Autism-associated SNPs in the clock genes _npas2_, _per1_ and the homeobox gene _en2_ alter DNA sequences that show characteristics of microRNA genes.

Intronic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the clock genes _npas2_ and _per1_ and the homeobox gene _en2_ are reported to be associated with autism. This bioinformatics analysis of the intronic regions which contain the autism-associated SNPs rs1861972 and rs1861973 in _en2_, rs1811399 in _npas2_, and rs885747 in _per1_, shows that these regions encode RNA transcripts with predicted structural characteristics of microRNAs. These microRNA-like structures are disrupted _in silico_ by the presence of the autism enriched alleles of rs1861972, rs1861973, rs1811399 and rs885747 specifically, as compared with the minor alleles of these SNPs. The predicted gene targets of these microRNA-like structures include genes reported to be implicated in autism (_gabrb3_, _shank3_) and genes causative of diseases co-morbid with autism (_mecp2_ and _rai1_). The inheritance of the AC haplotype of rs1861972 - rs1861973 in _en2_, the C allele of rs1811399 in _npas2_, and the C allele of rs1234747 in _per1_ may contribute to the causes of autism by affecting microRNA genes that are co-expressed along with the homeobox gene _en2_ and the circadian genes _npas2_ and _per1_

Monitoring of nitrogen leaching on a dairy farm during four drainage seasons

peer-reviewedThe authors acknowledge funding from the Environmental Protection Agency and Teagasc under the 2000–2006 RTDI programme.The effect of four commonly used dairy farm management systems (treatments), on nitrogen leaching to 1 m was studied over a 4-year period from October 2001 to April 2005. The treatments were (i) grazed plots receiving dirty water, (ii) 2-cut silage plots receiving slurry, (iii) grazed plots and (iv) 1-cut silage plots receiving slurry. All plots had fertiliser N applied; the soil was free-draining overlying fissured limestone. Mean 4-year N input (kg/ha) was 319 and mean annual stocking density was ~2.38 LU/ha. The annual average and weekly NO3-N and NH4-N concentrations in drainage water were analysed for all years, using a repeated measures analysis. For the annual NO3-N data, there was an interaction between treatment and year (P < 0.001). There were significant differences (P < 0.05) in NO3-N concentrations between the treatments in all years except the third. For the NH4-N data there was no interaction between treatment and year or main effect of treatment but there were differences between years (P < 0.01). Mean weekly concentrations were analysed separately for each year. For NO3-N, in all years but the third, there was an interaction between treatment and week (P < 0.001); this occurred with NH4-N, in all 4 years. Dirty water was significantly higher than grazed-fertiliser only and 1-cut silage in NO3-N concentrations in 2001–02; in 2002–03, dirty water and 2-cut silage were significantly higher than the other treatments; while in 2004–05, dirty water and grazed-fertiliser only were significantly higher than the other two treatments. The overall 4-year mean NO3-N and NH4-N concentrations were 8.2 and 0.297 mg/L, respectively.Environmental Protection Agenc

Effect of Agricultural Practices on Nitrate Leaching

Teagasc wishes to acknowledge with gratitude funding from the 2000-2006 EPA RTDI programme in financing this research project.End of project reportA farm-scale study, carried out at Teagasc, Moorepark (Curtin’s farm), examined the effect of four managements (treatments) on nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) leaching over the period 2001-`05. Leaching was measured in these treatments: (T1) plots receiving dirty water and N fertilizer which were grazed; (T2) 2-cut silage and grazing plots receiving slurry and fertilizer N; (T3) grazed plots receiving fertilizer N and (T4) 1-cut silage and grazing plots receiving slurry and fertilizer N. The soil is a free-draining sandy loam overlying Karstic fissured limestone. The mean direct N inputs (kg/ha) for T1-T4 in 2001-`04 were 311, 309, 326, 331, respectively, with stocking rates (LU/ha) of 2.12 - ~2.47. Eight ceramic cups per plot, in 3 replicate plots of each treatment, were used to collect water, on a weekly basis, from 1.0 m deep using 50 kPa suction. There were 33, 37, 26 and 24 sampling dates in the 4 years, respectively. The NO3-N and NH4-N concentrations (mg/l) were determined in the water samples. The annual average and weekly concentration of these parameters was statistically analysed for all years, using a repeated measures analysis. The aggregated data were not normally distributed. There was an interaction between treatment and year (p<0.001). Significant differences (p=0.05) in NO3-N concentrations showed between the treatments in years 1, 2, 4 but not in year 3. For the NH4-N data there was no interaction between treatment and year, p=0.12, or main effect of treatment, p=0.54 but there were differences between years, p=0.01. Mean weekly concentrations were analysed separately for each year. For NO3-N, in years 1, 2 and 4 there was an interaction between treatment and week (p<0.001). With NH4-N, there was an interaction between treatment and week in all 4 years. Dirty water was significantly higher than grazed and 1 cut silage in NO3-N concentrations in year 1; in year 2, dirty water and 2 cut silage were significantly higher than the other treatments while in year 4, dirty water and grazed were significantly higher than the other two treatments. The overall four-year weighted mean NO3-N and NH4-N concentrations were 8.2 and 0.297 mg/l. The NCYCLE (UK) model was adapted for Irish conditions as NCYCLE_IRL. The NCYCLE empirical approach proved to be suitable to predict N fluxes from Irish grassland systems in most situations. Experimental data appeared to agree quite well, in most cases, with the outputs from NCYCLE_IRL. The model was not capable of predicting data from some of the leaching experiments, which suggests that the observed leaching phenomena in these experiments could be governed by non-average conditions or other parameters not accounted for in NCYCLE_IRL. An approach that took into account denitrification, leaching and herbage yield would probably explain the differences found. NCYCLE_IRL proved to be a useful tool to analyse N leaching from grazed and cut grassland systems in Ireland.Environmental Protection Agenc

