Zero Waste Patternmaking in the Classroom: Creative Approaches to Teaching Sustainable Design

The global apparel industry produces abundant waste and pollution during the processes intrinsic to each stage of the product life cycle. Fashion and apparel academic programs provide a unique opportunity to inform and supply fashion undergraduate students with the necessary skills and creative problem solving approaches to reducing the negative environmental impact of current apparel production processes

Visual Characterizations of “Gowns by Adrian”: Documentation of the Costume Design Aesthetic of Gilbert Adrian, 1928-1941

Gilbert Adrian was one of the many American fashion designers who came to prominence during World War II. Adrian took this opportunity to assert a distinctive American style, which represented the unique qualities and practical needs of American women. Adrian designs were often referred to in the media as “The American Look.” This look was based on a broad-shouldered silhouette often employed by the designer. He is credited with originating and popularizing this broad-shouldered silhouette, a.k.a. the “coat hanger” silhouette

Profiles of recruits entering army basic training in new zealand

Introduction A high incidence of musculoskeletal injuries is sustained by army recruits during basic training. Describing recruits’ personal, lifestyle, and physical performance characteristics at the entry to training can help identify existing intrinsic risk factors that may predispose some recruits to injury. Identifying modifiable and preventable intrinsic risk factors may contribute to lower recruit injury and associated burdens during the course of basic training. The aim of this study was to therefore describe the profile of New Zealand Army recruits upon entry to basic training using personal, lifestyle, and physical performance characteristics. Methods New Zealand Army male and female recruits from two intakes in the same year were invited to participate. Recruits’ data on personal (sex, age, height, and weight), lifestyle (self-reported responses to the Military Pre-training Questionnaire comprising physical and injury history, diet, alcohol, and smoking status) and physical performance characteristics (2.4-km timed run, weight-bearing dorsiflexion lunge test, and the Y Balance TestTM for lower limb dynamic stability) were collected and analyzed. Results Participants included 248 New Zealand Army recruits: 228 males (91.9%), 20 females (8.1%), average age of 20.3 ± 2.8 years. Findings indicated 30.9% of recruits reported injury in the 12 months prior to training commencing, with 44.8% of those injuries in the lower limbs. Pre-entry alcohol consumption was higher than recommended and 20.1% of recruits identified as current smokers. Recruits who passed the 2.4-km timed run included 53.8% of males and 28.6% of females. Weight-bearing dorsiflexion lunge test performance was within a normal range (right = 10.3 ± 3.3 cm), however limb asymmetry (>1.5 cm) was present with 30.9% of recruits. For the Y Balance TestTM for dynamic lower limb stability, 70% of female recruits had high posterolateral reach asymmetry (8.1 ± 6.0 cm), while normalized composite reach scores were low (right) for male (92.2 ± 8.1%) and female recruits (89.0 ± 7.5%). Conclusions New Zealand Army recruits entering basic training were predominantly active young males, reported few injuries in the previous year, had higher than recommended alcohol consumption and a minority were smokers. The majority of recruits had low aerobic fitness, average ankle dorsiflexion range, and low dynamic lower limb stability. While a number of adverse characteristics identified are potentially modifiable, more research is required to identify an association to musculoskeletal injury risk in New Zealand Army recruits. Describing the profile of recruits entering training, particularly recruits at risk of injury is one of the first steps in injury prevention

Two major tyrosine protein kinases of resting human T lymphocytes are down-regulated following mitotic stimulation

AbstractHuman lymphocyte tyrosine protein kinases (TPKs) have been analyzed by gel-filtration chromatography. The major TPK species with activity towards an exogenous tyrosine-containing peptide had molecular masses of 70–100 kDa (TPK I) and 35–40 kDa (TPK II). TPKs I and II were distinct from the well-characterized autophosphorylating lymphoid cell TPK, pp56lck [(1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258, 10738–107421]. Both TPK I and TPK II were down-regulated following mitogenic stimulation of lymphocytes with phytohae-magglutinin. By contrast, pp56lck remained clearly detectable in stimulated lymphocytes. We suggest that TPKs I and II may play a role in the regulation of the lymphocyte cell cycle

The pathogenic mechanism of the Mycobacterium ulcerans virulence factor, mycolactone, depends on blockade of protein translocation into the ER.

Infection with Mycobacterium ulcerans is characterised by tissue necrosis and immunosuppression due to mycolactone, the necessary and sufficient virulence factor for Buruli ulcer disease pathology. Many of its effects are known to involve down-regulation of specific proteins implicated in important cellular processes, such as immune responses and cell adhesion. We have previously shown mycolactone completely blocks the production of LPS-dependent proinflammatory mediators post-transcriptionally. Using polysome profiling we now demonstrate conclusively that mycolactone does not prevent translation of TNF, IL-6 and Cox-2 mRNAs in macrophages. Instead, it inhibits the production of these, along with nearly all other (induced and constitutive) proteins that transit through the ER. This is due to a blockade of protein translocation and subsequent degradation of aberrantly located protein. Several lines of evidence support this transformative explanation of mycolactone function. First, cellular TNF and Cox-2 can be once more detected if the action of the 26S proteasome is inhibited concurrently. Second, restored protein is found in the cytosol, indicating an inability to translocate. Third, in vitro translation assays show mycolactone prevents the translocation of TNF and other proteins into the ER. This is specific as the insertion of tail-anchored proteins into the ER is unaffected showing that the ER remains structurally intact. Fourth, metabolic labelling reveals a near-complete loss of glycosylated and secreted proteins from treated cells, whereas cytosolic proteins are unaffected. Notably, the profound lack of glycosylated and secreted protein production is apparent in a range of different disease-relevant cell types. These studies provide a new mechanism underlying mycolactone's observed pathological activities both in vitro and in vivo. Mycolactone-dependent inhibition of protein translocation into the ER not only explains the deficit of innate cytokines, but also the loss of membrane receptors, adhesion molecules and T-cell cytokines that drive the aetiology of Buruli ulcer

