Gut Microbial Dysbiosis Differs in Two Distinct Cachectic Tumor-Bearing Models Consuming the Same Diet

The impact of cancer cachexia on the colonic microbiota is poorly characterized. This study assessed the effect of two cachectic-producing tumor types on the gut microbiota to determine if a similar dysbiosis could be found. In addition, it was determined if a diet containing an immunonutrient-rich food (walnuts) known to promote the growth of probiotic bacteria in the colon could alter the dysbiosis and slow cachexia. Male Fisher 344 rats were randomly assigned to a semi-purified diet with or without walnuts. Then, within each diet group, rats were further assigned randomly to a treatment group: tumor-bearing ad libitum fed (TB), non-tumor-bearing ad libitum fed (NTB-AL), and non-tumor-bearing group pair-fed to the TB (NTB-PF). The TB group was implanted either with the Ward colon carcinoma or MCA-induced sarcoma, both transplantable tumor lines. Fecal samples were collected after the development of cachexia, and bacteria species were identified using 16S rRNA gene analysis. Both TB groups developed cachexia but had a differently altered gut microbiome. Beta diversity was unaffected by treatment (NTB-AL, TB, and NTB-PF) regardless of tumor type but was affected by diet. Also, diet consistently changed the relative abundance of several bacteria taxa, while treatment and tumor type did not. The control diet increased the abundance of A. Anaeroplasma, while the walnut diet increased the genus Ruminococcus. There were no common fecal bacterial changes characteristic of cachexia found. Diet consistently changed the gut microbiota, but these changes were insufficient to slow the progression of cachexia, suggesting cancer cachexia is more complex than a few gut microbiota shifts

Genomic prediction and QTL analysis for grain Zn content and yield in Aus-derived rice populations

Zinc (Zn) biofortification of rice can address Zn malnutrition in Asia. Identification and introgression of QTLs for grain Zn content and yield (YLD) can improve the efficiency of rice Zn biofortification. In four rice populations we detected 56 QTLs for seven traits by inclusive composite interval mapping (ICIM), and 16 QTLs for two traits (YLD and Zn) by association mapping. The phenotypic variance (PV) varied from 4.5% (qPN4.1) to 31.7% (qPH1.1). qDF1.1, qDF7.2, qDF8.1, qPH1.1, qPH7.1, qPL1.2, qPL9.1, qZn5.1, qZn5.2, qZn6.1 and qZn7.1 were identified in both dry and wet seasons; qZn5.1, qZn5.2, qZn5.3, qZn6.2, qZn7.1 and qYLD1.2 were detected by both ICIM and association mapping. qZn7.1 had the highest PV (17.8%) and additive effect (2.5 ppm). Epistasis and QTL co-locations were also observed for different traits. The multi-trait genomic prediction values were 0.24 and 0.16 for YLD and Zn respectively. qZn6.2 was co-located with a gene (OsHMA2) involved in Zn transport. These results are useful for Zn biofortificatiton of rice

Management strategies for preventing and recovering from bermudagrass winterkill

Bermudagrass (Cynodon spp. Rich) is a warm-season grass that is widely planted throughout tropical, sub-tropical, and even temperate climates, and it generally requires fewer inputs than most cool-season turfgrasses. In recent years, the area of adaptation for bermudagrass has progressively expanded to cooler climates due to the development of more cold-tolerant cultivars. The expanded area of adaptation as well as the reduced inputs required to maintain healthy turfgrass have made bermudagrass a popular choice in areas of marginal adaptation. In these areas, the greatest threat to bermudagrass health and survivability is winterkill. This management guide seeks to describe winterkill: what it looks like, what causes it, and where it occurs. Additionally, this management guide describes best management practices to both prevent winterkill and recover bermudagrass from winterkill damage

A pharmacological approach to investigating effector translocation in rice-Magnaporthe oryzae interactions

Fungal pathogens deliver effector proteins into living plant cells to suppress plant immunity and control plant processes that are needed for infection. During plant infection, the devastating rice blast fungus, Magnaporthe oryzae, forms the specialized biotrophic interfacial complex (BIC), which is essential for effector translocation. Cytoplasmic effectors are first focally secreted into BICs, and subsequently packaged into dynamic membranous effector compartments (MECs), then translocated via clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) into the host cytoplasm. This study demonstrates that clathrin-heavy chain inhibitors endosidin-9 (ES9) and endosidin-9–17 (ES9–17) blocked the internalization of the fluorescently labeled effectors Bas1 and Pwl2 in rice cells, leading to swollen BICs lacking MECs. In contrast, ES9–17 treatment had no impact on the localization pattern of the apoplastic effector Bas4. This study provides further evidence that cytoplasmic effector translocation occurs by CME in BICs, suggesting a potential role for M. oryzae effectors in co-opting plant endocytosis

