Broad application of a simple and affordable protocol for isolating plant RNA

BACKGROUND: Standard molecular biological methods involve the analysis of gene expression in living organisms under diverse environmental and developmental conditions. One of the most direct approaches to quantify gene expression is the isolation of RNA. Most techniques used to quantify gene expression require the isolation of RNA, usually from a large number of samples. While most published protocols, including those for commercial reagents, are either labour intensive, use hazardous chemicals and/or are costly, a previously published protocol for RNA isolation in Arabidopsis thaliana yields high amounts of good quality RNA in a simple, safe and inexpensive manner. FINDINGS: We have tested this protocol in tomato and wheat leaves, as well as in Arabidopsis leaves, and compared the resulting RNA to that obtained using a commercial phenol-based reagent. Our results demonstrate that this protocol is applicable to other plant species, including monocots, and offers yield and purity at least comparable to those provided by commercial phenol-based reagents. CONCLUSIONS: Here, we show that this previously published RNA isolation protocol can be easily extended to other plant species without further modification. Due to its simplicity and the use of inexpensive reagents, this protocol is accessible and affordable and can be easily implemented to work on different plant species in laboratories worldwide

Interaction Effect of Social Isolation and High Dose Corticosteroid on Neurogenesis and Emotional Behavior

published_or_final_versio

Chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis presenting as bilateral pleural effusion: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis is an uncommon subacute form of <it>Aspergillus </it>infection. It typically occurs in immunocompromised individuals and in those with underlying lung disease. This interesting case highlights the occurrence of this entity of aspergillosis in an immunocompetent middle-aged woman with atypical radiological findings. To the best of our knowledge this is the first case report of chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis presenting with pleural effusion.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>Our patient was a 64-year-old Malay woman with a background history of epilepsy but no other comorbidities. She was a lifelong non-smoker. She presented to our facility with a six-month history of productive cough and three episodes of hemoptysis. An initial chest radiograph showed bilateral pleural effusion with bibasal consolidation. Bronchoscopy revealed a white-coated endobronchial tree and bronchoalveolar lavage culture grew <it>Aspergillus niger</it>. A diagnosis of chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis was made based on the clinical presentation and microbiological results. She responded well to treatment with oral itraconazole.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The radiological findings in chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis can be very diverse. This case illustrates that this condition can be a rare cause of bilateral pleural effusion.</p

Terrestrial impact structures as geoheritage: an assessment method of their scientific value and its application to Brazil

Terrestrial impact structures are geological and geomorphological features with particular importance to understand the history and evolution of the planet. Impact structures are scattered around the world but in many countries these features are under threat, essentially due to anthropic factors. Impact structures with higher scienti c value should be considered as geological heritage and, consequently, be subjected to geoconservation strategies. In order to select the most important impact structures to be properly conserved and managed, this paper proposes a quantitative assessment method of the scienti c value of these structures. The eight Brazilian impact structures were used to test this method that has the potential to be applied to any geological context in any country. The structures known as Araguainha Dome-MT and Serra da Cangalha-TO reached a higher scienti c value, which justi es the need to develop geoconservation strategies and a proper management.The Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento (CNPq / National Council for Research and Development) and the Programa Ciências sem Fronteiras / Science Without Borders Programme are acknowledged for the support of the postdoctoral grant No 233209/2013-1 of the 1st author. The work was co-funded by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund, based on COMPETE 2020 (Programa Operacional da Competitividade e Internacionalização), project ICT (UID/ GEO/04683/2013) with reference POCI-01-0145- FEDER-007690 and Portuguese funds provided by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Femtosecond control of electric currents at the interfaces of metallic ferromagnetic heterostructures

The idea to utilize not only the charge but also the spin of electrons in the operation of electronic devices has led to the development of spintronics, causing a revolution in how information is stored and processed. A novel advancement would be to develop ultrafast spintronics using femtosecond laser pulses. Employing terahertz (10$^{12}$ Hz) emission spectroscopy, we demonstrate optical generation of spin-polarized electric currents at the interfaces of metallic ferromagnetic heterostructures at the femtosecond timescale. The direction of the photocurrent is controlled by the helicity of the circularly polarized light. These results open up new opportunities for realizing spintronics in the unprecedented terahertz regime and provide new insights in all-optical control of magnetism.Comment: 3 figures and 2 tables in the main tex

Activation of Ventral Tegmental Area 5-HT2C Receptors Reduces Incentive Motivation

FUNDING AND DISCLOSURE The research was funded by Wellcome Trust (WT098012) to LKH; and National Institute of Health (DK056731) and the Marilyn H. Vincent Foundation to MGM. The University of Michigan Transgenic Core facility is partially supported by the NIH-funded University of Michigan Center for Gastrointestinal Research (DK034933). The remaining authors declare no conflict of interest. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank Dr Celine Cansell, Ms Raffaella Chianese and the staff of the Medical Research Facility for technical assistance. We thank Dr Vladimir Orduña for the scientific advice and technical assistance.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The dynamical evolution of molecular clouds near the Galactic Centre - II. Spatial structure and kinematics of simulated clouds

