2,799 research outputs found
Extended H? emission line sources from UWISH2
We present the extended source catalogue for the UKIRT Wide Field Infrared Survey for H2 (UWISH2). The survey is unbiased along the inner Galactic Plane from l ? 357° to l ? 65° and |b| ? 1.5° and covers 209 deg2. A further 42.0 and 35.5 deg2 of high dust column density regions have been targeted in Cygnus and Auriga. We have identified 33 200 individual extended H2 features. They have been classified to be associated with about 700 groups of jets and outflows, 284 individual (candidate) planetary nebulae, 30 supernova remnants and about 1300 photodissociation regions. We find a clear decline of star formation activity (traced by H2 emission from jets and photodissociation regions) with increasing distance from the Galactic Centre. About 60 per cent of the detected candidate planetary nebulae have no known counterpart and 25 per cent of all supernova remnants have detectable H2 emission associated with them
A model of how targeted and universal welfare entitlements impact on material, psycho-social and structural determinants of health in older adults
Punctate vascular expression1 is a novel maize gene required for leaf pattern formation that functions downstream of the trans-acting small interfering RNA pathway
The maize (Zea mays) gene RAGGED SEEDLING2-R (RGD2-R) encodes an ARGONAUTE7-like protein required for the biogenesis of trans-acting small interfering RNA, which regulates the accumulation of AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR3A transcripts in shoots. Although dorsiventral polarity is established in the narrow and cylindrical leaves of rgd2-R mutant plants, swapping of adaxial/abaxial epidermal identity occurs and suggests a model wherein RGD2 is required to coordinate dorsiventral and mediolateral patterning in maize leaves. Laser microdissection-microarray analyses of the rgd2-R mutant shoot apical meristem identified a novel gene, PUNCTATE VASCULAR EXPRESSION1 (PVE1), that is down-regulated in rgd2-R mutant apices. Transcripts of PVE1 provide an early molecular marker for vascular morphogenesis. Reverse genetic analyses suggest that PVE1 functions during vascular development and in mediolateral and dorsiventral patterning of maize leaves. Molecular genetic analyses of PVE1 and of rgd2-R;pve1-M2 double mutants suggest a model wherein PVE1 functions downstream of RGD2 in a pathway that intersects and interacts with the trans-acting small interfering RNA pathway
Dictionary Learning and Sparse Coding-based Denoising for High-Resolution Task Functional Connectivity MRI Analysis
We propose a novel denoising framework for task functional Magnetic Resonance
Imaging (tfMRI) data to delineate the high-resolution spatial pattern of the
brain functional connectivity via dictionary learning and sparse coding (DLSC).
In order to address the limitations of the unsupervised DLSC-based fMRI
studies, we utilize the prior knowledge of task paradigm in the learning step
to train a data-driven dictionary and to model the sparse representation. We
apply the proposed DLSC-based method to Human Connectome Project (HCP) motor
tfMRI dataset. Studies on the functional connectivity of cerebrocerebellar
circuits in somatomotor networks show that the DLSC-based denoising framework
can significantly improve the prominent connectivity patterns, in comparison to
the temporal non-local means (tNLM)-based denoising method as well as the case
without denoising, which is consistent and neuroscientifically meaningful
within motor area. The promising results show that the proposed method can
provide an important foundation for the high-resolution functional connectivity
analysis, and provide a better approach for fMRI preprocessing.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, MLMI201
An Essential Farnesylated Kinesin in Trypanosoma brucei
Kinesins are a family of motor proteins conserved throughout eukaryotes. In our present study we characterize a novel kinesin, KinesinCaaX, orthologs of which are only found in the kinetoplastids and not other eukaryotes. KinesinCaaX has the CVIM amino acids at the C-terminus, and CVIM was previously shown to be an ideal signal for protein farnesylation in T. brucei. In this study we show KinesinCaaX is farnesylated using radiolabeling studies and that farnesylation is dependent on the CVIM motif. Using RNA interference, we show KinesinCaaX is essential for T. brucei proliferation. Additionally RNAi KinesinCaaX depleted T. brucei are 4 fold more sensitive to the protein farneysltransferase (PFT) inhibitor LN-59, suggesting that KinesinCaaX is a target of PFT inhibitors' action to block proliferation of T. brucei. Using tetracycline-induced exogenous tagged KinesinCaaX and KinesinCVIMdeletion (non-farnesylated Kinesin) expression lines in T. brucei, we demonstrate KinesinCaaX is farnesylated in T. brucei cells and this farnesylation has functional effects. In cells expressing a CaaX-deleted version of Kinesin, the localization is more diffuse which suggests correct localization depends on farnesylation. Through our investigation of cell cycle, nucleus and kinetoplast quantitation and immunofluorescence assays an important role is suggested for KinesinCaaX in the separation of nuclei and kinetoplasts during and after they have been replicated. Taken together, our work suggests KinesinCaaX is a target of PFT inhibition of T. brucei cell proliferation and KinesinCaaX functions through both the motor and farnesyl groups
Examining the effectiveness of place-based interventions to improve public health and reduce health inequalities: an umbrella review.
