 T 0.02, 0.96 T 0.04, and 1.00 T 0.00, respectively. Freedson 1998 and 2011 count-based models had significantly higher percent agreement for activity intensity (95.1% T 5.6% and 95.5% T 4.0%) compared with theMontoye 2015 raw data model (61.5% T 27.6%; P G 0.001). Conclusions: Count data were more highly comparable than raw data between accelerometers. Data filtering and/or more robust raw data models are needed to improve raw data comparability between ActiGraph GT3X+ and Link accelerometers

SMART Vaccines 2.0 decision-support platform : A tool to facilitate and promote priority setting for sustainable vaccination in resource-limited settings

Funding Information: Supported by Gavi and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a number of international organisations have offered capacity-building support to establish NITAGs. While greater emphasis was initially placed on fulfilling process indicators for establishing NITAGs, more recent efforts have sought to advance functional capabilities associated with EIDM, most notably by Agence de Médecine Préventive (AMP), the International Vaccine Institute and The Sabin Vaccine Institute.13 14 These programmes have additionally leveraged technical assistance from WHO and its regional offices, PATH and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.15 16 Funding Information: The UNITAG sought technical assistance from AMP’s Supporting Independent Vaccine Advisory Committees (SIVAC) Initiative,14and engaged in piloting the SMART Vaccines 2.0 platform supported by the Fogarty International Center at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). A description of the NITAG process is given elsewhere.24 33 Funding Information: Funding This work was supported by the Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, USA. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 Author(s). Published by BMJ.Peer reviewedPublisher PD