The Power of Light Zine 2 - Why does life exist? - an epistemically insightful way to explore the nature of science and research at Diamond Light Source, UK

In the STFC funded Epistemic Insight Initiative project, The Power of Light, a series of resources have been designed informed by co-creation activities, pilot lessons, and workshops that involved children in schools and with their families in community spaces. Through this project with Diamond, we brought into classrooms and community spaces how light can be used to help investigate the world around us, address real-world problems and inform our thinking about Big Questions. The resources we develop support teachers' and their students' sense of agency when exploring 'how knowledge works' and how knowledge is built through different disciplines (including the natural sciences, the arts, and the humanities). This 'zine', with its focus on how scientists have been working with paleotonologists to investigate evidence, found inside the fossilised leg of a thescelosaurus, of the cataclysmic event that led to the extinction of dinosaurs. Zine 2 'Why does life exist?' has been developed through co-creative activities involving research scientists at Diamond Light Source (UK), academics, primary school teachers, STEM ambassadors, and Diamond's public engagement team. Zines use an appealing combination of text and images to create a concise comic-like narrative format to generate enthusiasm about a particular area of interest - the series of zines designed for this project focuses on research taking place at the Diamond facility. The Diamond Light Source facility houses a synchrotron which is used to conduct research in a variety of applied fields of science and technology. This zine is designed to be accessible to ages 8+, and works well with a short animation (available in both Zenodo and on the Epistemic Insight You Tube channel) that has been created with additional funding from STFC. Teaching notes are available for this zine, with guidance and activity sheets to support working with the Power of Light resources. This zine explores these discussion questions: 1) What is needed for living things to exist on Earth? 2) What helps us to learn more about past events? 3) What enables us to be able say we 'know' something

The Power of Light Zine 3 - Why do we explore the world around us? - an epistemically insightful way to explore the nature of science and research at Diamond Light Source, UK

In the STFC funded Epistemic Insight Initiative project, The Power of Light, a series of resources have been designed informed by co-creation activities, pilot lessons, and workshops that involved children in schools and with their families in community spaces. Through this project with Diamond, we brought into classrooms and community spaces how light can be used to help investigate the world around us, address real-world problems and inform our thinking about Big Questions. The resources we develop support teachers' and their students' sense of agency when exploring 'how knowledge works' and how knowledge is built through different disciplines (including the natural sciences, the arts, and the humanities). This 'zine', with its focus on how scientists have been working with astronomers, geographers, and other disciplines to explore relationships between matter in environments that we cannot directly experience here on Earth, in space, and into the future through the use of scientific modelling and a synchrotron. Zine 3, with its focus on space and energy, has been developed through co-creative activities involving research scientists at Diamond Light Source (UK), academics, primary school teachers, STEM ambassadors, and Diamond's public engagement team. Zines use an appealing combination of text and images to create a concise comic-like narrative format to generate enthusiasm about a particular area of interest - the series of zines designed for this project focuses on research taking place at the Diamond facility. The Diamond Light Source facility houses a synchrotron which is used to conduct research in a variety of applied fields of science and technology. This zine is designed to be accessible to ages 8+, and works well with a short animation (available in both Zenodo and on the Epistemic Insight You Tube channel) that has been created with additional funding from STFC. Teaching notes are available for this zine, with guidance and activity sheets to support working with the Power of Light resources. This zine explores these discussion questions: 1) What do we know bout our planet Earth (and how it 'works')? 2) What can help us build knowledge about things beyond planet Earth? 3) What might help to inform our thinking when making choices and decisions

The Power of Light Zine 1 - Why do things change? - an epistemically insightful way to explore the nature of science and research at Diamond Light Source, UK

In the STFC funded Epistemic Insight Initiative project, The Power of Light, a series of resources have been designed informed by co-creation activities, pilot lessons, and workshops that involved children in schools and with their families in community spaces. Through this project with Diamond, we brought into classrooms and community spaces how light can be used to help investigate the world around us, address real-world problems and inform our thinking about Big Questions. The resources we develop support teachers' and their students' sense of agency when exploring 'how knowledge works' and how knowledge is built through different disciplines (including the natural sciences, the arts, and the humanities). This 'zine', with its focus on how scientists have been working with historians and archaeologists to preserve the Mary Rose (Henry the Eighth's favourite ship that was sunk in the Solent in England's southern coast), has been developed through co-creative activities involving research scientists at Diamond Light Source (UK), academics, primary school teachers, STEM ambassadors, and Diamond's public engagement team. Zines use an appealing combination of text and images to create a concise comic-like narrative format to generate enthusiasm about a particular area of interest - the series of zines designed for this project focuses on research taking place at the Diamond facility. The Diamond Light Source facility houses a synchrotron which is used to conduct research in a variety of applied fields of science and technology. This zine is designed to be accessible to ages 8+, and works well with a short animation (available in both Zenodo and on the Epistemic Insight You Tube channel) that has been created with additional funding from STFC. Teaching notes are available for this zine, with guidance and activity sheets to support working with the Power of Light resources. This zine explores these discussion questions: 1) What are examples of changes we can observe? 2) What helps us to know more about the things around us? 3) What might we use to help us observe changes

