Hope on the Horizon for Offshore Wind Development? An Examination of the Regulatory Framework Rhode Island Navigated to Make the Nation’s First Offshore Wind Farm a Reality, and the Implication for California’s Ability to Adopt a Similar Approach under the Coastal Zone Management Act

After establishing the reasons for why creating a more efficient permitting system is crucial, this Article examines the question of under what conditions BOEM, the lead agency in the offshore wind permitting process, delegates authority to a state so that it may permit a project in federal waters under the CZMA without running into federal preemptory roadblocks. This question is of utmost significance in California and Hawaii where projects utilizing floating turbine technology are proposed to be located in federal waters to take advantage of optimal wind gusts farther offshore. After examining the conditions favorable for federal delegation of the permitting process, this Article examines California’s coastal management plan and it’s implementing agencies to analyze whether California would be able to utilize BIWF’s model strategy to expedite project approval under the CZMA without court action

Expression of PEG11 and PEG11AS transcripts in normal and callipyge sheep

BACKGROUND: The callipyge mutation is located within an imprinted gene cluster on ovine chromosome 18. The callipyge trait exhibits polar overdominant inheritance due to the fact that only heterozygotes inheriting a mutant paternal allele (paternal heterozygotes) have a phenotype of muscle hypertrophy, reduced fat and a more compact skeleton. The mutation is a single A to G transition in an intergenic region that results in the increased expression of several genes within the imprinted cluster without changing their parent-of-origin allele-specific expression. RESULTS: There was a significant effect of genotype (p < 0.0001) on the transcript abundance of DLK1, PEG11, and MEG8 in the muscles of lambs with the callipyge allele. DLK1 and PEG11 transcript levels were elevated in the hypertrophied muscles of paternal heterozygous animals relative to animals of the other three genotypes. The PEG11 locus produces a single 6.5 kb transcript and two smaller antisense strand transcripts, referred to as PEG11AS, in skeletal muscle. PEG11AS transcripts were detectable over a 5.5 kb region beginning 1.2 kb upstream of the PEG11 start codon and spanning the entire open reading frame. Analysis of PEG11 expression by quantitative PCR shows a 200-fold induction in the hypertrophied muscles of paternal heterozygous animals and a 13-fold induction in homozygous callipyge animals. PEG11 transcripts were 14-fold more abundant than PEG11AS transcripts in the gluteus medius of paternal heterozygous animals. PEG11AS transcripts were expressed at higher levels than PEG11 transcripts in the gluteus medius of animals of the other three genotypes. CONCLUSIONS: The effect of the callipyge mutation has been to alter the expression of DLK1, GTL2, PEG11 and MEG8 in the hypertrophied skeletal muscles. Transcript abundance of DLK1 and PEG11 was highest in paternal heterozygous animals and exhibited polar overdominant gene expression patterns; therefore, both genes are candidates for causing skeletal muscle hypertrophy. There was unique relationship of PEG11 and PEG11AS transcript abundance in the paternal heterozygous animals that suggests a RNA interference mechanism may have a role in PEG11 gene regulation and polar overdominance in callipyge sheep

Hydropower\u27s Promise: The Opportunities and Challenges of Hydropower for Mitigating Climate-Driven Scarcity

This Article examines hydroelectric resources’ ability to assist states throughout the West and across the country in meeting their statutory and policy goals of reduced or zero carbon emissions, while maintaining reliability. Extreme weather events, and associated costs, are not isolated to the Western Interconnection, but rather increasingly impact other regions and their end-use customers. In its 2021 U.S. Hydropower Market Report, the Department of Energy (DOE) noted that, in nearly every Balancing Authority Area assessed, hydropower was more extensively used for hourly ramping flexibility than any other resource. Additional services hydroelectric resources provide, including storage capacity and black start service to restore power without assistance from the grid, are critical in a context where extreme weather is the new norm

Oxidative Stress in Oocytes during Midprophase Induces Premature Loss of Cohesion and Chromosome Segregation Errors

In humans, errors in meiotic chromosome segregation that produce aneuploid gametes increase dramatically as women age, a phenomenon termed the maternal age effect. During meiosis, cohesion between sister chromatids keeps recombinant homologs physically attached and premature loss of cohesion can lead to missegregation of homologs during meiosis I. A growing body of evidence suggests that meiotic cohesion deteriorates as oocytes age and contributes to the maternal age effect. One hallmark of aging cells is an increase in oxidative damage caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS). Therefore, increased oxidative damage in older oocytes may be one of the factors that leads to premature loss of cohesion and segregation errors. To test this hypothesis, we used an RNAi strategy to induce oxidative stress in Drosophila oocytes and measured the fidelity of chromosome segregation during meiosis. Knockdown of either the cytoplasmic or mitochondrial ROS scavenger superoxide dismutase (SOD) caused a significant increase in segregation errors, and heterozygosity for an smc1 deletion enhanced this phenotype. FISH analysis indicated that SOD knockdown moderately increased the percentage of oocytes with arm cohesion defects. Consistent with premature loss of arm cohesion and destabilization of chiasmata, the frequency at which recombinant homologs missegregate during meiosis I is significantly greater in SOD knockdown oocytes than in controls. Together these results provide an in vivo demonstration that oxidative stress during meiotic prophase induces chromosome segregation errors and support the model that accelerated loss of cohesion in aging human oocytes is caused, at least in part, by oxidative damage

Collaborative development of the Arrowsmith two node search interface designed for laboratory investigators.

Arrowsmith is a unique computer-assisted strategy designed to assist investigators in detecting biologically-relevant connections between two disparate sets of articles in Medline. This paper describes how an inter-institutional consortium of neuroscientists used the UIC Arrowsmith web interface http://arrowsmith.psych.uic.edu in their daily work and guided the development, refinement and expansion of the system into a suite of tools intended for use by the wider scientific community

The Quest For Equity and Quality Examining Provider Experiences and Participation in Texas Rising Star

Exposure to high-quality child care is the foundation for a child's academic and social-emotional success, especially for children from low-income families. Increasing access to subsidized child care is one of the many strategies used to provide affordable early education to children from low-income families. However, increasing access alone is not enough when it comes to early learning. Children need to be in high-quality care to reap the many benefits.One systematic way to measure and increase quality of child care programs is through a state's Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS). QRIS is a systematic framework used to measure, improve, and communicate the quality of early childhood education (ECE) providers across a range of indicators. In Texas, this system is called Texas Rising Star (TRS). TRS is only open to child care providers who accept families receiving subsidy child care assistance. While TRS offers incentives for participation including professional development and increased reimbursement rates, currently TRS reaches only a fraction of lowincome children and the providers.

Heads Up: Using Your Brain When Tackling Concussions

Introduction: A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury (TBI) typically caused by bio-mechanical forces inflicted on the head that change the way the brain works. Concussions can also result from a blow elsewhere in the body causing an impulsive force transmitted to the head. These types of injuries often involve a sudden onset of neurologic function impairment such as confusion, amnesia, or loss of consciousness that quickly dissipates and is generally not life-threatening. Unfortunately, these seemingly “mild” symptoms have led numerous primary care providers to undermine its potential risks, often leading to inadequate evaluation, premature return to play, and poor psychological management. Complications of severe or repeated concussions include migraines, depression & mood changes, sleep disorders, convulsions, coma, and in some instances even death. The goals of our study were to evaluate public awareness and knowledge of concussion, identify common misconceptions, assess barriers to proper management, and propose uniform guidelines for education, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment to be used in the Vermont school system.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1051/thumbnail.jp