Children, Sports, and Family Dynamics: Are We Having Fun Yet?

The involvement of children in sports is rarely an individual endeavor and can positively and /or negatively affect the entire family system to varying degrees. However, little has been written about how children’s participation in sports impact family dynamics. In working toward filling this void, this paper elaborates on several themes that can emerge when children participate in school or community sports. The themes that will be discussed in this paper include: parent/coach/child triangulation, parent coach-parent conflict, performing a dual role, the family all-star, time, financial commitment, and differing parental perspectives. Based on informal observations and discussions with children, parents, and coaches who are involved in a variety of sports, this paper uses case vignettes to augment the discussion

How did the guppy Y chromosome evolve?

The sex chromosome pairs of many species do not undergo genetic recombination, unlike the autosomes. It has been proposed that the suppressed recombination results from natural selection favouring close linkage between sex-determining genes and mutations on this chromosome with advantages in one sex, but disadvantages in the other (these are called sexually antagonistic mutations). No example of such selection leading to suppressed recombination has been described, but populations of the guppy display sexually antagonistic mutations (affecting male coloration), and would be expected to evolve suppressed recombination. In extant close relatives of the guppy, the Y chromosomes have suppressed recombination, and have lost all the genes present on the X (this is called genetic degeneration). However, the guppy Y occasionally recombines with its X, despite carrying sexually antagonistic mutations. We describe evidence that a new Y evolved recently in the guppy, from an X chromosome like that in these relatives, replacing the old, degenerated Y, and explaining why the guppy pair still recombine. The male coloration factors probably arose after the new Y evolved, and have already evolved expression that is confined to males, a different way to avoid the conflict between the sexes

PromethION sequencing and assembly of the genome of Micropoecilia picta, a fish with a highly Degenerated Y chromosome

We here describe sequencing and assembly of both the autosomes and the sex chromosome in Micropoecilia picta, the closest related species to the guppy, Poecilia reticulata. Poecilia (Micropoecilia) picta is a close outgroup for studying the guppy, an important organism for studies in evolutionary ecology and in sex chromosome evolution. The guppy XY pair (LG12) has long been studied as a test case for the importance of sexually antagonistic variants in selection for suppressed recombination between Y and X chromosomes. The guppy Y chromosome is not degenerated, but appears to carry functional copies of all genes that are present on its X counterpart. The X chromosomes of M. picta (and its relative Micropoecilia parae) are homologous to the guppy XY pair, but their Y chromosomes are highly degenerated, and no genes can be identified in the fully Y-linked region. A complete genome sequence of a M. picta male may therefore contribute to understanding how the guppy Y evolved. These fish species’ genomes are estimated to be about 750 Mb, with high densities of repetitive sequences, suggesting that long-read sequencing is needed. We evaluated several assembly approaches, and used our results to investigate the extent of Y chromosome degeneration in this species

A Landsat-Based Assessment of Mobile Bay Land Use and Land Cover Change from 1974 to 2008

The Mobile Bay region has experienced noteworthy land use and land cover (LULC) change in the latter half of the 20th century. Accompanying this change has been urban expansion and a reduction of rural land uses. Much of this LULC change has reportedly occurred since the landfall of Hurricane Frederic in 1979. The Mobile Bay region provides great economic and ecologic benefits to the Nation, including important coastal habitat for a broad diversity of fisheries and wildlife. Regional urbanization threatens the estuary s water quality and aquatic-habitat dependent biota, including commercial fisheries and avian wildlife. Coastal conservation and urban land use planners require additional information on historical LULC change to support coastal habitat restoration and resiliency management efforts. This presentation discusses results of a Gulf of Mexico Application Pilot project that was conducted in 2008 to quantify and assess LULC change from 1974 to 2008. This project was led by NASA Stennis Space Center and involved multiple Gulf of Mexico Alliance (GOMA) partners, including the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program (NEP), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration s (NOAA s) National Coastal Data Development Center (NCDDC), and the NOAA Coastal Services Center. Nine Landsat images were employed to compute LULC products because of their availability and suitability for the application. The project also used Landsat-based national LULC products, including coastal LULC products from NOAA s Coastal Change & Analysis Program (C-CAP), available at 5-year intervals since 1995. Our study was initiated in part because C-CAP LULC products were not available to assess the region s urbanization prior to 1995 and subsequent to post Hurricane Katrina in 2006. This project assessed LULC change across the 34-year time frame and at decadal and middecadal scales. The study area included the majority of Mobile and Baldwin counties that encompass Mobile Bay. In doing so, each date of Landsat data was classified using an end-user defined modified Anderson level 1 classification scheme. LULC classifications were refined using a decision rule approach in conjunction with available C-CAP products. Individual dates of LULC classifications were validated by image interpretation of stratified random locations on raw Landsat color composite imagery in combination with higher resolution remote sensing and in-situ reference data. The results indicate that during the 34-year study period, urban areas increased from 96,688 to 150,227 acres, representing a 55.37% increase, or 1.63% per annum. Most of the identified urban expansion results from conversion of rural forest and agriculture to urban cover types. Final LULC mapping and metadata products were produced for the entire study area as well as watersheds of concern within the study area. Final project products, including LULC trend information, were incorporated into the Mobile Bay NEP State of the Bay report. Products and metadata were transferred to NOAA NCDDC to allow free online accessibility and use by GOMA partners and by the public

