Targeted Whole Genome Sequencing (TWG-Seq) of Cucumber Green Mottle Mosaic Virus Using Tiled Amplicon Multiplex PCR and Nanopore Sequencing

Rapid and reliable detection tools are essential for disease surveillance and outbreak management, and genomic data is essential to determining pathogen origin and monitoring of transmission pathways. Low virus copy number and poor RNA quality can present challenges for genomic sequencing of plant viruses, but this can be overcome by enrichment of target nucleic acid. A targeted whole genome sequencing (TWG-Seq) approach for the detection of cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV) has been developed where overlapping amplicons generated using two multiplex RT-PCR assays are then sequenced using the Oxford Nanopore MinION. Near complete coding region sequences were assembled with ≥100× coverage for infected leaf tissue dilution samples with RT-qPCR cycle quantification (Cq) values from 11.8 to 38 and in seed dilution samples with Cq values 13.8 to 27. Consensus sequences assembled using this approach showed greater than 99% nucleotide similarity when compared to genomes produced using metagenomic sequencing. CGMMV could be confidently detected in historical seed isolates with degraded RNA. Whilst limited access to, and costs associated with second-generation sequencing platforms can influence diagnostic outputs, the portable Nanopore technology offers an affordable high throughput sequencing alternative when combined with TWG-Seq for low copy or degraded samples

The Student Movement Volume 107 Issue 8: Cuffing Season, Co-Curriculars, and CTC Telehealth: The Student Movement Highlights Important Issues on Campus

HUMANS CTC Prevention Coordinator/Staff Counselor Interview: Nycole Goldberg, Interviewed by: Lauren Kim Meet Ellie Dovich: Cast/Cardinal Lead Editor, Interviewed by: Nora Martin Women in Stem: A Peek into Physics, Interviewed by: Caryn Cruz ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Creatives on Campus: Art via Insta, Ceiry Flores Currently..., Solana Campbell Spotlight: The Parent Trap, Skyler Campbell NEWS AUSA Senate News Update, November 2022, Neesa Richards, AUSA Senate Public Relations Officer Governor Whitmer Takes A Stop In Benton Harbor, Nicholas C. Gunn Home Season Opener, Solana Campbell Hopes and Plans Behind the Seminary Center of Community Change, Interviewed by: Gloria Oh The Days Speak on Veterans Day, Andrew Francis IDEAS T Spills the Tea on Co-Curriculars, T Bruggemann To Bee or not to Bee: The Importance, Causes, and Impact of Bee Disappearance, Alexander Navarro Ye Being an Issue Once Again!, Jonathon Woolford-Hunt PULSE A Dive into Lamson Hall Maintenance, Scott Moncrieff Condemned: Horror Stories from Lamson Hall, Joseph Keough Marriage From Our Point of View, Gloria Oh Reflections on the Soccer Season, Brendan Syto LAST WORD Reflection on Writing Poetry, Alannah Tjhatrahttps://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/sm-107/1007/thumbnail.jp

The Student Movement Volume 106 Issue 1: Capping Off AU\u27s Fifth Change Day

HUMANS Freshman Spotlight: Abby Shim (freshman, business), Interviewed by: Lauren Kim Interview with Change Day Coordinator Teela Ruehle, Interviewed by: Karenna Lee My Goals This Year Are..., Gloria Oh ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Shang-Chi: Run, Don\u27t Walk to Your Closest Theater, Solana Campbel Shadow and Bone: A Book and TV Show Review, Kaela McFadden What Are You Listening To?, Steven Injety NEWS COVID Regulations on Campus: Part 2.5, Yoel Kim Students Get Wrapped Up In Change Day Christmas Event, Nathan Mathieu The Gazebo Closure, Brendan Syto IDEAS In the Archives: AU During 9/11, Lyle Goulbourne Lily Pads and Epidemics, Alexander Navarro Quality Time, Chase Wilder PULSE 5 Ways To Make Your Studying Better, T Bruggeman Adventures Around Andrews (Biking Distance), Gloria Oh Back to Andrews, Izzy Koh THE LAST WORD Offline Anxiety, Alyssa Henriquezhttps://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/sm-106/1000/thumbnail.jp

