Examining the role of the U7 snRNA in histone pre-mRNA processing and the U7 snRNP dependent and independent roles of Lsm10 and Lsm11, two novel Lsm proteins in Drosophila

Cell cycle regulated histone gene expression ensures that the correct amounts of histones are synthesized each S phase, and is controlled in large part by the unique 3’ end of histone mRNA, which terminates in a conserved stem-loop structure generated by an endonucleolytic cleavage, rather than a polyA tail. Histone 3’ end formation involves a pre-mRNA processing reaction requiring a protein that binds the stem loop (SLBP), and the U7 snRNP, which interacts with a purine rich sequence, called the HDE (Histone Downstream Element), downstream of the cleavage site in histone pre-mRNA. The U7 snRNP is related to the spliceosomal snRNPs, small noncoding RNAs bound by a seven member Sm protein ring, but its protein ring contains two unique proteins, Lsm10 and Lsm11, and it’s only known function is in histone pre-mRNA processing. Much of this molecular model has been obtained from in vitro studies. In this thesis we characterize the U7 snRNP and its two unique proteins, Lsm10 and Lsm11, genetically and molecularly in order to determine their role in cell cycle regulated histone expression in vivo, and during development in Drosophila melanagaster. We have created null alleles of the U7 snRNA and found that they result in the production of polyadenylated histone mRNA from the use of cryptic polyadenlyation signals downstream of the normal processing site. A similar molecular phenotype also results from iii mutation of Slbp, but U7 null mutants survive to adulthood and are male and female sterile while Slbp null mutants are lethal. This difference in terminal phenotype may reflect a later onset of the histone pre-mRNA processing defect in U7 null mutants compared to Slbp null mutants. In Slbp null mutants, misprocessed histone mRNA is seen as early as the embryo stage of development while in U7 null mutants the misprocessed histone mRNA does not appear until the second instar stage of development, due to the maternal stores of U7 snRNA. We have also analyzed mutations of the Lsm10 and Lsm11 genes and found that those mutations result in the same misprocessed histone mRNA phenotype as U7 null mutants, but both mutations are lethal. We have shown that the difference in terminal phenotype is not due to an earlier onset of misprocessed histone mRNA, but instead could be due to a role(s) for Lsm10 and Lsm11 outside of histone pre-mRNA processing that is U7 independent. We have also shown that there is U7 snRNA still present in an Lsm11 null mutant. The RNA can be pulled down using TMG coupled beads suggesting that the U7 snRNA is bound by snRNP proteins even though Lsm10 and Lsm11 are not present. However this snRNA does not localize to the Histone Locus Body (HLB) suggesting that both Lsm10 and Lsm11 are required for U7 snRNP localization to the HLB

BAMBOLBI. Creación de Branding y promoción de camisetas gráficas

[CA] Bambolbi és una marca de camisetes gràfiques per a crear consciència sobre el problema actual de la reducció de la població de abelles. Resumint, aquest projecte està basat en un desenvolupament de branding destinat a realitzar treballs de il·lustració per a la seua adaptació posterior a camisetes i a prints. Aquest projecte es separarà en dos apartats. El primer apartat de investigación es centrarà en estudiar el context en el qual es desenvolupa el disseny de marca i branding amb els seus respectius productes de merchandising. Explorarem el target, el posisionament, la competència, el seu análisis DAFO i altres coses més. Mentrestant, l’eix central del segon apartat serà el disseny i la creació del branding. Tot això engloba la creació d’un nom, el disseny d’un logo, packaging i la il·lustració per a la seua posterior adaptació a camisetes i prints per a la promoció amb treballs de merchandising, divulgació i venta. La fase del naming és el primer pas que realitzaré per a la cració d’un nom, on m’incline per Bambolbi com nom escollit. Tot això ens porta al desenvolupament del logo amb la cración de la tipografia junt a un imagotipus. Desprès, en la fase de merchandising y promoció, realitzaré un treball pràctic de disseny i d’il·lustracios per a les camisetes y dissenys d’il·lustracios per el packaging[ES] Bambolbi es una marca de camisetas gráficas para crear conciencia acerca del problema actual del declive en la población de abejas. A grandes rasgos, este proyecto está basado en un desarrollo de branding destinado a hacer trabajos de ilustración para su posterior adaptación a camisetas y prints. Este proyecto se separará en dos bloques. El primer bloque de investigación se centrará en estudiar el contexto en el cual se va a desarrollar el diseño de marca y branding con sus respectivos productos de merchandising. Se explorará su target, su posicionamiento, la competencia, su análisis DAFO entre otras cosas. Mientras tanto, el eje central de la vertiente de creación será el diseño del branding. Todo esto engloba la creación de un nombre, el diseño del logotipo, packaging y la ilustración para su posterior adaptación a camisetas y prints destinados a promocionar trabajos propios de merchandising, divulgación y venta. La fase del naming es el primer paso que voy a realizar para la creación de un nombre, donde me decanto por el nombre Bambolbi como nombre escogido. Todo esto conlleva al desarrollo del logotipo a través de la creación de tipografía junto a un imagotipo. Luego, en la fase de merchandising y promoción, paso a realizar un trabajo práctico de diseño y de ilustraciones para las camisetas y diseño de ilustraciones para el packaging.[EN] Bambolbi is a graphic T-shirt brand made to create awareness surrounding the problema reguarding the current decline in the bee population. As an overview, this project is based off a development of branding targeted towards the creation of ilustrations for the later adaptation to T-shirts and prints. This project is seperated in two main parts. The first section reguarding investigation will pay attention to studying the context un which the development of the design of the brand and the branding will be carried out, materialized into the respective merchandise products. We will explore the target group, the brand positioning, the competidors, SWOT analysis amongst other things. Meanwhile, the central component of the second section will be the actual creation of the branding. All of this includes the creation of a brand name, logo design, packaging and the ilustrations for the later adaptation to mechandise which is planned to be later sold. The naming process is the first step that I will do, going for Bambolbi as my chosen name. All of this leads us to a development of a logo through the creation of a new typography alongside the Bambolbi icon. Later on in the merchandise and promtion phase, I will concentrate on creating a practical design project of illustrations for the T-shirts and design of illustrations for the packaging.Godfrey, AEL. (2020). BAMBOLBI. Creación de Branding y promoción de camisetas gráficas. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/150170TFG

