Dual separable feedback systems govern firing rate homeostasis.

Firing rate homeostasis (FRH) stabilizes neural activity. A pervasive and intuitive theory argues that a single variable, calcium, is detected and stabilized through regulatory feedback. A prediction is that ion channel gene mutations with equivalent effects on neuronal excitability should invoke the same homeostatic response. In agreement, we demonstrate robust FRH following either elimination of Kv4/Shal protein or elimination of the Kv4/Shal conductance. However, the underlying homeostatic signaling mechanisms are distinct. Eliminating Shal protein invokes Krüppel-dependent rebalancing of ion channel gene expression including enhanced slo, Shab, and Shaker. By contrast, expression of these genes remains unchanged in animals harboring a CRISPR-engineered, Shal pore-blocking mutation where compensation is achieved by enhanced IKDR. These different homeostatic processes have distinct effects on homeostatic synaptic plasticity and animal behavior. We propose that FRH includes mechanisms of proteostatic feedback that act in parallel with activity-driven feedback, with implications for the pathophysiology of human channelopathies

Engineering Microbial Consortia for Bioconversion of Multisubstrate Biomass Streams to Biofuels

Production of biofuels from nonfood biomass has emerged as a sustainable option to address the problems associated with growing enery demand for transportation, heating, and industrial processes, in the context of diminishing petroleum reserves and global climate change. Biomass resources such as lignocellulose-rich biomass and microalgae, despite being abundant pose several challenges for efficient bioconversion to biofuels. Major challenges that must be addressed are the chemical complexity of the biomass and the associated feedstock variability. In this chapter, the role of microbial consortium-based biocatalysis strategies that are being developed to address these issues are reviewed and discussed. Microbial coculture biocatalysts are systems that are engineered to specialize in the conversion of a general class of substrates present in the biomass hydrolysates into biofuel intermediates, providing the capability of adapting to the variable composition of the feedstock. The techniques being developed to understand the interactions between the members of the bioconversion consortia and the corresponding population dynamics of the engineered cocultures are also discussed

A Peer-Based Financial Planning and Education Service Program: An Innovative Pedagogic Approach

This paper presents a peer-based financial planning and education program as a strategy to address the lack of financial literacy among college students and provide an experiential/earning opportunity for students majoring in financial planning or other financial services-related disciplines. Benefits of such programs to campus communities are addressed by illustrating the current trends regarding student debt and financial literacy. The paper provides a specific description of a successful peer-to-peer financial planning and education program and encourages its replication at other colleges and universities. Through the review of this program, other schools may emulate effective strategies to assist in the implementation of this program as a pedagogical tool to improve students\u27 educational experience

A Peer-Based Financial Planning & Education Service Program: An Innovative Pedagogic Approach

This paper presents a peer-based financial planning and education program as a strategy to address the lack of financial literacy among college students and provide an experiential learning opportunity for students majoring in financial planning or other financial services-related disciplines. Benefits of such programs to campus communities are addressed by illustrating the current trends regarding student debt and financial literacy. The paper provides a specific description of a successful peer-to-peer financial planning and education program and encourages its replication at other colleges and universities. Through the review of this program, other schools may emulate effective strategies to assist in the implementation of this program as a pedagogical tool to improve students’ educational experience

An LED Approach for Measuring the Photocatalytic Breakdown of Crystal Violet Dye

A simple technique to assess the reactivity of photocatalytic coatings sprayed onto transmissive glass surfaces was developed. This new method uses ultraviolet (UV) gallium nitride (GaN) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to drive a photocatalytic reaction (the photocatalytic breakdown of a UV-resistant dye applied to a surface coated with the semiconductor titanium dioxide); and then a combination of a stabilized white light LED and a spectrometer to track the dye degradation as a function of time. Simple, standardized evaluation techniques that assess photocatalytic materials over a variety of environmental conditions, including illumination level, are not generally available and are greatly needed prior to in situ application of photocatalytic technologies. To date, much research pertaining to this aspect of photocatalysis has been limited and has focused primarily on laboratory experiments using mercury lamps. Mercury lamp illumination levels are difficult to control over large ranges and are temporally modulated by line power, limiting their use in helping to understand and predict how photocatalytic materials will behave in natural environmental settings and conditions. The methodology described here, using steady-state LEDs and time series spectroradiometric techniques, is a novel approach to explore the effect of UV light on the photocatalytic degradation of a UV resistant dye (crystal violet). GaN UV LED arrays, centered around 365 nm with an adjustable DC power supply, are used to create a small, spatially uniform light field where the steady state light level can be varied over three to four orders of magnitude. For this study, a set of glass microscope slides was custom coated with a thinly sprayed layer of photocatalytic titanium dioxide. Crystal violet was then applied to these titanium-dioxide coated slides and to uncoated control slides. The slides were then illuminated at various light levels from the dye side of the slide by the UV LED array. To monitor dye degradation on the slides over time, a temperature-stabilized white light LED was used to illuminate the opposite side of the slides. As the dye degraded, the amount of light from the white light LED transmitted through the slide was monitored with a spectrometer and subsequently analyzed to determine and compare the rate of dye degradation for photocatalytically coated versus uncoated slide surfaces. The long-term stability of the spectrometer/white light LED combination, which required only a single reference spectra to be taken for a time series sequence of several hours, enabled accurate measurements of transmitted light over time. Time series transmission curves were generated and results demonstrated that over time the transmission increased much more rapidly on the coated slides than on the control slides. This experimental configuration and methodology for photocatalytic activity measurement minimizes many external variable effects and allows low light level studies to be performed. This study also compares the advantages of this novel LED light source design to traditional mercury lamp systems and non-LED lamp approaches that have conventionally been used. The methodology and experimental design research summarized in this abstract is partly funded by the Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate, and by the NASA Stennis Space Center Innovative Partnerships Program

A Pre-Exercise Dose of Melatonin Can Alter Substrate Use During Exercise

International Journal of Exercise Science 10(7): 1029-1037, 2017. Notwithstanding the lack of exercise research, several reviews have championed the use of melatonin to combat metabolic syndrome. Therefore, this study compared substrate utilization during a 30-minute (min) graded exercise protocol following the ingestion of either 6 mg melatonin (M) or a placebo (P). Participants (12 women, 12 men) performed stages 1-5 of the Naughton graded exercise protocol (6 min per stage). The protocol was repeated 4 times (2x M, 2x P) at the same time of day with one week separating each session. Expired gases were monitored, VO2 and respiratory exchange ratio (RER) output was provided every 30s. Total, carbohydrate (CHO), and fat energy expenditures were obtained from the RER values using the formulae of Lusk. The VO2 at which CHO accounted for 50% of the total caloric expenditure was calculated by a VO2: RER regression line. Additionally, the energy derived was calculated by multiplying VO2 and the respective energy expenditures. Then, the total, CHO, and fat energies consumed during the 30 min of exercise were determined by calculating the area under the kJ/min: time curve using the trapezoid rule. The final data for the two similar trials were averaged and a paired-T test was used for statistical comparison. The average VO2 for 50% CHO usage was significantly lower following M (0.84 ± 0.54 l·min-1) than after P (1.21 ± 0.52 l·min-1). Also, average CHO kJ for M (627 ± 284) was significantly (p \u3c 0.004) greater than P (504 ± 228), and accounted for a significantly greater contribution of total kJ consumed (M = 68% ±15 vs. P = 61% ± 18). Ingestion of melatonin 30 min prior to an aerobic exercise bout elevates CHO use during exercise