Design and Testing of a Cryogenic Capillary Pumped Loop Flight Experiment

This paper details the flight configuration and pre-flight performance test results of the fifth generation cryogenic capillary pumped loop (CCPL-5). This device will fly on STS-95 in October 1998 as part of the CRYOTSU Flight Experiment. This flight represents the first in-space demonstration of a CCPL, a miniaturized two-phase fluid circulator for thermally linking cryogenic cooling sources to remote cryogenic components. CCPL-5 utilizes N2 as the working fluid and has a practical operating range of 75-110 K. Test results indicate that CCPL-5, which weighs about 200 grams, can transport over 10 W of cooling a distance of 0.25 m (or more) with less than a 5 K temperature drop

Interaction of Medicago truncatula Lysin Motif Receptor-Like Kinases, NFP and LYK3, Produced in Nicotiana benthamiana Induces Defence-Like Responses

Receptor(-like) kinases with Lysin Motif (LysM) domains in their extracellular region play crucial roles during plant interactions with microorganisms; e.g. Arabidopsis thaliana CERK1 activates innate immunity upon perception of fungal chitin/chitooligosaccharides, whereas Medicago truncatula NFP and LYK3 mediate signalling upon perception of bacterial lipo-chitooligosaccharides, termed Nod factors, during the establishment of mutualism with nitrogen-fixing rhizobia. However, little is still known about the exact activation and signalling mechanisms of MtNFP and MtLYK3. We aimed at investigating putative molecular interactions of MtNFP and MtLYK3 produced in Nicotiana benthamiana. Surprisingly, heterologous co-production of these proteins resulted in an induction of defence-like responses, which included defence-related gene expression, accumulation of phenolic compounds, and cell death. Similar defence-like responses were observed upon production of AtCERK1 in N. benthamiana leaves. Production of either MtNFP or MtLYK3 alone or their co-production with other unrelated receptor(-like) kinases did not induce cell death in N. benthamiana, indicating that a functional interaction between these LysM receptor-like kinases is required for triggering this response. Importantly, structure-function studies revealed that the MtNFP intracellular region, specific features of the MtLYK3 intracellular region (including several putative phosphorylation sites), and MtLYK3 and AtCERK1 kinase activity were indispensable for cell death induction, thereby mimicking the structural requirements of nodulation or chitin-induced signalling. The observed similarity of N. benthamiana response to MtNFP and MtLYK3 co-production and AtCERK1 production suggests the existence of parallels between Nod factor-induced and chitin-induced signalling mediated by the respective LysM receptor(-like) kinases. Notably, the conserved structural requirements for MtNFP and MtLYK3 biological activity in M. truncatula (nodulation) and in N. benthamiana (cell death induction) indicates the relevance of the latter system for studies on these, and potentially other symbiotic LysM receptor-like kinase

Contribution of NFP LysM Domains to the Recognition of Nod Factors during the Medicago truncatula/Sinorhizobium meliloti Symbiosis

The root nodule nitrogen fixing symbiosis between legume plants and soil bacteria called rhizobia is of great agronomical and ecological interest since it provides the plant with fixed atmospheric nitrogen. The establishment of this symbiosis is mediated by the recognition by the host plant of lipo-chitooligosaccharides called Nod Factors (NFs), produced by the rhizobia. This recognition is highly specific, as precise NF structures are required depending on the host plant. Here, we study the importance of different LysM domains of a LysM-Receptor Like Kinase (LysM-RLK) from Medicago truncatula called Nod factor perception (NFP) in the recognition of different substitutions of NFs produced by its symbiont Sinorhizobium meliloti. These substitutions are a sulphate group at the reducing end, which is essential for host specificity, and a specific acyl chain at the non-reducing end, that is critical for the infection process. The NFP extracellular domain (ECD) contains 3 LysM domains that are predicted to bind NFs. By swapping the whole ECD or individual LysM domains of NFP for those of its orthologous gene from pea, SYM10 (a legume plant that interacts with another strain of rhizobium producing NFs with different substitutions), we showed that NFP is not directly responsible for specific recognition of the sulphate substitution of S. meliloti NFs, but probably interacts with the acyl substitution. Moreover, we have demonstrated the importance of the NFP LysM2 domain for rhizobial infection and we have pinpointed the importance of a single leucine residue of LysM2 in that step of the symbiosis. Together, our data put into new perspective the recognition of NFs in the different steps of symbiosis in M. truncatula, emphasising the probable existence of a missing component for early NF recognition and reinforcing the important role of NFP for NF recognition during rhizobial infection

