Mass measuring system Patent

Apparatus for measuring human body mass in zero or reduced gravity environmen

Occupational Therapy Intervention for Project Search Interns With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Potential for Improved Transition Outcomes

As the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) continues to rise, it is increasingly important to address the needs of adults with ASD as they transition into the work world. Project SEARCH, an internationally recognized program, has been successful in assisting individuals with disabilities in attaining competitive employment. Yet even in this program model, individuals with ASD have lower employment outcomes than individuals in other disability categories. The purpose of this action research study was to explore the needs of individuals with high functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD) within the Project SEARCH program from their own perspectives, and to examine the potential for occupational therapy interventions to improve employment outcomes for interns with HFASD. Utilizing an action research framework, the study examined the experiences of three interns with HFASD, as well as experiences of their support staff, mentors, coworkers, and employers. Thematic analysis suggested that the needs of interns with HFASD were distinctly different than the needs of interns within other disability categories. Further, the existing Project SEARCH service delivery model was ineffective in addressing environmental modifications and adaptations, sociocultural differences in the workplace and basic psychological needs to support self-determined behavior for individuals with HFASD. While stakeholders and interns found occupational therapy direct treatment and consultation valuable, education and training alone were perceived as ineffective in addressing the needs of interns with HFASD. Findings suggest there may be a unique and valuable role for occupational therapists within the Project SEARCH model in addressing the needs of interns with HFASD

Postdispersal Seed Predation Limits the Abundance of a Long-Lived Perennial Forb (Lithospermum ruderale)

Loss of seeds to consumers is common in plant communities, but the degree to which these losses influence plant abundance or population growth is often unclear. This is particularly the case for postdispersal seed predation by rodents, as most studies of rodent seed predation have focused on the sources of spatiotemporal variation in seed loss but not quantified the population consequences of this loss. In previous work we showed that seed predation by deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) substantially reduced seedling recruitment and establishment of Lithospermum ruderale (Boraginaceae), a long-lived perennial forb. To shed light on how rodent seed predation and the near-term effects on plant recruitment might influence longer-term patterns of L. ruderale population growth, we combined experimental results with demographic data in stage-based population models. Model outputs revealed that rodent seed predation had a significant impact on L. ruderale population growth rate (λ). With the removal of postdispersal seed predation, the projected population growth rates increased between 0.06 and 0.12, depending on site (mean Δλ across sites = 0.08). Seed predation shifted the projected stable stage distribution of populations from one with a high proportion of young plants to one in which larger adult size classes dominate. Elasticities of vital rates also changed, with germination and growth of seedlings and young plants becoming more important with the removal of seed predation. Simulations varying the magnitude of seed predation pressure while holding other vital rates constant showed that seed predation could lower λ even if only 40% of available seeds were consumed. These results demonstrate that rodent granivory can be a potent force limiting the abundance of a long-lived perennial forb

Small-Mammal Seed Predation Limits the Recruitment and Abundance of Two Perennial Grassland Forbs

Although post-dispersal seed predators are common and often reduce seed density, their influence on plant population abundance remains unclear. On the one hand, increasing evidence suggests that many plant populations are seed limited, implying that seed predators could reduce plant abundance. On the other hand, it is generally uncertain whether the magnitude of seed limitation imposed by granivores is strong enough to overcome density-dependent processes that could compensate for seed loss at later stages. We examined the impact of seed predation by small mammals, primarily deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus), on seedling recruitment and subsequent plant establishment of two perennial grassland forbs in western Montana, USA: Lupinus sericeus (Fabaceae) and Lithospermum ruderale (Boraginaceae). The experiment combined graded densities of seed addition for each species with a small-mammal exclusion treatment. Seedling recruitment and plant establishment were monitored in the experimental plots for up to three years. For both species, small-mammal exclusion increased the total number of seedlings that emerged, and these effects were still significant three years after seed addition, resulting in greater numbers of established plants inside exclosures than in control plots. We also found evidence of seed limitation, with increasing density of seeds added leading to increased numbers of seedlings. Results from seed addition and small-mammal exclusion experiments in later years also revealed significant impacts of small mammals on seedling emergence. These results suggest that granivores can have potentially important impacts in limiting forb abundance in grasslands communities

