128 research outputs found
The Friend zone: An In/inite Place Where Nothing Good Happens: A Comprehensive Study of Friend zoning Across Varying Genders and Sexual Orientations
âFriend zoneâ is a popular culture term used to describe a friendship where one member in a friend dyad desires a romantic or sexual relationship and the other member does not. Sexual Script Theory (Simon & Gagnon, 2003) and Sexual Strategies Theory (Buss & Schmidt, 1993) suggest that individuals will typically view the friend zone as a Qield dominated by female-to-male interactions, given sexual scripts on women as gatekeepers and men as being more active in initiating relationships. It may be expected then that men and women and individuals who are not exclusively heterosexual may then follow different scripts for making and negotiating friend zone choices. There is very little data available concerning instances of the use of the term friend zone in same-sex friendship interactions. Individuals are typically expected to have relationships that conform to the heteronormative script, so most people are resistant to the thought of being attracted to others of the same sex (Lamb, 2004). Because of this, many âbest friendshipsâ between those of the same sex have been used as protection against claims of same-sex attraction/relationships (Lamb, 2004). Given the lack of research on same-sex friend zoning, as well as the restrictive nature of heteronormative scripts, the current study explores the practice of friend zoning within same-sex friendships.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters/1003/thumbnail.jp
The Role of Pathological Aging in Cardiac and Pulmonary Fibrosis
Aging promotes a range of degenerative pathologies characterized by progressive losses of tissue and/or cellular function. Fibrosis is the hardening, overgrowth and scarring of various tissues characterized by the accumulation of extracellular matrix components. Aging is an important predisposing factor common for fibrotic heart and respiratory disease. Age-related processes such as senescence, inflammaging, autophagy and mitochondrial dysfunction are interconnected biological processes that diminish the regenerative capacity of the aged heart and lung and have been shown to play a crucial role in cardiac fibrosis and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. This review focuses on these four processes of aging in relation to their role in fibrosis. It has long been established that the heart and lung are linked both functionally and anatomically when it comes to health and disease, with an ever-expanding aging population, the incidence of fibrotic disease and therefore the number of fibrosis-related deaths will continue to rise. There are currently no feasible therapies to treat the effects of chronic fibrosis therefore highlighting the importance of exploring the processes of aging and its role in inducing and exacerbating fibrosis of each organ. The focus of this review may help to highlight potential avenues of therapeutic exploration</p
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Open Science principles for accelerating trait-based science across the Tree of Life.
Synthesizing trait observations and knowledge across the Tree of Life remains a grand challenge for biodiversity science. Species traits are widely used in ecological and evolutionary science, and new data and methods have proliferated rapidly. Yet accessing and integrating disparate data sources remains a considerable challenge, slowing progress toward a global synthesis to integrate trait data across organisms. Trait science needs a vision for achieving global integration across all organisms. Here, we outline how the adoption of key Open Science principles-open data, open source and open methods-is transforming trait science, increasing transparency, democratizing access and accelerating global synthesis. To enhance widespread adoption of these principles, we introduce the Open Traits Network (OTN), a global, decentralized community welcoming all researchers and institutions pursuing the collaborative goal of standardizing and integrating trait data across organisms. We demonstrate how adherence to Open Science principles is key to the OTN community and outline five activities that can accelerate the synthesis of trait data across the Tree of Life, thereby facilitating rapid advances to address scientific inquiries and environmental issues. Lessons learned along the path to a global synthesis of trait data will provide a framework for addressing similarly complex data science and informatics challenges
Extracellular matrix protein-1 as a mediator of inflammation-induced fibrosis after myocardial infarction
