Evaluation of diversity, specialization, and gene specificity in transcriptomes

The transcriptome is a set of genes transcribed in a given tissue under specific conditions and can be characterized by a list of genes with their corresponding frequencies of transcription. Transcriptome changes can be measured by counting gene tags from mRNA libraries or by measuring light signals in DNA microarrays. Recently we proposed an approach to define and estimate the diversity and specialization of transcriptomes and gene specificity. This approach can be useful for the determination and measure of transcriptional networks. We defined transcriptome diversity as the Shannon entropy of its frequency distribution. Gene specificity is defined as the mutual information between the tissues and the corresponding transcript, allowing detection of either housekeeping or highly specific genes and clarifying the meaning of these concepts in the literature. Tissue specialization is measured by average gene specificity. Visualization of the positions of transcriptomes in a system of diversity and specialization coordinates makes it possible to understand at a glance their interrelations, summarizing in a powerful way which transcriptomes are richer in diversity of expressed genes, or which are relatively more specialized. This enlightens the relation among transcriptomes, allowing a better understanding of their changes through the development of the organism or in response to environmental stimuli. We present statistical tools based on resampling procedures to obtain confidence intervals for the parameters as well as perform statistical test. These approaches are illustrated with a human dataset

Latina/o College Students with Psychiatric Disabilities: Experiences Encountered on the Postsecondary Educational Trajectory

This research study explored the experiences of Latina/o college students with mental health disabilities. The purpose of this study is to explore the academic and social experiences, as well as the barriers and support services that impact the retention of Latina/o students with psychiatric disabilities in the postsecondary setting. This study also explored how ethnicity shaped the unique experiences of these students. Qualitative interviews with 14 student participants were conducted in a large public institution in the United States. The theoretical frameworks used were intersectionality and DisCrit to incorporate a dual analysis of race and ability. The current findings revealed the academic and social experiences of Latina/o college students with psychiatric disabilities, including barriers encountered, interactions between faculty, as well as the most used campus resources. Additional findings include an increase of mental health awareness in college and an increase of peer support for students with mental health disabilities. Findings include a need to extend disability service offices beyond the legal compliance requirements and allow for a place to commune with other students with disabilities. It was also found that a hierarchy of stigma exists among psychiatric disabilities. In addition, vast differences were noted between K-12 and college in terms of campus climate and access to support services. Intersectionality is also discussed in terms of how it shapes the student experience. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research are also included

Biocultural Diversity Conservation: A Global Sourcebook

Review of Biocultural Diversity Conservation: A Global Sourcebook. Luisa Maffi and Ellen Woodley. 2010. Earthscan, London. Pp. 304. $57.95 (paperback). ISBN 978-1-84407-921-6

Cultural Participation and Subjective Well-Being in Latin America: Does Ethnic-Racial Ascription Matter?

Cultural participation has been evidenced to bring several benefits to the well-being of individuals. However, the analysis of this relationship has been addressed mostly in the context of Westernized countries, without considering the diversity of populations in Latin America. Therefore, the aim of this manuscript is to explore the association between cultural participation and subjective well-being (measured by life satisfaction) in Latin America, considering ethnic-racial ascription. With data from the 2013 Latinobarómetro survey (n=20204), several ordered logit regression analyses were performed. Results suggest that read books, read news, attend movies, attend theater, visit heritage places, and participation in community celebrations are associated with life satisfaction. However, these relationships show differentiated patterns depending on the ethnic-racial ascription, which implies that the positive impacts of cultural participation cannot be attributed to all populations, highlighting a process of social exclusion where some individuals get benefits of cultural participation, while others do not

The False Promise of Principled Negotiations

For over two decades, the method of principled negotiation has been the dominant formative approach to negotiation. Its flagship book, Getting to Yes (Fisher & Ury, 1981; Fisher, Ury, & Patton, 1991) remains the standard presentation of the method. Getting to Yes promotes the method of principled negotiation as an all-purpose strategy of negotiation. The authors of Getting to Yes developed the method of principled negotiation as an alternative to positional bargaining. In this article, the author contends that the method of principled negotiation is not the all-purpose strategy of negotiation promised in Getting to Yes. Furthermore, the author contends that the method of principled negotiation is not a strategy of negotiation at all. In addition, the author contends that by persuading that principled negotiation is an all-purpose strategy Getting to Yes misleads negotiators, hinders the development of actual negotiation strategies, and leads to suboptimal results in many negotiations. In this paper, the author discusses the main concepts used in building the method of principled negotiation and shows that the method is built on incomplete definitions and erroneous assumptions. The author argues in favor of moving beyond the method of principled negotiation in order to find actual solutions to the challenges posed by different negotiations. Thus, the author proposes using a variety of strategies designed to achieve different goals, instead of trying to use, in every case, the “all-purpose” method/strategy of principled negotiation

