Deep Ecology in Action: A Cross-Cultural Series of Case Studies on the Conservation Efforts of Monks and Religious Leaders in India, Mongolia, and Thailand

Deep ecology is a relatively new branch of study which combines different fields of knowledge such as philosophy, religion, and sociology, on the one hand, with environmental studies, on the other. The basic premise of deep ecology is the interconnectedness of all life and consequently, a concern for the ecological well-being of our planet, which is increasingly threatened by the impact of modern human lifestyles. Recently, there has been a lot of recent attention given to deep ecology movements in Asia. However, these studies often lack the interdisciplinary background in science necessary to assess a real ecological impact. This study is based on a series of case studies was conducted in India, Mongolia, and Thailand across a variety of faiths and locations. By investigating specific cases across cultures and religions and drawing comparisons between the impacts of minority religions and majority religions, the true environmental potential and value of deep ecology movements is analyzed

The Interplay of Biomechanics, Tissue Polarity and Collective Migration as it Contributes to Early Heart Organogenesis

In early heart development, bilateral fields of heart progenitor cells (HPCs) undergo a large-scale movement from the anterior lateral plate mesoderm to merge on the ventral midline, undergoing a mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET) halfway through this process. While the heart is the first functioning organs in the developing embryo, a comprehensive model for early heart development that integrates both physical mechanisms and molecular signaling pathways remains elusive. Here, we utilize Xenopus embryos to investigate the role of mechanical cues in driving MET in HPCs and show how dysregulation of these cues can cause congenital heart defects (CHDs). Small molecule inhibitor treatments targeting actomyosin contractility reveal a temporally specific requirement of bulk tissue compliance to regulate heart development and MET. Through tracking of tissue level deformations in the heart forming region (HFR) as well as movement trajectories and traction generation of individual HPCs, we find the onset of MET correlates with a peak in mechanical stress within the HFR and changes in HPC migratory behaviors. Targeting mutant constructs to modulate contractility and compliance in the underlying endoderm, we find MET in HPCs can be accelerated in response to microenvironmental stiffening and can be inhibited by softening. To test whether MET in HPCs is responsive to purely physical mechanical cues, we mimicked a high stress state by injecting an inert oil droplet to generate high strain in the HFR, demonstrating that exogenously applied stress is sufficient to drive MET. MET-induced defects in anatomy result in defined functional lesions in the larval heart and furthermore, when we recreate a clinically-relevant CHD phenotype through overexpression of a Noonan Syndrome-associated mutant protein, we find it leads to abnormal MET in HPCs due to a decoupling of force transmission and mechanosensory pathways. From this integrated analysis of HPC polarity and mechanics, we propose that normal heart development requires HPCs to undergo a critical behavioral and phenotypic transition on their way to the ventral midline and that this transition is driven in response to the changing mechanical properties of their endoderm substrate. We conclude that the etiology underlying many CHDs may involve errors in mechanical signaling and MET

Prospectus, October 21, 1991

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1991/1015/thumbnail.jp

Prospectus, October 7, 1991

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1991/1014/thumbnail.jp

The Effector Domain of MARCKS Is a Nuclear Localization Signal that Regulates Cellular PIP2 Levels and Nuclear PIP2 Localization

Translocation to the nucleus of diacylglycerol kinase (DGK)– ζ is dependent on a sequence homologous to the effector domain of Myristoylated Alanine Rich C-Kinase Substrate (MARCKS). These data would suggest that MARCKS could also localize to the nucleus. A single report demonstrated immunofluorescence staining of MARCKS in the nucleus; however, further experimental evidence confirming the specific domain responsible for this localization has not been reported. Here, we report that MARCKS is present in the nucleus in GBM cell lines. We then over-expressed wild-type MARCKS (WT) and MARCKS with the effector domain deleted (ΔED), both tagged with V5-epitope in a GBM cell line with low endogenous MARCKS expression (U87). We found that MARCKS-WT localized to the nucleus, while the MARCKS construct without the effector domain remained in the cytoplasm. We also found that over-expression of MARCKS-WT resulted in a significant increase in total cellular phosphatidyl-inositol (4,5) bisphosphate (PIP2) levels, consistent with prior evidence that MARCKS can regulate PIP2 levels. We also found increased staining for PIP2 in the nucleus with MARCKS-WT over-expression compared to MARCKS ΔED by immunofluorescence. Interestingly, we observed MARCKS and PIP2 co-localization in the nucleus. Lastly, we found changes in gene expression when MARCKS was not present in the nucleus (MARCKS ΔED). These data indicate that the MARCKS effector domain can function as a nuclear localization signal and that this sequence is critical for the ability of MARCKS to regulate PIP2 levels, nuclear localization, and gene expression. These data suggests a novel role for MARCKS in regulating nuclear functions such as gene expression

Prospectus, September 23, 1991

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1991/1013/thumbnail.jp

Prospectus, December 9, 1991

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1991/1018/thumbnail.jp

Assessment of bladder filling during prostate cancer radiation therapy with ultrasound and cone-beam CT

Prostate cancer patients undergoing external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) benefit from a full bladder to decrease bowel and bladder toxicity. Ultrasound may offer a proxy metric for evaluation, sparing CBCT dosing. Patients were prospectively enrolled pre-simulation from January 2017 to February 2018. Bladder volume was evaluated prior to RT using US daily and CBCT for three daily treatments and then weekly unless otherwise indicated. 29 patients completed median 40 days of RT, resulting in 478 CBCT and 1,099 US bladder volumes. 21 patients were treated to intact glands and 8 to the post-prostatectomy bed. Median patient age was 70 years. Bladder volume on CBCT and US positively correlated (r = 0.85), with average bladder volume for all patients of 162 mL versus 149 mL, respectively. Bladder volume during treatment was consistently lower than the volume at CT simulation (153 mL vs 194 mL, p<0.01) and progressively declined during treatment. Patients older than 70 years presented with lower average bladder volumes than those < 70 years (122 mL vs 208 mL, respectively, p<0.01). Patients with the highest agreement between CBCT and US (<10% variability) had higher average bladder volumes (192 mL vs 120 mL, p=0.01). US was found to be an accurate measure of bladder volume and may be used to monitor daily bladder volumes in patients being treated with radiation for prostate cancer