The Student Movement Volume 107 Issue 12: Revisiting The Dream : Students Celebrate MLK Day

HUMANS Andrews Gaming Club, Interviewed by: Grace No Meet Gio Lee, Interviewed by: Nora Martin New Year, Happier Me, Gloria Oh ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Art @ AU: Harrigan\u27s Gallery, Ysabelle Fernando Currently: The Way of Water, Solana Campbell Ode to 2022, Amelia Stefanescu Where Do I Find God - Part I, Anonymous NEWS Honoring Martin Luther King Jr.\u27s Legacy, Brendan Oh Is America Safe?: First Grader Shoots Teacher, Julia Randall A House Divided: Current Issues Within the School of Architecture and Interior Design, Student Movement Editorial Staff IDEAS Harry & Meghan: Unpacking Royal Pains, Gabriela Francisco A New Space for Creativity and Reaching Across Disciplinary Boundaries: The Inspiration Center, Peter Lyons, Anthony Bosman, Martin Hanna, Ryan Hayes, and Karin Thompson PULSE Our Food: Can They Cook It?, Melissa Moore Should We Have Bible Classes in the Core Curriculum?, Wambui Karanja What Comes First is a Question, Part II, Desmond H. Murray LAST WORD College in the Rearview Mirror, Scott Moncrieffhttps://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/sm-107/1011/thumbnail.jp

Narcissism normalisation: tourism influences and sustainability implications

The concept of narcissism normalisation suggests that individuals and societies are becoming more narcissistic due to various cultural influences. Tourism is reviewed here as one such possible influence. Exploitative, entitled and exhibitionistic tendencies associated with narcissism are wellestablished in tourism. Yet tourism is also an intimate, communal and satisfying activity which may counteract narcissism. Increases in narcissism have significant implications from a sustainable tourism perspective. Narcissism is associated with exploitative and entitled behaviours that over time cause significant harm to those people and landscapes that come into contact with. Narcissism appears to be incompatible with principles of sustainability and the challenges this poses for the industry are reviewed, while the opportunities are also explored. There are signs that narcissism, particularly those aspects relating to exhibitionism, can be co-opted to benefit sustainable development

Decay and Fission Hindrance of Two- and Four-Quasiparticle K Isomers in (254)Rf

Two isomers decaying by electromagnetic transitions with half-lives of 4.7(1.1) and 247(73)μs have been discovered in the heavy Rf254 nucleus. The observation of the shorter-lived isomer was made possible by a novel application of a digital data acquisition system. The isomers were interpreted as the Kπ=8-, ν2(7/2+[624],9/2-[734]) two-quasineutron and the Kπ=16+, 8-ν2(7/2+[624],9/2-[734])⊗ - 8-π2(7/2-[514],9/2+[624]) four-quasiparticle configurations, respectively. Surprisingly, the lifetime of the two-quasiparticle isomer is more than 4 orders of magnitude shorter than what has been observed for analogous isomers in the lighter N=150 isotones. The four-quasiparticle isomer is longer lived than the Rf254 ground state that decays exclusively by spontaneous fission with a half-life of 23.2(1.1)μs. The absence of sizable fission branches from either of the isomers implies unprecedented fission hindrance relative to the ground state

