1,585 research outputs found

    Salinity and time can alter epibacterial communities of an invasive seaweed

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    The establishment of epibacterial communities is fundamental to seaweed health, and fitness, in modulating ecological interactions and may also facilitate adaptation to new environments. Few recent studies have investigated the influence of abiotic factors like light, temperature as drivers of epibacterial community composition on seaweeds. Although salinity can determine bacterial abundance, growth and community composition, influence of salinity as a driver of epibacterial community composition (until species level) has not been investigated for seaweeds and especially under long time scales. We also do not know how abiotic stressors may influence the ‘core’ bacterial species of seaweeds. Following an initial (immediately after field collection, T0) sampling of epibacterial community of an invasive red seaweed Agarophyton vermicullophylum, we conducted a long term mesocosm experiment for 5 months, to examine the influence of three different salinities (low, medium and high) at two different time points (T1, T2) on the epibacterial community richness and composition of Agarophyton. Metagenomic sequencing showed that epibacterial communities changed significantly according to salinity and time points sampled. Epibacterial richness was significantly different between low and high salinities at both time points. Epibacterial richness also varied significantly among T1 and T2 within low, medium and high salinity level. Irrespective of salinity levels and time points sampled 727 taxa consistently appeared in all Agarophyton samples hinting at the presence of core bacterial species on the surface of the alga. Our results indicate that both salinity and time can be major driving forces in structuring epibacterial communities of seaweeds with respect to richness and β diversity. We highlight the necessity of conducting long term experiments allowing us to detect and understand epibacterial succession over time on seaweeds

    Do Psychology Students know the Job Skills they are Gaining?

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    Psychology graduates experience high levels of underemployment (50%), despite obtaining a range of competencies during their undergraduate studies that are highly applicable to their professional development and future endeavors in the workforce (Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 2021; Landrum et al., 2017). Throughout psychology courses, undergraduate students gain a number of knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) that are sought after by employers. This study seeks to determine whether these underemployment rates are, in part, due to a lack of guidance from universities on how their curriculum and KSAOs taught connect to the workforce (Halonen & Dunn, 2018). To determine which KSAOs to examine, the full list of 167 KSAOs were initially pulled from O*NET, an online database that contains hundreds of occupational definitions. This full list of KSAOs were consolidated by subject matter experts (SMEs) to those most relevant to psychology undergraduates. This process resulted in a list of 41 appropriate KSAOs that were then evaluated against course descriptions and syllabi of core psychology classes in order to determine the level of each of the 41 KSAOs students gained by completing each course. A group of SMEs then rated the level of proficiency a student would obtain by completing an undergraduate psychology course. This was done for all 41 identified KSAOs and for all courses in the psychology curriculum and these ratings represent the KSAOs that students gain from completing undergraduate psychology courses. For the proposed research, the team will ask upper level undergraduate students to complete the same ratings as the SMEs. These ratings will determine students\u27 perceptions of the level of KSAOs they gain by completing undergraduate psychology courses. Once students have completed their ratings, the data will be analyzed and compared to the SME data, which will provide an understanding of perceived versus actual proficiency of specific KSAOs that students gain in an undergraduate psychology program. Following this comparative analysis, the ultimate goal is to create a public crosswalk resource that students will be able to access and determine relevant KSAOs for their future careers based on completed courses

    Exile Vol. LVII

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    Spence, Caroline:To Lose a Brother 7Frances in Three Parts 8-11 Current, Abby: February\u27s Belly 12Selkie Woman 13-14 Callahan, Meghan: Whirl 15Halloween 25-26cool 27-29Faith 39-40Bookish (cover) Eden, Tristan: Runaway 16Sharkey\u27s Philadelphia 17 Heestand, Ashley: Tragedy, 1979 18-24 Persia, Danny: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 30-33Hymn to Satan 34-37 DiMartini, Amanda: untitled 38 Bullock, Karen: Gypsies 41-42 Swensson, Ellie: Phenomenology 43-44 Snow 45-47 Moran, Megan: untitled 48 untitled 58 Whites, Shawn: The Woman Across the Alley 49-57 Roozeboom, Nikki: Stain 59Distant 60-61 Ferguson, Brittani: That Dusty Italian Dugout 62-63 Gateway 64 Burdoff, Holly: Transitions 6

