New York state's merchandise export gap

New York's merchandise export performance has trailed the nation's for several years. The cause of this gap is not easy to identify: the state maintains a relatively healthy mix of customer markets, remains well represented in industries with strong foreign demand, and continues to enjoy declining labor costs. A broader look at New York's competitiveness, however, reveals that high nonlabor costs may be hurting the state's manufacturing sector and thus its volume of exports.Exports ; Manufactures ; New York (State)

Integrated genomic analyses identify ARID1A and ARID1B alterations in the childhood cancer neuroblastoma

Neuroblastomas are tumors of peripheral sympathetic neurons and are the most common solid tumor in children. To determine the genetic basis for neuroblastoma we performed whole-genome sequencing (6 cases), exome sequencing (16 cases), genome-wide rearrangement analyses (32 cases), and targeted analyses of specific genomic loci (40 cases) using massively parallel sequencing. On average each tumor had 19 somatic alterations in coding genes (range, 3–70). Among genes not previously known to be involved in neuroblastoma, chromosomal deletions and sequence alterations of chromatin remodeling genes, ARID1A and ARID1B, were identified in 8 of 71 tumors (11%) and were associated with early treatment failure and decreased survival. Using tumor-specific structural alterations, we developed an approach to identify rearranged DNA fragments in sera, providing personalized biomarkers for minimal residual disease detection and monitoring. These results highlight dysregulation of chromatin remodeling in pediatric tumorigenesis and provide new approaches for the management of neuroblastoma patients

Facial expressions depicting compassionate and critical emotions: the development and validation of a new emotional face stimulus set

Attachment with altruistic others requires the ability to appropriately process affiliative and kind facial cues. Yet there is no stimulus set available to investigate such processes. Here, we developed a stimulus set depicting compassionate and critical facial expressions, and validated its effectiveness using well-established visual-probe methodology. In Study 1, 62 participants rated photographs of actors displaying compassionate/kind and critical faces on strength of emotion type. This produced a new stimulus set based on N = 31 actors, whose facial expressions were reliably distinguished as compassionate, critical and neutral. In Study 2, 70 participants completed a visual-probe task measuring attentional orientation to critical and compassionate/kind faces. This revealed that participants lower in self-criticism demonstrated enhanced attention to compassionate/kind faces whereas those higher in self-criticism showed no bias. To sum, the new stimulus set produced interpretable findings using visual-probe methodology and is the first to include higher order, complex positive affect displays

Clinical, radiologic, pathologic, and molecular characteristics of long-term survivors of diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG): a collaborative report from the International and European Society for Pediatric Oncology DIPG registries

Purpose Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is a brainstem malignancy with a median survival of < 1 year. The International and European Society for Pediatric Oncology DIPG Registries collaborated to compare clinical, radiologic, and histomolecular characteristics between short-term survivors (STSs) and long-term survivors (LTSs). Materials and Methods Data abstracted from registry databases included patients from North America, Australia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, and Croatia. Results Among 1,130 pediatric and young adults with radiographically confirmed DIPG, 122 (11%) were excluded. Of the 1,008 remaining patients, 101 (10%) were LTSs (survival ≥ 2 years). Median survival time was 11 months (interquartile range, 7.5 to 16 months), and 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-year survival rates were 42.3% (95% CI, 38.1% to 44.1%), 9.6% (95% CI, 7.8% to 11.3%), 4.3% (95% CI, 3.2% to 5.8%), 3.2% (95% CI, 2.4% to 4.6%), and 2.2% (95% CI, 1.4% to 3.4%), respectively. LTSs, compared with STSs, more commonly presented at age < 3 or > 10 years (11% v 3% and 33% v 23%, respectively; P < .001) and with longer symptom duration ( P < .001). STSs, compared with LTSs, more commonly presented with cranial nerve palsy (83% v 73%, respectively; P = .008), ring enhancement (38% v 23%, respectively; P = .007), necrosis (42% v 26%, respectively; P = .009), and extrapontine extension (92% v 86%, respectively; P = .04). LTSs more commonly received systemic therapy at diagnosis (88% v 75% for STSs; P = .005). Biopsies and autopsies were performed in 299 patients (30%) and 77 patients (10%), respectively; 181 tumors (48%) were molecularly characterized. LTSs were more likely to harbor a HIST1H3B mutation (odds ratio, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.1 to 1.5; P = .002). Conclusion We report clinical, radiologic, and molecular factors that correlate with survival in children and young adults with DIPG, which are important for risk stratification in future clinical trials

Regulation of phenylacetic acid uptake is σ54 dependent in Pseudomonas putida CA-3

