The Green Eating Project: web-based intervention to promote environmentally conscious eating behaviours in US university students

Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of an online, interactive intervention, referred to as the Green Eating (GE) Project, to motivate university students to adopt GE behaviours. Design: The study was quasi-experimental and integrated into courses for credit/extra credit. Courses were randomly stratified into experimental or non-treatment control. The 5-week intervention consisted of four modules based on different GE topics. Participants completed the GE survey at baseline (experimental, n 241; control, n 367) and post (experimental, n 187; control, n 304). The GE survey has been previously validated and consists of Transtheoretical Model constructs including stage of change (SOC), decisional balance (DB: Pros and Cons) and self-efficacy (SE: School and Home) as well as behaviours for GE. Modules contained basic information regarding each topic and knowledge items to assess content learning. Setting: The GE Project took place at a public university in the north-eastern USA. Subjects: Participants were full-time students between the ages of 18 and 24 years. Results: The GE Project was effective in significantly increasing GE behaviours, DB Pros, SE School and knowledge in experimental compared with control, but did not reduce DB Cons or increase SE Home. Experimental participants were also more likely to be in later SOC for GE at post testing. Conclusions: The GE Project was effective in increasing GE behaviours in university students. Motivating consumers towards adopting GE could assist in potentially mitigating negative consequences of the food system on the environment. Future research could tailor the intervention to participant SOC to further increase the effects or design the modules for other participants

Circular and linear mitochondrial genomes in cytoplasmic male sterile maize [abstract]

Abstract only availableCytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) is a maternally inherited condition in which a plant has an inability to produce viable pollen. It is usually due to the production of a toxic chimeric protein within the mitochondria during the maturation of pollen grains. In maize (Zea mays), there are three types of CMS: CMS-T, CMS-C and CMS-S. The S-type of cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS-S) in maize is associated with the expression of a rearranged mitochondrial DNA region. This CMS-S-specific region includes two co-transcribed chimeric open reading frames, orf355 and orf77. The nuclear restorer-of-fertility gene, Rf3, cleaves all transcripts containing both orfs, including the CMS-S-specific linear 1.6 kb mRNA; this results in male fertility. The Lancaster Surecrop-derived inbred line A619 carries a different and weaker restorer called Rf9. Fertility restoration by Rf3 and Rf9 was compared for their effects upon the CMS-associated region of mitochondrial DNA. Unlike Rf3, Rf9 affects the organization of the CMS-S-specific region. It appears to do this by affecting recombination between linear "S" plasmids and the CMS-S-specific region of the main mitochondrial genome, which produces a linear end from which transcripts for the 1.6 kb mRNA are initiated. By reducing the amount of recombination, Rf9 reduces the amount of linear template available for transcribing the S-associated 1.6 kb RNA. A reduction in this transcript is associated with an increase in pollen survival. We have studied the effects of the two restorer-of-fertility genes from several different inbred lines on the amounts of integrated and linearized orf355/orf77 genes within CMS-S mtDNA.MU Monsanto Undergraduate Research Fellowshi

Developmental programming of the neuroendocrine axis by steroid hormones: Insights from the sheep model of PCOS

The reproductive neuroendocrine system is a key target for the developmental programming effects of steroid hormones during early life. While gonadal steroids play an important role in controlling the physiological development of the neuroendocrine axis, human fetuses are susceptible to adverse programming due to exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals with steroidal activity, inadvertent use of contraceptive pills during pregnancy, as well as from disease states that result in abnormal steroid production. Animal models provide an unparalleled resource to understand the effects of steroid hormones on the development of the neuroendocrine axis and their role on the developmental origins of health and disease. In female sheep, exposure to testosterone (T) excess during fetal development results in an array of reproductive disorders that recapitulate those seen in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), including disrupted neuroendocrine feedback mechanisms, increased pituitary responsiveness to gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), luteinizing hormone (LH) hypersecretion, functional hyperandrogenism, multifollicular ovarian morphology, and premature reproductive failure. Similar to a large proportion of women with PCOS, these prenatally T-treated sheep also manifest insulin resistance and cardiovascular alterations, including hypertension. This review article focuses on the effects of prenatal androgens on the developmental programming of hypothalamic and pituitary alterations in the sheep model of PCOS phenotype, centering specifically on key neurons, neuropeptides, and regulatory pathways controlling GnRH and LH secretion. Insights obtained from the sheep model as well as other animal models of perinatal androgen excess can have important translational relevance to treat and prevent neuroendocrine dysfunction in women with PCOS and other fertility disorders

