Striving for a Happier America: Lessons from Denmark

American society has lost sight of one of its most valued virtues: Happiness. Research has showed that the United States is behind many other countries in the overall happiness of its citizens. Leading the world in well-being is Denmark. This paper’s aim is to explore possible factors that could be facilitating the well-being of Danish citizens, and applying them to American society. In this search, I explore universal individual factors, as well as factors that lead to the development of a culture and dispositions of its citizens. From these factors, as well as unique characteristics of both countries, I hypothesized determinates of well-being in Demark, as well as factors that are detrimental to American’s well-being. Factors for Demark include uniform cultural ideals, social equality, social programs, and unique perspectives on happiness. Conversely, the lack or low levels of these factors for Americans might attest to lower well-being. By emulating these Danish policies and ideals, the U.S. could produce happier, less stressed Americans

Color No Longer A Sign of Bondage: Race, Identity and the First Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry Regiment (1862-1865)

"Color No Longer A Sign of Bondage" is an account of the First Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry Regiment from its earliest days in 1862 to the regiment's triumphant return to Kansas in November 1865. This work encompasses the racial attitudes of the black and white communities of Kansas, Indian Territory, and Arkansas, and the military service of the regiment through campaigns in the service of the Union's Army of the Frontier. The evolution of white support for black enlistment in Kansas, the regiment's acceptance by white Union regiments, and the concurrent conflicts with Confederate sympathizers and military organizations are central themes of this work. Although black military service in the Union was not officially countenanced in Kansas prior to 1863 and the Emancipation Proclamation, the First Kansas Colored fought for recognition and shed blood despite the opposition of Kansas civil and military authorities alike. The irregular enlistment and employment of the regiment jeopardized its existence through the fall of 1862, and despite official disapproval the regiment survived to become a vital part of the Army of the Frontier. White and black Kansans alike took note of the regiment's military service and through the sterling service of the regiment in an unforgiving theater of war, the regiment won the admiration of white regiments and a skeptical black civil populace. The deeds of the First Kansas Colored in battle and in garrison ultimately undergirded the black drive for civil rights and proved that black men could serve as soldiers in an army that often relegated its black soldiers to fatigue duty. The First Kansas Colored was a fighting regiment that won honors in Kansas, Indian Territory, and Arkansas and by its actions demanded respect. The manhood denied to blacks prior to the Civil War was not won through legal battles, but through courageous conduct in war and the blood shed by its soldiers in combat. The First Kansas Colored never faltered in its service to the Union; nor did it fail its supporters and the families of those who served in its ranks. The First Kansas Colored proved that color was no longer a sign of bondage and, although recognition for its deeds often proved ephemeral, its legacy endures

Differentiating Literacy Instruction Through Guided Reading

Research reiterates how instilling a strong reading foundation in young students is vital to their growth in the future. Today, students need more support and individualized education to meet the diverse needs students enter school with. Whole group reading instruction does not benefit students in comparison to differentiated instruction. In order to differentiate instruction to meet the needs of the students as well as provide scaffolds to enhance literacy, teachers must incorporate small group instruction such as guided reading groups. Guided reading are groups of students around the same developmental level that showcase similar learning needs exploring books. Teachers work alongside students, coaching through strategies, word work, fluency and comprehension reading skills. Students working in a social setting, building on skills with support from the teacher working to their full potential. Guided reading groups teach important reading skills before reading, during reading and after reading. Although guided reading is not a curriculum in and of itself, teachers must understand its importance and its place in the classroom. Persuasive information and providing examples will inspire teachers to incorporate a reading instruction format that is grounded in providing the best instruction to each individual child

SOP(3)v2: web-based selection of oligonucleotide primer trios for genotyping of human and mouse polymorphisms

SOP(3)v2 is a database-driven graphical web-based application for facilitating genotyping assay design. SOP(3)v2 accepts data input in numerous forms, including gene names, reference sequence numbers and physical location. For each entry, the application presents a set of recommended forward and reverse PCR primers, along with a sequencing primer, which is optimized for sequence-based genotyping assays. SOP(3)v2-generated oligonucleotide primer trios enable analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as well as insertion/deletion polymorphisms found in genomic DNA. The application's database was generated by warehousing information from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) dbSNP database, genomic DNA sequences from human and mouse, and LocusLink gene attribute information. Query results can be sorted by their biological relevance, such as nonsynonymous coding changes or physical location. Human polymorphism queries may specify ethnicity, haplotype and validation status. Primers are developed using SOP(3)v2's core algorithm for evaluating primer candidates through stability tests and are suitable for use with sequence-based genotyping methods requiring locus-specific amplification. The method has undergone laboratory validation. Of the SOP(3)v2-designed primer trios that were tested, a majority (>80%) have successfully produced genotyping data. The application may be accessed via the web at

