Hillary Clinton is tweeting more than Donald Trump and attacks him more often than he does her.

One of the major battlegrounds of the 2016 presidential election is Twitter, with both candidates slugging it out using 140 characters or fewer. Heather Evans, Kayla Brown, and Tiffany Wimberly have been studying both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump’s tweets. They find that, in line with findings from previous studies on how women candidates tweet, in June Clinton out tweeted the Republican nominee, attacked him more often than he did her, and tweeted about political issues far more often

Campaign Twitter update: Trump ignores the issues as Clinton continues to out tweet him

Heather Evans, Kayla Brown, and Tiffany Wimberly have been tracking how Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump use Twitter in this year’s presidential election campaign. In their latest update, they find that over the last two months, Clinton has not only out-tweeted Trump, but has also discussed the issues, including issues that affect women disproportionately as a group, to a greater degree

On Twitter, Donald Trump has been paying little lip service to issues important to women.

Throughout the presidential election campaign Heather Evans, Kayla Brown, and Tiffany Wimberly have collected and coded tweets from both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. In their latest analysis, and in light of the release of the ‘Trump tapes’ this weekend, they find that Trump is largely ignoring ‘female issues’ while Clinton has talked about them significantly more often

Clinton sends tweets about voting and registration while Trumpasks people to come out and “join him”

In a presidential election as close as the current one, the result may be heavily influenced by how each party can mobilize its supporters to register and to vote. As part of their ongoing analysis of how the candidates communicate on Twitter, Heather Evans, Kayla Brown, and Tiffany Wimberly have collected and coded tweets concerning mobilization and civic engagement. They find that Hillary Clinton has out-tweeted Donald Trump in almost all words and phrases concerning civic engagement. The only civic engagement category where Trump is winning is when he talks about “joining”; asking people to join him at rallies

Using Curcumin Nano-Lipid Particles in a Therapeutic Approach

Curcumin (Curcuma longa) is a plant-based polyphenol known to have several medicinal properties. Although several promising effects of using curcumin in clinical trials have been observed, its overall medicinal qualities are still limited due to low bioavailability. In order to increase the bioavailability, we are embedding curcumin within Nano-Lipid Particles (both curcumin telodendrimer discs and curcumin tNLPs). Telodendrimer nanolipoprotein particles (tNLPs) are discoidal self-assemblies containing lipids and apolipoproteins which can be used as a vehicle to carry proteins and other small molecules to the cell. Telodendrimer NLPs have been used to increase the bioavailability of drugs, and provide an ideal platform to increase curcumin bioavailability. The generation of tNLPs can be accomplished using several methods; such as cellfree assembly and in-vitro assembly. Curcumin telodendrimer discs (curcumin telo-discs) are a nano-lipid mixture of lipids, curcumin, and telodendrimer that acts as the basis for the curcumin tNLP reaction. Using the curcumin telo-disc as the starting additive, we demonstrate that we can purify properly formed curcumin tNLPs via affinity columns and size-exclusion chromatography (SEC). Here, we show that with two separate methods: a cell-free expressed method and in-vitro assembly, we can demonstrate that curcumin

Donald Trump’s election tweets point to the policy areas he may focus on as president

Ever since Donald Trump won the election, academics, commentators and pundits have been trying to determine which policy issues his presidential administration will address. Heather Evans, Kayla Brown, and Tiffany Wimberly write that what Trump has been tweeting about may provide some indication of his policy heading. Analyzing rump’s tweets for the past five months, they comment that revisions for Obamacare, and new immigration and terrorism-related policies may well be in the offing

Long Days Enhance Recognition Memory and Increase Insulin-like Growth Factor 2 in the Hippocampus

Light improves cognitive function in humans; however, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying positive effects of light remain unclear. One obstacle is that most rodent models have employed lighting conditions that cause cognitive deficits rather than improvements. Here we have developed a mouse model where light improves cognitive function, which provides insight into mechanisms underlying positive effects of light. To increase light exposure without eliminating daily rhythms, we exposed mice to either a standard photoperiod or a long day photoperiod. Long days enhanced long-term recognition memory, and this effect was abolished by loss of the photopigment melanopsin. Further, long days markedly altered hippocampal clock function and elevated transcription of Insulin-like Growth Factor2 (Igf2). Up-regulation of Igf2 occurred in tandem with suppression of its transcriptional repressor Wilm’s tumor1. Consistent with molecular de-repression of Igf2, IGF2 expression was increased in the hippocampus before and after memory training. Lastly, long days occluded IGF2-induced improvements in recognition memory. Collectively, these results suggest that light changes hippocampal clock function to alter memory, highlighting novel mechanisms that may contribute to the positive effects of light. Furthermore, this study provides insight into how the circadian clock can regulate hippocampus-dependent learning by controlling molecular processes required for memory consolidation

The story so far: an in situ pairing of chemical oceanography and physiology

Climate change is a pressing environmental concern, and understanding how abiotic variation contributes to population dynamics and persistence may ultimately predict the fates of species. Ocean acidification negatively impacts a range of species, including those using calcium carbonate for shell formation such as shellfish, which are important as ecosystem engineers and for food security. While much is known about carbonate chemistry and impacts of ocean acidification on the U.S. Pacific coast, there is limited regional information in British Columbia (BC), especially in socio-economically important coastal zones for aquaculture and migrating fisheries populations. Laboratory experimentation mimicking future climate scenarios provide valuable information on biological impacts under controlled conditions, but do not take into account the natural environmental fluctuations of coastal environments that may influence population persistence. This research program combines lower trophic level monitoring (plankton analysis), physiological responses (functional genomics of commercial bivalves) and high speed near real-time oceanographic monitoring at a field site in the northern Salish Sea, to provide information on system variability and its biological impacts on coastal ecosystems. Site abiotic variability will be discussed in the context of pre-industrial to current condition effects on species. Shellfish gene expression data will focus on population plasticity or microevolutionary adaptation to seasonal, optimal and sub-optimal calcium carbonate conditions over the short and long-term

Seasonal Plasticity in GABA\u3csup\u3eA\u3c/sup\u3e Signaling is Necessary for Restoring Phase Synchrony in the Master Circadian Clock Network

Annual changes in the environment threaten survival, and numerous biological processes in mammals adjust to this challenge via seasonal encoding by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). To tune behavior according to day length, SCN neurons display unified rhythms with synchronous phasing when days are short, but will divide into two sub-clusters when days are long. The transition between SCN states is critical for maintaining behavioral responses to seasonal change, but the mechanisms regulating this form of neuroplasticity remain unclear. Here we identify that a switch in chloride transport and GABAA signaling is critical for maintaining state plasticity in the SCN network. Further, we reveal that blocking excitatory GABAA signaling locks the SCN into its long day state. Collectively, these data demonstrate that plasticity in GABAA signaling dictates how clock neurons interact to maintain environmental encoding. Further, this work highlights factors that may influence susceptibility to seasonal disorders in humans

Reduced VIP Expression Affects Circadian Clock Function in VIP-IRES-CRE Mice (JAX 010908)

Circadian rhythms are programmed by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which relies on neuropeptide signaling to maintain daily timekeeping. Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) is critical for SCN function, but the precise role of VIP neurons in SCN circuits is not fully established. To interrogate their contribution to SCN circuits, VIP neurons can be manipulated specifically using the DNA-editing enzyme Cre recombinase. Although the Cre transgene is assumed to be inert by itself, we find that VIP expression is reduced in both heterozygous and homozygous adult VIP-IRES-Cre mice (JAX 010908). Compared with wild-type mice, homozygous VIP-Cre mice display faster reentrainment and shorter free-running period but do not become arrhythmic in constant darkness. Consistent with this phenotype, homozygous VIP-Cre mice display intact SCN PER2::LUC rhythms, albeit with altered period and network organization. We present evidence that the ability to sustain molecular rhythms in the VIP-Cre SCN is not due to residual VIP signaling; rather, arginine vasopressin signaling helps to sustain SCN function at both intracellular and intercellular levels in this model. This work establishes that the VIP-IRES-Cre transgene interferes with VIP expression but that loss of VIP can be mitigated by other neuropeptide signals to help sustain SCN function. Our findings have implications for studies employing this transgenic model and provide novel insight into neuropeptide signals that sustain daily timekeeping in the master clock