Continuity and Change in Elections in the City of Buenos Aires, 1931-1954

Background of INCASI Project H2020-MSCA-RISE-2015 GA 691004. WP1: Compilatio

A Transgenic Marker for Newly Born Granule Cells in Dentate Gyrus

Neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus continues into adulthood, yet little is known about the function of newly born neurons or how they integrate into an existing network of mature neurons. We made transgenic mice that selectively and transiently express enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) in newly born granule cells of the dentate gyrus under the transcriptional control of proopiomelanocortin (POMC) genomic sequences. Analysis of transgenic pedigrees with truncation or deletion mutations indicated that EGFP expression in the dentate gyrus required cryptic POMC promoter regions dispensable for arcuate hypothalamic or pituitary expression. Unlike arcuate neurons, dentate granule cells did not express the endogenous POMC gene. EGFP-positive neurons had immature properties, including short spineless dendrites and small action potentials. Colocalization with bromodeoxyuridine indicated that EGFP-labeled granule cells were 2 weeks postmitotic. EGFP-labeled cells expressed markers for immature granule cells but not the glial marker GFAP. The number of EGFP-labeled neurons declined with age and increased with exercise, paralleling neurogenesis. Our results indicate that POMC-EGFP marks immature granule cells and that adult-generated granule cells integrate quite slowly into the hippocampal circuitry

Does urbanisation lead to parallel demographic shifts across the world in a cosmopolitan plant?

Urbanisation is occurring globally, leading to dramatic environmental changes that are altering the ecology and evolution of species. In particular, the expansion of human infrastructure and the loss and fragmentation of natural habitats in cities is predicted to increase genetic drift and reduce gene flow by reducing the size and connectivity of populations. Alternatively, the ‘urban facilitation model’ suggests that some species will have greater gene flow into and within cities leading to higher diversity and lower differentiation in urban populations. These alternative hypotheses have not been contrasted across multiple cities. Here, we used the genomic data from the GLobal Urban Evolution project (GLUE), to study the effects of urbanisation on non-adaptive evolutionary processes of white clover (Trifolium repens) at a global scale. We found that white clover populations presented high genetic diversity and no evidence of reduced Ne linked to urbanisation. On the contrary, we found that urban populations were less likely to experience a recent decrease in effective population size than rural ones. In addition, we found little genetic structure among populations both globally and between urban and rural populations, which showed extensive gene flow between habitats. Interestingly, white clover displayed overall higher gene flow within urban areas than within rural habitats. Our study provides the largest comprehensive test of the demographic effects of urbanisation. Our results contrast with the common perception that heavily altered and fragmented urban environments will reduce the effective population size and genetic diversity of populations and contribute to their isolation

Glutamatergic and dopaminergic function and the relationship to outcome in people at clinical high risk of psychosis: a multi-modal PET-magnetic resonance brain imaging study.

Funder: RCUK | Medical Research Council (MRC); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000265Funder: Wellcome Trust (Wellcome); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/100004440Preclinical models of psychosis propose that hippocampal glutamatergic neuron hyperactivity drives increased striatal dopaminergic activity, which underlies the development of psychotic symptoms. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between hippocampal glutamate and subcortical dopaminergic function in people at clinical high risk for psychosis, and to assess the association with the development of psychotic symptoms. 1H-MRS was used to measure hippocampal glutamate concentrations, and 18F-DOPA PET was used to measure dopamine synthesis capacity in 70 subjects (51 people at clinical high risk for psychosis and 19 healthy controls). Clinical assessments were undertaken at baseline and follow-up (median 15 months). Striatal dopamine synthesis capacity predicted the worsening of psychotic symptoms at follow-up (r = 0.35; p < 0.05), but not transition to a psychotic disorder (p = 0.22), and was not significantly related to hippocampal glutamate concentration (p = 0.13). There were no differences in either glutamate (p = 0.5) or dopamine (p = 0.5) measures in the total patient group relative to controls. Striatal dopamine synthesis capacity at presentation predicts the subsequent worsening of sub-clinical total and psychotic symptoms, consistent with a role for dopamine in the development of psychotic symptoms, but is not strongly linked to hippocampal glutamate concentrations

Detecting ultra-high energy cosmic rays from space with unprecedented acceptance: objectives and design of the JEM-EUSO mission

The Extreme Universe Space Observatory on the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM-EUSO) of the Interna- tional Space Station (ISS) is the first mission that will study from space Ultra High-Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR). JEM-EUSO will observe Extensive Air Showers (EAS) pro- duced by UHECRs traversing the Earth's atmosphere from above. For each event, the detector will make accurate mea- surements of the energy, arrival direction and nature of the primary particle using a target volume far greater than what is achievable from ground. The corresponding increase in statistics will help to clarify the origin and sources of UHE- CRs as well as the environment traversed during production and propagation. Possibly this will bring new light onto par- ticle physics mechanisms operating at energies well beyond those achievable by man-made accelerators. The spectrum of scientific goals of the JEM-EUSO mission includes as ex- ploratory objectives the detection of high-energy gamma ray