The Effect of Bank Liquidity and Unemployment on Bank Credit Risk

The aim of this article is to investigate the impact of bank liquidity risk and unemployment on credit risk in the South African banking sector. The panel data analysis approach is used, primarily employing the dynamic generalized method of moments model to examine 12 Banks in South Africa from 2009 to 2019. The results showed that credit risk is positively related to unemployment while, the relationship between credit risk and bank liquidity is negative in line with theory. The findings in this article may enhance bank policy formulation. Since credit and liquidity risk are a major source of risk that banks face especially in terms of stringent regulatory oversight and policy debate, this paper contributes significantly in the methods that central banks need to undertake to monitor and supervise the banking sector on liquidity and credit risks in time of crisis. Furthermore, employment is one critical economic fundamental in developing or emerging markets, the analysis of the nexus between employment and credit risk likewise provided important insights especially in time were the world is facing the COVID-19 pandemic.Finance, Risk Management and Bankin

Acidosis slows electrical conduction through the atrio-ventricular node

Acidosis affects the mechanical and electrical activity of mammalian hearts but comparatively little is known about its effects on the function of the atrio-ventricular node (AVN). In this study, the electrical activity of the epicardial surface of the left ventricle of isolated Langendorff-perfused rabbit hearts was examined using optical methods. Perfusion with hypercapnic Tyrode's solution (20% CO2, pH 6.7) increased the time of earliest activation (Tact) from 100.5 ± 7.9 to 166.1 ± 7.2 ms (n = 8) at a pacing cycle length (PCL) of 300 ms (37°C). Tact increased at shorter PCL, and the hypercapnic solution prolonged Tact further: at 150 ms PCL, Tact was prolonged from 131.0 ± 5.2 to 174.9 ± 16.3 ms. 2:1 AVN block was common at shorter cycle lengths. Atrial and ventricular conduction times were not significantly affected by the hypercapnic solution suggesting that the increased delay originated in the AVN. Isolated right atrial preparations were superfused with Tyrode's solutions at pH 7.4 (control), 6.8 and 6.3. Low pH prolonged the atrial-Hisian (AH) interval, the AVN effective and functional refractory periods and Wenckebach cycle length significantly. Complete AVN block occurred in 6 out of 9 preparations. Optical imaging of conduction at the AV junction revealed increased conduction delay in the region of the AVN, with less marked effects in atrial and ventricular tissue. Thus acidosis can dramatically prolong the AVN delay, and in combination with short cycle lengths, this can cause partial or complete AVN block and is therefore implicated in the development of brady-arrhythmias in conditions of local or systemic acidosis

The Chlamydomonas reinhardtii proteins Ccp1 and Ccp2 are required for long-term growth, but are not necessary for efficient photosynthesis, in a low-CO\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e environment

The unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii acclimates to a low-CO2 environment by modifying the expression of a number of messages. Many of the genes that increase in abundance during acclimation to low-CO2 are under the control of the putative transcription factor Cia5. C. reinhardtii mutants null for cia5 do not express several of the known low-CO2 inducible genes and do not grow in a low-CO2 environment. Two of the genes under the control of Cia5, Ccp1 and Ccp2, encode polypeptides that are localized to the chloroplast envelope and have a high degree of similarity to members of the mitochondrial carrier family of proteins. Since their discovery, Ccp1/2 have been candidates for bicarbonate uptake proteins of the chloroplast envelope membrane. In this report, RNA interference was successful in dramatically decreasing the abundance of the mRNAs for Ccp1 and Ccp2. The abundance of the Ccp1 and Ccp2 proteins were also reduced in the RNAi strains. The RNAi strains grew slower than WT in a low-CO2 environment, but did not exhibit a mutant carbon concentrating phenotype as determined by the cells\u27 apparent affinity for dissolved inorganic carbon. Possible explanations of this RNAi phenotype are discussed

UNC-Emory Infant Atlases for Macaque Brain Image Analysis: Postnatal Brain Development through 12 Months

Computational anatomical atlases have shown to be of immense value in neuroimaging as they provide age appropriate reference spaces alongside ancillary anatomical information for automated analysis such as subcortical structural definitions, cortical parcellations or white fiber tract regions. Standard workflows in neuroimaging necessitate such atlases to be appropriately selected for the subject population of interest. This is especially of importance in early postnatal brain development, where rapid changes in brain shape and appearance render neuroimaging workflows sensitive to the appropriate atlas choice. We present here a set of novel computation atlases for structural MRI and Diffusion Tensor Imaging as crucial resource for the analysis of MRI data from non-human primate rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) data in early postnatal brain development. Forty socially-housed infant macaques were scanned longitudinally at ages 2 weeks, 3, 6, and 12 months in order to create cross-sectional structural and DTI atlases via unbiased atlas building at each of these ages. Probabilistic spatial prior definitions for the major tissue classes were trained on each atlas with expert manual segmentations. In this article we present the development and use of these atlases with publicly available tools, as well as the atlases themselves, which are publicly disseminated to the scientific community

Concert recording 2019-10-27

[Track 1]. Now sleeps the crimson petal / Roger Quilter -- [Track 2]. Ideale / Paolo Tosti -- [Track 3]. Intorno all\u27idol mio / Anthony Cesti -- [Track 4]. Chanson triste / Henri Duparc -- [Track 5]. Son tutta duolol / Alessandro Scarlatti -- [Track 6]. Aprile / P. Tosti -- [Track 7]. Ah, love, but a day! / Amy Beach -- [Track 8]. So shall the lute and harp awake from An Oratorio-Judas Maccebaeus / George Frideric Handel -- [Track 9]. Come again / John Dowland -- [Track 10]. Der kuss / Ludwig van Beethoven -- [Track 11]. An Chloe / W. A. Mozart -- [Track 12]. Auf dem Wasser zu singen / Franz Schubert --[Track 13]. Allerseelen / Richard Strauss -- [Track 14]. I never saw another butterfly. II. Yes, that\u27s the way things are ; [Track 15]. III. Birdsong / Lori Laitman -- [Track 16]. Je dis que rien m\u27epouvante from Carmen / Georges Bizet -- [Track 17]. Che gelinda manina from La Boheme / Giacomo Puccini -- [Track 18]. Kristine Mezines, piano Granada / Agustin Lara -- [Track 19]. My name from Eve-Song / Jake Heggie -- [Track 20]. Do not go, my love / Richard Hageman

A Genome-wide RNA Interference Screen Reveals that Variant Histones Are Necessary for Replication-Dependent Histone Pre-mRNA Processing

Metazoan replication-dependent histone mRNAs are not polyadenylated and instead end in a conserved stem loop that is the cis element responsible for coordinate posttranscriptional regulation of these mRNAs. Using biochemical approaches, only a limited number of factors required for cleavage of histone pre-mRNA have been identified. We therefore performed a genome-wide RNA interference screen in Drosophila cells using a GFP reporter that is expressed only when histone pre-mRNA processing is disrupted. Four of the 24 genes identified encode proteins also necessary for cleavage/polyadenylation, indicating mechanistic conservation in formation of different mRNA 3' ends. We also unexpectedly identified the histone variants H2Av and H3.3A/B. In H2Av mutant cells, U7 snRNP remains active but fails to accumulate at the histone locus, suggesting there is a regulatory pathway that coordinates the production of variant and canonical histones that acts via localization of essential histone pre-mRNA processing factors