The Great Recession and its Impact on Families

In 2009, Clark University was accepted as the university to represent Massachusetts in the National Policy Institute for Family Impact Seminars at the University of Wisconsin – Madison (http://familyimpactseminars.org). Family Impact Seminars are a series of annual seminars, briefing reports, and discussion sessions that provide up-to-date, solution-oriented research on current issues for state legislators, legislative staff, and executive branch personnel. The seminars provide objective, nonpartisan research on current issues and do not lobby for particular policies. Seminar participants discuss policy options and identify common ground where it exists

Schizophrenia and the progression of emotional expression in relation to others

Gaining an improved understanding of people diagnosed with schizophrenia has the potential to influence priorities for therapy. Psychosis is commonly understood through the perspective of the medical model. However, the experience of social context surrounding psychosis is not well understood. In this research project we used a phenomenological methodology with a longitudinal design to interview 7 participants across a 12-month period to understand the social experiences surrounding psychosis. Eleven themes were explicated and divided into two phases of the illness experience: (a) transition into emotional shutdown included the experiences of not being acknowledged, relational confusion, not being expressive, detachment, reliving the past, and having no sense of direction; and (b) recovery from emotional shutdown included the experiences of being acknowledged, expression, resolution, independence, and a sense of direction. The experiential themes provide clinicians with new insights to better assess vulnerability, and have the potential to inform goals for therapy

Upcycling phosphorus recovered from anaerobically digested dairy manure to support production of vegetables and flowers

Dissolved air flotation (DAF) separates phosphorus (P)-rich fine solids from anaerobically digested dairy manure, creating opportunities to export surplus P to the marketplace as a bagged plant food product. Seedlings of tomato and marigold were amended at various volume per volume (v/v) ratios with plant foods consisting of fine solids upcycled (i.e., transformed into a higher quality product) by drying and blending with other organic residuals. A plate competition assay was conducted to assess the fine solids\u27 potential to suppress the plant pathogen Rhizoctonia solani. Plant foods were comprised of 2.0-2.1% N, 0.8-0.9% P and 0.6-0.8% K. Extractions indicated that plant foods contained a mixture of plant-available and slow-release P. At 6% v/v plant food, dry biomass of marigold and tomato were six-times greater than the unamended control and not significantly different from a market alternative treatment. Fine solids exhibited negligible potential to suppress R. solani. This study indicates that DAF-separated fine solids could be used to support horticulture, providing information for design of a circular economy approach to dairy manure nutrient management. Life cycle assessment and business model development for this nutrient recovery strategy are necessary next steps to further guide sustainability efforts

Biochemical analysis of the DNA unwinding and strand annealing activities catalyzed by human RECQ1

RecQ helicases play an important role in preserving genomic integrity, and their cellular roles in DNA repair, recombination, and replication have been of considerable interest. Of the five human RecQ helicases identified, three are associated with genetic disorders characterized by an elevated incidence of cancer or premature aging: Werner syndrome, Bloom syndrome, and Rothmund-Thomson syndrome. Although the biochemical properties and protein interactions of the WRN and BLM helicases defective in Werner syndrome and Bloom syndrome, respectively, have been extensively investigated, less information is available concerning the functions of the other human RecQ helicases. We have focused our attention on human RECQ1, a DNA helicase whose cellular functions remain largely uncharacterized. In this work, we have characterized the DNA substrate specificity and optimal cofactor requirements for efficient RECQ1-catalyzed DNA unwinding and determined that RECQ1 has certain properties that are distinct from those of other RecQ helicases. RECQ1 stably bound to a variety of DNA structures, enabling it to unwind a diverse set of DNA substrates. In addition to its DNA binding and helicase activities, RECQ1 catalyzed efficient strand annealing between complementary single-stranded DNA molecules. The ability of RECQ1 to promote strand annealing was modulated by ATP binding, which induced a conformational change in the protein. The enzymatic properties of the RECQ1 helicase and strand annealing activities are discussed in the context of proposed cellular DNA metabolic pathways that are important in the maintenance of genomic stability