A Friendship of Two Prima Donnas: The Letters of Adelina Patti to Giulia Valda

Of the many prima donnas of the nineteenth century, Adelina Patti (1843–1919) stands out as one of the most successful, with a fifty-year international concertizing career. Biographers across multiple languages have covered her career in great depth, but devote little attention to her close friendships. Herman Klein (in The Reign of Patti [1920]) and John Cone (in Adelina Patti: Queen of Hearts [1993]), for instance, claim that Patti was known by many, but understood by few. One who does seem to have understood her and developed a close relationship with her was Giulia Valda (1850–1925), herself a professional singer, if far from Patti’s caliber. We know close to nothing about this friendship, however. The biographies of Patti suggest that the two singers first met on their United States tour with the Abbey-Grau Opera Company (1889–1890); but say nothing about their friendship and thus cannot explain how Valda came to be one of Patti’s most intimate friends. The answers emerge from a collection of letters hitherto unknown to scholars. A substantial portion of this correspondence is held at Louisiana State University’s Hill Memorial Library and consists of fifteen handwritten letters from Patti to Valda spanning the years 1889–1891. An additional, much longer letter (dated 1890) is held at Yale University’s Irving S. Gilmore Music Library. These letters are testimony to Patti and Valda’s growing, intimate friendship and show how an initially formal tone quickly morphed into a loving one. Still, these letters leave open questions about the professional context of their relationship, questions that can be answered at least in part on the basis of other primary sources, such as performance schedules of opera houses, newspaper articles, and an unpublished biography by Patti’s goddaughter. As a group, these documents cast a new light on the personality of one of the most prominent opera stars of the time, whose career is well known, but whose private life is still insufficiently understood

Selected physicochemical and morphological properties of Gamma-Irradiated tapioca flour, rice flour, and pea flours

The effects of gamma irradiation on selected physicochemical and morphological properties of tapioca, rice, and pea flours were studied. Treatments by gamma irradiation at different doses (0, 2.5, 5.5, and 7 kGy) caused changes in structure and physicochemical properties of starch granules of those flours. Generally, the solubility of tapioca, rice, and pea flour significantly increased (100.69%, 116.72%, and 15.18%, respectively) whereas swelling power (19.61%, 10.16%, and 25.08%), pasting parameters (peak viscosity, trough viscosity, final viscosity, breakdown, and setback), enthalpy of gelatinisation (34.26%, 83.54%, and 84.80%) and syneresis (68.21%, 58.79%, and 26.91%) significantly decreased (P ≤ 0.05) as the dose of irradiation increased. Irradiation affected the pasting temperature and syneresis of pea flour more than those of tapioca and rice flours. Gamma irradiation did not change starch granule surface of the flours. This study demonstrated that the gamma-irradiated flours had significant changes in physicochemical properties depending on the radiation dose; these changes will affect their uses in food formulations

Wood duck nest survival and duckling recruitment is minimally affected by interspecific brood parasitism from hooded mergansers and black-bellied whistling-ducks

In the southeastern United States, wood ducks (Aix sponsa) have historically experienced interspecific brood parasitism (IBP) primarily from hooded mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus), but the recent northward expansion of black-bellied whistling-ducks (Dendrocygna autumnalis) has added a new complexity to these interactions. We monitored nest boxes in Louisiana to evaluate the influence IBP had on wood duck daily nest survival rate (after, DSR) and duckling recruitment. We monitored 1,295 wood duck nests from 2020−2023 and found 112 (8.7%) were parasitized by hooded mergansers and 148 (11.5%) by whistling-ducks. Parasitic egg-laying by hooded mergansers lowered wood duck DSR, while DSR for nests parasitized by whistling-ducks was comparable to clutches containing only wood duck eggs. We considered the wood duck capture histories of 2,465 marked female ducklings and 540 banded adult females to estimate a duckling recruitment probability for the entire study period. We recaptured 50 ducklings as adults; 6 (12.0%) hatched from clutches parasitized by hooded mergansers, 1 (2.0%) from a clutch parasitized by a whistling-duck, and 43 (86.0%) from clutches containing only wood duck eggs. The duckling recruitment probability was 0.039 (95% credible interval = 0.028, 0.051). Nest initiation date had a negative effect on recruitment, wherein most recruits hatched from nests initiated earlier in the season. Given only ~9% of wood duck nests contained hooded merganser eggs, we conclude IBP writ large had no detrimental effect on DSR at a population level. The lower DSR of clutches parasitized by hooded mergansers is potentially linked to a high abundance of early-season parasites that produce “dump nests” and these clutches are often abandoned without being incubated. Despite ongoing parasitism by hooded mergansers and the range expansion of whistling-ducks, wood duck productivity in Louisiana appears to be minimally affected by interspecific brood parasitism

