High resolution time series reveals cohesive but short-lived communities in coastal plankton

© The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 266, doi:10.1038/s41467-017-02571-4.Because microbial plankton in the ocean comprise diverse bacteria, algae, and protists that are subject to environmental forcing on multiple spatial and temporal scales, a fundamental open question is to what extent these organisms form ecologically cohesive communities. Here we show that although all taxa undergo large, near daily fluctuations in abundance, microbial plankton are organized into clearly defined communities whose turnover is rapid and sharp. We analyze a time series of 93 consecutive days of coastal plankton using a technique that allows inference of communities as modular units of interacting taxa by determining positive and negative correlations at different temporal frequencies. This approach shows both coordinated population expansions that demarcate community boundaries and high frequency of positive and negative associations among populations within communities. Our analysis thus highlights that the environmental variability of the coastal ocean is mirrored in sharp transitions of defined but ephemeral communities of organisms.This work was supported by grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation (OCE-1441943) to M.F.P. and the U.S. Department of Energy (DE-SC0008743) to M.F.P. and E.J.A. A.M.M.-P. was partially supported by the Ramon Areces foundation through a postdoctoral fellowship. D.J.M. was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (OCE-1314642) and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (1P01ES021923-01) through the Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health

Health, Nutrition and Healthcare Availability (Survey 2, Report 2)

With support and collaboration from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation through the America Healing initiative, researchers at the University of Michigan are leading the National Voices Project (NVP) from 2011-2015. The central goals of the NVP are to examine the sources of racial/ethnic inequity and other disparities for children in the United States today, identify interventions that address disparities effectively, and inform the public dialogue about racial healing and racial equality. The NVP offers a fresh perspective on community-level opportunities for children throughout the country, in the domains of health and nutrition, education, and economic security -- through the eyes of adults whose work and volunteer efforts affect such opportunities. In other words, the NVP reflects the perceptions of individuals throughout the United States who are in a position to improve children's opportunities in the future. The questionnaire for NVP Survey 2 was developed by the National Voices Project team at the University of Michigan, with input from WKKF collaborators. We examined how individuals who work or volunteer with children view opportunities for education, health and healthcare, and economic well-being related to children and adolescents. Many of the questions were identical to questions fielded for NVP Survey 1 in 2011, to facilitate comparisons of responses across these different samples and over time. New questions in NVP Survey 2 centered on respondents' perceptions of segregation and inequities in the communities they know best, and on respondents' awareness about efforts to bridge racial/ethnic inequities in those communities

Education and Learning Opportunities (NVP 2014, Report 3)

With support and collaboration from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation through the America Healing initiative,  researchers at the University of Michigan are leading the National Voices Project (NVP) from 2011-2016. The central goals of the NVP are to examine the sourcesof racial/ethnic inequity and other disparitiesfor children in the United States today and identify interventions that address disparities effectively.The NVP offers an unprecedented perspective on community-level opportunities for children throughout the country, in the domains of health and nutrition, education and learning, and economic security – through the eyes of adults whose occupations and volunteer work affect such opportunities. In other words, the NVP reflects the perceptions of individuals throughout the United States who are in a position to improve children's opportunities inthe future. We generally use the word "children" throughout the report to describe children from age 0-18 years, unless otherwise noted.Previous reports for NVP 2014 focused chiefly on respondent characteristics and findings regarding health,  healthcare, and nutrition. This report for NVP 2014 will center on findings related to children's education and learning

Opportunities and Barriers Related to Income (Survey 2, Report 4)

Led by researchers at the University of Michigan, the National Voices Project is an effort to bring the perspectives of thousands of people in communities across the United States to the national dialogue about opportunities and barriers for children related to race/ethnicity. The National Voices Project conducts major national surveys twice each yearamong adults who work and volunteer on behalf of children. These surveys focus on racial/ethnic disparities at the community level that affect children?s health, education, and economic security.NVP Survey 1 was conducted in November-December 2011. NVP Survey 2 was fielded in August-September 2012.The final eligible sample for NVP Survey 2 included 2,311 adults from 48 states and D.C. NVP Survey 2 differed from NVP Survey 1 in two key respects: 1) NVP Survey 2 included an oversample in communities included in the "Place Matters" initiative led by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a fellow grantee of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The oversample included sufficient numbers of responses to permit the NVP team to analyze differences across 6 specific "Place Matters" counties, and 2) Questions were asked in greater depth about efforts at community levels about bridging efforts to address racial/ethnic inequities.