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Styrene is a toxic and potentially carcinogenic alkenylbenzene used extensively in the polymer processing industry. Significant quantities of contaminated liquid waste are generated annually as a consequence. However, styrene is not a true xenobiotic and microbial pathways for its aerobic assimilation, via an intermediate, phenylacetic acid, have been identified in a diverse range of environmental isolates. The potential for microbial bioremediation of styrene waste has received considerable research attention over the last number of years. As a result the structure, organisation and encoded function of the genes responsible for styrene and phenylacetic acid sensing, uptake and catabolism have been elucidated. However, a limited understanding persists in relation to host specific regulatory molecules which may impart additional control over these pathways. In this study the styrene degrader <it>Pseudomonas putida </it>CA-3 was subjected to random mini-Tn<it>5 </it>mutagenesis and mutants screened for altered styrene/phenylacetic acid utilisation profiles potentially linked to non-catabolon encoded regulatory influences.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>One mutant, D7, capable of growth on styrene, but not on phenylacetic acid, harboured a Tn<it>5 </it>insertion in the <it>rpoN </it>gene encoding σ54. Complementation of the D7 mutant with the wild type <it>rpoN </it>gene restored the ability of this strain to utilise phenylacetic acid as a sole carbon source. Subsequent RT-PCR analyses revealed that a phenylacetate permease, PaaL, was expressed in wild type <it>P. putida </it>CA-3 cells utilising styrene or phenylacetic acid, but could not be detected in the disrupted D7 mutant. Expression of plasmid borne <it>paaL </it>in mutant D7 was found to fully restore the phenylacetic acid utilisation capacity of the strain to wild type levels. Bioinformatic analysis of the <it>paaL </it>promoter from <it>P. putida </it>CA-3 revealed two σ⁵⁴consensus binding sites in a non-archetypal configuration, with the transcriptional start site being resolved by primer extension analysis. Comparative analyses of genomes encoding phenylacetyl CoA, (PACoA), catabolic operons identified a common association among styrene degradation linked PACoA catabolons in <it>Pseudomonas </it>species studied to date.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In summary, this is the first study to report RpoN dependent transcriptional activation of the PACoA catabolon <it>paaL </it>gene, encoding a transport protein essential for phenylacetic acid utilisation in <it>P. putida </it>CA-3. Bioinformatic analysis is provided to suggest this regulatory link may be common among styrene degrading <it>Pseudomonads</it>.</p

Self-Presentational Determinants of Sex Differences in Leadership Behavior

Men and women placed in leadership positions communicated information about their skills and abilities to their subordinates. Although leaders’ perceptions of their abilities, group members’ knowledge of their leader’s abilities, and the specific skills needed by the leader were all manipulated in the experimental setting, self-presentations of ability were primarily determined by sex role stereotypes rather than by situational factors. Results indicated that (1) male leaders emphasized their social influence and task abilities; (2) female leaders emphasized their interpersonal, socioemotional abilities; and (3) group members felt task ability, as compared to interpersonal ability, was a far more important skill for a leader to possess. It was concluded that sex differences in male and female leadership behavior may be due to self-presentational conformity to sex roles, and that this conformity enhances males’ leadership effectiveness while detracting from females’ leadership effectiveness

A Foldable, Compact and Lightweight Solar Array Substrate with Large Deployed Wingspan for Small Spacecraft

A solar array (SA) mechanical subsystem made of thin and lightweight substrates was developed, built and tested for a small spacecraft. The SA is compactly foldable and deployable to a length of approximately five times the widthof the spacecraft. It has miniature hinges and latches, and deploys freely without dampers and synchronizing mechanisms. The solar cell interconnect harness consists ofthin, laminatedflexible circuits,and the substrates feature a syntactic foam core exposed to large temperature extremes. This developmental technology, currently at TRL 6, when completely proven out, would be viable for small satellites and would enable missions in the Express-class. The Express-class (or Express) refers to satellites in the range of 25kg to 100 kg that are positioned in the gap between 12U CubeSats and small ESPA-class spacecraft. Cornerstones of the SA development were compact packaging, deployment dynamic simulation, and hinge-latch tuning for dynamics and lock-up loads. Dynamic deployment simulations were modeled in Adams to observe the behavior of the unfolding array, to size the hinge springs and to monitor the lockup loads at the substrate to hinge interfaces. Extensive substrate mechanical and thermal tests were conducted to verify the substrate’s structural capability and dimensional stability in its operating environment. Thermal tests were carried out to observe the effect of mismatching coefficients of thermal expansion between the adhered flexible laminated interconnect circuits and the substrate. Gravity-negated wing deployment tests were performed at temperature limits and in vacuum to verify the overall design intent of the deployment. The stowed wing was vibration tested to verify its structural capabilities under launch environments, and then deployment tested again to demonstrate that the array as a mechanism was unaffected by launch loads. Mechanically, the Express SA substrate assembly has been advanced in its development and proven out as a structure and mechanism. Further development of the electrical power system is necessary, and additional testing for mechanical and thermal interactions of the solar cells with the overall SA substrate will need to be done. This SA subsystem would be an essential expansion to the Express hardware developed by The Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) for the advancement and enablement of Express-class missions