Develop a fishery stock identification laboratory and identify coastal and estuarine stocks that are dependent on the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries

Final report for a cooperative agreement between the Northeast Fisheries Center and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science to determine short- and long-term factors affecting mortality and recruitment of key commercial and recreational species, including fishing mortality and both natural and man-induced environmental impacts on mortality and recruitment, project 3.0. Includes M.S. thesis by Carol Furman- Mitochondrial DNA variation in striped bass, Morone saxatilis, from the Rappahannock River, Virginia

A genetic and morphologic comparison of Macoma balthica from the eastern and western North Atlantic

Macoma balthica is a Tellinid bivalve that is common to both marine and estuarine soft-bottom habitats of the northern hemisphere. to determine if populations on the eastern and western North Atlantic are conspecific, the labial palp morphology, shell shape and genetic composition of these populations were examined. Previously described differences in the labial palp morphology do not occur among the population investigated. Differences in the shell shape and genetic composition, determined by enzyme electrophoresis, were observed between populations from the eastern and western North Atlantic. Allopatric populations of Macoma balthica from the eastern and western North Atlantic can be considered as separate and sibling species

From Protein Folding to Blood Coagulation: Menaquinone as a Metabolic Link between Bacteria and Mammals

Menaquinones have long played a central role in bacterial metabolism due to their solubility in membranes and their ability to mediate electron transfer reactions between a large variety of enzymes. In addition to acting as important nodes in fermentation and respiration, menaquinones are critical to the formation of disulphide bonds in the periplasm. Their utility as molecular wires has also led to their incorporation into redox reactions in higher‐order organisms, where they participate in numerous physiological processes, including blood coagulation. Through studying the menaquinone‐dependent pathways in organisms across the phylogenetic spectrum, researchers have begun to uncover intriguing metabolic links and have identified novel compounds for modulating these vital pathways

The evolution of the class A scavenger receptors

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The class A scavenger receptors are a subclass of a diverse family of proteins defined based on their ability to bind modified lipoproteins. The 5 members of this family are strikingly variable in their protein structure and function, raising the question as to whether it is appropriate to group them as a family based on their ligand binding abilities.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>To investigate these relationships, we defined the domain architecture of each of the 5 members followed by collecting and annotating class A scavenger receptor mRNA and amino acid sequences from publicly available databases. Phylogenetic analyses, sequence alignments, and permutation tests revealed a common evolutionary ancestry of these proteins, indicating that they form a protein family. We postulate that 4 distinct gene duplication events and subsequent domain fusions, internal repeats, and deletions are responsible for the diverse protein structures and functions of this family. Despite variation in domain structure, there are highly conserved regions across all 5 members, indicating the possibility that these regions may represent key conserved functional motifs.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We have shown with significant evidence that the 5 members of the class A scavenger receptors form a protein family. We have indicated that these receptors have a common origin which may provide insight into future functional work with these proteins.</p

Defining and Developing Curricula in the Context of Cooperative Extension

Effective curricula are considered to be the cornerstone of successful programming in Extension. However, there is no universal operationalized definition of the term curriculum as it applies to Extension. Additionally, the development of curricula requires a systematic process that takes into account numerous factors. We provide an operational definition of curriculum by describing the parts of a curriculum, discussing the organization of those elements, and recommending theoretical frameworks that complement the learn-by-doing approach used in Extension. We also describe strategies to guide curriculum development, adaptation, and evaluation that will help advance the potential of Extension curricula to achieve their intended outcomes

Prevalent Approaches to Professional Development in State 4-H Programs

High-quality 4-H programming requires effective professional development of educators. Through a mixed-methods study, we explored professional development offered through state 4-H programs. Survey results revealed that both in-person and online delivery modes were used commonly for 4-H staff and adult volunteers; for teen volunteers, in-person delivery was most common. Additionally, most professional development efforts were characterized as episodic, expert-led, and group-based (traditional approaches); the least common approaches were described as ongoing, learner-centered, and group-based (reform-based approaches). Interview data supported survey findings. Traditional approaches to professional development are considered ineffective; thus, the implementation of more reform-based professional development opportunities is recommended

Understanding packet loss for sound monitoring in a smart stadium IoT testbed

The Smart Stadium for Smarter Living project provides an end-to-end testbed for IoT innovation through a collaboration between Croke Park Stadium in Dublin, Ireland and Dublin City University, Intel and Microsoft. This enables practical evaluations of IoT solutions in a controlled environment that is small enough to conduct trials but large enough to prove and challenge the technologies. An evaluation of sound monitoring capabilities during the 2016 sporting finals was used to test the capture, transfer, storage and analysis of decibel level sound monitoring. The purpose of the evaluation was to use existing sound level microphones to measure crowd response to pre-determined events for display on big screens at half-time and to test the end-to-end performance of the testbed. While this is not the specific original purpose of the sound level microphones, it provided a useful test case and produced engaging content for the project. Analysis of the data streams showed significant packet loss during the events and further investigations were conducted to understand where and how this loss occurred. This paper describes the smart stadium testbed configuration using Intel gateways linking with the Azure cloud platform and analyses the performance of the system during the sound monitoring evaluation

The Contribution of Accessory Toxins of Vibrio cholerae O1 El Tor to the Proinflammatory Response in a Murine Pulmonary Cholera Model

The contribution of accessory toxins to the acute inflammatory response to Vibrio cholerae was assessed in a murine pulmonary model. Intranasal administration of an El Tor O1 V. cholerae strain deleted of cholera toxin genes (ctxAB) caused diffuse pneumonia characterized by infiltration of PMNs, tissue damage, and hemorrhage. By contrast, the ctxAB mutant with an additional deletion in the actin-cross-linking repeats-in-toxin (RTX) toxin gene (rtxA) caused a less severe pathology and decreased serum levels of proinflammatory molecules interleukin (IL)-6 and murine macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-2. These data suggest that the RTX toxin contributes to the severity of acute inflammatory responses. Deletions within the genes for either hemagglutinin/protease (hapA) or hemolysin (hlyA) did not significantly affect virulence in this model. Compound deletion of ctxAB, hlyA, hapA, and rtxA created strain KFV101, which colonized the lung but induced pulmonary disease with limited inflammation and significantly reduced serum titers of IL-6 and MIP-2. 100% of mice inoculated with KFV101 survive, compared with 20% of mice inoculated with the ctxAB mutant. Thus, the reduced virulence of KFV101 makes it a prototype for multi-toxin deleted vaccine strains that could be used for protection against V. cholerae without the adverse effects of the accessory cholera toxins