External sources of clean technology: evidence from the clean development mechanism

New technology is fundamental to sustainable development. However, inventors from industrialized countries often refuse technology transfer because they worry about reverse-engineering. When can clean technology transfer succeed? We develop a formal model of the political economy of North–South technology transfer. According to the model, technology transfer is possible if (1) the technology in focus has limited global commercial potential or (2) the host developing country does not have the capacity to absorb new technologies for commercial use. If both conditions fail, inventors from industrialized countries worry about the adverse competitiveness effects of reverse-engineering, so technology transfer fails. Data analysis of technology transfer in 4,894 projects implemented under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism during the 2004–2010 period provides evidence in support of the model

Crystal structure of the Legionella pneumophila Lpg2936 in complex with the cofactor S-adenosyl-L-methionine reveals novel insights into the mechanism of RsmE family methyltransferases

The methylationlation of U1498 located in the 16S ribosomal RNA of Escherichia coli is an important modification affecting ribosomal activity. RsmE methyltransferases methylate specifically this position in a mechanism that requires an S-adenosyl-L-methionine (AdoMet) molecule as cofactor. Here we report the structure of Apo and AdoMet-bound Lpg2936 from Legionella pneumophila at 1.5 Å and 2.3 Å, respectively. The protein comprises an N-terminal PUA domain and a C-terminal SPOUT domain. The latter is responsible for protein dimerization and cofactor binding. Comparison with similar structures suggests that Lpg2936 is an RsmE-like enzyme that can target the equivalent of U1498 in the L. pneumophila ribosomal RNA, thereby potentially enhancing ribosomal activity during infection-mediated effector production. The multiple copies of the enzyme found in both structures reveal a flexible conformation of the bound AdoMet ligand. Isothermal titration calorimetry measurements suggest an asymmetric two site binding mode. Our results therefore also provide unprecedented insights into AdoMet/RsmE interaction, furthering our understanding of the RsmE catalytic mechanism. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Clustering and Alignment of Polymorphic Sequences for HLA-DRB1 Genotyping

Located on Chromosome 6p21, classical human leukocyte antigen genes are highly polymorphic. HLA alleles associate with a variety of phenotypes, such as narcolepsy, autoimmunity, as well as immunologic response to infectious disease. Moreover, high resolution genotyping of these loci is critical to achieving long-term survival of allogeneic transplants. Development of methods to obtain high resolution analysis of HLA genotypes will lead to improved understanding of how select alleles contribute to human health and disease risk. Genomic DNAs were obtained from a cohort of n = 383 subjects recruited as part of an Ulcerative Colitis study and analyzed for HLA-DRB1. HLA genotypes were determined using sequence specific oligonucleotide probes and by next-generation sequencing using the Roche/454 GSFLX instrument. The Clustering and Alignment of Polymorphic Sequences (CAPSeq) software application was developed to analyze next-generation sequencing data. The application generates HLA sequence specific 6-digit genotype information from next-generation sequencing data using MUMmer to align sequences and the R package diffusionMap to classify sequences into their respective allelic groups. The incorporation of Bootstrap Aggregating, Bagging to aid in sorting of sequences into allele classes resulted in improved genotyping accuracy. Using Bagging iterations equal to 60, the genotyping results obtained using CAPSeq when compared with sequence specific oligonucleotide probe characterized 4-digit genotypes exhibited high rates of concordance, matching at 759 out of 766 (99.1%) alleles. © 2013 Ringquist et al

Amino Acid Position 11 of HLA-DRβ1 is a Major Determinant of Chromosome 6p Association with Ulcerative Colitis

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) on chromosome 6p is an established risk locus for ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). We aimed to better define MHC association signals in UC and CD by combining data from dense single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping and from imputation of classical HLA types, their constituent SNPs and corresponding amino acids in 562 UC, 611 CD, and 1,428 control subjects. Univariate and multivariate association analyses were performed, controlling for ancestry. In univariate analyses, absence of the rs9269955 C allele was strongly associated with risk for UC (P = 2.67×$10^{-13}$). rs9269955 is a SNP in the codon for amino acid position 11 of HLA-DRβ1, located in the P6 pocket of the HLA-DR antigen binding cleft. This amino acid position was also the most significantly UC-associated amino acid in omnibus tests (P = 2.68×$10^{-13}$). Multivariate modeling identified rs9269955-C and 13 other variants in best predicting UC versus control status. In contrast, there was only suggestive association evidence between the MHC and CD. Taken together, these data demonstrate that variation at HLA-DRβ1, amino acid 11 in the P6 pocket of the HLA-DR complex antigen binding cleft is a major determinant of chromosome 6p association with ulcerative colitis