Challenges and priorities for river cetacean conservation

River cetaceans are particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic impacts due to their constrained ranges in freshwater systems of China, South Asia, and South America. We undertook an exhaustive review of 280 peer-reviewed papers and grey literature reports (1998-2020) to examine the current status of knowledge regarding these cetaceans and their conservation. We aimed to better understand the scale of threats they face, and to identify and propose priority future efforts to better conserve these species. We found that the species have been studied with varying frequency and that most of the research on threats has focused on habitat degradation and fragmentation (43%, mainly driven by dams and extractive activities such as sand mining and deforestation), and fishery interactions (39%, in the form of bycatch and direct take). These threats occur across all species, but more information is needed, primarily on quantifying the population impacts as a basis for designing mitigation measures. Other threats identified include pollution, vessel collisions, traditional use, and poorly managed tourism. Emerging methods such as environmental DNA and unmanned aerial vehicles are described for studying these species. Promising conservation interventions include cetacean-specific protected areas, natural ex situ protection, community-led conservation, and education programmes. However, transnational political will is required for a step change towards broad-scale protection in freshwater environments. In addition, we propose increasing capacity building, developing management plans, working closely with fishing communities, enhancing public awareness, expanding regional collaborations, and diversifying funding

Biliary dyskinesia: a potentially unrecognized cause of abdominal pain in children

Biliary dyskinesia is defined as symptomatic biliary colic without cholelithiasis, and is diagnosed during cholescintigraphy by assessing gallbladder emptying with cholecystokinin (CCK) stimulation. Unfortunately, gallbladder emptying is not routinely assessed during cholescintigraphy in pediatric patients. The purpose of this review is to assess the effectiveness of cholecystectomy in patients with chronic abdominal pain and delayed gallbladder emptying and to assess whether these findings correlate with the histologic evidence of chronic cholecystitis. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all patients ( n =16) at our institution from October 1997 to August 2001 who underwent quantitative cholescintigraphy with CCK stimulation that demonstrated delayed gallbladder emptying (<35% at 60 min) and who subsequently underwent cholecystectomy. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy was performed in 16 patients with chronic abdominal pain. All 16 patients had delayed gallbladder emptying (mean ejection fraction : 15±8%, range: 3–32%). The mean age was 12±2 years (range: 8–17 years). Presenting symptoms included abdominal pain (86%), fatty food intolerance (27%), emesis (13%), and diarrhea (13%). Mean duration of abdominal pain before operation was 11±19 months (range: 2 weeks–6 years). One patient’s symptoms persisted postoperatively , but abdominal pain resolved in all other patient s. Histologic evidence of chronic cholecystitis was demonstrated in 86% of surgical specimens. Five patients underwent concurrent appendectomy , and all had normal appendiceal histology. Our experience suggests that children with chronic abdominal pain and delayed gallbladder emptying on CCK-stimulated cholescintigraphy are likely to benefit from cholecystectomy and to have histologic evidence of chronic cholecystitis.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47166/1/383_2004_Article_1234.pd

High-throughput 454 resequencing for allele discovery and recombination mapping in Plasmodium falciparum

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Knowledge of the origins, distribution, and inheritance of variation in the malaria parasite (<it>Plasmodium falciparum</it>) genome is crucial for understanding its evolution; however the 81% (A+T) genome poses challenges to high-throughput sequencing technologies. We explore the viability of the Roche 454 Genome Sequencer FLX (GS FLX) high throughput sequencing technology for both whole genome sequencing and fine-resolution characterization of genetic exchange in malaria parasites.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We present a scheme to survey recombination in the haploid stage genomes of two sibling parasite clones, using whole genome pyrosequencing that includes a sliding window approach to predict recombination breakpoints. Whole genome shotgun (WGS) sequencing generated approximately 2 million reads, with an average read length of approximately 300 bp. <it>De novo </it>assembly using a combination of WGS and 3 kb paired end libraries resulted in contigs ≤ 34 kb. More than 8,000 of the 24,599 SNP markers identified between parents were genotyped in the progeny, resulting in a marker density of approximately 1 marker/3.3 kb and allowing for the detection of previously unrecognized crossovers (COs) and many non crossover (NCO) gene conversions throughout the genome.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>By sequencing the 23 Mb genomes of two haploid progeny clones derived from a genetic cross at more than 30× coverage, we captured high resolution information on COs, NCOs and genetic variation within the progeny genomes. This study is the first to resequence progeny clones to examine fine structure of COs and NCOs in malaria parasites.</p