The \u3cem\u3eChlamydomonas\u3c/em\u3e Genome Reveals the Evolution of Key Animal and Plant Functions

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a unicellular green alga whose lineage diverged from land plants over 1 billion years ago. It is a model system for studying chloroplast-based photosynthesis, as well as the structure, assembly, and function of eukaryotic flagella (cilia), which were inherited from the common ancestor of plants and animals, but lost in land plants. We sequenced the ∼120-megabase nuclear genome of Chlamydomonas and performed comparative phylogenomic analyses, identifying genes encoding uncharacterized proteins that are likely associated with the function and biogenesis of chloroplasts or eukaryotic flagella. Analyses of the Chlamydomonas genome advance our understanding of the ancestral eukaryotic cell, reveal previously unknown genes associated with photosynthetic and flagellar functions, and establish links between ciliopathy and the composition and function of flagella

Elevated protein concentrations in newborn blood and the risks of autism spectrum disorder, and of social impairment, at age 10 years among infants born before the 28th week of gestation

Among the 1 of 10 children who are born preterm annually in the United States, 6% are born before the third trimester. Among children who survive birth before the 28th week of gestation, the risks of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and non-autistic social impairment are severalfold higher than in the general population. We examined the relationship between top quartile inflammation-related protein concentrations among children born extremely preterm and ASD or, separately, a high score on the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS total score ≥65) among those who did not meet ASD criteria, using information only from the subset of children whose DAS-II verbal or non-verbal IQ was ≥70, who were assessed for ASD, and who had proteins measured in blood collected on ≥2 days (N = 763). ASD (N = 36) assessed at age 10 years is associated with recurrent top quartile concentrations of inflammation-related proteins during the first post-natal month (e.g., SAA odds ratio (OR); 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.5; 1.2–5.3) and IL-6 (OR; 95% CI: 2.6; 1.03–6.4)). Top quartile concentrations of neurotrophic proteins appear to moderate the increased risk of ASD associated with repeated top quartile concentrations of inflammation-related proteins. High (top quartile) concentrations of SAA are associated with elevated risk of ASD (2.8; 1.2–6.7) when Ang-1 concentrations are below the top quartile, but not when Ang-1 concentrations are high (1.3; 0.3–5.8). Similarly, high concentrations of TNF-α are associated with heightened risk of SRS-defined social impairment (N = 130) (2.0; 1.1–3.8) when ANG-1 concentrations are not high, but not when ANG-1 concentrations are elevated (0.5; 0.1–4.2)

Oral History Interview with Euline Brock, October 27, 1987

Interview with Professor Euline Brock, community activist from Denton, Texas. In the interview, Brock discusses her experiences concerning the activities of the Denton Christian Women's Inter-Racial Fellowship during the 1960s and 1970s. She also comments on the early days of the organization, her personal experiences with discrimination, Denton's white power structure, the desegregation of public schools and facilities, the group's first meeting, political activities, urban renewal, and street paving in the African-American section of Denton

Texas Community History Oral History Project

Interview with Professor Euline Brock, community activist from Denton, Texas. In the interview, Brock discusses her experiences concerning the activities of the Denton Christian Women's Inter-Racial Fellowship during the 1960s and 1970s. She also comments on the early days of the organization, her personal experiences with discrimination, Denton's white power structure, the desegregation of public schools and facilities, the group's first meeting, political activities, urban renewal, and street paving in the African-American section of Denton

Does Parents' Own History of Child Abuse Moderate the Effectiveness of the Promoting First Relationships Intervention in Child Welfare?

To better understand how and for whom parenting intervention may improve family outcomes in child welfare services, we examined whether parents’ own history of child abuse moderated the indirect effects of the Promoting First Relationships® (PFR) intervention on toddlers’ secure base behavior via parental sensitivity. Parents (N = 247) and their toddlers (10–24 months) involved with child protective services were randomized to PFR or a control intervention. Results showed that the PFR group demonstrated greater parental sensitivity at postintervention than the control group, which in turn led to higher levels of toddler secure base behavior at 6-month follow-up. Findings from a moderated mediation model indicated that these intervention effects were only evident for parents who experienced physical abuse in their childhood. Parents’ history of sexual or emotional abuse did not significantly moderate outcomes. These results provide evidence for a key mechanism of change in PFR informed by attachment theory and suggest that PFR intervention effects may be stronger in parents at higher risk of the intergenerational transmission of abuse.This research was supported by Grants R01 HD061362 and U54HD083091 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Additional support for this study was provided by an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (Award Number DE170100078) to Dave S. Pasalich

An intervention that increases parental sensitivity in families referred to Child Protective Services also changes toddlers’ parasympathetic regulation

Experiencing maltreatment in early childhood predicts poor parasympathetic regulation, characterized by low baseline parasympathetic activity and strong withdrawal of parasympathetic influence in response to tasks. The Promoting First Relationships® (PFR) program improves parental sensitivity toward young children in families identified as maltreating. Using a subsample from a randomized control trial, we examined whether parental participation in PFR had lasting effects on toddlers' parasympathetic regulation, as measured by respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), relative to a resource and referral control condition. In addition, we examined whether parental sensitive and responsive behavior mediated or moderated associations between parent treatment group and children's RSA. More than 6 months after completing treatment, 29 families in the PFR condition and 30 families in the control condition were visited at home, and toddlers' RSA was assessed at baseline and during five moderately challenging tasks. Groups did not differ in baseline RSA, but differed in RSA reactivity to the tasks. Across tasks, toddlers of parents in the control condition manifested significantly larger RSA decreases than toddlers of parents in the PFR condition. Parental behavior showed divergent associations with RSA change for toddlers of parents in the PFR versus control condition, with PFR treatment predicting RSA change ranging from small decreases to increases in toddlers of parents who showed the most sensitive, responsive behavior in the 6 months following treatment. This preliminary study showed that the same intervention that improved parenting also improved toddlers' parasympathetic regulation in response to everyday activities, warranting further experimental investigation

The Prevalence and Correlates of Depressive Symptoms Among Adolescent Mothers: Results from a 17-Year Longitudinal Study

The spreading kinetics of drops of different liquids (water, glycerol and ethylene glycol) on different types of model papers have been investigated. In the first part of the investigation single ply and two-ply papers, made from pulps with different degrees of beating, were investigated. The results show that is very common the surface layer of the paper had a much larger influence on the spreading than the bottom ply. By normalising the data showing the drop radius as a function of time with the viscosity and surface tension of the liquids all data collapse onto a master curve. The results from the first part of the investigation also show that in order to determine a contact angle between the liquid and the paper the drop volume should remain constant and the contact angle should be determined when the drop has reached its equilibrium volume. In the second part of the investigation the influence of surface topography and surface energy of the papers on the spreading kinetics was determined. The results show that when the pattern of use, the avails on the surface creates fine capillaries the contact angle is decreased compared to the situation with a flat surface. For papers with a higher roughness the uneven structure creates barriers against the spreading which increases the contact angle compared to the situation with a flat surface. A simple attempt to fit the data to a power law based on a hydrodynamic approach was also conducted. The results from this treatment show that it is possible to get a good match for the sheets with virtually only surface spreading. The constants achieved in this treatment can be used to rationalise the spreading data to be compared with other investigations.Paper and Coating Chemistry Symposium 2000, Jun 06-08, 2000, Stockholm, Sweden</p