The evolution of molecular clouds in galactic centres is thought to differ from that in galactic discs due to a significant influence of the external gravitational potential. We present a set of numerical simulations of molecular clouds orbiting on the 100-pc stream of the Central Molecular Zone (the central $\sim500$ pc of the Galaxy) and characterise their morphological and kinematic evolution in response to the background potential and eccentric orbital motion. We find that the clouds are shaped by strong shear and torques, by tidal and geometric deformation, and by their passage through the orbital pericentre. Within our simulations, these mechanisms control cloud sizes, aspect ratios, position angles, filamentary structure, column densities, velocity dispersions, line-of-sight velocity gradients, spin angular momenta, and kinematic complexity. By comparing these predictions to observations of clouds on the Galactic Centre 'dust ridge', we find that our simulations naturally reproduce a broad range of key observed morphological and kinematic features, which can be explained in terms of well-understood physical mechanisms. We argue that the accretion of gas clouds onto the central regions of galaxies, where the rotation curve turns over and the tidal field is fully compressive, is accompanied by transformative dynamical changes to the clouds, leading to collapse and star formation. This can generate an evolutionary progression of cloud collapse with a common starting point, which either marks the time of accretion onto the tidally-compressive region or of the most recent pericentre passage. Together, these processes may naturally produce the synchronised starbursts observed in numerous (extra)galactic nuclei

Inequality in learning outcomes: Unveiling educational deprivation through complex network analysis

Understanding which factors are determinant to guarantee the human right to education entails the study of a large number of non-linear relationships among multiple agents and their impact on the properties of the entire system. Complex network analysis of large-scale assessment results provides a set of unique advantages over classical tools for facing the challenge of measuring inequality gaps in learning outcomes and recognizing those factors associated with educational deprivation, combining the richness of qualitative analysis with quantitative inferences. This study establishes two milestones in educational research using a census high-quality data from a Latin American country. The first one is to provide a direct method to recognize the structure of inequality and the relationship between social determinants as ethnicity, socioeconomic status of students, rurality of the area and type of school funding and educational deprivation. The second one focus in unveil and hierarchize educational and non-educational factors associated with the conditional distribution of learning outcomes. This contribution provides new tools to current theoretical framework for discovering non-trivial relationships in educational phenomena, helping policymakers to address the challenge of ensuring inclusive and equitable education for those historically marginalized population groups.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Fossil Carder Bee's nest from the Hominin locality of Taung, South Africa

The Buxton-Norlim Limeworks southwest of Taung, South Africa, is renowned for the discovery of the first Australopithecus africanus fossil, the ‘Taung Child’. The hominin was recovered from a distinctive pink calcrete that contains an abundance of invertebrate ichnofauna belonging to the Coprinisphaera ichnofacies. Here we describe the first fossil bee’s nest, attributed to the ichnogenus Celliforma, from the Plio-Pleistocene of Africa. Petrographic examination of a cell lining revealed the preservation of an intricate organic matrix lined with the calcitic casts of numerous plant trichomes–a nesting behaviour unique to the modern-day carder bees (Anthidiini). The presence of Celliforma considered alongside several other recorded ichnofossils can be indicative of a dry, savannah environment, in agreement with recent work on the palaeoenvironment of Plio-Pleistocene southern Africa. Moreover, the occurrence of ground-nesting bees provides further evidence that the pink calcrete deposits are of pedogenic origin, rather than speleogenic origin as has previously been assumed. This study demonstrates the potential value of insect trace fossils as palaeoenvironmental indicators

Postpyloric enteral nutrition in the critically ill child with shock: a prospective observational study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Tolerance to enteral nutrition in the critically ill child with shock has not been studied. The purpose of the study was to analyze the characteristics of enteral nutrition and its tolerance in the critically ill child with shock and to compare this with non-shocked patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A prospective, observational study was performed including critically ill children with shock who received postpyloric enteral nutrition (PEN). The type of nutrition used, its duration, tolerance, and gastrointestinal complications were assessed. The 65 children with shock who received PEN were compared with 461 non-shocked critically ill children who received PEN.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Sixty-five critically ill children with shock, aged between 21 days and 22 years, received PEN. 75.4% of patients with shock received PEN exclusively. The mean duration of the PEN was 25.2 days and the maximum calorie intake was 79.4 kcal/kg/day. Twenty patients with shock (30.7%) presented gastrointestinal complications, 10 (15.4%) abdominal distension and/or excessive gastric residue, 13 (20%) diarrhoea, 1 necrotising enterocolitis, and 1 duodenal perforation due to the postpyloric tube. The frequency of gastrointestinal complications was significantly higher than in the other 461 critically ill children (9.1%). PEN was suspended due to gastrointestinal complications in 6 patients with shock (9.2%). There were 18 deaths among the patients with shock and PEN (27.7%). In only one patient was the death related to complications of the nutrition.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Although most critically ill children with shock can tolerate postpyloric enteral nutrition, the incidence of gastrointestinal complications is higher in this group of patients than in other critically ill children.</p