Irreversible fibrosis is a hallmark of myocardial infarction (MI) and heart failure. Extracellular matrix protein-1 (ECM-1) is up-regulated in these hearts, localized to fibrotic, inflammatory, and perivascular areas. ECM-1 originates predominantly from fibroblasts, macrophages, and pericytes/vascular cells in uninjured human and mouse hearts, and from M1 and M2 macrophages and myofibroblasts after MI. ECM-1 stimulates fibroblast-to-myofibroblast transition, up-regulates key fibrotic and inflammatory pathways, and inhibits cardiac fibroblast migration. ECM-1 binds HuCFb cell surface receptor LRP1, and LRP1 inhibition blocks ECM-1 from stimulating fibroblast-to-myofibroblast transition, confirming a novel ECM-1-LRP1 fibrotic signaling axis. ECM-1 may represent a novel mechanism facilitating inflammation-fibrosis crosstalk
Fibulin-3 is necessary to prevent cardiac rupture following myocardial infarction
Despite the high prevalence of heart failure in the western world, there are few effective treatments. Fibulin-3 is a protein involved in extracellular matrix (ECM) structural integrity, however its role in the heart is unknown. We have demonstrated, using single cell RNA-seq, that fibulin-3 was highly expressed in quiescent murine cardiac fibroblasts, with expression highest prior to injury and late post-infarct (fromâ~âday-28 to week-8). In humans, fibulin-3 was upregulated in left ventricular tissue and plasma of heart failure patients. Fibulin-3 knockout (Efemp1â/â) and wildtype mice were subjected to experimental myocardial infarction. Fibulin-3 deletion resulted in significantly higher rate of cardiac rupture days 3â6 post-infarct, indicating a weak and poorly formed scar, with severe ventricular remodelling in surviving mice at day-28 post-infarct. Fibulin-3 knockout mice demonstrated less collagen deposition at day-3 post-infarct, with abnormal collagen fibre-alignment. RNA-seq on day-3 infarct tissue revealed upregulation of ECM degradation and inflammatory genes, but downregulation of ECM assembly/structure/organisation genes in fibulin-3 knockout mice. GSEA pathway analysis showed enrichment of inflammatory pathways and a depletion of ECM organisation pathways. Fibulin-3 originates from cardiac fibroblasts, is upregulated in human heart failure, and is necessary for correct ECM organisation/structural integrity of fibrotic tissue to prevent cardiac rupture post-infarct
Testing gravitational-wave searches with numerical relativity waveforms: Results from the first Numerical INJection Analysis (NINJA) project
The Numerical INJection Analysis (NINJA) project is a collaborative effort
between members of the numerical relativity and gravitational-wave data
analysis communities. The purpose of NINJA is to study the sensitivity of
existing gravitational-wave search algorithms using numerically generated
waveforms and to foster closer collaboration between the numerical relativity
and data analysis communities. We describe the results of the first NINJA
analysis which focused on gravitational waveforms from binary black hole
coalescence. Ten numerical relativity groups contributed numerical data which
were used to generate a set of gravitational-wave signals. These signals were
injected into a simulated data set, designed to mimic the response of the
Initial LIGO and Virgo gravitational-wave detectors. Nine groups analysed this
data using search and parameter-estimation pipelines. Matched filter
algorithms, un-modelled-burst searches and Bayesian parameter-estimation and
model-selection algorithms were applied to the data. We report the efficiency
of these search methods in detecting the numerical waveforms and measuring
their parameters. We describe preliminary comparisons between the different
search methods and suggest improvements for future NINJA analyses.Comment: 56 pages, 25 figures; various clarifications; accepted to CQ
HLA genotyping in the international Type 1 Diabetes Genetics Consortium
Background Although human leukocyte antigen (HLA) DQ and
DR loci appear to confer the strongest genetic risk for
type 1 diabetes, more detailed information is required for other loci within the
HLA region to understand causality and stratify additional risk factors. The
Type 1 Diabetes Genetics Consortium (T1DGC) study design included
high-resolution genotyping of HLA-A, B,
C, DRB1, DQ, and
DP loci in all affected sibling pair and trio families, and
cases and controls, recruited from four networks worldwide, for analysis with
clinical phenotypes and immunological markers
Gene-specific ACMG/AMP classification criteria for germline APC variants: recommendations from the ClinGen InSIGHT Hereditary Colorectal Cancer/Polyposis Variant Curation Expert Panel
Purpose
The Hereditary Colorectal Cancer/Polyposis Variant Curation Expert Panel (VCEP) was established by the International Society for Gastrointestinal Hereditary Tumours and the Clinical Genome Resource, who set out to develop recommendations for the interpretation of germline APC variants underlying Familial Adenomatous Polyposis, the most frequent hereditary polyposis syndrome.