BackgroundLocally delivered, place-based public health interventions are receiving increasing attention as a way of improving health and reducing inequalities. However, there is limited evidence on their effectiveness. This umbrella review synthesises systematic review evidence of the health and health inequalities impacts of locally delivered place-based interventions across three elements of place and health: the physical, social, and economic environments.MethodsSystematic review methodology was used to identify recent published systematic reviews of the effectiveness of place-based interventions on health and health inequalities (PROGRESS+) in high-income countries. Nine databases were searched from 1st January 2008 to 1st March 2020. The quality of the included articles was determined using the Revised Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews tool (R-AMSTAR).ResultsThirteen systematic reviews were identified - reporting 51 unique primary studies. Fifty of these studies reported on interventions that changed the physical environment and one reported on changes to the economic environment. Only one primary study reported cost-effectiveness data. No reviews were identified that assessed the impact of social interventions. Given heterogeneity and quality issues, we found tentative evidence that the provision of housing/home modifications, improving the public realm, parks and playgrounds, supermarkets, transport, cycle lanes, walking routes, and outdoor gyms - can all have positive impacts on health outcomes - particularly physical activity. However, as no studies reported an assessment of variation in PROGRESS+ factors, the effect of these interventions on health inequalities remains unclear.ConclusionsPlace-based interventions can be effective at improving physical health, health behaviours and social determinants of health outcomes. High agentic interventions indicate greater improvements for those living in greater proximity to the intervention, which may suggest that in order for interventions to reduce inequalities, they should be implemented at a scale commensurate with the level of disadvantage. Future research needs to ensure equity data is collected, as this is severely lacking and impeding progress on identifying interventions that are effective in reducing health inequalities.Trial registrationPROSPERO CRD42019158309
Older Workers and Care-Giving in England: the Policy Context for Older Workers’ Employment Patterns
This article considers recent changes in the incidence of caring among people aged 50-64 in England and the policy context in which these have occurred. After introducing the topic, research questions addressed and methods used, it outlines findings from other research on how older workers experience and manage caring roles. It then sets out relevant public policy developments since carers were first accorded rights to recognition and services in 1995, focusing on workplace support, local services and financial help for people who reduce or quit their paid work to care. The article presents new analyses of the population censuses conducted in England in 2001 and 2011, focusing on people aged 50-64 and especially on those aged 60-64, the group in which the largest changes were seen. Theses show growth in caring at higher levels of intensity for older workers, and increases in the incidence of caring alongside paid work. To deepen understanding of these changes, the analysis also draws on data from a government survey of carers conducted in 2009-10. The concluding discussion argues that although the modest policy changes implemented since 1995 have provided some support to older workers managing work and care, more policy attention needs to be given following the sharp increase in the incidence of caring seen among people aged 50-64 in England between 2001 and 2011
Laser Microdissection of Narrow Sheath Mutant Maize Uncovers Novel Gene Expression in the Shoot Apical Meristem
Microarrays enable comparative analyses of gene expression on a genomic scale, however these experiments frequently identify an abundance of differentially expressed genes such that it may be difficult to identify discrete functional networks that are hidden within large microarray datasets. Microarray analyses in which mutant organisms are compared to nonmutant siblings can be especially problematic when the gene of interest is expressed in relatively few cells. Here, we describe the use of laser microdissection microarray to perform transcriptional profiling of the maize shoot apical meristem (SAM), a ~100-μm pillar of organogenic cells that is required for leaf initiation. Microarray analyses compared differential gene expression within the SAM and incipient leaf primordium of nonmutant and narrow sheath mutant plants, which harbored mutations in the duplicate genes narrow sheath1 (ns1) and narrow sheath2 (ns2). Expressed in eight to ten cells within the SAM, ns1 and ns2 encode paralogous WUSCHEL1-like homeobox (WOX) transcription factors required for recruitment of leaf initials that give rise to a large lateral domain within maize leaves. The data illustrate the utility of laser microdissection-microarray analyses to identify a relatively small number of genes that are differentially expressed within the SAM. Moreover, these analyses reveal potentially conserved WOX gene functions and implicate specific hormonal and signaling pathways during early events in maize leaf development
Observational Bias and Young Massive Cluster Characterisation II. Can Gaia accurately observe young clusters and associations?
Observations of clusters suffer from issues such as completeness, projection
effects, resolving individual stars and extinction. As such, how accurate are
measurements and conclusions are likely to be? Here, we take cluster
simulations (Westerlund2- and Orion- type), synthetically observe them to
obtain luminosities, accounting for extinction and the inherent limits of Gaia,
then place them within the real Gaia DR3 catalogue. We then attempt to
rediscover the clusters at distances of between 500pc and 4300pc. We show the
spatial and kinematic criteria which are best able to pick out the simulated
clusters, maximising completeness and minimising contamination. We then compare
the properties of the 'observed' clusters with the original simulations. We
looked at the degree of clustering, the identification of clusters and
subclusters within the datasets, and whether the clusters are expanding or
contracting. Even with a high level of incompleteness (e.g. stellar
members identified), similar qualitative conclusions tend to be reached
compared to the original dataset, but most quantitative conclusions are likely
to be inaccurate. Accurate determination of the number, stellar membership and
kinematic properties of subclusters, are the most problematic to correctly
determine, particularly at larger distances due to the disappearance of cluster
substructure as the data become more incomplete, but also at smaller distances
where the misidentification of asterisms as true structure can be problematic.
Unsurprisingly, we tend to obtain better quantitative agreement of properties
for our more massive Westerlund2-type cluster. We also make optical style
images of the clusters over our range of distances.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures, 6 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA
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