Cohesin biology meets the loop extrusion model

Extensive research has revealed that cohesin acts as a topological device, trapping chromosomal DNA within a large tripartite ring. In so doing, cohesin contributes to the formation of compact and organized genomes. How exactly the cohesin subunits interact, how it opens, closes, and translocates on chromatin, and how it actually tethers DNA strands together are still being elucidated. A comprehensive understanding of these questions will shed light on how cohesin performs its many functions, including its recently proposed role as a chromatid loop extruder. Here, we discuss this possibility in light of our understanding of the molecular properties of cohesin complexes

Management arrangements for specimen shell collection in Western Australia, 1995

The Specimen Shell Fishery in Western Australia is based on the collection of marine species of the phylum Mollusca for the purposes of display, collection, cataloguing, classification and sale. Specimen shells may be alive or dead at the time of take and include beach-washed shells. Fossilised shells do not constitute specimen shells. This document has been prepared to detail the legislative requirements of the Western Australian Government, as well as to fulfill the requirements under the Commonwealth Wildlife Protection (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act 1982 to allow for the export of specimen shells from Western Australian waters and the international obligations of the Commonwealth of Australia, particularly those related to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) after 1982

Crowding-out or crowding-in? Effects of LEAP 1000 unconditional cash transfer program on household and community support among women in rural Ghana

Social protection programs are not introduced in a vacuum and it is important to understand what effects such programs have on existing informal support networks of family, friends and community members. A social cash transfer may reduce receipt of informal financial support, which can water down part of the program's impact. However, cash transfers can also reduce barriers to social participation and enable participants to engage in reciprocal support systems. We use data from the quasi-experimental mixed method impact evaluation of Ghana's Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) 1000 program, a social cash transfer program for pregnant women and mothers of children under one year living in poverty, to estimate program effects on social support and participation. Using a difference-in-differences approach we find that LEAP 1000 increases overall social support, as well as both emotional and instrumental support. In addition, program beneficiaries are more likely to participate in community groups. In in-depth interviews, participants confirmed increased support with descriptions of improved access to financial markets, such as borrowing money or contributing to local savings schemes, and strengthening of social participation in local groups and gatherings. Beneficiary women also highlighted reduced need for economic support and new opportunities to support others. By creating opportunities for additional social support within the household and community, LEAP 1000 crowded-in support, rather than reducing existing sources of support or crowding-out support

Defrosting Performance of Patterned Heat Transfer Surfaces with a Superhydrophobic Silica Nanosprings Coating

The overall aim of this work was to study the defrosting performance of functionalized heat transfer surfaces containing a novel, silica nanosprings coating combined with preferential microstructural roughness. In doing this, differences in drainage rates and defrosting effectiveness were explored both on patterned and non-patterned surfaces. To date, ten different surfaces have been examined— an uncoated, untreated aluminum plate (S1), plates containing a silica nanospring (SN) coating of varying thickness (S2-S6), a plate containing evenly-spaced microchannels both with and without the SN surface coating (S7, S8), and then finally a plate containing a microstructural roughness gradient both with and without the SN surface coating (S9, S10). Cyclical tests containing both frosting and defrosting periods were conducted on each sample. For these experiments, the frost layer was grown inside a controlled environmental test chamber where the relative humidity (RH) was held constant (i.e. 60%, 80%) while the temperature of the ambient air inside the enclosure was monitored to ensure consistency. The surface temperature of the plate was fixed using a thermoelectric cooler (TEC) typically at -8°C, -10°C or -12°C. The TEC unit was placed on an electronic balance within the test chamber, which permitted the frost mass to be recorded continuously during testing. Overall, the defrosting effectiveness varied from 56-96% across all the surfaces depending on the test conditions. For the tests performed at 60% RH, the uncoated baseline surfaces tended to have defrosting efficiencies in the range of 59-75%, while the nanospring-coated surfaces tended to have defrosting efficiencies in the range of 66-96%. Different nanospring mat thicknesses were also explored as part of this work, which showed that an optimum thickness likely exists with shorter overall mat thicknesses being preferred. The microstructural surface gradient pattern included in this work was designed to create “preferential lanes” on the surface for drainage. The surface which yielded the highest overall defrosting efficiency during testing was the surface with the uniformly-spaced microchannels and nanospring coating (S8), while the gradient surface design with nanospring coating (S10) also generally performed well versus the baseline surface, especially at lower plate temperatures (i.e. Tw = -10 and -12°C)

Creative professional users musical relevance criteria

Although known item searching for music can be dealt with by searching metadata using existing text search techniques, human subjectivity and variability within the music itself make it very difficult to search for unknown items. This paper examines these problems within the context of text retrieval and music information retrieval. The focus is on ascertaining a relationship between music relevance criteria and those relating to relevance judgements in text retrieval. A data-rich collection of relevance judgements by creative professionals searching for unknown musical items to accompany moving images using real world queries is analysed. The participants in our observations are found to take a socio-cognitive approach and use a range of content and context based criteria. These criteria correlate strongly with those arising from previous text retrieval studies despite the many differences between music and text in their actual content

Sustainable positive psychology interventions enhance primary teachers’ wellbeing and beyond – a qualitative case study in England

Positive psychology interventions (PPIs) have become an influential approach to foster teacher wellbeing; however, little research addresses the critiques and sustainability of PPIs. This study investigated teacher experiences of PPIs and the impact on their wellbeing in professional and personal contexts. Qualitative data were collected using multi-methods in a primary school in two settings: staff-meetings with 21 teachers and a self-interest group with 9 teachers. Results showed practising PPIs enhanced teachers' wellbeing multidimensionally and produced positive impacts on others. The challenges experienced and plans for sustainable actions were identified. Insights into sustainable teacher wellbeing programmes and professional development are offered

B Lymphocyte Memory: Role of Stromal Cell Complement and FcγRIIB Receptors

To dissect the influence of CD21/CD35 and FcγRIIB in antigen retention and humoral memory, we used an adoptive transfer model in which antigen-primed B and T lymphocytes were given to sublethally irradiated wild-type mice or mice deficient in CD21/CD35 (Cr2−/−) or FcγRIIB receptors (FcγRIIB−/−). Cr2−/− chimeras showed impaired memory as characterized by a decrease in antibody titer, reduced frequency of antibody secreting cells, an absence of affinity maturation, and significantly reduced recall response. The impaired memory in Cr2−/− chimeras corresponded with the reduced frequency of antigen-specific memory B cells. Interestingly, FcγRIIB−/− chimeras showed a differential phenotype with impaired splenic but normal bone marrow responses. These data suggest that CD21/CD35 on stroma, including follicular dendritic cells, is critical to the maintenance of long-term B lymphocyte memory