Trace elements concentrations (Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd, As and Hg) in the Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) and evaluation of mussel quality and possible human health risk from cultivated and wild sites of the southeastern Adriatic Sea, Montenegro

The Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis (L.) was collected from the fall 2005 to the winter 2009 from the six sites on the Montenegrin coastline. Two wild samples were collected from the open sea coastline, and two cultivated and two wild were from the Boka Kotorska Bay. The mussels soft tissue was analyzed for zinc, copper, lead, cadmium, arsenic and total mercury. Concentrations of these metals, in mg kg(-1) dry weight, ranged from 135-210 for Zn, 6.2-14.5 for Cu, 4.0-11.5 for Pb, 1.7-2.1 for Cd, 5.8-12.4 for As and 0.1-0.5 for Hg. The metals were found to be present in the samples at different levels, but not in concentrations higher than maximum residual levels prescribed by the European Union (EU) and US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) regulations for seafood. This indicates that the consumption of wild or cultivated mussels from the studied area is safe in moderate quantities

Ectopic Wnt/Beta–Catenin Signaling Induces Neurogenesis in the Spinal Cord and Hindbrain Floor Plate

The most ventral structure of the developing neural tube, the floor plate (FP), differs in neurogenic capacity along the neuraxis. The FP is largely non-neurogenic at the hindbrain and spinal cord levels, but generates large numbers of dopamine (mDA) neurons at the midbrain levels. Wnt1, and other Wnts are expressed in the ventral midbrain, and Wnt/beta catenin signaling can at least in part account for the difference in neurogenic capacity of the FP between midbrain and hindbrain levels. To further develop the hypothesis that canonical Wnt signaling promotes mDA specification and FP neurogenesis, we have generated a model wherein beta–catenin is conditionally stabilized throughout the FP. Here, we unambiguously show by fate mapping FP cells in this mutant, that the hindbrain and spinal cord FP are rendered highly neurogenic, producing large numbers of neurons. We reveal that a neurogenic hindbrain FP results in the altered settling pattern of neighboring precerebellar neuronal clusters. Moreover, in this mutant, mDA progenitor markers are induced throughout the rostrocaudal axis of the hindbrain FP, although TH+ mDA neurons are produced only in the rostral aspect of rhombomere (r)1. This is, at least in part, due to depressed Lmx1b levels by Wnt/beta catenin signaling; indeed, when Lmx1b levels are restored in this mutant, mDA are observed not only in rostral r1, but also at more caudal axial levels in the hindbrain, but not in the spinal cord. Taken together, these data elucidate both patterning and neurogenic functions of Wnt/beta catenin signaling in the FP, and thereby add to our understanding of the molecular logic of mDA specification and neurogenesis

Students' sense-making of personalised feedback based on learning analytics

Although technological advances have brought about new opportunities for scaling feedback to students, there remain challenges in how such feedback is presented and interpreted. There is a need to better understand how students make sense of such feedback to adapt self-regulated learning processes. This study examined students’ sense-making of learning analytics–based personalised feedback across four courses. Results from a combination of thematic analysis and epistemic network analysis show an association between student perceptions of their personalised feedback and how these map to subsequent self-described self-regulated learning processes. Most notably, the results indicate that personalised feedback, elaborated by personal messages from course instructors, helps students refine or strengthen important forethought processes of goal-setting, as well as to reduce procrastination. The results highlight the need for instructors to increase the dialogic element in personalised feedback in order to reduce defensive reactions from students who hold to their own learning strategies. This approach may prompt reflection on the suitability of students’ current learning strategies and achievement of associated learning goals.&#x0D; Implications for practice or policy:&#x0D; &#x0D; Personalised feedback based on learning analytics should be informed by an understanding of students’ self-regulated learning.&#x0D; Instructors implementing personalised feedback should align this closely with the course curriculum.&#x0D; Instructors implementing personalised feedback in their courses should consider the relational element of feedback by using a positive tone.&#x0D; Personalised feedback can be further enhanced by increasing the dialogic element and by including more information about learning strategies.&#x0D; </jats:p

Determination of Microstructural Changes By Severely Plastically Deformed Copper-Aluminum Alloy: Optical Study

Our work deals with the problem of producing a complex metal-ceramic composite using the processes of internal oxidation (IO) and severe plastic deformation. For this purpose, Cu-Al alloy with 0.4wt.% of Al was used. IO of sample serves in the first step of the processing as a means for attaining a fine dispersion of nanosized oxide particles in the metal matrix. Production technology continues with repeated application of severe plastic deformation (SPD) of the resulting metal-matrix composite to produce the bulk nanoscaled structural material. SPD was carried out with equal channel angular pressing (ECAP), which allowed that the material could be subjected to an intense plastic strain through simple shear. Microstructural characteristics of one phase and multiphase material was studied on internally oxidized Cu with 0.4wt.% of Al sample composed of one phase copper-aluminum solid solution in the core and fine dispersed oxide particles in the same matrix in the mantle region. In this manner AFM, X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy were used. Local structures in plastically deformed samples reflect presence of Cu, CuO, Cu2O, Cu4O3 or Al2O3 structural characteristics, depending on type of sample

