The floral hosts and distribution of a supposed creosote bush specialist, Colletes stehpeni Timberlake (Hymenoptera: Colletidae)

Colletes stehpani Timberlake is thought to be a narrow oligolege of creosote bush, Larrea tridentata (DC.) Coville (Zygophyllaceae) with limited distribution in the Sonoran desert of the Western United States. Based on appraisal of a museum specimens and fieldsurveys from 1999 to 2001 on 21 sand dunes, we foundd C. stephani to be a much more widely distributed psammophile of theSonoran, Mojave, and Great Basin Deserts that utilizes two unrelated plant pollen scources,Larrea Cav. and Psorothamnus Rydb. (Fabaceae). The geologic history of the region suggests a potential host shift from the more ancient occupant, Psorothamnus, to the Neogene colonizer, Larrea

The floral hosts and distribution of a supposed creosote bush specialist, Colletes stepheni Timberlake (Hymenoptera: Colletidae)

Colletes stepheni Timberlake, previously thought to be a narrow oligolege of Larrea (creosote bush) of limited distribution in the Sonoran Desert, is found to be a much more widely distributed psammophile of the Sonoran, Mojave and Great Basin Deserts that utilizes two unrelated plant pollen sources, Larrea (Zygophyllaceae) and Psorothamnus (Fabaceae). The geologic history of the region suggests a potential host shift from the more ancient occupant, Psorothamnus, to the Neogene colonizer, Larrea

Three Interventions for Financial Therapy: Fostering an Examination of Financial Behaviors and Beliefs

Three interventions that address the emotional components of handling finances are proposed. Drawn from a stepwise model of financial therapy, the three interventions introduced here have the specific aim of incorporating the emotional attributes of traditional financial behaviors and beliefs. First, the Financial Genogram identifies family of origin issues that may affect financial behaviors; second, the Financial Landscape intervention is used when emotional stress occurs in collecting and examining financial documents; and third, the Financial Mirror broadens clients’ perspectives of their financial behaviors. Issues in future research and implementation of the Five Step model are addressed in treating financially distressed clients

Inter-calibration of a proposed new primary reference standard AA-ETH Zn for zinc isotopic analysis

We have prepared a large volume of pure, concentrated and homogenous zinc standard solution. This new standard solution is intended to be used as a primary reference standard for the zinc isotope community, and to serve as a replacement for the near-exhausted current reference standard, the so-called JMC-Lyon Zn. The isotopic composition of this new zinc standard (AA-ETH Zn) has been determined through an inter-laboratory calibration exercise, calibrated against the existing JMC-Lyon standard, as well as the certified Zn reference standard IRMM-3702. The data show that the new standard is isotopically indistinguishable from the IRMM-3702 zinc standard, with a weighted d66/64Zn value of 0.28±0.02‰ relative to JMC-Lyon. We suggest that this new standard be assigned a value d66/64Zn of +0.28‰ for reporting of future Zn isotope data, with the rationale that all existing published Zn isotope data are presented relative to the JMC-Lyon standard. Therefore our proposed presentation allows a direct comparison with all previously published data, and that is directly traceable to a certified reference standard, IRMM-3702 Zn. This standard will be made freely available to all interested labs through contact with the corresponding author

Effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation on cognitive functioning in youth at ultra-high risk for psychosis: secondary analysis of the NEURAPRO randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND Cognitive impairments are well-established features of psychotic disorders and are present when individuals are at ultra-high risk for psychosis. However, few interventions target cognitive functioning in this population. AIMS To investigate whether omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFA) supplementation improves cognitive functioning among individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis. METHOD Data (N = 225) from an international, multi-site, randomised controlled trial (NEURAPRO) were analysed. Participants were given omega-3 supplementation (eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid) or placebo over 6 months. Cognitive functioning was assessed with the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS). Mixed two-way analyses of variance were computed to compare the change in cognitive performance between omega-3 supplementation and placebo over 6 months. An additional biomarker analysis explored whether change in erythrocyte n-3 PUFA levels predicted change in cognitive performance. RESULTS The placebo group showed a modest greater improvement over time than the omega-3 supplementation group for motor speed (ηp2 = 0.09) and BACS composite score (ηp2 = 0.21). After repeating the analyses without individuals who transitioned, motor speed was no longer significant (ηp2 = 0.02), but the composite score remained significant (ηp2 = 0.02). Change in erythrocyte n-3 PUFA levels did not predict change in cognitive performance over 6 months. CONCLUSIONS We found no evidence to support the use of omega-3 supplementation to improve cognitive functioning in ultra-high risk individuals. The biomarker analysis suggests that this finding is unlikely to be attributed to poor adherence or consumption of non-trial n-3 PUFAs

Evidence that complement and coagulation proteins are mediating the clinical response to omega-3 fatty acids: A mass spectrometry-based investigation in subjects at clinical high-risk for psychosis.

Preliminary evidence indicates beneficial effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in early psychosis. The present study investigates the molecular mechanism of omega-3 PUFA-associated therapeutic effects in clinical high-risk (CHR) participants. Plasma samples of 126 CHR psychosis participants at baseline and 6-months follow-up were included. Plasma protein levels were quantified using mass spectrometry and erythrocyte omega-3 PUFA levels were quantified using gas chromatography. We examined the relationship between change in polyunsaturated PUFAs (between baseline and 6-month follow-up) and follow-up plasma proteins. Using mediation analysis, we investigated whether plasma proteins mediated the relationship between change in omega-3 PUFAs and clinical outcomes. A 6-months change in omega-3 PUFAs was associated with 24 plasma proteins at follow-up. Pathway analysis revealed the complement and coagulation pathway as the main biological pathway to be associated with change in omega-3 PUFAs. Moreover, complement and coagulation pathway proteins significantly mediated the relationship between change in omega-3 PUFAs and clinical outcome at follow-up. The inflammatory protein complement C5 and protein S100A9 negatively mediated the relationship between change in omega-3 PUFAs and positive symptom severity, while C5 positively mediated the relationship between change in omega-3 and functional outcome. The relationship between change in omega-3 PUFAs and cognition was positively mediated through coagulation factor V and complement protein C1QB. Our findings provide evidence for a longitudinal association of omega-3 PUFAs with complement and coagulation protein changes in the blood. Further, the results suggest that an increase in omega-3 PUFAs decreases symptom severity and improves cognition in the CHR state through modulating effects of complement and coagulation proteins

The mechanism and control of DNA transfer by the conjugative relaxase of resistance plasmid pCU1

Bacteria expand their genetic diversity, spread antibiotic resistance genes, and obtain virulence factors through the highly coordinated process of conjugative plasmid transfer (CPT). A plasmid-encoded relaxase enzyme initiates and terminates CPT by nicking and religating the transferred plasmid in a sequence-specific manner. We solved the 2.3 Å crystal structure of the relaxase responsible for the spread of the resistance plasmid pCU1 and determined its DNA binding and nicking capabilities. The overall fold of the pCU1 relaxase is similar to that of the F plasmid and plasmid R388 relaxases. However, in the pCU1 structure, the conserved tyrosine residues (Y18,19,26,27) that are required for DNA nicking and religation were displaced up to 14 Å out of the relaxase active site, revealing a high degree of mobility in this region of the enzyme. In spite of this flexibility, the tyrosines still cleaved the nic site of the plasmid’s origin of transfer, and did so in a sequence-specific, metal-dependent manner. Unexpectedly, the pCU1 relaxase lacked the sequence-specific DNA binding previously reported for the homologous F and R388 relaxase enzymes, despite its high sequence and structural similarity with both proteins. In summary, our work outlines novel structural and functional aspects of the relaxase-mediated conjugative transfer of plasmid pCU1