Sediment management for Southern California mountains, coastal plains and shoreline

The Environmental Quality Laboratory at Caltech and the Shore Processes Laboratory at Scripps Institution of Oceanography have jointly undertaken a study of regional sediment balance problems in coastal southern California (see map in Figure 1). The overall objective in this study is to define specific alternatives in sediment management that may be implemented to alleviate a) existing sediment imbalance problems (e.g. inland debris disposal, local shoreline erosion) and b) probable future problems that have not yet manifested themselves. These alternatives will be identified through a consideration of economic, legal, and institutional issues as well as an analysis of governing physical processes and engineering constraints. The first part of this study (Phase I), which is currently under way, involves a compilation and analysis of all available data in an effort to obtain an accurate definition of the inland/coastal regional sediment balance under natural conditions, and specific quantitative effects man-made controls have on the overall natural process. During FY77, substantial progress was made at EQL and SPL in achieving the objectives of the initial Planning and Assessment Phase of the CIT/SIO Sediment Management Project. Financial support came from Los Angeles County, U.S. Geological Survey, Orange County, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and discretionary funding provided by a grant from the Ford Foundation. The current timetable for completion of this phase is Fall 1978. This report briefly describes the project status, including general administration, special activities, and research work as of January 1978

Global Transcriptomic Profiling of Bovine Endometrial Immune Response In Vitro. II. Effect of Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus on the Endometrial Response to Lipopolysaccharide

Infection with noncytopathic bovine viral diarrhea virus (ncpBVDV) is associated with uterine disease and infertility. This study investigated the influence of ncpBVDV on immune functions of the bovine endometrium by testing the response to bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Primary cultures of mixed epithelial and stromal cells were divided into four treatment groups (control [CONT], BVDV, CONT+LPS, and BVDV+LPS) and infected with ncpBVDV for 4 days followed by treatment with LPS for 6 h. Whole-transcriptomic gene expression was measured followed by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. Differential expression of 184 genes was found between CONT and BVDV treatments, showing interplay between induction and inhibition of responses. Up-regulation of TLR3, complement, and chemotactic and TRIM factors by ncpBVDV all suggested an ongoing immune response to viral infection. Down-regulation of inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, CXCR4, and serine proteinase inhibitors suggested mechanisms by which ncpBVDV may simultaneously counter the host response. Comparison between BVDV+LPS and CONT+LPS treatments showed 218 differentially expressed genes. Canonical pathway analysis identified the key importance of interferon signaling. Top down-regulated genes were RSAD2, ISG15, BST2, MX2, OAS1, USP18, IFIT3, IFI27, SAMD9, IFIT1, and DDX58, whereas TRIM56, C3, and OLFML1 were most up-regulated. Many of these genes are also regulated by IFNT during maternal recognition of pregnancy. Many innate immune genes that typically respond to LPS were inhibited by ncpBVDV, including those involved in pathogen recognition, inflammation, interferon response, chemokines, tissue remodeling, cell migration, and cell death/survival. Infection with ncpBVDV can thus compromise immune function and pregnancy recognition, thereby potentially predisposing infected cows to postpartum bacterial endometritis and reduced fertility

Solving the Wolbachia Paradox: Modeling the Tripartite Interaction between Host, Wolbachia, and a Natural Enemy

Wolbachia is one of the most common symbionts of arthropods. Its establishment requires lateral transfer to and successful transmission within novel host species. However, Wolbachia performs poorly when introduced into new host species, and models predict that Wolbachia should seldom be able to establish from low initial frequencies. Recently, various symbionts, including Wolbachia, have been shown to protect their hosts from natural enemies. Hence, Wolbachia invasion may be facilitated by the dynamic interaction between it, its host, and a natural enemy. We model such an interaction whereby Wolbachia induces either complete resistance, partial resistance, or tolerance to a host-specific pathogen and also induces the common manipulation phenotype of cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI). We show that the presence of the pathogen greatly facilitates Wolbachia invasion from rare and widens the parameter space in which "imperfect" Wolbachia strains can invade. Furthermore, positive frequency-dependent selection through CI can drive Wolbachia to very high frequencies, potentially excluding the pathogen. These results may explain a poorly understood aspect of Wolbachia biology: it is widespread, despite performing poorly after transfer to new host species. They also support the intriguing possibility that Wolbachia strains that encode both CI and natural-enemy resistance could potentially rid insects, including human disease vectors, of important pathogens

Deletion of PTPN22 improves effector and memory CD8+ T cell responses to tumors

Adoptive T cell therapy (ACT) has been established as an efficacious methodology for the treatment of cancer. Identifying targets to enhance the antigen recognition, functional capacity and longevity of T cells has the potential to broaden the applicability of these approaches in the clinic. We previously reported that targeting expression of phosphotyrosine phosphatase, non-receptor type (PTPN) 22 in effector CD8+ T cells enhances the efficacy of ACT for tumor clearance in mice. In the current work, we demonstrate that, upon ACT, PTPN22-deficient effector CD8+ T cells afford greater protection against tumors expressing very low affinity antigen, but do not survive long-term in vivo. Persistence of CD8+ T cells following tumor clearance is improved by ACT of memory phenotype cells that have a distinct metabolic phenotype as compared to effector T cells. Importantly, PTPN22-deficient T cells have comparable capacity to form long-lived memory cells in vivo but enhanced anti-tumor activity in vivo and effector responses ex vivo. These findings provide key insight into the regulation of effector and memory T cell responses in vivo, and indicate that PTPN22 is a rationale target to improve ACT for cancer