Multiple Promoters and Alternative Splicing: Hoxa5 Transcriptional Complexity in the Mouse Embryo

The genomic organization of Hox clusters is fundamental for the precise spatio-temporal regulation and the function of each Hox gene, and hence for correct embryo patterning. Multiple overlapping transcriptional units exist at the Hoxa5 locus reflecting the complexity of Hox clustering: a major form of 1.8 kb corresponding to the two characterized exons of the gene and polyadenylated RNA species of 5.0, 9.5 and 11.0 kb. This transcriptional intricacy raises the question of the involvement of the larger transcripts in Hox function and regulation.We have undertaken the molecular characterization of the Hoxa5 larger transcripts. They initiate from two highly conserved distal promoters, one corresponding to the putative Hoxa6 promoter, and a second located nearby Hoxa7. Alternative splicing is also involved in the generation of the different transcripts. No functional polyadenylation sequence was found at the Hoxa6 locus and all larger transcripts use the polyadenylation site of the Hoxa5 gene. Some larger transcripts are potential Hoxa6/Hoxa5 bicistronic units. However, even though all transcripts could produce the genuine 270 a.a. HOXA5 protein, only the 1.8 kb form is translated into the protein, indicative of its essential role in Hoxa5 gene function. The Hoxa6 mutation disrupts the larger transcripts without major phenotypic impact on axial specification in their expression domain. However, Hoxa5-like skeletal anomalies are observed in Hoxa6 mutants and these defects can be explained by the loss of expression of the 1.8 kb transcript. Our data raise the possibility that the larger transcripts may be involved in Hoxa5 gene regulation.Our observation that the Hoxa5 larger transcripts possess a developmentally-regulated expression combined to the increasing sum of data on the role of long noncoding RNAs in transcriptional regulation suggest that the Hoxa5 larger transcripts may participate in the control of Hox gene expression

MEDLEM database, a data collection on large elasmobranchs in the Mediterranean and Black Seas

The Mediterranean Large Elasmobranchs Monitoring (MEDLEM) database contains more than 3,000 records (with more than 4,000 individuals) of large elasmobranch species from 21 different countries around the Mediterranean and Black seas, observed from 1666 to 2017. The principal species included in the archive are the devil ray (1,868 individuals), the basking shark (935 individuals), the blue shark (622 individuals), and the great white shark (342 individuals). In the last decades, other species such as the thresher shark (187 individuals), the shortfin mako (180 individuals), and the spiny butterfly ray (138) were reported with increasing frequency. This was possibly due to increased public awareness on the conservation status of sharks, and the consequent development of new monitoring programs. MEDLEM does not have homogeneous reporting coverage throughout the Mediterranean and Black seas and it should be considered as a database of observed species presence. Scientific monitoring efforts in the south-eastern Mediterranean and Black seas are generally lower than in the northern sectors and the absence of some species in our database does not imply their actual absence in these regions. However, the available data allowed us to analyse the frequency and spatial distribution of records, the size frequencies for a few selected the available data allowed us to analyse the frequency and spatial distribution of records, the size frequencies for a few selected species, the overall area coverage, and which species are involved as bycatch by different fishing gears

Cognitive and Psychological Reactions of the General Population Three Months After the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami

BACKGROUND: The largest earthquake on record in Japan (magnitude 9.0) occurred on March 11, 2011, and the subsequent tsunami devastated the Pacific coast of Northern Japan. These further triggered the Fukushima I nuclear power plant accidents. Such a hugely complex disaster inevitably has negative psychological effects on general populations as well as on the direct victims. While previous disaster studies enrolled descriptive approaches focusing on direct victims, the structure of the psychological adjustment process of people from the general population has remained uncertain. The current study attempted to establish a path model that sufficiently reflects the early psychological adaptation process of the general population to large-scale natural disasters. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Participants from the primary disaster area (n = 1083) and other areas (n = 2372) voluntarily participated in an online questionnaire study. By constructing path models using a structural equation model procedure (SEM), we examined the structural relationship among psychological constructs known related to disasters. As post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTS) were significantly more present in people in the primarily affected area than in those in secondary- or non-affected areas, the path models were constructed for the primary victims. The parsimoniously depicted model with the best fit was achieved for the psychological-adjustment centered model with quality of life (QoL) as a final outcome. CONCLUSION: The paths to QoL via negative routes (from negative cognitive appraisal, PTS, and general stress) were dominant, suggesting the importance of clinical intervention for reducing negative cognitive appraisal, and for caring for general stress and PTS to maintain QoL at an early stage of psychological adaptation to a disaster. The model also depicted the presence of a positive route where positive cognitive appraisal facilitates post-traumatic growth (PTG) to achieve a higher QoL, suggesting the potential importance of positive psychological preventive care for unexpected natural disasters