Computational design for landscape architects

This book is a guide to computational design for landscape architects replete with extensive tutorials. It introduces algorithmic approaches for modeling and designing landscapes. The aim of this book is to use algorithms to understand and design landscape as a generative system, i.e. to harness the processes that shape landscape to generate new forms. An algorithmic approach to design is gently introduced through visual programming with Grasshopper, before more advanced methods are taught in Python, a high-level programming language. Topics covered include parametric design, randomness and noise, waves and attractors, lidar, drone photogrammetry, point cloud modeling, terrain modeling, earthworks, digital fabrication, and more. The chapters include sections on theory, methods, and either visual programming or scripting. Online resources for the book include code and datasets so that readers can easily follow along and try out the methods presented. This book is a much-needed guide, both theoretical and practical, on computational design for students, educators, and practitioners of landscape architecture

Understanding and Mitigating Corrosion Impact on Structural Steel: A Comprehensive Analysis and Case Study in Carrolton, TX

Corrosion damage to infrastructure is a major worldwide issue. “The global cost of corrosion is estimated to be US$2.5 trillion, which is equivalent to 3.4% of the global GDP” (International, 2024). Studies have estimated that 15%-35% of corrosion damage costs could be eliminated by currently available methods (International, 2024). Because corrosion damage costs grow exponentially, early identification and mitigation is important to obtaining the lowest life cycle cost (Secer & Uzun, 2016). Best practice solutions involve a combination of advance planning in design in corrosive environments, early identification of corrosion prior to significant structural damage, and targeted repairs that address specific areas of corrosion-related damage to avoid unnecessary repairs. The focus of this study is on corrosion damage repair. If left unchecked, structural corrosion damage can become a life-safety threat. The adverse impact of corrosion on structural steel is potentially catastrophic loss of the strength. This thesis will address the vast and complex nature of this phenomenon to assist engineers in obtaining a foundational understating of different types of corrosion, how each form of corrosion affects the mechanical properties of the material, identifying each form effectively, and implementing the correct repair given the current state of the structure. This study is focused on a chemical facility located in Carrolton, Texas that experienced corrosion damage to the steel mezzanine used by workers around four mixing tanks. The system consists of a metal grate system supported by cold-formed light-gage metal beams, and hot-rolled steel tube columns. Structural analysis software, RISA 3-D, is used to model the framing before and after the corrosion damage to ascertain the amount of structural capacity remaining in the structure, if this capacity meets current codes, and what repairs will be needed given the current conditions of the structure

A Literary Dialogue Between Kamel Daoud and Albert Camus: Colonial and Postcolonial Representations of the Other

How do we respond to the experience of encountering the Other, particularly in the context of colonial and postcolonial worlds? Do we see the Other, oppress the Other or care for the Other? In this dissertation I examine the nuanced exploration of responding to the presence of the Other in the remarkable literary dialogue that the contemporary Algerian author Kamel Daoud (1970-) has opened with the canonical French author, Albert Camus (1913-1960). I shall do so by focusing on Camus’s L’Étranger (1942) and La Chute (1956), alongside Daoud’s Meursault, contre-enquête (2013). In examining this literary ‘conversation’, the dissertation seeks to unveil new approaches in dealing with the Other and construct a connection between colonial and postcolonial narratives. Albert Camus, an important figure in French literature, who was born in Algeria, explored the complexities of human relationship to the universe and others through his philosophical and literary writings. His narrative style and philosophical foundations contribute significantly to the broader exploration of the concept of the Other. In his famous novel L’Étranger, he deals with this theme within the backdrop of colonial Algeria. In contrast Daoud’s Meursault, contre-enquête is often categorized as a response to Camus’s colonial narrative in L’Étranger. It is argued that Daoud’s objective is to recover the identity of the colonized Other who is suppressed in Camus’s novel. While I argue that a close examination of this literary ‘conversation’ reveals that Daoud introduces a unique perspective within the framework of Camus’s literary works. His narrative not only engages with Camus’s text but also transcends the simplistic dichotomy between colonizer and colonized. Consequently, this study concludes by asserting that the binary division between the colonizer and the colonized is insufficient to understand the place of the Other in Camus’s works and in a postcolonial setting like contemporary Algeria. My argument is that both Camus and Daoud transcend the binary definition of self and Other inherent in the postcolonial/colonial paradigm, offering a more profound and nuanced understanding of the complexities surrounding the lived experience of the Other