The impact of higher education for part-time students

This report discusses the findings of a study undertaken by Birkbeck, University of London and the National Institute for Economic and Social Research, commissioned by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills to examine the impact of higher education (HE) on the labour market experiences of graduates who studied part-time and full-time as undergraduates

The Last Indian War: Reassessing the Legacy of American Indian Boarding Schools and the Emergence of Pan-Indian Identity

The purpose of this research is to reexamine the legacy of federally-maintained boarding schools for American Indian children, particularly in regards to its strong connections to the emergence of Pan-Indian identity during the latter half of the twentieth century. The schools have long retained a reputation of one of the most poignant examples of cultural imperialism in history of the United States. The goal of this paper is not to deny the horrors associated with the American Indian boarding school system, but to emphasize the important and ultimately positive outcome of the development of an American Indian identity that transcends tribal identities. The boarding schools played a more nuanced role in the American Indian history and that they served as a catalyst in the emerging American Indian identity, among others. Using accounts from former students particularly associated with the American Indian Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, it is clear that the schools should be considered a crucial step towards many of the movements associated with Pan-Indianism. The story that emerges through this research is one of great irony-in attempting to crush American Indian culture, the schools actually provided a critical shared experience that resonated with people of varying tribes

Antigen depot is not required for alum adjuvanticity

Alum adjuvants have been in continuous clinical use for more than 80 yr. While the prevailing theory has been that depot formation and the associated slow release of antigen and/or inflammation are responsible for alum enhancement of antigen presentation and subsequent T- and B-cell responses, this has never been formally proven. To examine antigen persistence, we used the chimeric fluorescent protein EαGFP, which allows assessment of antigen presentation in situ, using the Y-Ae antibody. We demonstrate that alum and/or CpG adjuvants induced similar uptake of antigen, and in all cases, GFP signal did not persist beyond 24 h in draining lymph node antigen-presenting cells. Antigen presentation was first detectable on B cells within 6–12 h of antigen administration, followed by conventional dendritic cells (DCs) at 12–24 h, then finally plasmacytoid DCs at 48 h or later. Again, alum and/or CpG adjuvants did not have an effect on the magnitude or sequence of this response; furthermore, they induced similar antigen-specific T-cell activation in vivo. Notably, removal of the injection site and associated alum depot, as early as 2 h after administration, had no appreciable effect on antigen-specific T- and B-cell responses. This study clearly rules out a role for depot formation in alum adjuvant activity

Post transition metal substituted Keggin-type POMs as thin film chemiresistive sensors for H2O and CO2 detection

Chemiresitive sensing allows the affordable and facile detection of small molecules such as H2O and CO2. Herein, we report a novel class of Earth-abundant post transition metal substituted Keggin polyoxometalates (POMs) for chemiresistive sensing applications, with conductivities up to 0.01 S cm−1 under 100% CO2 and 65% Relative Humidity (RH)

Spatiotemporal expression and transcriptional perturbations by long noncoding RNAs in the mouse brain

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been implicated in numerous cellular processes including brain development. However, the in vivo expression dynamics and molecular pathways regulated by these loci are not well understood. Here, we leveraged a cohort of 13 lncRNA-null mutant mouse models to investigate the spatiotemporal expression of lncRNAs in the developing and adult brain and the transcriptome alterations resulting from the loss of these lncRNA loci. We show that several lncRNAs are differentially expressed both in time and space, with some presenting highly restricted expression in only selected brain regions. We further demonstrate altered regulation of genes for a large variety of cellular pathways and processes upon deletion of the lncRNA loci. Finally, we found that 4 of the 13 lncRNAs significantly affect the expression of several neighboring protein-coding genes in a cis-like manner. By providing insight into the endogenous expression patterns and the transcriptional perturbations caused by deletion of the lncRNA locus in the developing and postnatal mammalian brain, these data provide a resource to facilitate future examination of the specific functional relevance of these genes in neural development, brain function, and disease.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology DBI-0905973

How does climate change affect emergent properties of aquatic ecosystems?

