Texas A&M University

About: Texas A&M University is a education organization based out in College Station, Texas, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Gene. The organization has 72169 authors who have published 164372 publications receiving 5764236 citations.

Natural variation in genome architecture among 205 Drosophila melanogaster Genetic Reference Panel lines

Abstract: The Drosophila melanogaster Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP) is a community resource of 205 sequenced inbred lines, derived to improve our understanding of the effects of naturally occurring genetic variation on molecular and organismal phenotypes. We used an integrated genotyping strategy to identify 4,853,802 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 1,296,080 non-SNP variants. Our molecular population genomic analyses show higher deletion than insertion mutation rates and stronger purifying selection on deletions. Weaker selection on insertions than deletions is consistent with our observed distribution of genome size determined by flow cytometry, which is skewed toward larger genomes. Insertion/deletion and single nucleotide polymorphisms are positively correlated with each other and with local recombination, suggesting that their nonrandom distributions are due to hitchhiking and background selection. Our cytogenetic analysis identified 16 polymorphic inversions in the DGRP. Common inverted and standard karyotypes are genetically divergent and account for most of the variation in relatedness among the DGRP lines. Intriguingly, variation in genome size and many quantitative traits are significantly associated with inversions. Approximately 50% of the DGRP lines are infected with Wolbachia, and four lines have germline insertions of Wolbachia sequences, but effects of Wolbachia infection on quantitative traits are rarely significant. The DGRP complements ongoing efforts to functionally annotate the Drosophila genome. Indeed, 15% of all D. melanogaster genes segregate for potentially damaged proteins in the DGRP, and genome-wide analyses of quantitative traits identify novel candidate genes. The DGRP lines, sequence data, genotypes, quality scores, phenotypes, and analysis and visualization tools are publicly available.

Online Dating A Critical Analysis From the Perspective of Psychological Science

Abstract: Online dating sites frequently claim that they have fundamentally altered the dating landscape for the better. This article employs psychological science to examine (a) whether online dating is fundamentally different from conventional offline dating and (b) whether online dating promotes better romantic outcomes than conventional offline dating. The answer to the first question (uniqueness) is yes, and the answer to the second question (superiority) is yes and no. To understand how online dating fundamentally differs from conventional offline dating and the circumstances under which online dating promotes better romantic outcomes than conventional offline dating, we consider the three major services online dating sites offer: access, communication, and matching. Access refers to users' exposure to and opportunity to evaluate potential romantic partners they are otherwise unlikely to encounter. Communication refers to users' opportunity to use various forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC) to interact with specific potential partners through the dating site before meeting face-to-face. Matching refers to a site's use of a mathematical algorithm to select potential partners for users. Regarding the uniqueness question, the ways in which online dating sites implement these three services have indeed fundamentally altered the dating landscape. In particular, online dating, which has rapidly become a pervasive means of seeking potential partners, has altered both the romantic acquaintance process and the compatibility matching process. For example, rather than meeting potential partners, getting a snapshot impression of how well one interacts with them, and then slowly learning various facts about them, online dating typically involves learning a broad range of facts about potential partners before deciding whether one wants to meet them in person. Rather than relying on the intuition of village elders, family members, or friends or to select which pairs of unacquainted singles will be especially compatible, certain forms of online dating involve placing one's romantic fate in the hands of a mathematical matching algorithm. Turning to the superiority question, online dating has important advantages over conventional offline dating. For example, it offers unprecedented (and remarkably convenient) levels of access to potential partners, which is especially helpful for singles who might otherwise lack such access. It also allows online daters to use CMC to garner an initial sense of their compatibility with potential partners before deciding whether to meet them face-to-face. In addition, certain dating sites may be able to collect data that allow them to banish from the dating pool people who are likely …

Solar fusion cross sections

Abstract: We review and analyze the available information on the nuclear-fusion cross sections that are most important for solar energy generation and solar neutrino production. We provide best values for the low-energy cross-section factors and, wherever possible, estimates of the uncertainties. We also describe the most important experiments and calculations that are required in order to improve our knowledge of solar fusion rates.

Systemic Racism: A Theory of Oppression

Abstract: In this book, Feagin develops a theory of systemic racism to interpret the highly racialized character and development of this society. Exploring the distinctive social worlds that have been created by racial oppression over nearly four centuries and what this has meant for the people of the United States, focusing his analysis on white-on-black oppression. Drawing on the commentaries of black and white Americans in three historical eras; the slavery era, the legal segregation era, and then those of white Americans. Feagin examines how major institutions have been thoroughly pervaded by racial stereotypes, ideas, images, emotions, and practices. He theorizes that this system of racial oppression was not an accident of history, but was created intentionally by white Americans. While significant changes have occurred in this racist system over the centuries, key and fundamentally elements have been reproduced over nearly four centuries, and US institutions today imbed the racialized hierarchy created in the 17th century. Today, as in the past, racial oppression is not just a surface-level feature of society, but rather it pervades, permeates, and interconnects all major social groups, networks, and institutions across society.