Design and Assembly of a Carbon Fiber Professional Scooter

After reviewing the current professional grade scooter market, it was concluded that there is a definite need for weight reduction. The current market consists of rigid aluminum and titanium structures. This design is made primarily of unidirectional carbon fiber in an epoxy resin system. The deck of the scooter will be made with a high density foam core. Using carbon fiber to replace metal will provide a substantial weight reduction in the final assembly. Testing will be done to ensure that the scooter meets all required safety and dimensional requirements.https://openriver.winona.edu/urc2019/1054/thumbnail.jp

Development of microsatellite markers in Cocos nucifera and their application in evaluating the level of genetic diversity of Cocos nucifera

Cocos nucifera (coconut) is an economically important tropical crop, but opportunities for molecular breeding are limited by lack of DNA sequence information for this species. Previous assessments of coconut germplasm have been conducted based solely on phenotypic data for agronomic and quality traits, due to lack of available molecular markers. In this study, we developed 30 novel microsatellite markers from Illumina transcriptome sequence data, and used these markers to evaluate coconut genetic diversity in 30 individuals representing accessions from China (12 samples) and Southeast Asia (18 samples). The microsatellite markers displayed low to high genetic polymorphism across the population: observed heterozygosity varied from 0.06 to 0.79, with an average of 0.39 ± 0.15. Our results indicated that the Southeast Asian population had a significantly higher number of alleles (p = 0.02), but not significantly different (

Auxin-dependent control of a plasmodesmal regulator creates a negative feedback loop modulating lateral root emergence

© 2020, The Author(s). Lateral roots originate from initial cells deep within the main root and must emerge through several overlying layers. Lateral root emergence requires the outgrowth of the new primordium (LRP) to coincide with the timely separation of overlying root cells, a developmental program coordinated by the hormone auxin. Here, we report that in Arabidopsis thaliana roots, auxin controls the spatiotemporal expression of the plasmodesmal regulator PDLP5 in cells overlying LRP, creating a negative feedback loop. PDLP5, which functions to restrict the cell-to-cell movement of signals via plasmodesmata, is induced by auxin in cells overlying LRP in a progressive manner. PDLP5 localizes to plasmodesmata in these cells and negatively impacts organ emergence as well as overall root branching. We present a model, incorporating the spatiotemporal expression of PDLP5 in LRP-overlying cells into known auxin-regulated LRP-overlying cell separation pathways, and speculate how PDLP5 may function to negatively regulate the lateral root emergence process

Time-Dependent Subcellular Distribution and Effects of Carbon Nanotubes in Lungs of Mice

BACKGROUND AND METHODS:Pulmonary deposited carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are cleared very slowly from the lung, but there is limited information on how CNTs interact with the lung tissue over time. To address this, three different multiwalled CNTs were intratracheally instilled into female C57BL/6 mice: one short (850 nm) and tangled, and two longer (4 μm and 5.7 μm) and thicker. We assessed the cellular interaction with these CNTs using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) 1, 3 and 28 days after instillation. RESULTS:TEM analysis revealed that the three CNTs followed the same overall progression pattern over time. Initially, CNTs were taken up either by a diffusion mechanism or via endocytosis. Then CNTs were agglomerated in vesicles in macrophages. Lastly, at 28 days post-exposure, evidence suggesting CNT escape from vesicle enclosures were found. The longer and thicker CNTs more often perturbed and escaped vesicular enclosures in macrophages compared to the smaller CNTs. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) showed that the CNT exposure induced both an eosinophil influx and also eosinophilic crystalline pneumonia. CONCLUSION:Two very different types of multiwalled CNTs had very similar pattern of cellular interactions in lung tissue, with the longer and thicker CNTs resulting in more severe effects in terms of eosinophil influx and incidence of eosinophilic crystalline pneumonia (ECP)

Capillary Proliferation in Systemic-Sclerosis-Related Pulmonary Fibrosis: Association with Pulmonary Hypertension

We sought to determine if any histopathologic component of the pulmonary microcirculation can distinguish systemic sclerosis (SSc)-related pulmonary fibrosis (PF) with and without pulmonary hypertension (PH)

Sex-stratified Genome-wide Association Studies Including 270,000 Individuals Show Sexual Dimorphism in Genetic Loci for Anthropometric Traits

Peer reviewe

Plasmodesmal regulator PDLP5 connects phytohormone signaling to symplasmic transport in Arabidopsis thaliana

Lee, Jung-YounThe characterization of Plasmodesmata Localized Protein 5 (PDLP5) has revealed that it has important connections to two hormone signaling pathways: salicylic acid (SA) basal defense, and auxin-regulated lateral root emergence. PDLP5 is expressed within the SA defense pathway under control of the genes EDS1, ICS1, and NPR1. PDLP5 both upregulates, and is upregulated by, SA. Overexpressing PDLP5 activates SA accumulation and defense signaling genes, stunting plant growth and causing spontaneous lesion formation in the leaves. In roots, PDLP5 expression is indirectly correlated with the lateral root emergence rate and root branching. PDLP5 is inducible by auxin, and is expressed in a very specific set of endodermal, cortical, and epidermal cells overlying emerging LRP in an auxin-dependent manner. The timing and location of fluorescent auxin sensors in the LRP-overlying cells increased in pdlp5-1 and was reduced in 35S:PDLP5. Using an endodermal tissue-specific promoter expressing diffusible GFP, it was shown that direct upregulation of PDLP5 by either SA treatment, or pER8:PDLP5 induction by estradiol, significantly reduced the movement of GFP into neighboring tissue layers. Overall, PDLP5 appears to be an important regulator connecting symplasmic communication to hormone signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana.University of Delaware, Department of Plant and Soil SciencesPh.D