Supermarkets, Farm Assets, and Technology Choices: a Duration Analysis of Horticultural Growers in Nicaragua

Supermarkets, Nicaragua, Horticulture, Small Farmers, Agribusiness, Community/Rural/Urban Development, International Development,

Skeletal muscle sodium glucose co-transporters in older adults with type 2 diabetes undergoing resistance training

We examined the expression of the sodium-dependent glucose co-transporter system (hSGLT3) in skeletal muscle of Hispanic older adults with type 2 diabetes. Subjects (65±8 yr) were randomized to resistance training (3x/wk, n=13) or standard of care (controls, n=5) for 16 weeks. Skeletal muscle hSGLT3 and GLUT4 mRNA transcript levels were determined by real time RT-PCR. hSGLT3 transcripts increased by a factor of ten following resistance training compared to control subjects (0.10, P=0.03). There were no differences in GLUT4 mRNA expression levels between groups. Protein expression levels of these transporters were confirmed by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. hSGLT3 after resistance exercise was found not to be co-localized with the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. The change in hSGLT3 transcript levels in the vastus lateralis muscle was positively correlated with glucose uptake, as measured by the change in muscle glycogen stores (r=0.53, P=0.02); and with exercise intensity, as measured by the change in muscle strength (r=0.73, P=0.001). Group assignment was be the only independent predictor of hSGLT3 transcript levels, explaining 68% of its variability (P=0.01). Our data show that hSGLT3, but not GLTU4, expression was enhanced in skeletal muscle after 16 weeks of resistance training. This finding suggests that hSGLT3, an insulin-independent glucose transporter, is activated with exercise and it may play a significant role in glycemic control with muscle contraction. The hSGLT3 exact mechanism is not well understood and requires further investigation. However its functional significance regarding a reduction of glucose toxicity and improvement of insulin resistance is the subject of ongoing research

Clostridium perfringens epsilon toxin induces blood brain barrier permeability via caveolae-dependent transcytosis and requires expression of MAL.

Clostridium perfringens epsilon toxin (ETX) is responsible for causing the economically devastating disease, enterotoxaemia, in livestock. It is well accepted that ETX causes blood brain barrier (BBB) permeability, however the mechanisms involved in this process are not well understood. Using in vivo and in vitro methods, we determined that ETX causes BBB permeability in mice by increasing caveolae-dependent transcytosis in brain endothelial cells. When mice are intravenously injected with ETX, robust ETX binding is observed in the microvasculature of the central nervous system (CNS) with limited to no binding observed in the vasculature of peripheral organs, indicating that ETX specifically targets CNS endothelial cells. ETX binding to CNS microvasculature is dependent on MAL expression, as ETX binding to CNS microvasculature of MAL-deficient mice was not detected. ETX treatment also induces extravasation of molecular tracers including 376Da fluorescein salt, 60kDA serum albumin, 70kDa dextran, and 155kDA IgG. Importantly, ETX-induced BBB permeability requires expression of both MAL and caveolin-1, as mice deficient in MAL or caveolin-1 did not exhibit ETX-induced BBB permeability. Examination of primary murine brain endothelial cells revealed an increase in caveolae in ETX-treated cells, resulting in dynamin and lipid raft-dependent vacuolation without cell death. ETX-treatment also results in a rapid loss of EEA1 positive early endosomes and accumulation of large, RAB7-positive late endosomes and multivesicular bodies. Based on these results, we hypothesize that ETX binds to MAL on the apical surface of brain endothelial cells, causing recruitment of caveolin-1, triggering caveolae formation and internalization. Internalized caveolae fuse with early endosomes which traffic to late endosomes and multivesicular bodies. We believe that these multivesicular bodies fuse basally, releasing their contents into the brain parenchyma

Development of Sintered Fiber Nickel Electrodes for Aerospace Batteries

The nickel electrode is the specific energy limiting component in nickel battery systems. A concerted effort is currently underway to improve NiH2 performance while decreasing system cost. Increased performance with electrode specific energy (mAh/g) is the major goal of this effort. However, cost reduction is also an important part of the overall program, achieved by reducing the electrode weight. A lightweight, high energy density, nickel electrode is being, developed based on a highly porous, sintered fiber, nickel substrate. This developing technology has many applications, but is highly, applicable to the military and aerospace industries

Developing an interdisciplinary and cross‐sectoral community of practice in the domain of forests and livelihoods