RNA-binding protein immunoprecipitation as a tool to investigate plant miRNA processing interference by regulatory proteins of diverse origin

Background: Due to the nature of viral RNA genomes, RNA viruses depend on many RNA-binding proteins (RBP) of viral and host origin for replication, dissemination and evasion of host RNA degradation pathways. Some viruses interfere with the microRNA (miRNA) pathway to generate better fitness. The development of an adjusted, reliable and sensitive ribonucleoprotein immunoprecipitation (RIP) assay is needed to study the interaction between RBP of different origin (including viral origin) and miRNA precursors. The method could be further applied to transiently expressed heterologous proteins in different plant species. Results: Here we describe a modified RIP assay applied to nuclear epitope-tagged proteins of heterologous origin and transiently expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana. The assay includes a combination of optimized steps as well as the careful selection of control samples and rigorous data analysis. It has proven efficient to detect and quantify miRNA processing intermediates associated with regulatory proteins. Conclusions: The RIP method described here provides a reliable tool to study the interaction of RBPs, such as transiently expressed regulatory proteins with lowly represented host RNA, as is the case of miRNA precursors. This modified method was efficiently adjusted to recover nuclear proteins and reduce unspecific background. The purification scheme optimized here for GFP-tagged proteins can be applied to a wide array of RBPs. The subsequent application of next-generation sequencing technologies will permit to sequence and characterize all RNA species bound in vivo by a given RBP.Fil: Marmisollé, Facundo Ernesto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Garcia, Maria Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; ArgentinaFil: Reyes Martinez, Carina Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular; Argentin

Mechanical and Electro-Mechanical Properties of Crystalline Organic Semiconductors

The study of the physical properties of organic crystalline semiconductors has allowed the advent of a new generation of high-performance organic electronic devices. Exceptional charge-transport properties and recent developments in large-area patterning techniques make organic single crystals (OSCs) excellent candidates for their utilization in the next-generation of electronic technologies, including flexible and conformable organic thin-film devices. In spite of the profound knowledge of the structural and electrical properties of OSCs, knowledge of the mechanical properties and the effects of mechanical strain is almost non-existent. This dissertation aims to bring new understanding of the intrinsic mechanical properties and the effect of mechanical strains in charge transport phenomena in organic semiconductors. The wrinkling instability is chosen as the metrology tool for the effective in-plane elastic constants of OSCs. We demonstrate that the wrinkling instability can be used to obtain the elastic constants of single crystals of rubrene, tetracene, PDIF-CN$_2$ (N,N\u27-1H,1H-perfluorobutyldicyanoperylene-carboxydi-imide) and perylene. We demonstrate that wrinkling is a practical method to map the in-plane mechanical anisotropy in OSCs. In addition, we utilize wrinkling to characterize how the elastic modulus of pBTTT (poly(2,5-bis(3-alkylthiophen- 2-yl)thieno[3,2-b]thiophene)) changes with increasing molecular weight, from the monomer to the pentamer and the high molecular weight polymer. To elucidate the effects of mechanical strain on charge transport, we first demonstrate and quantify the existence of a piezoresistive effect in rubrene crystals by the application of bending strains along its b [010] axis. A piezoresistive coefficient of approximately 11.26 is determined and confirmed through density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Second, we take advantage of wrinkling as a unique way to strain the conducting channel of field-effect transistors in a non-destructive, reversible, and predictable manner. We observe field-effect mobility modulation upon wrinkling and establish that it is controlled by the strain experienced by the insulator-semiconductor interface upon deformation. Finally, we propose a model based on plate bending to quantify the net strain at the insulator-semiconductor interface and predict the change in mobility. These contributions are the first to quantitatively correlate the crystal structure and the mechanical properties of OSCs, as well as the first to study electro-mechanical behavior in OSCs