A novel DNA nuclease is stimulated by association with the GINS complex

Chromosomal DNA replication requires the spatial and temporal coordination of the activities of several complexes that constitute the replisome. A previously uncharacterized protein, encoded by TK1252 in the archaeon Thermococcus kodakaraensis, was shown to stably interact with the archaeal GINS complex in vivo, a central component of the archaeal replisome. Here, we document that this protein (TK1252p) is a processive, single-strand DNA-specific exonuclease that degrades DNA in the 5′ → 3′ direction. TK1252p binds specifically to the GINS15 subunit of T. kodakaraensis GINS complex and this interaction stimulates the exonuclease activity in vitro. This novel archaeal nuclease, designated GINS-associated nuclease (GAN), also forms a complex in vivo with the euryarchaeal-specific DNA polymerase D. Roles for GAN in replisome assembly and DNA replication are discussed

Explaining ecosystem multifunction with evolutionary models

Ecosystem function is the outcome of species interactions, traits, and niche overlap – all of which are influenced by evolution. However, it is not well understood how the tempo and mode of niche evolution can influence ecosystem function. In evolutionary models where either species differences accumulate through random drift in a single trait or species differences accumulate through divergent selection among close relatives, we should expect that ecosystem function is strongly related to diversity. However, when strong selection causes species to converge on specific niches or when novel traits that directly affect function evolve in some clades but not others, the relationship between diversity and ecosystem function might not be very strong. We test these ideas using a field experiment that established plant mixtures with differing phylogenetic diversities and we measured ten different community functions. We show that some functions were strongly predicted by species richness and mean pairwise phylogenetic distance (MPD, a measure of phylogenetic diversity), including biomass production and the reduction of herbivore and pathogen damage in polyculture, while other functions had weaker (litter production and structural complexity) or nonsignificant relationships (e.g., flower production and arthropod abundance) with MPD and richness. However, these divergent results can be explained by different models of niche evolution. These results show that diversity‐ecosystem function relationships are the product of evolution, but that the nature of how evolution influences ecosystem function is complex

Prevalence of Symptoms ≤12 Months After Acute Illness, by COVID-19 Testing Status Among Adults - United States, December 2020-March 2023

To further the understanding of post-COVID conditions, and provide a more nuanced description of symptom progression, resolution, emergence, and reemergence after SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-like illness, analysts examined data from the Innovative Support for Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infections Registry (INSPIRE), a prospective multicenter cohort study. This report includes analysis of data on self-reported symptoms collected from 1,296 adults with COVID-like illness who were tested for SARS-CoV-2 using a Food and Drug Administration-approved polymerase chain reaction or antigen test at the time of enrollment and reported symptoms at 3-month intervals for 12 months. Prevalence of any symptom decreased substantially between baseline and the 3-month follow-up, from 98.4% to 48.2% for persons who received a positive SARS-CoV-2 test results (COVID test-positive participants) and from 88.2% to 36.6% for persons who received negative SARS-CoV-2 test results (COVID test-negative participants). Persistent symptoms decreased through 12 months; no difference between the groups was observed at 12 months (prevalence among COVID test-positive and COVID test-negative participants = 18.3% and 16.1%, respectively; p\u3e0.05). Both groups reported symptoms that emerged or reemerged at 6, 9, and 12 months. Thus, these symptoms are not unique to COVID-19 or to post-COVID conditions. Awareness that symptoms might persist for up to 12 months, and that many symptoms might emerge or reemerge in the year after COVID-like illness, can assist health care providers in understanding the clinical signs and symptoms associated with post-COVID-like conditions

Point mutations in the Rpb9-homologous domain of Rpc11 that impair transcription termination by RNA polymerase III

RNA polymerase III recognizes and pauses at its terminator, an oligo(dT) tract in non-template DNA, terminates 3′ oligo(rU) synthesis within this sequence, and releases the RNA. The pol III subunit Rpc11p (C11) mediates RNA 3′–5′ cleavage in the catalytic center of pol III during pausing. The amino and carboxyl regions of C11 are homologous to domains of the pol II subunit Rpb9p, and the pol II elongation and RNA cleavage factor, TFIIS, respectively. We isolated C11 mutants from Schizosaccharomyces pombe that cause pol III to readthrough terminators in vivo. Mutant RNA confirmed the presence of terminator readthrough transcripts. A predominant mutation site, F32, resides in the C11 Rpb9-like domain. Another mutagenic approach confirmed the F32 mutation and also isolated I34 and Y30 mutants. Modeling Y30, F32 and I34 of C11 in available cryoEM pol III structures predicts a hydrophobic patch that may interface with C53/37. Another termination mutant, Rpc2-T455I, appears to reside internally, near the RNA–DNA hybrid. We show that the Rpb9 and TFIIS homologous mutants of C11 reflect distinct activities, that differentially affect terminator recognition and RNA 3′ cleavage. We propose that these C11 domains integrate action at the upper jaw and center of pol III during termination