Microbes as engines of ecosystem function : When does community structure enhance predictions of ecosystem processes?

FUNDING This work was supported by NSF grant DEB-1221215 to DN, as well as grants supporting the generation of our datasets as acknowledged in their original publications and in Supplementary Table S1. ACKNOWLEDGMENT We thank the USGS Powell Center ‘Next Generation Microbes’ working group, anonymous reviews, Brett Melbourne, and Alan Townsend for valuable feedback on this project.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Sodium bicarbonate to improve physical function in patients over 60 years with advanced chronic kidney disease:the BiCARB RCT

Acknowledgements: We would like to acknowledge the support received from the NHS Scotland Support for Science scheme and the NIHR Renal and Ageing Comprehensive Research Networks; the work of all the investigators, research nurses and study teams at the different sites and the Tayside CTU staff; and, most importantly, all those with kidney disease who participated in the trial. In addition, we acknowledge the support and advice that we received from the independent TSC members (Professor David Stott, Professor Patrick Mark, Professor Tahir Masud and Mr Alex Stephen) and the independent DMC members (Professor Alex McConnachie, Professor David Wheeler, Dr Nicosha de Souza and Dr Andrew Clegg). Professor Marion McMurdo and Dr Simon Ogston were co-applicants on the original proposal, but demitted from the project on retirement and were not involved in the creation of this report. Trial registration: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN09486651 and EudraCT 2011-005271-16. The systematic review is registered as PROSPERO CRD42018112908. Funding: This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 24, No. 27. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Bioengineered small extracellular vesicles deliver multiple SARS‐CoV‐2 antigenic fragments and drive a broad immunological response

The COVID‐19 pandemic highlighted the clear risk that zoonotic viruses pose to global health and economies. The scientific community responded by developing several efficacious vaccines which were expedited by the global need for vaccines. The emergence of SARS‐CoV‐2 breakthrough infections highlights the need for additional vaccine modalities to provide stronger, long‐lived protective immunity. Here we report the design and preclinical testing of small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) as a multi‐subunit vaccine. Cell lines were engineered to produce sEVs containing either the SARS‐CoV‐2 Spike receptor‐binding domain, or an antigenic region from SARS‐CoV‐2 Nucleocapsid, or both in combination, and we tested their ability to evoke immune responses in vitro and in vivo. B cells incubated with bioengineered sEVs were potent activators of antigen‐specific T cell clones. Mice immunised with sEVs containing both sRBD and Nucleocapsid antigens generated sRBD‐specific IgGs, nucleocapsid‐specific IgGs, which neutralised SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. sEV‐based vaccines allow multiple antigens to be delivered simultaneously resulting in potent, broad immunity, and provide a quick, cheap, and reliable method to test vaccine candidates

A prevalência de Lesões Cervicais Não Cariosas (LCNC) em pacientes bruxistas: revisão de literatura integrativa

As lesões cervicais não cariosas (LCNC) caracterizam-se como sendo uma perca gradativa da estrutura dentária sem associação à cárie. O bruxismo é caracterizado como uma parafunção dada por contato não-funcional e há uma maior prevalência dessas lesões em indivíduos bruxistas. Analisar da prevalência de lesões cervicais não cariosas em paciente bruxistas e qual é a relação entre o bruxismo e a ocorrência dessas lesões. Para realização desta revisão de literatura integrativa, foram utilizados 12 artigos publicados nas bases de dados SciELo, LILACS e Google Acadêmico, entre os anos 2018 a 2023, utilizando os descritores “Lesões Cervicais Não cariosas”, “Bruxismo”, “Paciente Bruxista” e suas respectivas traduções para a língua inglesa. A etiologia das LCNC é bastante diversificada tendo forte relação com retração gengival causada por trauma de escovação, hábitos parafuncionais, trauma oclusal, inclusive o bruxismo. É necessário controlar o bruxismo por meio de terapia comportamental, como o uso de placas protetoras, medicação e terapia cognitivo-comportamental. Pacientes bruxistas têm mais probabilidade de manifestarem LCNC. Consultas periódicas e correto planejamento são essenciais para sucesso do tratamento