Self-Disclosure of Sexual History: An Analysis of College Students’ Sexual Health Communication with Intimate Partners

This study aimed to expand knowledge of protective sexual health communication between individuals engaging in consensual intimate encounters. Specifically, it sought to identify if there was a correlation between self-disclosure of this communication type and the classification of relationship (e.g. boyfriend/girlfriend, casual hookup partners…etc.). Student participation (N=53) involved completing a survey questionnaire that inquired about the most recent intimate encounter he or she had, classify the relationship of that encounter (e.g. boyfriend/girlfriend, one night stand…etc.), and answering a health protective sexual communication (HPSC) scale with that particular experience in mind. The following question addressed the role of alcohol in recalled encounter. Findings indicated that students who were not in a committed relationship (e.g. dating but not officially boyfriend/girlfriend, consistent casual hook-up partners, or one night stand) demonstrated higher scores on HPSC scale. Additionally, students who claimed alcohol to have an effect on how intimate encounter evolved scored lower on HPSC scale

Equations of motion approach to the spin-1/2 Ising model on the Bethe lattice

We exactly solve the ferromagnetic spin-1/2 Ising model on the Bethe lattice in the presence of an external magnetic field by means of the equations of motion method within the Green's function formalism. In particular, such an approach is applied to an isomorphic model of localized Fermi particles interacting via an intersite Coulomb interaction. A complete set of eigenoperators is found together with the corresponding eigenvalues. The Green's functions and the correlation functions are written in terms of a finite set of parameters to be self-consistently determined. A procedure is developed, that allows us to exactly fix the unknown parameters in the case of a Bethe lattice with any coordination number z. Non-local correlation functions up to four points are also provided together with a study of the relevant thermodynamic quantities.Comment: RevTex, 29 pages, 13 figure

Determinants of a transcriptionally competent environment at the GM-CSF promoter

Granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is produced by T cells, but not B cells, in response to immune signals. GM-CSF gene activation in response to T-cell stimulation requires remodelling of chromatin associated with the gene promoter, and these changes do not occur in B cells. While the CpG methylation status of the murine GM-CSF promoter shows no correlation with the ability of the gene to respond to activation, we find that the basal chromatin environment of the gene promoter influences its ability to respond to immune signals. In unstimulated T cells but not B cells, the GM-CSF promoter is selectively marked by enrichment of histone acetylation, and association of the chromatin-remodelling protein BRG1. BRG1 is removed from the promoter upon activation concomitant with histone depletion and BRG1 is required for efficient chromatin remodelling and transcription. Increasing histone acetylation at the promoter in T cells is paralleled by increased BRG1 recruitment, resulting in more rapid chromatin remodelling, and an associated increase in GM-CSF mRNA levels. Furthermore, increasing histone acetylation in B cells removes the block in chromatin remodelling and transcriptional activation of the GM-CSF gene. These data are consistent with a model in which histone hyperacetylation and BRG1 enrichment at the GM-CSF promoter, generate a chromatin environment competent to respond to immune signals resulting in gene activation

Detecting RNA-protein proximity at DNA double-strand breaks using combined fluorescence in situ hybridization with proximity ligation assay

RNA transcribed at DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) contributes to accurate DNA repair. Here, using the repair factors 53BP1 and TIRR as examples, we combine the fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and proximity ligation assay (PLA) techniques to determine protein proximity to DSB-transcribed RNA. In this FISH-PLA protocol, we detail steps for designing DNA probes and image analysis using CellProfiler™ software. This approach has many potential applications for the study of the RNA-binding proteins and nascent RNA interactions. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Ketley et al. (2022).

An Introduction to the Integrated Community-Engaged Learning and Ethical Reflection Framework (I-CELER)

Cultivating ethical Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics researchers and practitioners requires movement beyond reducing ethical instruction to the rational exploration of moral quandaries via case studies and into the complexity of the ethical issues that students will encounter within their careers. We designed the Integrated Community-Engaged Learning and Ethical Reflection (I-CELER) framework as a means to promote the ethical becoming of future STEM practitioners. This paper provides a synthesis of and rationale for I-CELER for promoting ethical becoming based on scholarly literature from various social science fields, including social anthropology, moral development, and psychology. This paper proceeds in five parts. First, we introduce the state of the art of engineering ethics instruction; argue for the need of a lens that we describe as ethical becoming; and then detail the Specific Aims of the I-CELER approach. Second, we outline the three interrelated components of the project intervention. Third, we detail our convergent mixed methods research design, including its qualitative and quantitative counterparts. Fourth, we provide a brief description of what a course modified to the I-CELER approach might look like. Finally, we close by detailing the potential impact of this study in light of existing ethics education research within STEM

Root plasticity improves salt tolerance in different genotypes of lentil (Lens culinaris)

Various morphological root parameters were tested in lentil seedlings in a genotype considered salt tolerant (Ustica) and in a salt sensitive one (Eston), grown on salinized soil. Apart from the root biomass production, two ecotypes showed contrasting root morphological responses and these might be partially responsible for dissimilar abilities to tolerate salinity

Interplay between Transcription Factors and the Epigenome: Insight from the Role of RUNX1 in Leukemia

The genome has the ability to respond in a precise and co-ordinated manner to cellular signals. It achieves this through the concerted actions of transcription factors and the chromatin platform, which are targets of the signalling pathways. Our understanding of the molecular mechanisms through which transcription factors and the chromatin landscape each control gene activity has expanded dramatically over recent years, and attention has now turned to understanding the complex, multifaceted interplay between these regulatory layers in normal and disease states. It has become apparent that transcription factors as well as the components and modifiers of the epigenetic machinery are frequent targets of genomic alterations in cancer cells. Through the study of these factors, we can gain unique insight into the dynamic interplay between transcription factors and the epigenome, and how their dysregulation leads to aberrant gene expression programs in cancer. Here we will highlight how these factors normally co-operate to establish and maintain the transcriptional and epigenetic landscape of cells, and how this is reprogrammed in cancer, focusing on the RUNX1 transcription factor and oncogenic derivative RUNX1-ETO in leukemia as paradigms of transcriptional and epigenetic reprogramming