Feminist Scholarship Review

Published from 1991 through 2007 at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, the Feminist Scholarship Review is a literary journal that describes women\u27s experiences around the world. FSR began as a review of feminist scholarly material, but evolved into a journal for poetry and short storie

Effects of Dehydration on Balance as Measured by the Balance Error Scoring System

The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of active dehydration on balance in euthermic individuals employing the Balance Error Scoring System (BESS). The results indicate that dehydration significantly negatively affects balance

Seasonal Occurrence, Horizontal Movements, and Habitat Use Patterns of Whale Sharks (\u3ci\u3eRhincodon typus\u3c/i\u3e) in the Gulf of Mexico

In the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM), whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) form large aggregations at continental shelf-edge banks during summer; however, knowledge of movements once they leave aggregation sites is limited. Here we report on the seasonal occurrence of whale sharks in the northern GOM based on over 800 whale shark sightings from 1989 to 2016, as well as the movements of 42 whale sharks tagged with satellite-linked and popup satellite archival transmitting tags from 2008 to 2015. Sightings data were most numerous during summer and fall often with aggregations of individuals reported along the continental shelf break. Most sharks (66%) were tagged during this time at Ewing Bank, a known aggregation site off the coast of Louisiana. Whale shark track duration ranged from three to 366 days and all tagged individuals, which ranged from 4.5 to 12.0 m in total length, remained within the GOM. Sightings data revealed that whale sharks occurred primarily in continental shelf and shelf-edge waters (81%) whereas tag data revealed the sharks primarily inhabited continental slope and open ocean waters (91%) of the GOM. Much of their time spent in open ocean waters was associated with the edge of the Loop Current and associated mesoscale eddies. During cooler months, there was a net movement southward, corresponding with the time of reduced sighting reports. Several sharks migrated to the southwest GOM during fall and winter, suggesting this region could be important overwintering habitat and possibly represents another seasonal aggregation site. The three long-term tracked whale sharks exhibited interannual site fidelity, returning one year later to the vicinity where they were originally tagged. The increased habitat use of north central GOM waters by whale sharks as summer foraging grounds and potential interannual site fidelity to Ewing Bank demonstrate the importance of this region for this species

Population Connectivity of Pelagic Megafauna in the Cuba-Mexico-United States Triangle

The timing and extent of international crossings by billfishes, tunas, and sharks in the Cuba-Mexico-United States (U.S.) triangle was investigated using electronic tagging data from eight species that resulted in \u3e22,000 tracking days. Transnational movements of these highly mobile marine predators were pronounced with varying levels of bi- or tri-national population connectivity displayed by each species. Billfishes and tunas moved throughout the Gulf of Mexico and all species investigated (blue marlin, white marlin, Atlantic bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna) frequently crossed international boundaries and entered the territorial waters of Cuba and/or Mexico. Certain sharks (tiger shark, scalloped hammerhead) displayed prolonged periods of residency in U.S. waters with more limited displacements, while whale sharks and to a lesser degree shortfin mako moved through multiple jurisdictions. The spatial extent of associated movements was generally associated with their differential use of coastal and open ocean pelagic ecosystems. Species with the majority of daily positions in oceanic waters off the continental shelf showed the greatest tendency for transnational movements and typically traveled farther from initial tagging locations. Several species converged on a common seasonal movement pattern between territorial waters of the U.S. (summer) and Mexico (winter)

Movement, Behavior, and Habitat Use of a Marine Apex Predator, the Scalloped Hammerhead