Education and Learning Opportunities (Survey 2, Report 3)

With support and collaboration from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation through the America Healing initiative, researchers at the University of Michigan are leading the National Voices Project (NVP) from 2011-2016. The central goals of the NVP are to examine the sources of racial/ethnic inequity and other disparities for children in the United States today, identify interventions that address disparities effectively, and inform the public dialogue about racial healing and racial equality.The NVP offers a fresh perspective on community-level opportunities for children throughout the country, in the domains of health and nutrition, education, and economic security – through the eyes of adults whose work and volunteer efforts affect such opportunities. In other words, the NVP reflects the perceptions of individuals throughout the United States who are in a position to improve children?s opportunities in the future.NVP Survey 1 was conducted in November-December 2011. NVP Survey 2 was fielded in August-September 2012. NVP Survey 2 differed from NVP Survey 1 in two key respects: 1) NVP Survey 2 included an oversample in communities included in the "Place Matters" initiative led by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a fellow grantee of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The oversample included sufficient numbers of responses to permit the NVP team to analyze differences across 6 specific "Place Matters" counties, and 2) Questions were asked in greater depth about efforts at community levels about bridging efforts to address racial/ethnic inequities.

Education and Learning Opportunities (NVP 2013, Report 3)

With support and collaboration from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation through the America Healing initiative,  researchers at the University of Michigan are leading the National Voices Project (NVP) from 2011-2016. The central goals of the NVP are to examine the sources of racial/ethnic inequity and other disparities for children in the United States today and identify interventions that address disparities effectively.The NVP offers an unprecedented perspective on community-level opportunities for children throughout the country, in the domains of health and nutrition, education and learning, and economic security – through the eyes of adults whose occupations and volunteer work affect such opportunities. In other words, the NVP reflects the perceptions of individuals throughout the United States who are in a position to improve children's opportunities in the future. We generally use the word ?children? throughout the report to describe children from age 0-18 years, unless otherwise noted.Report #3 for NVP 2013 focuses on findings related to children's education and learning

Opportunities and Barriers Related to Income (NVP 2013, Report 4)

With support and collaboration from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation through the America Healing initiative, researchers at the University of Michigan are leading the National Voices Project (NVP) from 2011-2016. The central goals of the NVP are to examine the sources of racial/ethnic inequity and other disparities for children in the United States today and identify interventions that address disparities effectively.The NVP offers an unprecedented perspective on community-level opportunities for children throughout the country, in the domains of health and nutrition, education and learning, and economic security – through the eyes of adults whoseoccupations and volunteer work affect such opportunities. In other words, the NVP reflects the perceptions of individuals throughout the United States who are in a position to improve children's opportunities in the future. We generally use the word "children" throughout the report to describe young children from age 0-8 years, and "teens" for children ages 13-18 years old.Report #4 for NVP 2013 focuses chiefly on findings on children's and teens' health, education and learning, andeconomic opportunities related to income

Stereotyping across intersections of race and age: Racial stereotyping among White adults working with children

This study examined the prevalence of racial/ethnic stereotypes among White adults who work or volunteer with children, and whether stereotyping of racial/ethnic groups varied towards different age groups. Participants were 1022 White adults who volunteer and/or work with children in the United States who completed a cross-sectional, online survey. Results indicate high proportions of adults who work or volunteer with children endorsed negative stereotypes towards Blacks and other ethnic minorities. Respondents were most likely to endorse negative stereotypes towards Blacks, and least likely towards Asians (relative to Whites). Moreover, endorsement of negative stereotypes by race was moderated by target age. Stereotypes were often lower towards young children but higher towards teens.The WK Kellogg Foundation provides funding to the National Voices Project as part of the America Healing initiative

Discovery of potent kisspeptin antagonists delineate physiological mechanisms of gonadotropin regulation

Neurons that produce gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) are the final common pathway by which the brain regulates reproduction. GnRH neurons are regulated by an afferent network of kisspeptin-producing neurons. Kisspeptin binds to its cognate receptor on GnRH neurons and stimulates their activity, which in turn provides an obligatory signal for GnRH secretion—thus gating down-stream events supporting reproduction. We have developed kisspeptin antagonists to facilitate the direct determination of the role of kisspeptin neurons in the neuroendocrine regulation of reproduction. In vitro and in vivo studies of analogues of kisspeptin-10 with amino substitutions have identified several potent and specific antagonists. A selected antagonist was shown to inhibit the firing of GnRH neurons in the brain of the mouse and to reduce pulsatile GnRH secretion in female pubertal monkeys; the later supporting a key role of kisspeptin in puberty onset. This analogue also inhibited the kisspeptin-induced release of luteinizing hormone (LH) in rats and mice and blocked the post-castration rise in LH in sheep, rats and mice, suggesting that kisspeptin neurons mediate the negative feedback effect of sex steroids on gonadotropin secretion in mammals. The development of kisspeptin antagonists provides a valuable tool for investigating the physiological and pathophysiological roles of kisspeptin in the regulation of reproduction and could offer a unique therapeutic agent for treating hormone-dependent disorders of reproduction, including precocious puberty, endometriosis, and metastatic prostate cancer

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure