Molecular Evolution in the Mountains: Genetic Affinity and the Environment led to Adaptive Variation in the American Pika (Ochotona princeps)

The American pika (Ochotona princeps) is discontinuously distributed in high elevation and montane regions across western North America, where isolated lineages have potentially evolved along divergent trajectories since the mid-Pleistocene. Ochotona princeps encounters cold temperatures, hypoxia, and dietary toxins, and therefore has thermoregulatory, metabolic, and behavioral adaptations related to these environmental challenges. Studies have confirmed interspecific adaptive variation between O. princeps and other Ochotona species, but there is limited research regarding intraspecific adaptive variation within O. princeps. I investigated adaptive responses in a panel of candidate genes with functions related to these conditions in Ochotona and other mammal species. I aimed to identify variation in genotype-environment associations across five O. princeps lineages and determine ancestries of these selective signals. I sequenced candidate genes in 179 Ochotona samples using custom hybridization baits. Resultant SNP datasets were tested for genotype-environment associations using redundancy analysis and latent factor mixed models. Significant outlier alleles were identified from relationships with elevation, temperature, and precipitation and varying ancestral relationships in key adaptive genes were determined. I argue that genetic affinity in O. princeps significantly interacts with landscape features, resulting in unique genotypes among genes related to environmental adaptation

Influence of a Hypotensive Agent Upon Coronary Blood Flow and Cardiac Metabolism

There has been considerable doubt as to the direct relationship of coronary blood flow and the level of arterial or perfusing pressure forcing blood into the vessels of the heart muscle. Attempts to delineate clearly these relationships have been complicated by concomitant effects induced by circulating epinephrine. The drug dibenzyline2 makes it possible to evaluate the influence of hypotension on coronary blood flow. Dibenzyline injection induces a fall in blood pressure while maintaining essentially unchanged the cardiac output and the cerebral blood flow (1)

Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and regeneration of transgenic 'Chancellor' wine grape plants expressing the tfdA gene

The establishment of grape vineyards in the Midwestern USA is greatly hampered by the use of the herbicide 2,4-D in grain crop fields. The overall goal of this study was to transform 'Chancellor' with the plant expressible bacterial tfdA gene to make it tolerant to 2,4-D. Embryogenic callus was infected and cocultivated with an Agrobacterium construct (LBA4404: pAL4404::tfdA); transformed callus was selected with kanamycin; kanamycin resistant callus was bulked and transformed cell lines identified by PCR. Three PCRpositive embryogenic callus lines were used to regenerate transgenic plants. Analysis of the plant lines for the presence of the tfdA gene by PCR and southern hybridization confirmed its stable integration in their genomes. Transgenic 'Chancellor' grape plants regenerated from these calli proved to be resistant to up to 10 kg·ha-1 of a commercial ester-formulation of 2,4-D, indicating positive expression of the tfdA gene and affording them protection from 2,4-D injury

Inhibiting the Thermal Gelation of Copolymer Stabilized Nonaqueous Dispersions and the Synthesis of Full Color PMMA Particles

Polymeric particle dispersions have numerous potential applications; currently one of the most relevant is their use as inks in electrophoretic displays. These colloidal particles are synthesized from the appropriate monomer using nonaqueous dispersion (NAD) polymerization in a nonpolar solvent, which requires a stabilizer to control particle size and morphology. We have previously reported the facile synthesis of poly(methyl methacrylate)-block-poly(octadecyl acrylate) (PMMA-b-PODA) by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), and its use in the NAD polymerization of MMA in hexane/dodecane solvent mixtures. Here we report the synthesis of monodisperse PMMA particles in dodecane following a standard “industrial” procedure using these PMMA-b-PODA stabilizers. However, it was observed that the particle suspensions solidified when they were left at temperatures below ?18 °C yet redispersed upon being heated. Differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic light scattering, and rheological studies demonstrated that this thermoresponsive behavior was due to a liquid–gel transition occurring at 17.5 °C as a consequence of the upper critical solution temperature of PODA in dodecane being traversed. Consequently, new copolymers were synthesized by ATRP with an ethylhexyl acrylate (EHA) co-monomer incorporated into the lyophilic (dodecane compatible) block. Dispersions stabilized by these PMMA-b-P(ODA-co-EHA) polymers with high EHA contents exhibited lower gelation temperatures because of the greater solvent compatibility with dodecane. The use of a PMMA65-b-(ODA10-co-EHA45) copolymer stabilizer (with the highest EHA content) gave PMMA dispersions that showed no gelation down to 4 °C and monodisperse cross-linked PMMA particles containing organic dyes (cyan, magenta, red, and black) giving colored particles across the size range of approximately 100–1300 nm

