The South Bay Water Recycling Program: An Evaluation of Water Recycling Outcomes in Comparison to Selected Cities and Countries

Is the South Bay Water Recycling (SBWR) program achieving its planned recycled water outcomes? This research will compare the SBWR program\u27s 2018 recycled water data with other water reuse programs in Las Vegas, Orange County, Singapore, and Australia. The purpose of the research is to determine whether the SBWR program is achieving its goals for conserving fresh water for beneficial reuse, and how the outcomes compare with selected cities and countries

Empirical approaches to the application of mathematical techniques in health technologies

Mathematical modeling of ageing is built in this paper around research and development activities in cooperation with pharmaceutical companies and hospitals. The interaction of "dirty data" with appropriate mathematical techniques is exemplified mainly with applications to health technologies in endocrinology and oncology. The emphasis is more on old techniques in new situations than on new techniques, though there are references to some novel approaches to modeling

How do exercise and diet compare for weight loss?

Exercise alone produces short-term weight loss that is comparable with that induced by diet, after which a plateau in weight loss appears to occur (strength of recommendation [SOR]: B). Exercise in combination with diet promotes maintenance of weight loss above either intervention alone in both obese and overweight men and women (SOR: A). Exercise-induced weight loss has been shown to preferentially reduce abdominal fat and increase lean skeletal muscle compared with that induced by diet (SOR: B)

Health Preferences and Culturally Appropriate Strategies to Reduce Bear Bile Demand in Northern Vietnam

Animal products, such as pangolin scales, rhinoceros horns, tiger bones, and bear bile have been used in East Asian traditional medicine (TM) for more than 2,000 years. However, markets for medicinal wildlife products have expanded dramatically in countries like China and Vietnam in recent decades where economic prosperity has enabled a larger proportion of the population to afford wildlife products (Olmedo et al. 2017). Related new farming and commercialization practices to meet growing international demand pose environmental and human health risks. Animal products also symbolize shared cultural and historical medical practices that are distinct from the dominant Western medical model

Classroom Clickers – Invigorating the Classroom Experience

Bridgewater grant-awarded Faculty share their experiences in using the TurningPoint classroom response system devices in their classroom teaching to elicit instant feedback from their students through PowerPoint and the use of wireless radio frequency devices commonly known as “classroom clickers”. Discover how you can use these devices in your own classes and department meetings for informal polling of students/colleagues or for assessment purposes

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta limits the expansion of pathogenic Th cells during central nervous system autoimmunity.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs; PPAR-alpha, PPAR-delta, and PPAR-gamma) comprise a family of nuclear receptors that sense fatty acid levels and translate this information into altered gene transcription. Previously, it was reported that treatment of mice with a synthetic ligand activator of PPAR-delta, GW0742, ameliorates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), indicating a possible role for this nuclear receptor in the control of central nervous system (CNS) autoimmune inflammation. We show that mice deficient in PPAR-delta (PPAR-delta(-/-)) develop a severe inflammatory response during EAE characterized by a striking accumulation of IFN-gamma(+)IL-17A(-) and IFN-gamma(+)IL-17A(+) CD4(+) cells in the spinal cord. The preferential expansion of these T helper subsets in the CNS of PPAR-delta(-/-) mice occurred as a result of a constellation of immune system aberrations that included higher CD4(+) cell proliferation, cytokine production, and T-bet expression and enhanced expression of IL-12 family cytokines by myeloid cells. We also show that the effect of PPAR-delta in inhibiting the production of IFN-gamma and IL-12 family cytokines is ligand dependent and is observed in both mouse and human immune cells. Collectively, these findings suggest that PPAR-delta serves as an important molecular brake for the control of autoimmune inflammation

Murine obscurin and Obsl1 have functionally redundant roles in sarcolemmal integrity, sarcoplasmic reticulum organization, and muscle metabolism.

