New Dogs in the Dogma: Lrp4 and Tid1 in Neuromuscular Synapse Formation

Two recent papers reported identification of a long-sought agrin coreceptor, Lrp4 (Kim et al. in Cell and Zhang et al. in Neuron). In this issue of Neuron, Linnoila et al. report the identification of a new player in the agrin-MuSK pathway, Tid1, which directly interacts with MuSK and is responsible for transducing signals from MuSK activation to AChR clustering, culminating in cross-linking to the subsynaptic cytoskeleton. These papers substantially reshape the agrin-MuSK-ACh hypothesis of neuromuscular synaptogenesis

The Stripe 82 Massive Galaxy Project II: Stellar Mass Completeness of Spectroscopic Galaxy Samples from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey

The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) has collected spectra for over one million galaxies at $0.15<z<0.7$ over a volume of 15.3 Gpc$^3$ (9,376 deg$^2$) -- providing us an opportunity to study the most massive galaxy populations with vanishing sample variance. However, BOSS samples are selected via complex color cuts that are optimized for cosmology studies, not galaxy science. In this paper, we supplement BOSS samples with photometric redshifts from the Stripe 82 Massive Galaxy Catalog and measure the total galaxy stellar mass function (SMF) at $z\sim0.3$ and $z\sim0.55$. With the total SMF in hand, we characterize the stellar mass completeness of BOSS samples. The high-redshift CMASS ("constant mass") sample is significantly impacted by mass incompleteness and is 80% complete at $\log_{10}(M_*/M_{\odot}) >11.6$ only in the narrow redshift range $z=[0.51,0.61]$. The low redshift LOWZ sample is 80% complete at $\log_{10}(M_*/M_{\odot}) >11.6$ for $z=[0.15,0.43]$. To construct mass complete samples at lower masses, spectroscopic samples need to be significantly supplemented by photometric redshifts. This work will enable future studies to better utilize the BOSS samples for galaxy-formation science.Comment: 18 pages, 17 figures, 5 table

A kínai VFR turizmus Budapesten: vendégek és házigazdák

Az elmúlt néhány évben a kínai beutazó turizmus dinamikusan növekedett Kelet-Közép-Európában, amelyben a migrációs mobilitás is szerepet játszott. A Magyarországon élő legnépesebb, Ázsiából származó etnikai csoport, a kínaiak, a VFR turizmus fenntartásában is érintettek. Annak érdekében, hogy megismerjük a Magyarországon élő kínai diaszpóra VFR turizmusban játszott szerepét, online kérdőíves lekérdezést (N=202) alkalmaztunk a kínai közösség körében. A kutatási eredmények azt mutatják, hogy a Magyarországra érkező kínaiak migrációja szoros összefüggésben áll a VFR turizmussal. Egy hazánkban élő kínai VFR házigazdára a látogatás során kulcsfontosságú szerep hárul (vendégül látás, idegenvezetői teendők). Azok a házigazdák, akik az EU-csatlakozást (2004) megelőzően telepedtek le hazánkban, aktívabb szerepet vállalnak vendégük turisztikai keresletének generálásában. Jelen tanulmány a szerzőnek a Budapesti Corvinus Egyetem turizmus-menedzsment mesterképzésén készített szakdolgozatához végzett kutatására épül

The role of STEM-based sustainability in business and management curricula: Exploring cognitive and affective outcomes in university students

To address deficiencies in STEM and sustainability in business management and intra-university curricula, we developed and implemented an interdisciplinary STEM-based sustainability curriculum at a university in the Western United States. Six classes participated in curricular efforts including in-person and online sections of a business management course, in-person and online sections of a general elective STEM course, and a matched control course for each (n = 214). We systematically designed, developed, and implemented curricular interventions—multi-week STEM-based business sustainability modules—using the case teaching method. A comprehensive evaluation with pre- and post-tests was conducted to assess student sustainability cognition and affect. Significant results emerged for sustainability cognition including the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability. Counterintuitively, student sustainability affect did not improve. However, sustainability cognition and affect were significantly correlated on the post-test for treatment students, an indication that cognitive and affective changes share the same directionality. Discussion, implications, limitations, and future research directions are provided

Chinese VFR travel in Budapest : the hosts’ roles

In recent decades, there has been a dynamic growth of Chinese outbound tourism to the Central and Eastern European region, and Hungary has been one of the most visited countries. This increase in demand is linked, in part, to the important Chinese diaspora in Hungary whose members play the role of hosts in VFR travel. This paper aims to explore the social relations—guanxi—within the Chinese diaspora living in Budapest and its influence on VFR travels back and forth China. Results of the survey with 202 Chinese immigrants reveal the strong nexus between migration and VFR travel. The Chinese hosts who have been living in the country for two decades behave differently in their guanxi compared to those who have settled in Budapest recently. The article provides several practical contributions to local destination management organizations and tourism service providers to successfully reach Chinese hosts, such as providing commissions, coupons, and getting discounts

