Capacity, Passion, Relevance, and Presence: A Conceptual Framework for the Interpretation and Study of Success

This project outlines a conceptual framework to help make sense of opportunities in an effort to recognize conditions for failure and establish paths toward success. In finding success, three distinct themes emerge from the literature: capacity, passion, and relevance. The CPR Success and Failure Analysis framework is intended to be a framework for success. Displayed as a Venn diagram, the framework includes domains of capacity, passion, and relevance, which are connected in the center through presence. The framework may serve as a theoretical lens for research, in-person and online educational opportunities, self-reflection, business coaching/consulting, college and career planning, and various other purposes. Given that a variety of circumstances could be applied to this framework, the possibilities for its use seem endless

Regulation of differentiation of nitrogen-fixing bacteria by microsymbiont targeting of plant thioredoxin s1

Legumes associate with rhizobia to form nitrogen (N2)-fixing nodules, which is important for plant fitness [1, 2]. Medicago truncatula controls the terminal differentiation of Sinorhizobium meliloti into N2-fixing bacteroids by producing defensin-like nodule-specific cysteine-rich peptides (NCRs) [3, 4]. The redox state of NCRs influences some biological activities in free-living bacteria, but the relevance of redox regulation of NCRs in planta is unknown [5, 6], although redox regulation plays a crucial role in symbiotic nitrogen fixation [7, 8]. Two thioredoxins (Trx), Trx s1 and s2, define a new type of Trx and are expressed principally in nodules [9]. Here, we show that there are four Trx s genes, two of which, Trx s1 and s3, are induced in the nodule infection zone where bacterial differentiation occurs. Trx s1 is targeted to the symbiosomes, the N2-fixing organelles. Trx s1 interacted with NCR247 and NCR335 and increased the cytotoxic effect of NCR335 in S. meliloti. We show that Trx s silencing impairs bacteroid growth and endoreduplication, two features of terminal bacteroid differentiation, and that the ectopic expression of Trx s1 in S. meliloti partially complements the silencing phenotype. Thus, our findings show that Trx s1 is targeted to the bacterial endosymbiont, where it controls NCR activity and bacteroid terminal differentiation. Similarly, Trxs are critical for the activation of defensins produced against infectious microbes in mammalian hosts. Therefore, our results suggest the Trx-mediated regulation of host peptides as a conserved mechanism among symbiotic and pathogenic interactions

Expression analysis of Clavata1-like and Nodulin21-like genes from Pinus sylvestris during ectomycorrhiza formation

The ecology and physiology of ectomycorrhizal (EcM) symbiosis with conifer trees are well documented. In comparison, however, very little is known about the molecular regulation of these associations. In an earlier study, we identified three EcM-regulated Pinus expressed sequence tags (EST), two of which were identified as homologous to the Medicago truncatula nodulin MtN21. The third EST was a homologue to the receptor-like kinase Clavata1. We have characterized the expression patterns of these genes and of auxin- and mycorrhiza-regulated genes after induction with indole-3-butyric acid in Pinus sylvestris and in a time course experiment during ectomycorrhizal initiation with the co-inoculation of 2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid, an auxin transport inhibitor. Our results suggest that different P. sylvestris nodulin homologues are associated with diverse processes in the root. The results also suggest a potential role of the Clv1-like gene in lateral root initiation by the ectomycorrhizal fungus

Matrix Orbit Closures

Let $G$ be the group \GL_r(\CC) \times (\CC^\times)^n. We conjecture that the finely-graded Hilbert series of a $G$ orbit closure in the space of $r$-by-$n$ matrices is wholly determined by the associated matroid. In support of this, we prove that the coefficients of this Hilbert series corresponding to certain hook-shaped Schur functions in the \GL_r(\CC) variables are determined by the matroid, and that the orbit closure has a set-theoretic system of ideal generators whose combinatorics are also so determined. We also discuss relations between these Hilbert series for related matrices

Oxygen consumption, ammonia excretion and osmoregulation of callinectes similis Juveniles (Crustacea: Portunidae) exposed to fluctuating salinities

