Miami University

About: Miami University is a education organization based out in Oxford, Ohio, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 9949 authors who have published 19598 publications receiving 568410 citations. The organization is also known as: Miami of Ohio & Miami-Ohio.

Seeking Congruity Between Goals and Roles A New Look at Why Women Opt Out of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Careers

Abstract: Although women have nearly attained equality with men in several formerly male-dominated fields, they remain underrepresented in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). We argue that one important reason for this discrepancy is that STEM careers are perceived as less likely than careers in other fields to fulfill communal goals (e.g., working with or helping other people). Such perceptions might disproportionately affect women's career decisions, because women tend to endorse communal goals more than men. As predicted, we found that STEM careers, relative to other careers, were perceived to impede communal goals. Moreover, communal-goal endorsement negatively predicted interest in STEM careers, even when controlling for past experience and self-efficacy in science and mathematics. Understanding how communal goals influence people's interest in STEM fields thus provides a new perspective on the issue of women's representation in STEM careers.

Hydrogen storage in metal–organic frameworks

Abstract: For any potential hydrogen-storage system, raw uptake capacity must be balanced with the kinetics and thermodynamics of uptake and release. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) provide unique systems with large overall pore volumes and surface areas, adjustable pore sizes, and tunable framework–adsorbate interaction by ligand functionalization and metal choice. These remarkable materials can potentially fill the niche between other physisorbents such as activated carbon, which have similar uptake at low temperatures but low affinity for hydrogen at ambient temperature, and chemical sorbents such as hydrides, which have high hydrogen uptakes but undesirable release kinetics and thermodynamics.

Role of Tannins in Defending Plants Against Ruminants: Reduction in Protein Availability

Abstract: We tested the hypothesis that tannins defend plants against large herbivores by decreasing protein availability. Digestion trials were conducted with mule deer (Odo- coileus hemionus) and results from previous trials with white-tailed deer (O. virginianus), moose (Alces alces), caribou/reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), and elk (Cervus elaphus) were summarized to evaluate dietary factors affecting protein availability. The digestibility of plant protein in feeds with minimal tannins, such as grasses and agriculturally produced legumes and grains, was a highly predictable function of the total protein content and the amount of nondigestible, fiber-bound protein. Digestible protein in plants containing sig? nificant tannins was lower than predicted from regressions for low-tannin feeds. The re? duction in digestible protein was proportional to the protein-precipitating capacity of the plant tannins. Deciduous browse stems collected in winter had very low levels of protein- precipitating tannins and only a slightly lower protein availability than predicted. Tannins are not important in the defense of most deciduous tree and shrub stems consumed by these herbivores. Tannins in flowers and forb, tree, and shrub leaves markedly reduced protein availability. Tannins must be considered in understanding the defensive strategies of leaves and flowers. Voluntary intake of the high-phenolic forages was significantly re? duced below ingestion rates for grasses, legumes, and pelleted diets. It is hypothesized that soluble phenolics that do not inhibit digestion but are absorbed and reduce intake through their toxicity are more important in defending some plant parts against ruminants than are digestion-reducing tannins.

A Primer on Metagenomics

Abstract: Metagenomics is a discipline that enables the genomic study of uncultured microorganisms. Faster, cheaper sequencing technologies and the ability to sequence uncultured microbes sampled directly from their habitats are expanding and transforming our view of the microbial world. Distilling meaningful information from the millions of new genomic sequences presents a serious challenge to bioinformaticians. In cultured microbes, the genomic data come from a single clone, making sequence assembly and annotation tractable. In metagenomics, the data come from heterogeneous microbial communities, sometimes containing more than 10,000 species, with the sequence data being noisy and partial. From sampling, to assembly, to gene calling and function prediction, bioinformatics faces new demands in interpreting voluminous, noisy, and often partial sequence data. Although metagenomics is a relative newcomer to science, the past few years have seen an explosion in computational methods applied to metagenomic-based research. It is therefore not within the scope of this article to provide an exhaustive review. Rather, we provide here a concise yet comprehensive introduction to the current computational requirements presented by metagenomics, and review the recent progress made. We also note whether there is software that implements any of the methods presented here, and briefly review its utility. Nevertheless, it would be useful if readers of this article would avail themselves of the comment section provided by this journal, and relate their own experiences. Finally, the last section of this article provides a few representative studies illustrating different facets of recent scientific discoveries made using metagenomics.