Racial Ethnic Equality in Child Well-Being from 1985-2004: Gaps Narrowing, but Persist

Analyzes changes in safety/behavioral concerns, family economic well-being, health, community connectedness, educational attainment, social relationships, and emotional/spiritual well-being by race and ethnicity. Tracks disparities between groups

Children in Immigrant Families - The U.S. and 50 States: Economic Need Beyond the Official Poverty Measure

Analyzes gaps between child poverty rates in immigrant families and native-born families based on two alternative measures that take into account the costs of housing, food, other basic necessities, transportation, taxes, child care, and early education

Children in Immigrant Families -- The U.S. and 50 States: National Origins, Language, and Early Education

Draws on new results of U.S. Census 2000 data to focus on children in immigrant families, highlighting the proportion, dispersion, national origins, language, and early education of children in newcomer families nationwide and in various states

Characterising in vivo cardiac function in the rat following supplementation of human dietary achievable fish oil doses

Background: Regular fish consumption is consistently associated with a range of health benefits, particularly cardiovascular related. In excitable tissue such as skeletal and cardiac muscle, fish or fish oil (FO) intake increases membrane phospholipid concentration of long chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC n-3 PUFA), especially docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Of physiological consequence, skeletal muscle and cardiac function has been demonstrated to be modified, even during episodes of hypoxia/ischaemia. There is evidence that shows variation in the patterns by which DHA phospholipid incorporation occurs according to tissue type. However, little is known about whether incorporation of DHA is associated with specific physiological properties unique to the tissue. In addition, it is not known if physiological effects can be attributed to the supplementation of FO doses achievable within a typical Westernstyle human diet (high SFA and n-6 PUFA). Some physiological effects have been reported in skeletal muscle using human dietary achievable FO doses. The physiological effects demonstrated within the myocardium and pacemaker regions of the heart are postulated to underpin the cardiovascular health benefits of regular fish intake observed at a population level. However, previous studies have relied upon FO doses well above what could be achieved in the habitual human diet. This research therefore aimed, firstly, to characterise patterns of phospholipid DHA incorporation throughout muscle types with unique physiological properties, including ventricular myocardium, following supplementation of FO doses achievable within a typical Western-style human diet. Secondly, it aimed to relate ventricular myocardial phospholipid DHA concentrations to cardiac physiology at rest; and during ischaemia and reperfusion; that may explain the cardiovascular health benefits associated with regular fish consumption in humans

Using Stable Isotope Analyses to Assess the Trophic Ecology of Scleractinian Corals

Studies on the trophic ecology of scleractinian corals often include stable isotope analyses of tissue and symbiont carbon and nitrogen. These approaches have provided critical insights into the trophic sources and sinks that are essential to understanding larger-scale carbon and nitrogen budgets on coral reefs. While stable isotopes have identified most shallow water (\u3c30 m) corals as mixotrophic, with variable dependencies on autotrophic versus heterotrophic resources, corals in the mesophotic zone (~30–150 m) transition to heterotrophy with increasing depth because of decreased photosynthetic productivity. Recently, these interpretations of the stable isotope data to distinguish between autotrophy and heterotrophy have been criticized because they are confounded by increased nutrients, reverse translocation of photosynthate, and changes in irradiance that do not influence photosynthate translocation. Here we critically examine the studies that support these criticisms and show that they are contextually not relevant to interpreting the transition to heterotrophy in corals from shallow to mesophotic depths. Additionally, new data and a re-analysis of previously published data show that additional information (e.g., skeletal isotopic analysis) improves the interpretation of bulk stable isotope data in determining when a transition from primary dependence on autotrophy to heterotrophy occurs in scleractinian corals

Islands in the mud: The South Texas banks provide crucial mesophotic habitat for coral communities