Norovirus and Foodborne Disease, United States, 1991–2000

Analysis of foodborne outbreaks shows how advances in viral diagnostics are clarifying the causes of foodborne outbreaks and determining the high impact of norovirus infections

Unique Changes in Mitochondrial Genomes Associated with Reversions of S-Type Cytoplasmic Male Sterility in Maizemar

Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) in plants is usually associated with the expression of specific chimeric regions within rearranged mitochondrial genomes. Maize CMS-S plants express high amounts of a 1.6-kb mitochondrial RNA during microspore maturation, which is associated with the observed pollen abortion. This transcript carries two chimeric open reading frames, orf355 and orf77, both unique to CMS-S. CMS-S mitochondria also contain free linear DNA plasmids bearing terminal inverted repeats (TIRs). These TIRs recombine with TIR-homologous sequences that precede orf355/orf77 within the main mitochondrial genome to produce linear ends. Transcription of the 1.6-kb RNA is initiated from a promoter within the TIRs only when they are at linear ends. Reversions of CMS-S to fertility occur in certain nuclear backgrounds and are usually associated with loss of the S plasmids and/or the sterility-associated region. We describe an unusual set of independently recovered revertants from a single maternal lineage that retain both the S plasmids and an intact orf355/orf77 region but which do not produce the 1.6-kb RNA. A 7.3-kb inversion resulting from illegitmate recombination between 14-bp microrepeats has separated the genomic TIR sequences from the CMS-associated region. Although RNAs containing orf355/orf77 can still be detected in the revertants, they are not highly expressed during pollen development and they are no longer initiated from the TIR promoter at a protein-stabilized linear end. They appear instead to be co-transcribed with cytochrome oxidase subunit 2. The 7.3-kb inversion was not detected in CMS-S or in other fertile revertants. Therefore, this inversion appears to be a de novo mutation that has continued to sort out within a single maternal lineage, giving rise to fertile progeny in successive generations

Архетип свобода у контексті французької політичної теорії та історії

Розглянуто сучасні підходи щодо аналізу політичної ментальності. У межах політологічного аналізу окреслено коло проблем, які потребують вирішення з використанням підходів психології. Зроблено висновок про те, що архетип “свобода” становить важливий елемент політичної ментальності французів.Modern approaches of analysis of political mentality are considered. Within the limits of political science analysis outlined circle of problems which need decision with the use of approaches of psychology. A conclusion is done that archetype freedom makes the important element of political mentality of French’s

Experimental annotation of post-translational features and translated coding regions in the pathogen Salmonella Typhimurium

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Complete and accurate genome annotation is crucial for comprehensive and systematic studies of biological systems. However, determining protein-coding genes for most new genomes is almost completely performed by inference using computational predictions with significant documented error rates (> 15%). Furthermore, gene prediction programs provide no information on biologically important post-translational processing events critical for protein function.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We experimentally annotated the bacterial pathogen <it>Salmonella </it>Typhimurium 14028, using "shotgun" proteomics to accurately uncover the translational landscape and post-translational features. The data provide protein-level experimental validation for approximately half of the predicted protein-coding genes in <it>Salmonella </it>and suggest revisions to several genes that appear to have incorrectly assigned translational start sites, including a potential novel alternate start codon. Additionally, we uncovered 12 non-annotated genes missed by gene prediction programs, as well as evidence suggesting a role for one of these novel ORFs in <it>Salmonella </it>pathogenesis. We also characterized post-translational features in the <it>Salmonella </it>genome, including chemical modifications and proteolytic cleavages. We find that bacteria have a much larger and more complex repertoire of chemical modifications than previously thought including several novel modifications. Our <it>in vivo </it>proteolysis data identified more than 130 signal peptide and N-terminal methionine cleavage events critical for protein function.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This work highlights several ways in which application of proteomics data can improve the quality of genome annotations to facilitate novel biological insights and provides a comprehensive proteome map of <it>Salmonella </it>as a resource for systems analysis.</p

The CI-FLOW Project: A System for Total Water Level Prediction from the Summit to the Sea

Kildow et al. (2009) reported that coastal states support 81% of the U.S. population and generate 83 percent [$11.4 trillion (U.S. dollars) in 2007] of U.S. gross domestic product. Population trends show that a majority of coastal communities have transitioned from a seasonal, predominantly weekend, tourist-based economy to a year-round, permanently based, business economy where industry expands along shorelines and the workforce commutes from inland locations. As a result of this transition, costs associated with damage to the civil infrastructure and disruptions to local and regional economies due to coastal flooding events are escalating, pushing requirements for a new generation of flood prediction technologies and hydrologic decision support tools