Draft Genome Sequence of the Iron-Oxidizing, Acidophilic, and Halotolerant “Thiobacillus prosperus” Type Strain DSM 5130

“Thiobacillus prosperus” is a halotolerant mesophilic acidophile that gains energy through iron and sulfur oxidation. Its physiology is poorly understood. Here, we describe the principal genomic features of the type strain of T. prosperus, DSM 5130. This is the first public genome sequence of an acidophilic halotolerant bacterium

Ambiguity, multiple streams, and EU policy

The multiple streams framework draws insight from interactions between agency and institutions to explore the impact of context, time, and meaning on policy change and to assess the institutional and issue complexities permeating the European Union (EU) policy process. The authors specify the assumptions and structure of the framework and review studies that have adapted it to reflect more fully EU decision-making processes. The nature of policy entrepreneurship and policy windows are assessed to identify areas of improvement. Finally, the authors sketch out a research agenda that refines the logic of political manipulation which permeates the lens and the institutional complexity which frames the EU policy process

Resistance Training as Therapeutic Management in Women with PCOS: What is the Evidence?

International Journal of Exercise Science 14(3): 840-854, 2021. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), the most common chronic endocrinopathy and the leading cause of infertility in women, has significant clinical consequences, including cardiovascular, endocrinological, oncological, and psychological co-morbidities. Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guidelines on the Diagnosis and Treatment of PCOS recommend exercise and physical activity as first-line treatment to combat chronic disease risk. However, details about what type of exercise are not provided. Given the known beneficial effects of resistance training on the management of other chronic diseases, the purpose of this scoping review was to evaluate the scientific evidence about the physical and psychosocial effects of resistance training among women with PCOS. Studies were identified through a systematic search of PubMed, SPORTDiscus, and CINAHL databases. Peer-reviewed research studies published between January 2011 and January 2021 that evaluated a resistance training intervention for premenopausal women with PCOS were included. Studies that offered multi-component programs were excluded. Nine articles met the inclusion criteria of which seven were sub-studies of one larger clinical trial. One article reported findings from a small randomized controlled trial and the last article reported feasibility study findings. Each intervention yielded positive results across a wide range of outcome variables; however, the studies had small sample sizes and assessed different outcome variables. Evidence regarding the effects of resistance training on health outcomes for women with PCOS is positive but preliminary. Adequately powered clinical trials are required to confirm health benefits, answer research questions as to therapeutic dose, and discover behavioral strategies to promote resistance training for therapeutic management

Markarian 421's Unusual Satellite Galaxy

We present Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imagery and photometry of the active galaxy Markarian 421 and its companion galaxy 14 arcsec to the ENE. The HST images indicate that the companion is a morphological spiral rather than elliptical as previous ground--based imaging has concluded. The companion has a bright, compact nucleus, appearing unresolved in the HST images. This is suggestive of Seyfert activity, or possibly a highly luminous compact star cluster. We also report the results of high dynamic range long-slit spectroscopy with the slit placed to extend across both galaxies and nuclei. We detect no emission lines in the companion nucleus, though there is evidence for recent star formation. Velocities derived from a number of absorption lines visible in both galaxies indicate that the two systems are probably tidally bound and thus in close physical proximity. Using the measured relative velocities, we derive a lower limit on the MKN 421 mass within the companion orbit (R \sim 10 kpc) of 5.9 \times 10^{11} solar masses, and a mass-to-light ratio of >= 17. Our spectroscopy also shows for the first time the presence of H\alpha and [NII] emission lines from the nucleus of MKN 421, providing another example of the appearance of new emission features in the previously featureless spectrum of a classical BL Lac object. We see both broad and narrow line emission, with a velocity dispersion of several thousand km s^{-1} evident in the broad lines.Comment: LaTeX (aaspp4 style), 28 pages, 8 figures, to appear in AJ. Revised text from ref. comments; new & modified figures; new photometry included; minor corrections of typos. Color version of Fig. 1 to appear in Feb. 2000 Sky & Telescop

Moving from a Product-Based Economy to a Service-Based Economy for a More Sustainable Future