On the continental shelf off the coast of South Texas lie a series of natural hard-bottom structures (rocky outcrops and relic coral-algal reefs) known as the South Texas Banks (STB), which provide critical habitat for benthic organisms and pelagic fish. The depth of the banks, a persistent nepheloid layer, and strong currents have resulted in few studies that provide quantitative biodiversity data on the STB. Using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), video surveys were conducted to quantitatively describe the mesophotic coral communities and assess habitat suitability of five STB: North Hospital, Hospital, Southern, Big Adam, and Mysterious Banks. Each of these STB have significantly different benthic communites, with coral communities composed primarily of antipatharians and octocorals. Big Adam Bank had the lowest biodiversity and the least coral cover. Mysterious Bank had abundant antipatharians, specifically Stichopathes spp., but low biodiversity overall. Hospital Bank had low coral diversity that was offset by high diversity in sponges and other invertebrate species. North Hospital and Southern Banks had abundant and diverse populations of coral species, including scleractinians, and other benthic invertebrates. These data indicate that the STB are crucial islands of biodiversity in an area with few suitable areas for coral reef species. In addition, predictive modelling of habitat suitability provided valuable estimates on the potential distribution of key benthic community members, such as scleractinians and antipatharians, throughout the entire areas of the five banks assessed

Growth and feeding in the sponge Agelas tubulata from shallow to mesophotic depths on Grand Cayman Island

On Caribbean coral reefs, sponges are important members of the benthic community and play multiple roles in ecosystem structure and function. They have an important role in benthic-pelagic coupling, consuming particulate organic matter (POM) and dissolved organic matter (DOM) and in turn providing food in the form of sponge biomass or the release of detritus for a variety of coral reef organisms. Throughout the Caribbean, sponges show consistent increases in their abundance and growth rates as depth increases into the mesophotic zone (30–150 m). This has been hypothesized to be driven by bottom-up forces, particularly the increased supply of nitrogen-rich POM in mesophotic coral reef ecosystems (MCEs). Here, we tested the hypothesis that the sponge, Agelas tubulata, exhibits increased growth rates on MCEs relative to shallow reefs on Grand Cayman Island and that this is driven by bottom-up forcing. We observed increased growth rates in mesophotic A. tubulata, compared with shallow conspecifics, despite variability in feeding on both POM and DOM. Mesophotic sponges, however, were consistently exposed to greater amounts of POM, which was seasonally variable unlike DOM. Changes in stable isotopic signatures, and higher feeding rates with increasing depth, were consistent with increasing rates of growth in sponges as depth increases. These observations support the hypothesis that mesophotic sponges have higher growth rates due to increased POM availability and consumption over time. The results of this study illustrate the crucial role that bottom-up forcing has in the structuring of sponge communities on both shallow and mesophotic Caribbean coral reefs and the importance of POM as a source of nitrogen in sponge diets

Targeting endogenous proteins for degradation through the affinity-directed protein missile system

Targeted proteolysis of endogenous proteins is desirable as a research toolkit and in therapeutics. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene knockouts are irreversible and often not feasible for many genes. Similarly, RNA interference approaches necessitate prolonged treatments, can lead to incomplete knockdowns and are often associated with off-target effects. Targeted proteolysis can overcome these limitations. In this report, we describe an affinity-directed protein missile (AdPROM) system that harbours the von Hippel–Lindau (VHL) protein, the substrate receptor of the Cullin2 (CUL2) E3 ligase complex, tethered to polypeptide binders that selectively bind and recruit endogenous target proteins to the CUL2-E3 ligase complex for ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation. By using synthetic monobodies that selectively bind the protein tyrosine phosphatase SHP2 and a camelid-derived VHH nanobody that selectively binds the human ASC protein, we demonstrate highly efficient AdPROM-mediated degradation of endogenous SHP2 and ASC in human cell lines. We show that AdPROM-mediated loss of SHP2 in cells impacts SHP2 biology. This study demonstrates for the first time that small polypeptide binders that selectively recognize endogenous target proteins can be exploited for AdPROM-mediated destruction of the target proteins.</jats:p