Although significant resources are being spent researching and fostering the relationship between forests and livelihoods to promote mutually beneficial outcomes, critical gaps in understanding persist. A core reason for such gaps is that researchers, practitioners, and policy makers lack the structured space to interact and collaborate, which is essential for effective, interdisciplinary research, practice, and evaluation. Thus, scientific findings, policy recommendations, and measured outcomes have not always been synthesized into deep, systemic understanding; learning from practice and implementation does not easily find its way into scientific analyses, and science often fails to influence policy. Communities of practice (CofPs) are dynamic sociocultural systems that bring people together to share and create knowledge around a common topic of interest. They offer participants a space and structure within which to develop new, systemic approaches to multidimensional problems on a common theme. Uniquely informed by a systems‐thinking perspective and drawing from the scientific and gray literatures and in‐depth interviews with representatives of established CofPs in the natural resource management and development domain, we argue that a well‐designed and adequately funded CofP can facilitate interdisciplinary and cross‐sectoral relationships and knowledge exchange. Well‐designed CofPs integrate a set of core features and processes to enhance individual, collective, and domain outcomes; they set out an initial but evolving purpose, encourage diverse leadership, and promote collective‐identity development. Funding facilitates effective communication strategies (e.g., in person meetings). We urge our colleagues across sectors and disciplines to take advantage of CofPs to advance the domain of forests and livelihoods.El Desarrollo de una Comunidad de Práctica Interdisciplinaria y Trans‐Sectorial bajo el Dominio de los Bosques y los Medios de SubsistenciaResumenAunque se gastan recursos importantes en la investigación y el fomento de la relación entre los bosques y los medios de subsistencia para promover resultados mutuamente beneficiosos, aún existen vacíos críticos en el entendimiento. Una razón nuclear de dichos vacíos es que los investigadores, practicantes y legisladores carecen de espacio para interactuar y colaborar, lo cual es esencial para que la investigación, la práctica y la evaluación sean efectivas e interdisciplinarias. Por esto, los hallazgos científicos, las recomendaciones políticas y los resultados medidos no siempre se han sintetizado en un entendimiento profundo y sistémico; aprender a partir de la práctica y la implementación no encuentra fácilmente su camino dentro de los análisis científicos, y la ciencia comúnmente falla en influenciar a la política. Las comunidades de práctica (CofPs, en inglés) son sistemas socioculturales dinámicas que juntan a las personas para compartir y crear conocimiento en torno a un tema de interés común. Ofrecen a los participantes un espacio y una estructura dentro de la cual pueden desarrollar estrategias novedosas y sistémicas para problemas multidimensionales de un tema común. Informados de manera única por una perspectiva de pensamiento de sistemas y partiendo de la literatura científica y gris y entrevistas profundas con representativos de CofP establecidas bajo el dominio de desarrollo y manejo de recursos, argumentamos que una CofPs bien diseñada y propiamente financiada puede facilitar las relaciones trans‐sectoriales e interdisciplinarias y el intercambio del conocimiento. Las CofPs bien diseñadas integran un conjunto de características y procesos nucleares que aumentan los resultados individuales, colectivos y del dominio; exponen un propósito inicial pero cambiante, promueven el liderazgo diverso, y fomentan el desarrollo de la identidad colectiva. El financiamiento facilita las estrategias efectivas de comunicación (p. ej.: en reuniones de personas). Instamos a nuestros colegas en todos los sectores y disciplinas a sacar provecho de las CofPs para avanzar en el dominio de los bosques y los medios de subsistencia.Article impact statement: Developing a community of practice with a systems lens can drive collaboration and close knowledge gaps in the forest and livelihoods field.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141155/1/cobi12982.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/141155/2/cobi12982_am.pd

LatCrit at Twenty-Five and beyond - Organized Academic Activism and the Long Haul: Designing Hybridized Advocacy Projects for an Age of Global Disruption, Systemic Injustice, and Bottom-up Progress

On the monumental occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration of LatCrit (Latina and Latino Critical Legal Theory, Inc.) as a still thriving and persevering community of critical scholars and activists, this Article offers some reflections on where we have been, where we are now, and where we might go next together as academics and organizers of long-term collective action. Against the current disruptions of a global pandemic, aggravated by planetary climate collapse, disinformation campaigns, and the organized top-down sabotage of U.S. democracy itself, our community responses going forward must be both more democratic and decentralized than ever, as well as more coordinated and coalitional, utilizing the innovations of critical hybridized praxis and of systemic advocacy projects of social and academic activism. If we act in the ways and values this Afterword outlines, now and for the long haul, we can achieve tactical, operational, and structural gains long imagined and sought by our community and allies