Traditionally, economic growth and prosperity have been linked with the availability, production and distribution of tangible goods as well as the ability of consumers to acquire such goods. Early evidence regarding this connection dates back to Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations (1776), in which any activity not resulting in the production of a tangible good is characterized as unproductive of any value." Since then, this coupling of economic value and material production has been prevalent in both developed and developing economies throughout the world. One unintended consequence of this coupling has been the exponential increase in the amount of solid waste being generated. The reason is that any production and consumption of material goods eventually generates the equivalent amount of (or even more) waste. Exacerbating this problem is the fact that, with today's manufacturing and supply chain management technologies, it has become cheaper to dispose and replace most products rather than to repair and reuse them. This has given rise to what some call a disposable society." To put things in perspective: In 2012 households in the U.K. generated approximately 22 thousand tons of waste, which amounted to 411 kg of waste generated per person (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, 2015). During the same time period, households in the U.S. generated 251 million tons of waste, which is equivalent to a person generating approximately 2 kg of waste every day (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2012). Out of these 251 million tons of total waste generated, approximately 20% of the discarded items were categorized as durable goods. The disposal of durable goods is particularly worrisome because they are typically produced using material from non- renewable resources such as iron, minerals, and petroleum-based raw materials

Epigenetic suppression of hippocampal calbindin-D28k by ΔFosB drives seizure-related cognitive deficits.

The calcium-binding protein calbindin-D28k is critical for hippocampal function and cognition, but its expression is markedly decreased in various neurological disorders associated with epileptiform activity and seizures. In Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) and epilepsy, both of which are accompanied by recurrent seizures, the severity of cognitive deficits reflects the degree of calbindin reduction in the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG). However, despite the importance of calbindin in both neuronal physiology and pathology, the regulatory mechanisms that control its expression in the hippocampus are poorly understood. Here we report an epigenetic mechanism through which seizures chronically suppress hippocampal calbindin expression and impair cognition. We demonstrate that ΔFosB, a highly stable transcription factor, is induced in the hippocampus in mouse models of AD and seizures, in which it binds and triggers histone deacetylation at the promoter of the calbindin gene (Calb1) and downregulates Calb1 transcription. Notably, increasing DG calbindin levels, either by direct virus-mediated expression or inhibition of ΔFosB signaling, improves spatial memory in a mouse model of AD. Moreover, levels of ΔFosB and calbindin expression are inversely related in the DG of individuals with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) or AD and correlate with performance on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). We propose that chronic suppression of calbindin by ΔFosB is one mechanism through which intermittent seizures drive persistent cognitive deficits in conditions accompanied by recurrent seizures

COLA II - Radio and Spectroscopic Diagnostics of Nuclear Activity in Galaxies

We present optical spectroscopic observations of 93 galaxies taken from the infra-red selected COLA (Compact Objects in Low Power AGN) sample. The sample spans the range of far-IR luminosities from normal galaxies to LIRGs. Of the galaxies observed, 78 (84%) exhibit emission lines. Using a theoretically-based optical emission-line scheme we classify 15% of the emission-line galaxies as Seyferts, 77% as starbursts, and the rest are either borderline AGN/starburst or show ambiguous characteristics. We find little evidence for an increase in the fraction of AGN in the sample as a function of far-IR luminosity but our sample covers only a small range in infrared luminosity and thus a weak trend may be masked. As a whole the Seyfert galaxies exhibit a small, but significant, radio excess on the radio-FIR correlation compared to the galaxies classified as starbursts. Compact (<0.05'') radio cores are detected in 55% of the Seyfert galaxies, and these galaxies exhibit a significantly larger radio excess than the Seyfert galaxies in which cores were not detected. Our results indicate that there may be two distinct populations of Seyferts, ``radio-excess'' Seyferts, which exhibit extended radio structures and compact radio cores, and ``radio-quiet'' Seyferts, in which the majority of the radio emission can be attributed to star-formation in the host galaxy. No significant difference is seen between the IR and optical spectroscopic properties of Seyferts with and without radio cores. (Abridged)Comment: 24 pages, 4 figures, 6 tables. Accepted for publication in ApJ, February 200