Adjustable Shelving Unit for Home Beer Brewing

The purpose of this report is to show the design, build, and test process for a portable beer brewing rack. The rack is designed to be compact, yet still be able to hold all of the necessary components for brewing: two 15-gallon insulated kettles, two gas burners, and an instant hot water heating system. These components can be supported in any configuration at multiple height intervals on the center tree during the brewing process. The rack is designed to be resistant to tipping over when brewing while requiring less than two square feet of floor space when stored. This report shows the design of the center tree and mounting system, the legs and hinges, and the burner and associated racks. Stress and bending calculations are shown for these components as well as the mounting pins, burner rings, and foot locking pins. This report discusses design and manufacturing issues of the above parts and the timeline for creating the whole system. The center tree, burner racks, and feet were all successful in their design size and length. The manufacturing method used was inefficient in scheduling, the original and improved timeline are discussed in this report. The original and redesigned hinges and burner rings are also discussed. This report covers the design, build, and testing process/timeline; the budget and itemized costs of the system; and the limitations/abilities of the rack

Climate change, resource depletion and population growth: the elephant in the room

Following the COP22 talks in Marrakesh, Alexander Krauss and Thomas Kastning, argue that politicians are ignoring the solution with the largest potential to mitigate climate change: slowing population growth

Corticosterone Alters AMPAR Mobility and Facilitates Bidirectional Synaptic Plasticity

Background: The stress hormone corticosterone has the ability both to enhance and suppress synaptic plasticity and learning and memory processes. However, until today there is very little known about the molecular mechanism that underlies the bidirectional effects of stress and corticosteroid hormones on synaptic efficacy and learning and memory processes. In this study we investigate the relationship between corticosterone and AMPA receptors which play a critical role in activity-dependent plasticity and hippocampal-dependent learning. Methodology/Principal Findings: Using immunocytochemistry and live cell imaging techniques we show that corticosterone selectively increases surface expression of the AMPAR subunit GluR2 in primary hippocampal cultures via a glucocorticoid receptor and protein synthesis dependent mechanism. In agreement, we report that corticosterone also dramatically increases the fraction of surface expressed GluR2 that undergo lateral diffusion. Furthermore, our data indicate that corticosterone facilitates NMDAR-invoked endocytosis of both synaptic and extra-synaptic GluR2 under conditions that weaken synaptic transmission. Conclusion/Significance: Our results reveal that corticosterone increases mobile GluR2 containing AMPARs. The enhanced lateral diffusion properties can both facilitate the recruitment of AMPARs but under appropriate conditions facilitate the loss of synaptic AMPARs (LTD). These actions may underlie both the facilitating and suppressive effects of corticosteroid hormones on synaptic plasticity and learning and memory and suggest that these hormones accentuate synaptic efficacy

Disruption of AP1S1, Causing a Novel Neurocutaneous Syndrome, Perturbs Development of the Skin and Spinal Cord

Adaptor protein (AP) complexes regulate clathrin-coated vesicle assembly, protein cargo sorting, and vesicular trafficking between organelles in eukaryotic cells. Because disruption of the various subunits of the AP complexes is embryonic lethal in the majority of cases, characterization of their function in vivo is still lacking. Here, we describe the first mutation in the human AP1S1 gene, encoding the small subunit σ1A of the AP-1 complex. This founder splice mutation, which leads to a premature stop codon, was found in four families with a unique syndrome characterized by mental retardation, enteropathy, deafness, peripheral neuropathy, ichthyosis, and keratodermia (MEDNIK). To validate the pathogenic effect of the mutation, we knocked down Ap1s1 expression in zebrafish using selective antisens morpholino oligonucleotides (AMO). The knockdown phenotype consisted of perturbation in skin formation, reduced pigmentation, and severe motility deficits due to impaired neural network development. Both neural and skin defects were rescued by co-injection of AMO with wild-type (WT) human AP1S1 mRNA, but not by co-injecting the truncated form of AP1S1, consistent with a loss-of-function effect of this mutation. Together, these results confirm AP1S1 as the gene responsible for MEDNIK syndrome and demonstrate a critical role of AP1S1 in development of the skin and spinal cord

Transcriptome Analysis of Synaptoneurosomes Identifies Neuroplasticity Genes Overexpressed in Incipient Alzheimer's Disease

In Alzheimer's disease (AD), early deficits in learning and memory are a consequence of synaptic modification induced by toxic beta-amyloid oligomers (oAβ). To identify immediate molecular targets downstream of oAβ binding, we prepared synaptoneurosomes from prefrontal cortex of control and incipient AD (IAD) patients, and isolated mRNAs for comparison of gene expression. This novel approach concentrates synaptic mRNA, thereby increasing the ratio of synaptic to somal mRNA and allowing discrimination of expression changes in synaptically localized genes. In IAD patients, global measures of cognition declined with increasing levels of dimeric Aβ (dAβ). These patients also showed increased expression of neuroplasticity related genes, many encoding 3′UTR consensus sequences that regulate translation in the synapse. An increase in mRNA encoding the GluR2 subunit of the α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid receptor (AMPAR) was paralleled by elevated expression of the corresponding protein in IAD. These results imply a functional impact on synaptic transmission as GluR2, if inserted, maintains the receptors in a low conductance state. Some overexpressed genes may induce early deficits in cognition and others compensatory mechanisms, providing targets for intervention to moderate the response to dAβ

Studies of the Appalachian Karst: 1770 – Present

The Appalachian region, extending from New England to Alabama, includes one of the most extensive regions of karst in the United States. It is a complex geologic terrain and has been studied for nearly 250 years. The history of karst study in the region is organized into eight frames of time: (1) Early American Notes and Records, (2) Age of Curiosity, (3) Exploration and Early Tourism, (4) Birth of Modern U.S. Speleology, (5) Landmark Speleogenetic Studies, (6) Organized Caving and Science, (7) Speleological Inflation, and (8) Applied and Environmental Science. Karst science has progressed from merely descriptive accounts to detailed scientific study. The beginnings of cave exploration, cave tourism, and development of organized speleology is rooted in this region. Environmental issues regarding karst in the Appalachians have intensified in recent decades, making the understanding of karst processes and historic perspective much more important