Methods
Through a rigorous process of database analysis, literature review, and expert elicitation, the APC VCEP derived gene-specific modifications to the ACMG/AMP (American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics and Association for Molecular Pathology) variant classification guidelines and validated such criteria through the pilot classification of 58 variants.
Results
The APC-specific criteria represented gene- and disease-informed specifications, including a quantitative approach to allele frequency thresholds, a stepwise decision tool for truncating variants, and semiquantitative evaluations of experimental and clinical data. Using the APC-specific criteria, 47% (27/58) of pilot variants were reclassified including 14 previous variants of uncertain significance (VUS).
Conclusion
The APC-specific ACMG/AMP criteria preserved the classification of well-characterized variants on ClinVar while substantially reducing the number of VUS by 56% (14/25). Moving forward, the APC VCEP will continue to interpret prioritized lists of VUS, the results of which will represent the most authoritative variant classification for widespread clinical use
Citizen science can improve conservation science, natural resource management, and environmental protection
Citizen science has advanced science for hundreds of years, contributed to many peer-reviewed articles, and informed
land management decisions and policies across the United States. Over the last 10 years, citizen science
has grown immensely in the United States and many other countries. Here, we show how citizen science is a
powerful tool for tackling many of the challenges faced in the field of conservation biology. We describe the
two interwoven paths bywhich citizen science can improve conservation efforts, natural resource management,
and environmental protection. The first path includes building scientific knowledge, while the other path involves
informing policy and encouraging public action. We explore how citizen science is currently used and describe
the investments needed to create a citizen science program. We find that:
1. Citizen science already contributes substantially to many domains of science, including conservation, natural
resource, and environmental science. Citizen science informs natural resource management, environmental
protection, and policymaking and fosters public input and engagement.
2. Many types of projects can benefit fromcitizen science, but one must be careful tomatch the needs for science
and public involvement with the right type of citizen science project and the right method of public
participation.
3. Citizen science is a rigorous process of scientific discovery, indistinguishable from conventional science apart
from the participation of volunteers.When properly designed, carried out, and evaluated, citizen science can
provide sound science, efficiently generate high-quality data, and help solve problems
Isoprene emission structures tropical tree biogeography and community assembly responses to climate.
The prediction of vegetation responses to climate requires a knowledge of how climate-sensitive plant traits mediate not only the responses of individual plants, but also shifts in the species and functional compositions of whole communities. The emission of isoprene gas â a trait shared by one-third of tree species â is known to protect leaf biochemistry under climatic stress. Here, we test the hypothesis that isoprene emission shapes tree species compositions in tropical forests by enhancing the tolerance of emitting trees to heat and drought. Using forest inventory data, we estimated the proportional abundance of isoprene-emitting trees (pIE) at 103 lowland tropical sites. We also quantified the temporal composition shifts in three tropical forests â two natural and one artificial â subjected to either anomalous warming or drought. Across the landscape, pIE increased with site mean annual temperature, but decreased with dry season length. Through time, pIE strongly increased under high temperatures, and moderately increased following drought. Our analysis shows that isoprene emission is a key plant trait determining species responses to climate. For species adapted to seasonal dry periods, isoprene emission may tradeoff with alternative strategies, such as leaf deciduousness. Community selection for isoprene-emitting species is a potential mechanism for enhanced forest resilience to climatic change.Financial
support for this study was provided to: T.C.T. and S.R.S. by
grants NSF-PIRE #OISE-0730305, USDOE #3002937712,
NASA #NNX17AF65G and the University of AZ Agnes Nelms
Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice; to M.N.S.
and S.R.S. by NASA-ESSF #NNX14AK95H; to C.V. by ERCStG-2014-639706-CONSTRAINTS;
to I.S. by Grant Agency of
the Czech Republic #16-26369S; and to P.M. by NERC # NE/
N006852/1 and ARC #DP170104091
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