Polygenic risk for schizophrenia and season of birth within the UK Biobank cohort

Background: There is strong evidence that people born in winter and in spring have a small increased risk of schizophrenia. As this ‘season of birth’ effect underpins some of the most influential hypotheses concerning potentially modifiable risk exposures, it is important to exclude other possible explanations for the phenomenon. Methods: Here we sought to determine whether the season of birth effect reflects gene-environment confounding rather than a pathogenic process indexing environmental exposure. We directly measured, in 136 538 participants from the UK Biobank (UKBB), the burdens of common schizophrenia risk alleles and of copy number variants known to increase the risk for the disorder, and tested whether these were correlated with a season of birth. Results: Neither genetic measure was associated with season or month of birth within the UKBB sample. Conclusions: As our study was highly powered to detect small effects, we conclude that the season of birth effect in schizophrenia reflects a true pathogenic effect of environmental exposure

Influence of microphone housing on the directional response of piezoelectric mems microphones inspired by Ormia ochracea

The influence of custom microphone housings on the acoustic directionality and frequency response of a multiband bio-inspired MEMS microphone is presented. The 3.2 mm by 1.7 mm piezoelectric MEMS microphone, fabricated by a cost-effective multi-user process, has four frequency bands of operation below 10 kHz, with a desired first-order directionality for all four bands. 7×7×2.5 mm3 3-D-printed bespoke housings with varying acoustic access to the backside of the microphone membrane are investigated through simulation and experiment with respect to their influence on the directionality and frequency response to sound stimulus. Results show a clear link between directionality and acoustic access to the back cavity of the microphone. Furthermore, there was a change in direction of the first-order directionality with reduced height in this back cavity acoustic access. The required configuration for creating an identical directionality for all four frequency bands is investigated along with the influence of reducing the symmetry of the acoustic back cavity access. This paper highlights the overall requirement of considering housing geometries and their influence on acoustic behavior for bio-inspired directional microphones

Effect of an agri-environmental measure on nitrate leaching from a beef farming system in Ireland

peer-reviewedAgricultural nitrogen (N) management remains a key environmental challenge. Improving N management is a matter of urgency to reduce the serious ecological consequences of the reactive N. Nitrate (NO3−–N) leaching was measured under suckler beef production systems stocked at two intensities: (1) intensive, 210 kg organic N ha−1 with two cut silage harvests; and (2) rural environmental protection scheme (REPS), 170 kg organic N ha−1 with one cut silage harvest. Three replicate plots of each treatment were instrumented with ceramic cups (8 per plot), randomly placed within each plot at a depth of 1 m to collect soil solution for NO3−–N at 50 kPa suction to collecting vessels one week prior to sampling. Samples were taken on a total of 53 sampling dates over 3 winter drainage periods (2002/03, 2003/04 and 2004/05). Over the course of the experiment the mean annual soil solution NO3−–N concentration exceeded the MAC twice out of 15 means (5 treatments over 3 years). The REPS grazing and silage sub treatments had significantly lower mean annual soil solution total oxidized N (TON) concentrations than the respective intensive treatments in years 2 and 3. Annual total NO3−–N losses over the three years in intensive and REPS systems ranged from 55 to 71 and 15 to 20 kg N ha−1, respectively. Mean N surpluses in intensive and REPS systems were 210 and 95 kg ha−1, respectively with the corresponding mean N inputs of 272 and 124 kg N ha−1. The reduction in N inputs under the REPS system results in lower N leaching losses and contributed to a significant reduction in pressures on water quality

Intestinal stem cell dynamics: a story of mice and humans

Stem cell dynamics define the probability of accumulating mutations within the intestinal epithelium. In this issue of Cell Stem Cell, Nicholson et al. (2018) report that human intestinal stem cell dynamics differ significantly from those of mice and establish that oncogenic mutations are more likely to expand; therefore, "normal" epithelium may carry multiple mutations

United States Regulation of Stem Cell Research: Recasting Government\u27s Role and Questions to Be Resolved

This article directly addresses the stem cell controversy, but also the broader history and norms regarding the roles of federal and state government in U.S. science research funding