Biological roles of obscurin and its close homolog Obsl1 (obscurin-like 1) have been enigmatic. While obscurin is highly expressed in striated muscles, Obsl1 is found ubiquitously. Accordingly, obscurin mutations have been linked to myopathies, whereas mutations in Obsl1 result in 3M-growth syndrome. To further study unique and redundant functions of these closely related proteins, we generated and characterized Obsl1 knockouts. Global Obsl1 knockouts are embryonically lethal. In contrast, skeletal muscle-specific Obsl1 knockouts show a benign phenotype similar to obscurin knockouts. Only deletion of both proteins and removal of their functional redundancy revealed their roles for sarcolemmal stability and sarcoplasmic reticulum organization. To gain unbiased insights into changes to the muscle proteome, we analyzed tibialis anterior and soleus muscles by mass spectrometry, uncovering additional changes to the muscle metabolism. Our analyses suggest that all obscurin protein family members play functions for muscle membrane systems

Effect of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on snow crab catch rates in the Barents Sea pot fishery

Snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) has become an important species for the Norwegian seafood industry since its first commercial harvest in 2012. However, periodically catch rates can be low, causing a financial strain on the fishery. Thus, improving the catch rate of existing pot designs has the potential to significantly improve the profitability of fishing enterprises. In this study, we investigated whether the addition of low-powered purple and white light-emitting diode (LED) fishing lights inside the pots could improve catch rates of snow crab in the Barents Sea. Results showed that pots with purple lights harvested a 12.8% higher catch per unit effort (CPUE; number of crab per pot) of legal-sized crab, which was significantly more than the control pots (p = 0.035); pots with white lights did not catch significantly more crab (p > 0.05). Pots equipped with only light (no bait) caught very few crabs and were not considered a viable alternative. Although purple LEDs increased snow crab capture, the economic benefits of using underwater lights in pots remains unclear given the high capital investment required.publishedVersio

Increased catches of snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) with luminescent-netting pots at long soak times

Luminescent netting increases the catch rate of snow crabs (Chionoecetes opilio) over short soak times (1 d), however the commercial fishery often requires longer soak periods, up to1 week. Building on previous research, this study investigated the catch efficiency and size selectivity of pots with luminescent netting over long soak times (144–336 h) in the inshore snow crab fishery of Newfoundland, Canada. A total allowable catch and individual quota allocation management system for snow crab is regulated in Canada and using luminescent netting to increase catch rates would reduce the carbon footprint of the fishery by reducing days fished. Our results showed that luminescent pots had a 21.6 % and 18.3 % higher catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE; number of crabs per pot) of legal-sized crab and sub-legal sized crab, respectively, than control pots; with no difference for soft-shelled crab. Additionally, no significant differences were shown for size selectivity over the range of carapace widths observed between luminescent and control pots. Little other bycatch (female snow crab and unwanted species) were caught in either pot treatments. This study shows that luminescent netting increases the efficiency of the snow crab fishery, which provides economic and environmental benefits.publishedVersio

Genetic Mapping of Soybean Cyst Nematode (Heterodera glycines) Resistance to Enhance Soybean Production in the United States [abstract]

Only abstract of poster available.Track V: BiomassSoybean cyst nematode (SCN, Heterodera glycines) is the most destructive pest of soybean in the United States, resulting in an annual extensive yield loss of approximately $1.5 billion in the United States alone. Breeding for resistance to SCN is the most effective approach to control this pest. However, most of commercial soybean varieties resistant to SCN were mainly derived from a few common resistant sources. The continuation of growing the same resistant cultivar(s) have resulted in SCN population shifts and loss of SCN resistance; thus it highlights a need of further investigation to mine new resistant genes from new resistant sources for soybean improvement. As a leading group on SCN research in the United States, the University of Missouri SCN researchers have been continuing the evaluation of exotic soybean germplasm for broad-based resistance to multi-HG types of SCN, the identification and mapping of novel quantitative trait loci (QTL)/gene(s), and the discovery of genetic markers for marker-assisted selection (MAS) programs. Using many plant introductions (PIs) with high resistance to multi-SCN HG types, we have developed genetic populations for molecular characterization and QTL mapping. These efforts led to the discovery of many novel QTL underlying the resistance to multi-SCN HG types. With sequence information using the genome-wide Illumina/Solexa sequencing technology, we have developed hundreds of genetic markers associated with the target QTL. Along with the soybean physical and genetic maps, these markers will provide a powerful genomics tool facilitating our efforts toward fine-mapping and positional cloning of candidate genes for SCN resistance. Moreover, the QTL associated genetic markers are greatly useful to incorporate novel resistant genes into new soybean varieties through the MAS approach. With SCN resistant soybean varieties, soybean yield and productivity will be increased and, in turn, enhance the seed oil production; which will significantly be an important source for the development of biofuel