Remote detection of past habitability at Mars-analogue hydrothermal alteration terrains using an ExoMars Panoramic Camera emulator

JKH is funded by a Birkbeck University of London Graduate Teaching Assistantship. CRC is funded by a Royal Society of Edinburgh Personal Research Fellowship co-funded by Marie Curie Actions. The Aberystwyth research leading to these results has been funded by the UK Space Agency, ExoMars Panoramic Camera (PanCam) Grant Nos. ST/G003114/1, ST/I002758/1, STL001454/1, and the UK Space Agency CREST2 PanCam-2020 research Grant No. ST/L00500X/1. Additional Aberystwyth funding has come from The European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013), Grant Agreement Nos. 21881 PRoVisG, 241523 PRoViScout, and Grant Agreement No. 312377 PRoViDE. PMG is funded by a UK Space Agency Aurora Fellowship (grants ST/J005215/1 and ST/L00254X/1).A major scientific goal of the European Space Agency’s ExoMars 2018 rover is to identify evidence of life within the martian rock record. Key to this objective is the remote detection of geological substrates that are indicative of past habitable environments, which will rely on visual (stereo wide-angle, and high resolution images) and multispectral (440–1000 nm) data produced by the Panoramic Camera (PanCam) instrument. We deployed a PanCam emulator at four hydrothermal sites in the Námafjall volcanic region of Iceland, a Mars-analogue hydrothermal alteration terrain. At these sites, sustained acidic–neutral aqueous interaction with basaltic substrates (crystalline and sedimentary) has produced phyllosilicate, ferric oxide, and sulfate-rich alteration soils, and secondary mineral deposits including gypsum veins and zeolite amygdales. PanCam emulator datasets from these sites were complemented with (i) NERC Airborne Research and Survey Facility aerial hyperspectral images of the study area; (ii) in situ reflectance spectroscopy (400–1000 nm) of PanCam spectral targets; (iii) laboratory X-ray Diffraction, and (iv) laboratory VNIR (350–2500 nm) spectroscopy of target samples to identify their bulk mineralogy and spectral properties. The mineral assemblages and palaeoenvironments characterised here are analogous to neutral–acidic alteration terrains on Mars, such as at Mawrth Vallis and Gusev Crater. Combined multispectral and High Resolution Camera datasets were found to be effective at capturing features of astrobiological importance, such as secondary gypsum and zeolite mineral veins, and phyllosilicate-rich substrates. Our field observations with the PanCam emulator also uncovered stray light problems which are most significant in the NIR wavelengths and investigations are being undertaken to ensure that the flight model PanCam cameras are not similarly affected.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Engaging Community Partners to Enrich Preschoolers Learning Experiences with Dramatic Inquiry

Interdisciplinary teams of adults are needed to enhance the capacity of schools to provide the most appropriate educational experiences for young children who have or are at risk for developmental delays and disabilities (Division for Early Childhood, 2014). When educators, families, and community partners connect around shared goals, we begin to reimagine instructional opportunities and create more equitable access to educational resources for children and families. We share insights from community partners who participated in a collaborative dramatic inquiry study designed to enrich preschoolers’ learning experiences and serve children and families

Enhancing Collaborative Practices with Preprofessional Occupational Therapists and Early Childhood Special Education Student Teachers: A Pilot Study

This article presents the Collaborative Design Model as a tool for developing collaboration and self-efficacy for preprofessional educators and service providers. As student populations continue to become more diverse, preprofessionals entering the classroom must be prepared to collaborate with colleagues effectively and efficiently to address the variety of needs presented in the classroom. Little research exists on the collaboration among preprofessional teachers and preprofessional occupational therapists. The proposed model provides a method for supporting preprofessionals in collaborating to meet the needs of students at risk for or with disabilities. Initial pilot findings suggest the Collaborative Design Model could potentially increase self-efficacy and collaboration skills for preprofessionals working in the classroom

Constraining the Origin of Basaltic Volcanic Rocks Observed by Opportunity Along the Rim of Endeavour Crater

The Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Opportunity continues its exploration along the rim of Endeavour Crater. While the primary focus for investigation has been to seek evidence of aqueous alteration, Opportunity has observed a variety of rock types, including some that are hard and relatively unaltered. These rocks tend to occur most commonly as "float rocks" or "erratics" where the geologic setting does not clearly reveal their origin. Along the rim of Endeavour crater (Fig. 1), such rocks, commonly noted in Panoramic Camera (Pancam) left eye composites as "blue rocks", are abundant components of some of the Endeavour crater rim deposits, scree slopes, and colluvium deposits. In this abstract, we examine the similarity of several of these rocks analyzed using Opportunity's Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS), images and color from the Pancam, and textures observed with the Microscopic Imager (MI. At issue is the blue rocks origin; are they impact melt or volcanic, what is their age relative to Endeavour crater, and how they are related to each other

Highly coloured and electrophoretically active polymer microparticles via staggered dispersion polymerisation in supercritical carbon dioxide and dodecane

Devices featuring electrophoretic displays (EPD) have become extremely popular in recent years because of their low power consumption, high readability and thin display designs, but a product with a full colour gamut comparable with liquid crystal displays (LCDs) has not yet been commercialised. In this article, we demonstrate that staggering the addition of methyl methacrylate (MMA) monomer and low quantities of a coloured dye crosslinker is an effective route to producing well-defined and covalently-linked, strongly coloured PMMA microparticles in one-pot, via dispersion polymerisation in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2). This novel methodology is synthetically simple, readily scalable and has the added cachet of being cost effective because the functional molecules can be confined on the microparticle surface such that even at low concentrations, the resulting materials are brightly coloured. We then demonstrate the applicability of this approach to another functional comonomer/crosslinker system in 2-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA)/ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA), in this case allowing hierarchically structured ‘pomegranate-like’ microparticles with polarisable charge to be produced over a range of DMAEMA loadings as high as 44 wt%. Finally, the performance of these materials in out-of-plane EPD test cells is compared against analogues synthesised in dodecane. These tests revealed that the coloured microparticles fabricated in scCO2 performed as well as or better than their dodecane synthesised counterparts, consistently producing the cleanest white state and achieving effective colour switching over ten cycles

Behavioural activation written self-help to improve mood, wellbeing and quality of life in people with dementia supported by informal carers (PROMOTE): study protocol for a single-arm feasibility study.

Background: Increases in life expectancy have resulted in a global rise in dementia prevalence. Dementia is associated with poor wellbeing, low quality of life and increased incidence of mental health difficulties such as, low mood or depression. However, currently there is limited access to evidence-based psychological interventions for people with dementia experiencing low mood and poor wellbeing. Behavioural activation-based self-help, supported by informal carers and guided by mental health professionals, may represent an effective and acceptable solution. Methods/design: The present study is a Phase II (feasibility) single-arm trial informed by the MRC Complex Interventions Research Methods Framework. Up to fifty dementia participant/informal carer dyads will be recruited from a variety of settings including primary care, dementia-specific health settings, and community outreach. People living with dementia will receive behavioural activation based self-help and be supported by their informal carer who has received training in the skills required to support the self-help approach. In turn, during the use of the intervention the informal carer will be guided by mental health professionals to help them work through the materials and problem solve any difficulties. Consistent with the objectives of feasibility studies, outcomes relating to recruitment from different settings, employment of different recruitment methods, attrition, data collection procedures, clinical delivery and acceptability of the intervention will be examined. Clinical outcomes for people with dementia (symptoms of depression and quality of life) and informal carers (symptoms of depression and anxiety, carer burden and quality of life) will be measured pretreatment and at 3 months post-treatment allocation. Discussion: This study will examine the feasibility and acceptability of a novel behavioural activation-based self-help intervention designed to promote wellbeing and improve low mood in people living with dementia, alongside methodological and procedural uncertainties associated with research-related procedures. As determined by pre-specified progression criteria, if research procedures and the new intervention demonstrate feasibility and acceptability, results will then be used to inform the design of a pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) to specifically examine remaining methodological uncertainties associated with recruitment into a randomised controlled design.This study is collaboratively funded by Cornwall Foundation Partnership Trust, South West Peninsula Academic Health Sciences Network and the University of Exeter