Opportunity and risk in social computing environments

This report discusses the main findings of a pilot study that set out to establish the main risks and opportunities of the adoption of social computing tools within organizations for collaborative work purposes as perceived by information and knowledge management professionals. The output of the research project reveals that thebusiness environment is in a period of evolution with regards to information infrastructures and, as a consequence, levels of adoption of social computing tools vary from organization to organization. Although notall participants in the study currently have access to these tools in the workplace, they are largely enthusiastic about their potential, particularly with regards to how they may improve knowledge and information sharing in support of collaborative work. Of the available tools, wikis are regarded as the most important. The greatestorganizational risks associated with these tools, as perceived by study participants, relate to how they are integrated into the business. Partial/non-adoption or poor implementation raise most fears. Means of maintaining easy access to information resources and information governance issues are also a concern. A number of training needs have been identified, ranging from the requirement for individuals to become familiar with social computing tools at a basic introductory level, to provision that will allow knowledge and information professionals to influence how implementations are managed

Inhibition of Sec61-dependent translocation by mycolactone uncouples the integrated stress response from ER stress, driving cytotoxicity via translational activation of ATF4

Mycolactone is the exotoxin virulence factor of Mycobacterium ulcerans that causes the neglected tropical disease Buruli ulcer. We recently showed it to be a broad spectrum inhibitor of Sec61-dependent co-translational translocation of proteins into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). An outstanding question is the molecular pathway linking this to its known cytotoxicity. We have now used translational profiling to better understand the reprogramming that occurs in cells exposed to mycolactone. Gene ontology identified enrichment in genes involved in cellular response to stress, and apoptosis signalling among those showing enhanced translation. Validation of these results supports a mechanism by which mycolactone activates an integrated stress response meditated by phosphorylation of eIF2α via multiple kinases (PERK, GCN, PKR) without activation of the ER stress sensors IRE1 or ATF6. The response therefore uncouples the integrated stress response from ER stress, and features translational and transcriptional modes of genes expression that feature the key regulatory transcription factor ATF4. Emphasising the importance of this uncoupled response in cytotoxicity, downstream activation of this pathway is abolished in cells expressing mycolactone-resistant Sec61α variants. Using multiple genetic and biochemical approaches, we demonstrate that eIF2α phosphorylation is responsible for mycolactone-dependent translation attenuation, which initially protects cells from cell death. However, chronic activation without stress remediation enhances autophagy and apoptosis of cells by a pathway facilitated by ATF4 and CHOP. Our findings demonstrate that priming events at the ER can result in the sensing of stress within different cellular compartments

The impact of past introductions on an iconic and economically important species, the red deer of Scotland

The red deer (Cervus elaphus) is an iconic species in Scotland and, due to its value as a game species, an important element of the Scottish rural economy. The native status of this species is sometimes questioned because of many recorded introductions of nonnative deer in the past that were an attempt to improve trophy size. In this study, we assessed the impact of past introductions on the genetic makeup of Scottish red deer by genotyping at 15 microsatellite loci a large number of samples (n = 1152), including mainland and island Scottish red deer and individuals from several putative external source populations used in introductions to improve trophy size. Population structure and introgression assessment analyses revealed that the impact of introductions was weak in Highland red deer populations but more prominent on the islands, especially on those where current red deer populations are mostly or entirely derived from introductions (Harris & Lewis, Arran, and Rum). Frequent imports of Central-Eastern European red deer into English deer parks were reflected in the higher genetic introgression values found in some of the individuals collected in parks

TbSAP is a novel chromatin protein repressing metacyclic variant surface glycoprotein expression sites in bloodstream form Trypanosoma brucei

The African trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei is a unicellular eukaryote, which relies on a protective variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) coat for survival in the mammalian host. A single trypanosome has >2000 VSG genes and pseudogenes of which only one is expressed from one of ∼15 telomeric bloodstream form expression sites (BESs). Infectious metacyclic trypanosomes present within the tsetse fly vector also express VSG from a separate set of telomeric metacyclic ESs (MESs). All MESs are silenced in bloodstream form T. brucei. As very little is known about how this is mediated, we performed a whole genome RNAi library screen to identify MES repressors. This allowed us to identify a novel SAP domain containing DNA binding protein which we called TbSAP. TbSAP is enriched at the nuclear periphery and binds both MESs and BESs. Knockdown of TbSAP in bloodstream form trypanosomes did not result in cells becoming more 'metacyclic-like'. Instead, there was extensive global upregulation of transcripts including MES VSGs, VSGs within the silent VSG arrays as well as genes immediately downstream of BES promoters. TbSAP therefore appears to be a novel chromatin protein playing an important role in silencing the extensive VSG repertoire of bloodstream form T. brucei