    Recruitment of Endophilin to Clathrin-Coated Pit Necks Is Required for Efficient Vesicle Uncoating after Fission

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    SummaryEndophilin is a membrane-binding protein with curvature-generating and -sensing properties that participates in clathrin-dependent endocytosis of synaptic vesicle membranes. Endophilin also binds the GTPase dynamin and the phosphoinositide phosphatase synaptojanin and is thought to coordinate constriction of coated pits with membrane fission (via dynamin) and subsequent uncoating (via synaptojanin). We show that although synaptojanin is recruited by endophilin at bud necks before fission, the knockout of all three mouse endophilins results in the accumulation of clathrin-coated vesicles, but not of clathrin-coated pits, at synapses. The absence of endophilin impairs but does not abolish synaptic transmission and results in perinatal lethality, whereas partial endophilin absence causes severe neurological defects, including epilepsy and neurodegeneration. Our data support a model in which endophilin recruitment to coated pit necks, because of its curvature-sensing properties, primes vesicle buds for subsequent uncoating after membrane fission, without being critically required for the fission reaction itself

    Geospatial Planning and the Resulting Economic Impact of Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Introduction in Mozambique

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    Research has shown that the distance to the nearest immunization location can ultimately prevent someone from getting immunized. With the introduction of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine throughout the world, a major question is whether the target populations can readily access immunization

    PLD3 is a neuronal lysosomal phospholipase D associated with β-amyloid plaques and cognitive function in Alzheimer\u27s disease.

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    Phospholipase D3 (PLD3) is a protein of unclear function that structurally resembles other members of the phospholipase D superfamily. A coding variant in this gene confers increased risk for the development of Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD), although the magnitude of this effect has been controversial. Because of the potential significance of this obscure protein, we undertook a study to observe its distribution in normal human brain and AD-affected brain, determine whether PLD3 is relevant to memory and cognition in sporadic AD, and to evaluate its molecular function. In human neuropathological samples, PLD3 was primarily found within neurons and colocalized with lysosome markers (LAMP2, progranulin, and cathepsins D and B). This colocalization was also present in AD brain with prominent enrichment on lysosomal accumulations within dystrophic neurites surrounding β-amyloid plaques. This pattern of protein distribution was conserved in mouse brain in wild type and the 5xFAD mouse model of cerebral β-amyloidosis. We discovered PLD3 has phospholipase D activity in lysosomes. A coding variant in PLD3 reported to confer AD risk significantly reduced enzymatic activity compared to wild-type PLD3. PLD3 mRNA levels in the human pre-frontal cortex inversely correlated with β-amyloid pathology severity and rate of cognitive decline in 531 participants enrolled in the Religious Orders Study and Rush Memory and Aging Project. PLD3 levels across genetically diverse BXD mouse strains and strains crossed with 5xFAD mice correlated strongly with learning and memory performance in a fear conditioning task. In summary, this study identified a new functional mammalian phospholipase D isoform which is lysosomal and closely associated with both β-amyloid pathology and cognition

    Silencing alanine transaminase 2 in diabetic liver attenuates hyperglycemia by reducing gluconeogenesis from amino acids

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    Hepatic gluconeogenesis from amino acids contributes significantly to diabetic hyperglycemia, but the molecular mechanisms involved are incompletely understood. Alanine transaminases (ALT1 and ALT2) catalyze the interconversion of alanine and pyruvate, which is required for gluconeogenesis from alanine. We find that ALT2 is overexpressed in the liver of diet-induced obese and db/db mice and that the expression of the gene encoding ALT2 (GPT2) is downregulated following bariatric surgery in people with obesity. The increased hepatic expression of Gpt2 in db/db liver is mediated by activating transcription factor 4, an endoplasmic reticulum stress-activated transcription factor. Hepatocyte-specific knockout of Gpt2 attenuates incorporation o