People and Nature: Toward an Ecological Model of Health Promotion

Striving for a healthier relationship among individuals, families, communities, nations, and the environment is imperative at a time in history when humankind can change the face of the earth in monumental ways. This dynamic health relationship, with an emphasis on the contributions of parks, recreation, and tourism to health promotion, is the subject of this article. A broader conception of health that moves beyond human physical and mental health to include familial, communal, national, international, and global ecological health is called for, and a more comprehensive ecological model of health promotion, including consideration of health from a holistic ecological perspective, is presented. New directions for leisure research based on an ecological orientation to health promotion conclude the article

The PsbP domain protein 1 functions in the assembly of lumenal domains in photosystem I

Photosystem I (PS I) is a multisubunit membrane protein complex that functions as a light-driven plastocyanin-ferredoxin oxidoreductase. The PsbP domain protein 1 (PPD1; At4g15510) is located in the thylakoid lumen of plant chloroplasts and is essential for photoautotrophy, functioning as a PS I assembly factor. In this work, RNAi was used to suppress PPD1 expression, yielding mutants displaying a range of phenotypes with respect to PS I accumulation and function. These PPD1 RNAi mutants showed a loss of assembled PS I that was correlated with loss of the PPD1 protein. In the most severely affected PPD1 RNAi lines, the accumulated PS I complexes exhibited defects in electron transfer from plastocyanin to the oxidized reaction center P 700+. The defects in PS I assembly in the PPD1 RNAi mutants also had secondary effects with respect to the association of light-harvesting antenna complexes to PS I. Because of the imbalance in photosystem function in the PPD1 RNAi mutants, light-harvesting complex II associated with and acted as an antenna for the PS I complexes. These results provide new evidence for the role of PPD1 in PS I biogenesis, particularly as a factor essential for proper assembly of the lumenal portion of the complex. © 2014 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc

Are All These Rules Necessary? Extension Pesticide Programming with a Regulatory Purpose

Indiana\u27s private applicator recertification program includes state-required, pesticide regulatory topics. This article explores the relationship between Indiana private applicators\u27 dual attitudes towards pesticide handling practices and the pesticide regulations that mandate those practices. Newly recertified private applicators in northwest Indiana were surveyed by a mailed questionnaire. Respondents valued responsible pesticide management practices, but were collectively undecided about regulatory oversight of their pesticide handling activities. These results suggest that Extension pesticide safety educators involved in compliance education may improve their training curriculum by including material on the underlying benefits, personal and social, of pesticide regulation

N-terminal lipid modification is required for the stable accumulation of CyanoQ in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803

© 2016 Juneau et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The CyanoQ protein has been demonstrated to be a component of cyanobacterial Photosystem II (PS II), but there exist a number of outstanding questions concerning its physical association with the complex. CyanoQ is a lipoprotein; upon cleavage of its transit peptide by Signal Peptidase II, which targets delivery of the mature protein to the thylakoid lumenal space, the N-terminal cysteinyl residue is lipid-modified. This modification appears to tether this otherwise soluble component to the thylakoid membrane. To probe the functional significance of the lipid anchor, mutants of the CyanoQ protein have been generated in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 to eliminate the N-terminal cysteinyl residue, preventing lipid modification. Substitution of the N-terminal cysteinyl residue with serine (Q-C22S) resulted in a decrease in the amount of detectable CyanoQ protein to 17% that of the wild-type protein. Moreover, the physical properties of the accumulated Q-C22S protein were consistent with altered processing of the CyanoQ precursor. The Q-C22S protein was shifted to a higher apparent molecular mass and partitioned in the hydrophobic phase in TX-114 phase-partitioning experiments. These results suggest that the hydrophobic N-terminal 22 amino acids were not properly cleaved by a signal peptidase. Substitution of the entire CyanoQ transit peptide with the transit peptide of the soluble lumenal protein PsbO yielded the Q-SS mutant and resulted in no detectable accumulation of the modified CyanoQ protein. Finally, the CyanoQ protein was present at normal amounts in the PS II mutant strains ΔpsbB and ΔpsbO, indicating that an association with PS II was not a prerequisite for stable CyanoQ accumulation. Together these results indicate that CyanoQ accumulation in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 depends on the presence of the N-terminal lipid anchor, but not on the association of CyanoQ with the PS II complex