Super-resolution imaging approaches for quantifying F-actin in immune cells

Immune cells comprise a diverse set of cells that undergo a complex array of biological processes that must be tightly regulated. A key component of cellular machinery that achieves this is the cytoskeleton. Therefore, imaging and quantitatively describing the architecture and dynamics of the cytoskeleton is an important research goal. Optical microscopy is well suited to this task. Here, we review the latest in the state-of-the-art methodology for labeling the cytoskeleton, fluorescence microscopy hardware suitable for such imaging and quantitative statistical analysis software applicable to describing cytoskeletal structures. We also highlight ongoing challenges and areas for future development

The Grizzly, May 9, 2019

Kingston Out, Varner in for Bear Bash • Ursinus Reacts to Symbol of Hatred • Q&A with President Blomberg • Ursinus Graduates First Wave of Education Studies Majors • Breakaway Student Productions\u27 One Act Festival Premieres Four Student-Written Plays • Ursinus Fulbright Scholar, Jason Bennett \u2719, to Research Theoretical High-Energy Physics at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands • Opinions: Swarthmore Scandal Speaks to Greater Issues with Fraternity Culture; The United States Should Shorten its Work Week • Athlete Spotlight: Running Back Sam Ragland \u2721 • The Thanks for a Fun Two Years Award: You, the Fans • Bears Win Conference Championshiphttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1622/thumbnail.jp

The Grizzly, December 5, 2019

Ursinus Cancels Swimming Seasons After Hazing Investigation • Students Detail Harassment on Main Street • Summer Internship Tips with CPD • Get to Know: Spring Break Service Trip • Opinion: Ursinus\u27 Judicial System is Broken • Q&A with Senior Linebacker Jake McCain • Women\u27s Basketball Walk-on Proves She is More Than Just a Ballerhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1597/thumbnail.jp

The Effect of Oral Leucine on Protein Metabolism in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Lack of insulin results in a catabolic state in subjects with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus which is reversed by insulin treatment. Amino acid supply, especially branched chain amino acids such as leucine, enhances protein synthesis in both animal and human studies. This small study was undertaken to assess the acute effect of supplemental leucine on protein metabolism in adolescents with type 1 diabetes. L-[1-13C] Leucine was used to assess whole-body protein metabolism in six adolescent females (16–18 yrs) with type 1 diabetes during consumption of a basal diet (containing 58 μmoles leucine/kg/h) and the basal diet with supplemental leucine (232 μmoles leucine/kg/h). Net leucine balance was significantly higher with supplemental leucine (56.33 ± 12.13 μmoles leucine/kg body weight/hr) than with the basal diet (−11.7 ± −5.91, P < .001) due to reduced protein degradation (49.54 ± 18.80 μmoles leucine/kg body weight/hr) compared to the basal diet (109 ± 13.05, P < .001)

The Grizzly, December 6, 2018

Snapchat Story Leads to School Enforcement of Discriminatory Acts Policy • What\u27s in Store for Martin Luther King, Jr. Week • Ursinus Celebrated the Fifth Annual #Giving2UCday on Campus • Student Employee Profiles: Facilities • The Curtain Club and how Theatre Evolved at Ursinus • Opinions: It\u27s Time to Retire the War on Christmas ; Let Students Spend Dining Dollars Off-Campus • Athlete Spotlight: Junior Quarterback Tom Garlick • Eric Williams Jr. Knocks Down 1,000th Career Point for UC Men\u27s Basketballhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1610/thumbnail.jp

The Grizzly, November 15, 2018

Mythbuster: Student Writer Takes on Medusa and Marginalization • Voter Registration Status Causes Issues for Student Voters on Election Day • Members of the Ursinus Community Gather to Remember Victims of the Tree of Life Shooting • What do UC Political Clubs Think About the Recent Elections? • Why Myrin is Full of Government Documents • Opinions: Choosing Classes Needs to be Less Confusing; We Need to Better Recognize World War I Veterans • Fall Sports Seniors Complete Final Seasons • McDaid Makes Ursinus Cross Country History • Q&A with Mike Moronesehttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1608/thumbnail.jp