Emergent properties of ecosystems are community attributes, such as structure and function, that arise from connections and interactions (e.g., predator–prey, competition) among populations, species, or assemblages that, when viewed together, provide a holistic representation that is more than the sum of its individual parts. Climate change is altering emergent properties of aquatic ecosystems through component responses, a combination of shifts in species range, phenology, distribution, and productivity, which lead to novel ecosystems that have no historical analog. The reshuffling, restructuring, and rewiring of aquatic ecosystems due to climate impacts are of high concern for natural resource management and conservation as these changes can lead to species extinctions and reductions in ecosystem services. Overall, we found that substantial progress has been made to advance our understanding of how climate change is affecting emergent properties of aquatic ecosystems. However, responses are incredibly complex, and high uncertainty remains for how systems will reorganize and function over the coming decades. This cross-system perspective summarizes the state of knowledge of climate-driven emergent properties in aquatic habitats with case studies that highlight mechanisms of change, observed or anticipated outcomes, as well as insights into confounding non-climate effects, research tools, and management approaches to advance the field

FishNet: an online database of zebrafish anatomy

Background: Over the last two decades, zebrafish have been established as a genetically versatile model system for investigating many different aspects of vertebrate developmental biology. With the credentials of zebrafish as a developmental model now well recognized, the emerging new opportunity is the wider application of zebrafish biology to aspects of human disease modelling. This rapidly increasing use of zebrafish as a model for human disease has necessarily generated interest in the anatomy of later developmental phases such as the larval, juvenile, and adult stages, during which many of the key aspects of organ morphogenesis and maturation take place. Anatomical resources and references that encompass these stages are non-existent in zebrafish and there is therefore an urgent need to understand how different organ systems and anatomical structures develop throughout the life of the fish. Results: To overcome this deficit we have utilized the technique of optical projection tomography to produce three-dimensional (3D) models of larval fish. In order to view and display these models we have created FishNet http://www.fishnet.org.au, an interactive reference of zebrafish anatomy spanning the range of zebrafish development from 24 h until adulthood. Conclusion: FishNet contains more than 36 000 images of larval zebrafish, with more than 1 500 of these being annotated. The 3D models can be manipulated on screen or virtually sectioned. This resource represents the first complete embryo to adult atlas for any species in 3D

Micronutrient fortification to improve growth and health of maternally HIV-unexposed and exposed Zambian infants: a randomised controlled trial

Background: The period of complementary feeding, starting around 6 months of age, is a time of high risk for growth faltering and morbidity. Low micronutrient density of locally available foods is a common problem in low income countries. Children of HIV-infected women are especially vulnerable. Although antiretroviral prophylaxis can reduce breast milk HIV transmission in early infancy, there are no clear feeding guidelines for after 6 months. There is a need for acceptable, feasible, affordable, sustainable and safe (AFASS by WHO terminology) foods for both HIV-exposed and unexposed children after 6 months of age. Methods and Findings: We conducted in Lusaka, Zambia, a randomised double-blind trial of two locally made infant foods: porridges made of flour composed of maize, beans, bambaranuts and groundnuts. One flour contained a basal and the other a rich level of micronutrient fortification. Infants (n = 743) aged 6 months were randomised to receive either regime for 12 months. The primary outcome was stunting (length-for-age Z < -2) at age 18 months. No significant differences were seen between trial arms overall in proportion stunted at 18 months (adjusted odds ratio 0.87; 95% CI 0.50, 1.53; P = 0.63), mean length-for-age Z score, or rate of hospital referral or death. Among children of HIV-infected mothers who breastfed <6 months (53% of HIV-infected mothers), the richly-fortified porridge increased length-for-age and reduced stunting (adjusted odds ratio 0.17; 95% CI 0.04, 0.84; P = 0.03). Rich fortification improved iron status at 18 months as measured by hemoglobin, ferritin and serum transferrin receptors. Conclusions: In the whole study population, the rich micronutrient fortification did not reduce stunting or hospital referral but did improve iron status and reduce anemia. Importantly, in the infants of HIV-infected mothers who stopped breastfeeding before 6 months, the rich fortification improved linear growth. Provision of such fortified foods may benefit health of these high risk infants

Bistable, Irregular Firing and Population Oscillations in a Modular Attractor Memory Network

Attractor neural networks are thought to underlie working memory functions in the cerebral cortex. Several such models have been proposed that successfully reproduce firing properties of neurons recorded from monkeys performing working memory tasks. However, the regular temporal structure of spike trains in these models is often incompatible with experimental data. Here, we show that the in vivo observations of bistable activity with irregular firing at the single cell level can be achieved in a large-scale network model with a modular structure in terms of several connected hypercolumns. Despite high irregularity of individual spike trains, the model shows population oscillations in the beta and gamma band in ground and active states, respectively. Irregular firing typically emerges in a high-conductance regime of balanced excitation and inhibition. Population oscillations can produce such a regime, but in previous models only a non-coding ground state was oscillatory. Due to the modular structure of our network, the oscillatory and irregular firing was maintained also in the active state without fine-tuning. Our model provides a novel mechanistic view of how irregular firing emerges in cortical populations as they go from beta to gamma oscillations during memory retrieval