The oxygen consumption of Callinectes similis was determined under salinity fluctuations. The metabolic rate remained unchanged (P > 0.05) and within a metabolic range of 1.23 to 2.08 mg O2.h–l.g–l D.W., exhibiting a type IV response according to Kinne (1971). Ammonia excretion rose significantly to 0.028 mg N-NH4.h–l.g–l D.W. (P 0.05) by osmotic stress. In high salinities catabolism is based on carbohydrates and in lower salinities on a mixture of lipids and carbohydrates. The osmoregulatory pattern exhibited by C. similis is of an osmoconforming organism, the hemolymph was only slightly hyperosmotic in higher and isosmotic in lower salinities

Genomic resources for functional analysis in <em>Medicago truncatula</em> and related crop species

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Methylglyoxal-induced glycation changes adipose tissue vascular architecture, flow and expansion, leading to insulin resistance

This study was supported by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (projectUID/NEU/04539/2013), QREN-COMPETE (project DoIT- Diamarker: a consortium for the discovery of novel biomarker in diabetes), POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007440 and by the Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra. T. R. and P. M. are supported by a PhD (SFRH/BD/101172/2014) and a Post-Doc Grant (SFRH/BPD/104881/2014). This study was granted by the Portuguese Society of Diabetology (Portuguese National Prize of Diabetes).Microvascular dysfunction has been suggested to trigger adipose tissue dysfunction in obesity. This study investigates the hypothesis that glycation impairs microvascular architecture and expandability with an impact on insulin signalling. Animal models supplemented with methylglyoxal (MG), maintained with a high-fat diet (HFD) or both (HFDMG) were studied for periepididymal adipose (pEAT) tissue hypoxia and local and systemic insulin resistance. Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) was used to quantify blood flow in vivo, showing MG-induced reduction of pEAT blood flow. Increased adipocyte size and leptin secretion were observed only in rats feeding the high-fat diet, without the development of hypoxia. In turn, hypoxia was only observed when MG was combined (HFDMG group), being associated with impaired activation of the insulin receptor (Tyr1163), glucose intolerance and systemic and muscle insulin resistance. Accordingly, the adipose tissue angiogenic assay has shown decreased capillarization after dose-dependent MG exposure and glyoxalase-1 inhibition. Thus, glycation impairs adipose tissue capillarization and blood flow, hampering its expandability during a high-fat diet challenge and leading to hypoxia and insulin resistance. Such events have systemic repercussions in glucose metabolism and may lead to the onset of unhealthy obesity and progression to type 2 diabetes. © 2017 The Author(s).publishersversionpublishe

Differential response of the plant Medicago truncatula to its symbiont Sinorhizobium meliloti or an exopolysaccharide-deficient mutant

Sinorhizobium meliloti forms symbiotic, nitrogen-fixing nodules on the roots of Medicago truncatula. The bacteria invade and colonize the roots through structures called infection threads. S. meliloti unable to produce the exopolysaccharide succinoglycan are unable to establish a symbiosis because they are defective in initiating the production of infection threads and in invading the plant. Here, we use microarrays representing 16,000 M. truncatula genes to compare the differential transcriptional responses of this host plant to wild-type and succinoglycan-deficient S. meliloti at the early time point of 3 days postinoculation. This report describes an early divergence in global plant gene expression responses caused by a rhizobial defect in succinoglycan production, rather than in Nod factor production. The microarray data show that M. truncatula inoculated with wild-type, succinoglycan-producing S. meliloti more strongly express genes encoding translation components, protein degradation machinery, and some nodulins than plants inoculated with succinoglycan-deficient bacteria. This finding is consistent with wild-type-inoculated plants having received a signal, distinct from the well characterized Nod factor, to alter their metabolic activity and prepare for invasion. In contrast, M. truncatula inoculated with succinoglycan-deficient S. meliloti more strongly express an unexpectedly large number of genes in two categories: plant defense responses and unknown functions. One model consistent with our results is that appropriate symbiotically active exopolysaccharides act as signals to plant hosts to initiate infection thread formation and that, in the absence of this signal, plants terminate the infection process, perhaps via a defense response