The Grizzly, April 11, 2019

Legendary Ursinus Professor Remembered • Q&A with Lantern Editor • Three Students Make Their Voices Heard • Speaker Combines Focus on Jewish History and Jewish Humor • Senior Spotlight: Biology and Neuroscience Double Major Katherine Madden • The Medusa Play Premieres at Ursinus • Opinions: My Memories of Professor Doughty; Looking Back at the (Awesome) Original Twilight Zone • The Intestinal Fortitude Award: Morgan Comfort • The I\u27m the New Career Goals Record-Holder Award: Peter DeSimone • Football Duo Share Their Experience Abroad • Bradford Gearing Up for Big Senior Season with UC Footballhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1618/thumbnail.jp

The Grizzly, November 29, 2018

Ursinus Alum Receives Prestigious Fellowship • Student Discusses Journey with Brain Surgery • Members of Ursinus Community Gathered for 3rd Annual Celebration of Lights • Ursinus and the Armed Forces • Farm Fellowship and the Ursinus Campus Farm • Opinions: Venom: On Capes, Camp, and the Case for Cheese; Abolishing ICE Isn\u27t Radical, it\u27s Obvious • Wrestling Senior Reflects on Lessons Learned from Coach Racich • Football Caps Season with Four Straight Wins, Takes Centennial / MAC Bowl Titlehttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1609/thumbnail.jp

Understanding delay in developmental disorders

Researchers in developmental disorders frequently refer to abilities that are in line with mental age as simply delayed. The qualifier simply might imply an existing theory of developmental delay that is well understood and uninteresting (perhaps because it is an exaggerated form of individual differences, the responsibility of other researchers). In this article, I argue that the notion of delay can be separated into descriptive and explanatory versions. The descriptive version is often used too coarsely to be helpful. Instead, we need an approach based on developmental trajectories to separate types of descriptive delay, which may then have different underlying causes. The explanatory version is poorly articulated in developmental theory. One useful way to deepen our understanding of delay is by building computational models that simulate development in large populations of individuals and explicitly implementing factors that cause variations in development. Finally, I suggest that dividing research among separate investigators of typical development, individual differences, and developmental disorders may be counterproductive if the underlying mechanisms recognize no such distinction

Multi-scale modeling of gene-behavior associations in an artificial neural network model of cognitive development

In the multi-disciplinary field of developmental cognitive neuroscience, statistical associations between levels of description play an increasingly important role. One example of such associations is the observation of correlations between relatively common gene variants and individual differences in behavior. It is perhaps surprising that such associations can be detected despite the remoteness of these levels of description, and the fact that behavior is the outcome of an extended developmental process involving interaction with a variable environment. Given that they have been detected, how do such associations inform cognitive-level theories? To investigate this question, we employed a multi-scale computational model of development, using a sample domain drawn from the field of language acquisition. The model comprised an artificial neural network model of past-tense acquisition trained using the backpropagation learning algorithm, extended to incorporate population modeling and genetic algorithms. It included five levels of description, four internal: genetic, network, neurocomputation, behavior; and one external: environment. Since the mechanistic assumptions of the model were known and its operation was relatively transparent, we could evaluate whether cross-level associations gave an accurate picture of causal processes. We established that associations could be detected between artificial genes and behavioral variation, even under polygenic assumptions of a many-to-one relationship between genes and neurocomputational parameters, and when an experience-dependent developmental process interceded between the action of genes and the emergence of behavior. We evaluated these associations with respect to their specificity (to different behaviors, to function versus structure), to their developmental stability, and to their replicability, as well as considering issues of missing heritability and gene-environment interactions. We argue that gene-behavior associations can inform cognitive theory with respect to effect size, specificity, and timing. The model demonstrates a means by which researchers can undertake modeling multi-scale modeling with respect to cognition, and develop highly specific and complex hypotheses across multiple levels of description