Ironing out the details: Untangling dietary iron and genetic background in diabetes

The search for genetic risk factors in type-II diabetes has been hindered by a failure to consider dietary variables. Dietary nutrients impact metabolic disease risk and severity and are essential to maintaining metabolic health. Genetic variation between individuals confers differences in metabolism, which directly impacts response to diet. Most studies attempting to identify genetic risk factors in disease fail to incorporate dietary components, and thus are ill-equipped to capture the breadth of the genome’s impact on metabolism. Understanding how genetic background interacts with nutrients holds the key to predicting and preventing metabolic diseases through the implementation of personalized nutrition. Dysregulation of iron homeostasis is associated with type-II diabetes, but the link between dietary iron and metabolic dysfunction is poorly defined. High iron burden in adipose tissue induces insulin resistance, but the mechanisms underlying adipose iron accumulation remain unknown. Hepcidin controls dietary iron absorption and distribution in metabolic tissues, but it is unknown whether genetic variation influencing hepcidin expression modifies susceptibility to dietary iron-induced insulin resistance. This review highlights discoveries concerning the axis of iron homeostasis and adipose function and suggests that genetic variation underlying dietary iron metabolism is an understudied component of metabolic disease

Impact of Interpreters Filling Multiple Roles in Mainstream Classrooms on Communication Access for Deaf Students

Educational interpreters nationwide fill a variety of roles in their schools, including interpreter, tutor, assistant, consultant, and others, and the impact of these roles on the interpretation of classroom discourse is uncertain. In order to provide deaf students with the free appropriate public education they are promised through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, we need to know more about the roles educational interpreters are filling and their impact on a deaf student’s access to the classroom discourse. This study was a quantitative study using naturalistic observation of a high school classroom with a deaf student and an interpreter, augmented with qualitative data from interviews with the interpreter, deaf student, and teacher participants. In examining the different roles filled during the class observed, the interpreter in this study filled the interpreter role during only 41.41% of the intervals analyzed. In all, 35.68% of the intervals were interpreted while 39.78% of the teacher’s discourse was not interpreted. Less than 20% of the teachers’ discourse was interpreted while in any role other than interpreter. During the days observed, the interpreter in this study spent more time tutoring rather than interpreting the classroom discourse even though she was not required to do any tutoring. In this study, communication access seems to have been impacted by the interpreter filling multiple roles in the classroom, particularly the tutor role. Knowing the importance of social communication in language development, and thus cognitive development, the roles interpreters fill in the classroom, as well as the placement of the deaf student in an inclusion class, should be carefully examined

Better with Science: Strengthening Patron Learning

A baseline understanding of cognitive theory and educational psychology concepts is critical to successful student learning. With librarians in all settings providing more teaching and training than ever, designing educational experiences with these concepts in mind will result in greater retention and understanding for their patrons. This program will discuss five important ideas from cognitive learning science and give examples of how librarians and other information professionals can incorporate those theories into their instructional offerings. Participants will then work in groups to brainstorm ways various theories can be applied as they design or restructure their own instructional programs. Takeaways: 1) Attendees will be able to identify at least one learning theory that they can apply in their own training. 2) Attendees will be able to articulate the learning benefits of five distinct ideas from cognitive learning psychology, as well as why and how to apply those into legal research training. 3) Attendees will be able to design new educational experiences or restructure previous instructional offerings using concepts from educational psychology

Integrated transcriptomics contrasts fatty acid metabolism with hypoxia response in β-cell subpopulations associated with glycemic control

BACKGROUND: Understanding how heterogeneous β-cell function impacts diabetes is imperative for therapy development. Standard single-cell RNA sequencing analysis illuminates some factors driving heterogeneity, but new strategies are required to enhance information capture. RESULTS: We integrate pancreatic islet single-cell and bulk RNA sequencing data to identify β-cell subpopulations based on gene expression and characterize genetic networks associated with β-cell function in obese SM/J mice. We identify β-cell subpopulations associated with basal insulin secretion, hypoxia response, cell polarity, and stress response. Network analysis associates fatty acid metabolism and basal insulin secretion with hyperglycemic-obesity, while expression of Pdyn and hypoxia response is associated with normoglycemic-obesity. CONCLUSIONS: By integrating single-cell and bulk islet transcriptomes, our study explores β-cell heterogeneity and identifies novel subpopulations and genetic pathways associated with β-cell function in obesity

A Closer Look at Dietary Supplements: An Exercise in Experiential Learning

undergraduate poster presentatio

Beyond the Fire: Natural Resource Management Techniques at Prairie State Park.

The tallgrass prairie ecosystem once spanned more than 70 million hectares of what is now the Midwestern United States, including eastern Kansas and western Missouri. Yet, only 4% of the tallgrass prairie remains intact, making it one of the most threatened ecosystems in North America. Two of the most serious threats to the remaining tallgrass prairie are woody encroachment and invasive plant species. Through a new partnership with Prairie State Park, five Pittsburg State University students worked with resource professionals to learn, practice, and apply prairie management techniques. We gained experience in the use of a chainsaw, UTV, ATV, brush cutter, propane torch, and backpack leaf blower for the overall goal of removing invasive red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) from the park. We assisted with winter vegetation management, including woody plant control and a prescribed burn. Our efforts created habitat for wildlife and helped to restore portions of the park that had become degraded due to woody encroachment. This new program collaborates with state agencies and will continue to prepare PSU students for careers in natural resource management and prairie restoration

ANTIGEN-SPECIFIC T-CELL FACTOR IN CELL COOPERATION: PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND MAPPING IN THE LEFT-HAND (K) HALF OF H-2

Mouse thymus cells, educated to poly(tyrosyl,glutamyl)-polyDLalanyl--polylysyl [(T,G)-A--L], release an antigen-specific factor on brief culture in vitro. The factor cooperates with bone marrow cells in the antibody response to (T,G)-A--L in irradiated recipients. Its mol wt determined from Sephadex G100 chromatography is in the region of 50,000. The factor is removed by specific antigen-coated columns, but not by anti-immunoglobulin (anti-Fab, anti-µ, anti-Fv) adsorbents. The factor is removed by alloantisera directed against the H-2 haplotype of the strain in which it is produced. Moreover, only antisera with specificity for the K side of H-2 were successful in removing the factor activity