Microbial diversity in the thermal springs within Hot Springs National Park

The thermal water systems of Hot Springs National Park (HSNP) in Hot Springs, Arkansas exist in relative isolation from other North American thermal systems. The HSNP waters could therefore serve as a unique center of thermophilic microbial biodiversity. However, these springs remain largely unexplored using culture-independent next generation sequencing techniques to classify species of thermophilic organisms. Additionally, HSNP has been the focus of anthropogenic development, capping and diverting the springs for use in recreational bathhouse facilities. Human modification of these springs may have impacted the structure of these bacterial communities compared to springs left in a relative natural state. The goal of this study was to compare the community structure in two capped springs and two uncapped springs in HSNP, as well as broadly survey the microbial diversity of the springs. We used Illumina 16S rRNA sequencing of water samples from each spring, the QIIME workflow for sequence analysis, and generated measures of genera and phyla richness, diversity, and evenness. In total, over 700 genera were detected and most individual samples had more than 100 genera. There were also several uncharacterized sequences that could not be placed in known taxa, indicating the sampled springs contain undescribed bacteria. There was great variation both between sites and within samples, so no significant differences were detected in community structure between sites. Our results suggest that these springs, regardless of their human modification, contain a considerable amount of biodiversity, some of it potentially unique to the study site

Clinical utility of circulating miR-371a-3p for the management of patients with intracranial malignant germ cell tumors.

Abstract Background. The current biomarkers alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and human-chorionic-gonadotropin (HCG) have limited sensitivity/specificity for diagnosing malignant germ-cell-tumors (GCTs) and ‘marker-negative’ patients require histological confirmation for diagnosis. However, GCTs at intracranial sites are surgically relatively inaccessible and biopsy carries risks. MicroRNAs from the miR-371~373 and miR-302/367 clusters are over-expressed in all malignant GCTs and, in particular, miR-371a-3p shows elevated serum levels at diagnosis for testicular disease. Methods. Using our robust pre-amplified qRT-PCR methodology, we quantified miR-371a-3p levels in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in a series of four representative clinical cases, three with intracranial malignant GCT and one with Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH), compared with appropriate control cases. Results. Serum and/or CSF miR-371a-3p levels distinguished those with intracranial malignant GCTs from LCH and, if known in real-time, could have helped clinical management. The benefits would have included: i) the only confirmatory evidence of an intracranial malignant GCT in one case, supporting clinical decision-making; ii) early detection of intracranial malignant GCT in another, where an elevated CSF miR-371a-3p level preceded the histologically-confirmed diagnosis by two years, and iii) confirmation of an intracranial malignant GCT relapse with an elevated serum miR-371a-3p level, where serum and CSF AFP and HCG levels were below thresholds for such a diagnosis. Conclusions. This series highlights the potential for microRNA quantification to assist the non-invasive diagnosis, prognostication and management for patients with intracranial malignant GCTs. Serum and CSF should be collected routinely as part of future studies to facilitate the extension of these findings to larger patient cohorts.The authors acknowledge grant funding from the St. Baldrick’s Foundation [reference 358099], the Isaac Newton Trust [reference 15.40f] and Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust [reference 23/17 B (iv)]. We are grateful for support from the Max Williamson Fund and from Christiane and Alan Hodson, in memory of their daughter Olivia

Writers in the Library

This BC Library Conference session featured local writers discussing how libraries influence the written word and what they think libraries could and should be doing

Assessing The Importance of CVE Strategies in Ontario

For several years now, countering violent extremism (CVE) strategies have existed as a core component of police agency mandates and governmental policy directed toward reducing radicalism. However, little is known about what specific skills and attributes are necessary for police officers to successfully perform these duties. In this paper, we draw upon in-depth interviews with 6 individuals that have performed CVE-related duties within Ontario to discover which core competencies they perceive to be crucial to effectively work in such an environment. Additionally, an environmental scan is utilized to survey the contemporary CVE landscape in Ontario. The respondents described how CVE work necessitates more than just basic competencies required for frontline officers. The results of this study underscore the need to ensure positive public relations between the police and communities, as well as providing a foundation for developing comprehensive CVE competency lists in the future