Development and application of CRISPR-based genetic tools in Bacillus species and Bacillus phages

Recently, the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) system has been developed into a precise and efficient genome editing tool. Since its discovery as an adaptive immune system in prokaryotes, it has been applied in many different research fields including biotechnology and medical sciences. The high demand for rapid, highly efficient and versatile genetic tools to thrive in bacteria-based cell factories accelerates this process. This review mainly focuses on significant advancements of the CRISPR system in Bacillus subtilis, including the achievements in gene editing, and on problems still remaining. Next, we comprehensively summarize this genetic tool's up-to-date development and utilization in other Bacillus species, including B. licheniformis, B. methanolicus, B. anthracis, B. cereus, B. smithii and B. thuringiensis. Furthermore, we describe the current application of CRISPR tools in phages to increase Bacillus hosts' resistance to virulent phages and phage genetic modification. Finally, we suggest potential strategies to further improve this advanced technique and provide insights into future directions of CRISPR technologies for rendering Bacillus species cell factories more effective and more powerful

Production of Squalene in Bacillus subtilis by Squalene Synthase Screening and Metabolic Engineering

Squalene synthase (SQS) catalyzes the conversion of two farnesyl pyrophosphates to squalene, an important intermediate in between isoprene and valuable triterpenoids. In this study, we have constructed a novel biosynthesis pathway for squalene in Bacillus subtilis and performed metabolic engineering aiming at facilitating further exploitation and production of squalene-derived triterpenoids. Therefore, systematic studies and analysis were performed including selection of multiple SQS candidates from various organisms, comparison of expression vectors, optimization of cultivation temperatures, and examination of rate-limiting factors within the synthetic pathway. We were, for the first time, able to obtain squalene synthesis in B. subtilis. Furthermore, we achieved a 29-fold increase of squalene yield (0.26-7.5 mg/L) by expressing SQS from Bacillus megaterium and eliminating bottlenecks within the upstream methylerythritol-phosphate pathway. Moreover, our findings showed that also ispA could positively affect the production of squalene

MiR-24 Tumor Suppressor Activity Is Regulated Independent of p53 and through a Target Site Polymorphism

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are predicted to regulate approximately 30% of all human genes; however, only a few miRNAs have been assigned their targets and specific functions. Here we demonstrate that miR-24, a ubiquitously expressed miRNA, has an anti-proliferative effect independent of p53 function. Cell lines with differential p53 status were used as a model to study the effects of miR-24 on cell proliferation, cell cycle control, gene regulation and cellular transformation. Overexpression of miR-24 in six different cell lines, independent of p53 function, inhibited cell proliferation and resulted in G2/S cell cycle arrest. MiR-24 over expression in cells with wt-p53 upregulated TP53 and p21 protein; however, in p53-null cells miR-24 still induced cell cycle arrest without the involvement of p21. We show that miR-24 regulates p53-independent cellular proliferation by regulating an S-phase enzyme, dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) a target of the chemotherapeutic drug methotrexate (MTX). Of interest, we found that a miR-24 target site polymorphism in DHFR 3′ UTR that results in loss of miR-24-function and high DHFR levels in the cell imparts a growth advantage to immortalized cells and induces neoplastic transformation. Of clinical significance, we found that miR-24 is deregulated in human colorectal cancer tumors and a subset of tumors has reduced levels of miR-24. A novel function for miR-24 as a p53-independent cell cycle inhibitory miRNA is proposed

The clustering of galaxies in the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: measurements of the growth of structure and expansion rate at z=0.57 from anisotropic clustering

We analyze the anisotropic clustering of massive galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) Data Release 9 (DR9) sample, which consists of 264,283 galaxies in the redshift range 0.43 < z < 0.7 spanning 3,275 square degrees. Both peculiar velocities and errors in the assumed redshift-distance relation ("Alcock-Paczynski effect") generate correlations between clustering amplitude and orientation with respect to the line-of-sight. Together with the sharp baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) standard ruler, our measurements of the broadband shape of the monopole and quadrupole correlation functions simultaneously constrain the comoving angular diameter distance (2190 +/- 61 Mpc) to z=0.57, the Hubble expansion rate at z=0.57 (92.4 +/- 4.5 km/s/Mpc), and the growth rate of structure at that same redshift (d sigma8/d ln a = 0.43 +/- 0.069). Our analysis provides the best current direct determination of both DA and H in galaxy clustering data using this technique. If we further assume a LCDM expansion history, our growth constraint tightens to d sigma8/d ln a = 0.415 +/- 0.034. In combination with the cosmic microwave background, our measurements of DA, H, and growth all separately require dark energy at z > 0.57, and when combined imply \Omega_{\Lambda} = 0.74 +/- 0.016, independent of the Universe's evolution at z<0.57. In our companion paper (Samushia et al. prep), we explore further cosmological implications of these observations.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures, submitted to MNRAS, comments welcom