    Maintaining Vaccine Delivery Following the Introduction of the Rotavirus and Pneumococcal Vaccines in Thailand

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    Although the substantial burdens of rotavirus and pneumococcal disease have motivated many countries to consider introducing the rotavirus vaccine (RV) and heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV-7) to their National Immunization Programs (EPIs), these new vaccines could affect the countries' vaccine supply chains (i.e., the series of steps required to get a vaccine from their manufacturers to patients). We developed detailed computational models of the Trang Province, Thailand, vaccine supply chain to simulate introducing various RV and PCV-7 vaccine presentations and their combinations. Our results showed that the volumes of these new vaccines in addition to current routine vaccines could meet and even exceed (1) the refrigerator space at the provincial district and sub-district levels and (2) the transport cold space at district and sub-district levels preventing other vaccines from being available to patients who arrive to be immunized. Besides the smallest RV presentation (17.1 cm3/dose), all other vaccine introduction scenarios required added storage capacity at the provincial level (range: 20 L–1151 L per month) for the three largest formulations, and district level (range: 1 L–124 L per month) across all introduction scenarios. Similarly, with the exception of the two smallest RV presentation (17.1 cm3/dose), added transport capacity was required at both district and sub-district levels. Added transport capacity required across introduction scenarios from the provincial to district levels ranged from 1 L–187 L, and district to sub-district levels ranged from 1 L–13 L per shipment. Finally, only the smallest RV vaccine presentation (17.1 cm3/dose) had no appreciable effect on vaccine availability at sub-districts. All other RV and PCV-7 vaccines were too large for the current supply chain to handle without modifications such as increasing storage or transport capacity. Introducing these new vaccines to Thailand could have dynamic effects on the availability of all vaccines that may not be initially apparent to decision-makers

    Glial Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha (TNFα) Generates Metaplastic Inhibition of Spinal Learning

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    Injury-induced overexpression of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) in the spinal cord can induce chronic neuroinflammation and excitotoxicity that ultimately undermines functional recovery. Here we investigate how TNFα might also act to upset spinal function by modulating spinal plasticity. Using a model of instrumental learning in the injured spinal cord, we have previously shown that peripheral intermittent stimulation can produce a plastic change in spinal plasticity (metaplasticity), resulting in the prolonged inhibition of spinal learning. We hypothesized that spinal metaplasticity may be mediated by TNFα. We found that intermittent stimulation increased protein levels in the spinal cord. Using intrathecal pharmacological manipulations, we showed TNFα to be both necessary and sufficient for the long-term inhibition of a spinal instrumental learning task. These effects were found to be dependent on glial production of TNFα and involved downstream alterations in calcium-permeable AMPA receptors. These findings suggest a crucial role for glial TNFα in undermining spinal learning, and demonstrate the therapeutic potential of inhibiting TNFα activity to rescue and restore adaptive spinal plasticity to the injured spinal cord. TNFα modulation represents a novel therapeutic target for improving rehabilitation after spinal cord injury

    Advances in Rootstock Breeding of Nut Trees: Objectives and Strategies

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    The production and consumption of nuts are increasing in the world due to strong economic returns and the nutritional value of their products. With the increasing role and importance given to nuts (i.e., walnuts, hazelnut, pistachio, pecan, almond) in a balanced and healthy diet and their benefits to human health, breeding of the nuts species has also been stepped up. Most recent fruit breeding programs have focused on scion genetic improvement. However, the use of locally adapted grafted rootstocks also enhanced the productivity and quality of tree fruit crops. Grafting is an ancient horticultural practice used in nut crops to manipulate scion phenotype and productivity and overcome biotic and abiotic stresses. There are complex rootstock breeding objectives and physiological and molecular aspects of rootstock–scion interactions in nut crops. In this review, we provide an overview of these, considering the mechanisms involved in nutrient and water uptake, regulation of phytohormones, and rootstock influences on the scion molecular processes, including long-distance gene silencing and trans-grafting. Understanding the mechanisms resulting from rootstock × scion × environmental interactions will contribute to developing new rootstocks with resilience in the face of climate change, but also of the multitude of diseases and pests.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
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