The Age of consequences

Photography has played a major role in documenting social shifts and preserving memories of people and places beyond their death. My thesis exhibit examines the loss of places that are central to our society\u27s identity, left as abandoned husks in our midst. By creating a memorial to our own era, and eulogizing it as a time when our own actions began to have serious and long-lasting effects, we envision these sites as signifiers of the decline of America as an empire and a grim harbinger of things yet to come. While photography of modern abandonments has been derided as `ruin porn\u27, the function that the photography of such sites serves is that of a sentinel. They are physical evidence that failures to adapt are met with harsh repercussions.Photography has played a major role in documenting social shifts and preserving memories of people and places beyond their death. My thesis exhibit examines the loss of places that are central to our society\u27s identity, left as abandoned husks in our midst. By creating a memorial to our own era, and eulogizing it as a time when our own actions began to have serious and long-lasting effects, we envision these sites as signifiers of the decline of America as an empire and a grim harbinger of things yet to come. While photography of modern abandonments has been derided as `ruin porn\u27, the function that the photography of such sites serves is that of a sentinel. They are physical evidence that failures to adapt are met with harsh repercussions

Stayin\u27 Alive: Transnational Sanctuary and Insurgency

The conventional wisdom of counterinsurgency runs that insurgent groups with bases in neighboring states (transnational sanctuaries) are relatively more difficult to defeat than comparable groups without such bases. Insurgents with transnational sanctuaries benefit from relative protection from attack by counterinsurgents, they may recruit, train, and arm safely in their sanctuaries, transmit propaganda into their target state, and use these sanctuaries as staging points for infiltration or raids into their target state. Counterinsurgents have gone to great lengths to disrupt or destroy insurgent bases in neighboring countries based on the belief that this is necessary to defeating insurgents. However, several groups have lost their sanctuaries but won their wars, while others maintained their sanctuaries throughout their conflicts, yet lost, raising questions about whether the presence of transnational sanctuary is as important as the conventional wisdom assumes. In examining the record of post-1945 insurgencies, this dissertation finds some limited support for the conventional wisdom: overall, insurgents with sanctuary do win at a higher rate than average. However, that advantage largely depends on including several cases against external interveners, who almost always lost, regardless of whether insurgents had sanctuary. Most insurgencies are fought against domestically constituted regimes who lack the option to withdraw, and insurgents generally lose these conflicts far more often, and the presence of transnational sanctuary does not appear to affect the outcome of these conflicts

Serum small RNA sequencing and miR-375 assay do not identify the presence of pure teratoma at post-chemotherapy retroperitoneal lymph node dissection

Existing tumor markers for testicular germ cell tumor (TGCT) cannot detect the presence of pure teratoma. Serum miRNA have strong performance detecting other subtypes of TGCT. Previous reports suggest high levels of miR-375 expression in teratoma tissue. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of serum miRNA, including miR-375, in detecting the presence of teratoma at post-chemotherapy retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (PC-RPLND). We prospectively collected pre-surgical serum from 40 TGCT patients undergoing PC-RPLND (21 with teratoma at RPLND, 19 with no evidence of disease). We examined the utility of serum miR-375-3p and -5p by qPCR, and searched for other putative serum miRNA with small RNA sequencing. Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and univariate analyses were utilized to evaluate test characteristics and predictors of teratoma. Both serum miR-375-3p and -5p exhibited poor performance (-3p: 86% sensitivity, 32% specificity, AUC: 0.506; -5p: 55% sensitivity, 67% specificity, AUC: 0.556). Teratoma at orchiectomy was the only predictor of PC-RPLND teratoma. Small RNA sequencing identified 3 potentially discriminatory miRNA, but further validation demonstrated no utility. Our results confirm prior reports that serum miR-375 cannot predict teratoma, and suggest that there may not exist a predictive serum miRNA for teratoma.This work was supported by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health under award number 5 P30 CA142543 09 (C.L.), a St. Baldrick’s Consortium Award under grant 358099 (A.L.F, M.J.M, N.C, and J.FA.), grant RP170152 from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (A.B. and J.F.A.), A Rally Foundation Award (M.J.M., J.F.A., A.L.F.), Malignant Germ Cell International Consortium (A.B., M.J.M, A.L.F., J.F.A) and Dedman Family Scholarship in Clinical Care (A.B)