Emotional health in adolescents with and without a history of specific language impairment (SLI)

Objective:  This study examined the emotional health of adolescents with and without specific language impairment (SLI). Method:  One hundred and thirty-nine adolescents with a history of SLI (15;10 years) and a peer group of 124 adolescents with normal language development (NLD) (15;11 years) participated, who were in their final year of compulsory schooling. The risk of emotional difficulties was assessed using the Moods and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ) and the Child Manifest Anxiety Scale-R (CMAS-R). Comprehensive language and cognition data were available for all participants (NLD and SLI) concurrently and also longitudinally for those with SLI. Results:  A clear increased risk of emotional health symptoms was found for the SLI group on both self- and parental-report. Girls scored less favourably than boys when groups were combined, but these were due to the effect of the NLD group, with no gender differences found in the SLI group. Direct links with language and cognition were not obvious. Instead, more diffuse factors such as family history of emotional health difficulties may warrant further investigation. Conclusion:  There is a marked higher rate of anxiety and depression symptoms in adolescents with SLI. However, these do not appear to be a direct result of impoverished communicative experiences

Multiple genetic associations with Irish wolfhound dilated cardiomyopathy

Cardiac disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in dogs and humans, with dilated cardiomyopathy being a large contributor to this. The Irish Wolfhound (IWH) is one of the most commonly affected breeds and one of the few breeds with genetic loci associated with the disease. Mutations in more than 50 genes are associated with human dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), yet very few are also associated with canine DCM. Furthermore, none of the identified canine loci explain many cases of the disease and previous work has indicated that genotypes at multiple loci may act together to influence disease development. In this study, loci previously associated with DCM in IWH were tested for associations in a new cohort both individually and in combination. We have identified loci significantly associated with the disease individually, but no genotypes individually or in pairs conferred a significantly greater risk of developing DCM than the population risk. However combining three loci together did result in the identification of a genotype which conferred a greater risk of disease than the overall population risk. This study suggests multiple rather than individual genetic factors, cooperating to influence DCM risk in IWH

Sediment Management for Southern California Mountains, Coastal Plains, and Shoreline

The Environmental Quality Laboratory at Caltech and the Shore Processes Laboratory at Scripps Institution of Oceanography have jointly undertaken a study of regional sediment balance problems in coastal southern California (see map in Figure 1). The overall objective in this study is to define specific alternatives in sediment management that may be implemented to alleviate existing sediment imbalance problems (e.g. inland debris disposal, local shoreline erosion) and possible future problems that have not yet manifested themselves. These alternatives will be identified through a consideration of economic, legal, and institutional issues as well as an analysis of governing physical processes and engineering constraints

Young-type interference in (e,2e) ionization of H(2)

We have investigated the electron impact single ionization of the hydrogen molecule, with fully determined kinematics. The experimental and theoretical results are compared with He ionization under the same conditions. The results indicate that the ejected electron angular distribution for H₂ is modified due to Young-type interference between ionization amplitudes for scattering from the two centers in the hydrogen molecule. The observable result is a suppression of the backward scattering (recoil) peak compared with the binary peak.D. S. Milne-Brownlie, M. Foster, Junfang Gao, B. Lohmann, and D. H. Madiso

BVDV alters uterine prostaglandin production during pregnancy recognition in cows

Embryonic mortality in cows is at least in part caused by failure of pregnancy recognition (PR). Evidence has shown that bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) infection can disrupt pregnancy. Prostaglandins (PG) play important roles in many reproductive processes, such as implantation. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of BVDV infection on uterine PG production and PR using an in vitro PR model. Bovine uterine endometrial cells isolated from ten BVDV-free cows were cultured and treated with 0 or 100ng/mL interferon-τ (IFNT) in the absence or presence of non-cytopathic BVDV (ncpBVDV). PGF2α and PGE2 concentrations in the spent medium were measured using radioimmunoassays, and in the treated cells expression of the genes associated with PG production and signalling was quantified using qPCR. The results showed that the IFNT challenge significantly stimulated PTGS1 and PTGER3 mRNA expression and PGE2 production; however, these stimulatory effects were neutralised in the presence of ncpBVDV infection. ncpBVDV infection significantly increased PTGS1 and mPGES1 mRNA expression and decreased AKR1B1 expression, leading to increased PGE2 and decreased PGF2α concentrations and an increased PGE2:PGF2α ratio. The other tested genes, including PGR, ESR1, OXTR, PTGS2, PTGER2 and PTGFR, were not significantly altered by IFNT, ncpBVDV or their combination. Our study suggests that BVDV infection may impair PR by (1) inhibiting the effect of IFNT on uterine PG production and (2) inducing an endocrine switch of PG production from PGF2α to PGE2 to decrease uterine immunity, thereby predisposing the animals to uterine disease