Durability of Original Monovalent mRNA Vaccine Effectiveness Against COVID-19 Omicron–Associated Hospitalization in Children and Adolescents — United States, 2021–2023

Pediatric COVID-19 vaccination is effective in preventing COVID-19-related hospitalization, but duration of protection of the original monovalent vaccine during SARS-CoV-2 Omicron predominance merits evaluation, particularly given low coverage with updated COVID-19 vaccines. During December 19, 2021-October 29, 2023, the Overcoming COVID-19 Network evaluated vaccine effectiveness (VE) of ≥2 original monovalent COVID-19 mRNA vaccine doses against COVID-19-related hospitalization and critical illness among U.S. children and adolescents aged 5-18 years, using a case-control design. Too few children and adolescents received bivalent or updated monovalent vaccines to separately evaluate their effectiveness. Most case-patients (persons with a positive SARS-CoV-2 test result) were unvaccinated, despite the high frequency of reported underlying conditions associated with severe COVID-19. VE of the original monovalent vaccine against COVID-19-related hospitalizations was 52% (95% CI = 33%-66%) when the most recent dose was administered <120 days before hospitalization and 19% (95% CI = 2%-32%) if the interval was 120-364 days. VE of the original monovalent vaccine against COVID-19-related hospitalization was 31% (95% CI = 18%-43%) if the last dose was received any time within the previous year. VE against critical COVID-19-related illness, defined as receipt of noninvasive or invasive mechanical ventilation, vasoactive infusions, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and illness resulting in death, was 57% (95% CI = 21%-76%) when the most recent dose was received <120 days before hospitalization, 25% (95% CI = -9% to 49%) if it was received 120-364 days before hospitalization, and 38% (95% CI = 15%-55%) if the last dose was received any time within the previous year. VE was similar after excluding children and adolescents with documented immunocompromising conditions. Because of the low frequency of children who received updated COVID-19 vaccines and waning effectiveness of original monovalent doses, these data support CDC recommendations that all children and adolescents receive updated COVID-19 vaccines to protect against severe COVID-19

Risk factors for health impairments in children after hospitalization for acute COVID-19 or MIS-C

ObjectiveTo identify risk factors for persistent impairments after pediatric hospitalization for acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) or multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.MethodsAcross 25 U.S. Overcoming COVID-19 Network hospitals, we conducted a prospective cohort study of patients <21-years-old hospitalized for acute COVID-19 or MIS-C (May 2020 to March 2022) surveyed 2- to 4-months post-admission. Multivariable regression was used to calculate adjusted risk ratios (aRR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).ResultsOf 232 children with acute COVID-19, 71 (30.6%) had persistent symptoms and 50 (21.6%) had activity impairments at follow-up; for MIS-C (n = 241), 56 (23.2%) had persistent symptoms and 58 (24.1%) had activity impairments. In adjusted analyses of patients with acute COVID-19, receipt of mechanical ventilation was associated with persistent symptoms [aRR 1.83 (95% CI: 1.07, 3.13)] whereas obesity [aRR 2.18 (95% CI: 1.05, 4.51)] and greater organ system involvement [aRR 1.35 (95% CI: 1.13, 1.61)] were associated with activity impairment. For patients with MIS-C, having a pre-existing respiratory condition was associated with persistent symptoms [aRR 3.04 (95% CI: 1.70, 5.41)] whereas obesity [aRR 1.86 (95% CI: 1.09, 3.15)] and greater organ system involvement [aRR 1.26 (1.00, 1.58)] were associated with activity impairments.DiscussionAmong patients hospitalized, nearly one in three hospitalized with acute COVID-19 and one in four hospitalized with MIS-C had persistent impairments for ≥2 months post-hospitalization. Persistent impairments were associated with more severe illness and underlying health conditions, identifying populations to target for follow-up