Conservation and management efforts of marine apex predators are more reliable when information on movement and habitat use patterns are known. The scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini) was the first shark species to be protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and has life history characteristics that make this species particularly at risk for local depletion. Consequently, the goal of this study was to better understand the movement dynamics of this species in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) where discards through the longline fishery can be substantial. A total of 33 scalloped hammerheads were tagged with fin mounted satellite tags and tracked for an average of 146 days (ranging from 5 to 479 days) to examine horizontal movements and quantify space use. Scalloped hammerheads showed a wide range of movements throughout the GOM continental shelf with limited long-distance dispersal and females displayed a shelf-edge association relative to more mid-shelf use by males. A generalized additive model was developed to identify habitat suitability for scalloped hammerheads in the GOM, while state-space modeling was used to examine movement behaviors. Model results highlighted the use of continental shelf waters with high occurrence at close proximities to both artificial and hard-bottom habitat combined with low chlorophyll a concentrations (∼0–4 mg m-3) and moderate salinities (33–35.5). Habitat suitability for scalloped hammerheads was predicted to be high on the mid to outer continental shelf inside the 200 m isobath and state-space model results suggest area-restricted behavior was most common relative to transient behavior. Findings from this study provide important information on movement of this species in the GOM and highlight their restricted use of continental shelf habitat and resident behavior that will need to be incorporated in future stock assessments and extinction risk analyses

High-Resolution Phenotypic Profiling Defines Genes Essential for Mycobacterial Growth and Cholesterol Catabolism

The pathways that comprise cellular metabolism are highly interconnected, and alterations in individual enzymes can have far-reaching effects. As a result, global profiling methods that measure gene expression are of limited value in predicting how the loss of an individual function will affect the cell. In this work, we employed a new method of global phenotypic profiling to directly define the genes required for the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. A combination of high-density mutagenesis and deep-sequencing was used to characterize the composition of complex mutant libraries exposed to different conditions. This allowed the unambiguous identification of the genes that are essential for Mtb to grow in vitro, and proved to be a significant improvement over previous approaches. To further explore functions that are required for persistence in the host, we defined the pathways necessary for the utilization of cholesterol, a critical carbon source during infection. Few of the genes we identified had previously been implicated in this adaptation by transcriptional profiling, and only a fraction were encoded in the chromosomal region known to encode sterol catabolic functions. These genes comprise an unexpectedly large percentage of those previously shown to be required for bacterial growth in mouse tissue. Thus, this single nutritional change accounts for a significant fraction of the adaption to the host. This work provides the most comprehensive genetic characterization of a sterol catabolic pathway to date, suggests putative roles for uncharacterized virulence genes, and precisely maps genes encoding potential drug targets

Development of a core set of outcome measures for OAB treatment

© 2017, The Author(s). Introduction and hypothesis: Standardized measures enable the comparison of outcomes across providers and treatments giving valuable information for improving care quality and efficacy. The aim of this project was to define a minimum standard set of outcome measures and case-mix factors for evaluating the care of patients with overactive bladder (OAB). Methods: The International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement (ICHOM) convened an international working group (WG) of leading clinicians and patients to engage in a structured method for developing a core outcome set. Consensus was determined by a modified Delphi process, and discussions were supported by both literature review and patient input. Results: The standard set measures outcomes of care for adults seeking treatment for OAB, excluding residents of long-term care facilities. The WG focused on treatment outcomes identified as most important key outcome domains to patients: symptom burden and bother, physical functioning, emotional health, impact of symptoms and treatment on quality of life, and success of treatment. Demographic information and case-mix factors that may affect these outcomes were also included. Conclusions: The standardized outcome set for evaluating clinical care is appropriate for use by all health providers caring for patients with OAB, regardless of specialty or geographic location, and provides key data for quality improvement activities and research

Disruption of the β1L Isoform of GABP Reverses Glioblastoma Replicative Immortality in a TERT Promoter Mutation-Dependent Manner

TERT promoter mutations reactivate telomerase, allowing for indefinite telomere maintenance and enabling cellular immortalization. These mutations specifically recruit the multimeric ETS factor GABP, which can form two functionally independent transcription factor species: a dimer or a tetramer. We show that genetic disruption of GABPβ1L (β1L), a tetramer-forming isoform of GABP that is dispensable for normal development, results in TERT silencing in a TERT promoter mutation-dependent manner. Reducing TERT expression by disrupting β1L culminates in telomere loss and cell death exclusively in TERT promoter mutant cells. Orthotopic xenografting of β1L-reduced, TERT promoter mutant glioblastoma cells rendered lower tumor burden and longer overall survival in mice. These results highlight the critical role of GABPβ1L in enabling immortality in TERT promoter mutant glioblastoma.This work was supported by a generous gift from the Dabbiere family (J.F.C.), the Hana Jabsheh Research Initiative (J.F.C.), NIH grant NCI P50CA097257 (J.F.C. and J.A.D.), NCI P01CA118816-06 (J.F.C.), T32 GM008568 and T32 CA151022 (A.M.), and NCI R01CA163336 (J.S.S.), and the Sontag Foundation Distinguished Scientist Award (J.S.S.). C.F. is supported by a US NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award (K99GM118909) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. Additional support was provided by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia SFRH/BD/88220/2012 (A.X.-M.) and IF/00601/2012 (B.M.C.). J.A.D. is an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Dynamics of breast-cancer relapse reveal late-recurring ER-positive genomic subgroups.

The rates and routes of lethal systemic spread in breast cancer are poorly understood owing to a lack of molecularly characterized patient cohorts with long-term, detailed follow-up data. Long-term follow-up is especially important for those with oestrogen-receptor (ER)-positive breast cancers, which can recur up to two decades after initial diagnosis1-6. It is therefore essential to identify patients who have a high risk of late relapse7-9. Here we present a statistical framework that models distinct disease stages (locoregional recurrence, distant recurrence, breast-cancer-related death and death from other causes) and competing risks of mortality from breast cancer, while yielding individual risk-of-recurrence predictions. We apply this model to 3,240 patients with breast cancer, including 1,980 for whom molecular data are available, and delineate spatiotemporal patterns of relapse across different categories of molecular information (namely immunohistochemical subtypes; PAM50 subtypes, which are based on gene-expression patterns10,11; and integrative or IntClust subtypes, which are based on patterns of genomic copy-number alterations and gene expression12,13). We identify four late-recurring integrative subtypes, comprising about one quarter (26%) of tumours that are both positive for ER and negative for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, each with characteristic tumour-driving alterations in genomic copy number and a high risk of recurrence (mean 47-62%) up to 20 years after diagnosis. We also define a subgroup of triple-negative breast cancers in which cancer rarely recurs after five years, and a separate subgroup in which patients remain at risk. Use of the integrative subtypes improves the prediction of late, distant relapse beyond what is possible with clinical covariates (nodal status, tumour size, tumour grade and immunohistochemical subtype). These findings highlight opportunities for improved patient stratification and biomarker-driven clinical trials.Cancer Research UK (CRUK) travel grant (SWAH/047) 282 to visit Prof. Curtis’ Lab. C.R. is supported by award MTM2015-71217-R. Ca.C. is 283 supported by CRUK, ECMC and NIHR. C.C. is supported by the National Institutes 284 of Health through the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award (DP1-CA238296) and the Breast 285 Cancer Research Foundation

Modulation of dendritic spine development and plasticity by BDNF and vesicular trafficking: fundamental roles in neurodevelopmental disorders associated with mental retardation and autism

The process of axonal and dendritic development establishes the synaptic circuitry of the central nervous system (CNS) and is the result of interactions between intrinsic molecular factors and the external environment. One growth factor that has a compelling function in neuronal development is the neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF participates in axonal and dendritic differentiation during embryonic stages of neuronal development, as well as in the formation and maturation of dendritic spines during postnatal development. Recent studies have also implicated vesicular trafficking of BDNF via secretory vesicles, and both secretory and endosomal trafficking of vesicles containing synaptic proteins, such as neurotransmitter and neurotrophin receptors, in the regulation of axonal and dendritic differentiation, and in dendritic spine morphogenesis. Several genes that are either mutated or deregulated in neurodevelopmental disorders associated with mental retardation have now been identified, and several mouse models of these disorders have been generated and characterized. Interestingly, abnormalities in dendritic and synaptic structure are consistently observed in human neurodevelopmental disorders associated with mental retardation, and in mouse models of these disorders as well. Abnormalities in dendritic and synaptic differentiation are thought to underlie altered synaptic function and network connectivity, thus contributing to the clinical outcome. Here, we review the roles of BDNF and vesicular trafficking in axonal and dendritic differentiation in the context of dendritic and axonal morphological impairments commonly observed in neurodevelopmental disorders associated with mental retardation