Caterpillar Light Truck Clean Diesel Program

In 1998, light trucks accounted for over 48% of new vehicle sales in the U.S. and well over half the new Light Duty vehicle fuel consumption. The Light Truck Clean Diesel (LTCD) program seeks to introduce large numbers of advanced technology diesel engines in light-duty trucks that would improve their fuel economy (mpg) by at least 50% and reduce our nation's dependence on foreign oil. Incorporating diesel engines in this application represents a high-risk technical and economic challenge. To meet the challenge, a government-industry partnership (Department of Energy, diesel engine manufacturers, and the automotive original equipment manufacturers) is applying joint resources to meet specific goals that will provide benefits to the nation. [1] Caterpillar initially teamed with Ford Motor Company on a 5 year program (1997-2002) to develop prototype vehicles that demonstrate a 50% fuel economy improvement over the current 1997 gasoline powered light truck vehicle in this class while complying with EPA's Tier II emissions regulations. The light truck vehicle selected for the demonstration is a 1999 Ford F150 SuperCab. To meet the goals of the program, the 4.6 L V-8 gasoline engine in this vehicle will be replaced by an advanced compression ignition direct injection (CIDI) engine. Key elements of the Caterpillar LTCD program plan to develop the advanced CIDI engine are presented in this paper

Formation of 3-nitrotyrosines in carbonic anhydrase III is a sensitive marker of oxidative stress in skeletal muscle

Oxidation of skeletal muscle proteins has been reported to occur following contractions, with ageing, and with a variety of disease states, but the nature of the oxidised proteins has not been identified. A proteomics approach was utilised to identify major proteins that contain carbonyls and/or 3-nitrotyrosine (3-NT) groups in the gastrocnemius (GTN) muscles of adult (5–11 14months of age) and old (26–28 14months of age) wild type (WT) mice and adult mice lacking copper, zinc superoxide dismutase ( Sod1 −/− mice), manganese superoxide dismutase ( Sod2 +/− mice) or glutathione peroxidase 1 ( GPx1 −/− mice). In quiescent GTN muscles of adult and old WT mice, protein carbonylation and/or formation of 3-NT occurred in several proteins involved in glycolysis, as well as creatine kinase and carbonic anhydrase III. Following contractions, the 3-NT intensity was increased in specific protein bands from GTN muscles of both adult and old WT mice. In quiescent GTN muscles from adult Sod1 −/− , Sod2 +/− or GPx1 −/− mice compared with age-matched WT mice only carbonic anhydrase III showed a greater 3-NT content. We conclude that formation of 3-NT occurs readily in response to oxidative stress in carbonic anhydrase III and this may provide a sensitive measure of oxidative damage to muscle proteins.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/56035/1/362_ftp.pd

Ether Bridge Formation in Loline Alkaloid Biosynthesis

Lolines are potent insecticidal agents produced by endophytic fungi of cool-season grasses. These alkaloids are composed of a pyrrolizidine ring system and an uncommon ether bridge linking carbons 2 and 7. Previous results indicated that 1-aminopyrrolizidine was a pathway intermediate. We used RNA interference to knock down expression of lolO, resulting in the accumulation of an alkaloid identified as exo-1-acetamidopyrrolizidine based on high-resolution MS and NMR. Genomes of endophytes differing in alkaloid profiles were sequenced, revealing that those with mutated lolO accumulated exo-1-acetamidopyrrolizidine but no lolines. Heterologous expression of wild-type lolO complemented a lolO mutant, resulting in the production of N-acetylnorloline. These results indicated that the non-heme iron oxygenase, LolO, is required for ether bridge formation, probably through oxidation of exo-1-acetamidopyrrolizidine

A thin layer angiogenesis assay: a modified basement matrix assay for assessment of endothelial cell differentiation

BACKGROUND: Basement matrices such as Matrigel™ and Geltrex™ are used in a variety of cell culture assays of anchorage-dependent differentiation including endothelial cell tube formation assays. The volumes of matrix recommended for these assays (approximately 150 μl/cm(2)) are costly, limit working distances for microscopy, and require cell detachment for subsequent molecular analysis. Here we describe the development and validation of a thin-layer angiogenesis (TLA) assay for assessing the angiogenic potential of endothelial cells that overcomes these limitations. RESULTS: Geltrex™ basement matrix at 5 μl/cm(2) in 24-well (10 μl) or 96-well (2 μl) plates supports endothelial cell differentiation into tube-like structures in a comparable manner to the standard larger volumes of matrix. Since working distances are reduced, high-resolution single cell microscopy, including DIC and confocal imaging, can be used readily. Using MitoTracker dye we now demonstrate, for the first time, live mitochondrial dynamics and visualise the 3-dimensional network of mitochondria present in differentiated endothelial cells. Using a standard commercial total RNA extraction kit (Qiagen) we also show direct RNA extraction and RT-qPCR from differentiated endothelial cells without the need to initially detach cells from their supporting matrix. CONCLUSIONS: We present here a new thin-layer assay (TLA) for measuring the anchorage-dependent differentiation of endothelial cells into tube-like structures which retains all the characteristics of the traditional approach but with the added benefit of a greatly lowered cost and better compatibility with other techniques, including RT-qPCR and high-resolution microscopy. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12860-014-0041-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users