User centered design evaluation of the grocery store environment:

This study identifies challenges experienced by older adults within the grocery retail environment. Evaluation of design features is based on user input to identify areas that work well versus those that could benefit from replacement, enhancement or redesign. The objective is to promote greater independence in the task of grocery shopping. Results from this study are of interest to design professionals, retail grocery store management and developers regarding the changing needs and preferences of the aging population segment in the grocery store setting. Data collection for this study is based on a series of focus group meetings at four different locations. Participants were older community members who live independently, cook for themselves and grocery shop at least twice a week

Promoting a Contemporary Image of Entrepreneurial Careers: A Course Concept to Address Gender Role Stereotypes Through Entrepreneurship Education

Students who seemingly do not fit the masculine ideal of an entrepreneur rarely consider entrepreneurship as a suitable career path due to a lack of identification and perceived feasibility. To challenge the masculinization of entrepreneurship, we drew from contemporary literature on gender role stereotypes to design a course that enables business and management educators to foster entrepreneurial aspirations among all genders. To that end, we introduce and evaluate a variety of pedagogical nudges that help raise awareness of and dismantle the stereotypical beliefs that deem masculine characteristics necessary to succeed in an entrepreneurial career. Results from 122 students and scientists who participated in the course show that these nudges, including the androgynous representation of entrepreneurship and the creation of safe spaces, help participants transform their views on who and what is involved in entrepreneurship. Our discussion underscores the importance of addressing gender role stereotypes in entrepreneurship education as a means to increase the pool of individuals who can identify with the role of a startup founder and to de-bias the allocation of resources in venture creation processes

Bio-PhytoPRE - ein Warn- und Prognosesystem zur Bekämpfung der Kraut und Knollenfäule im ökologischen Kartoffelanbau in der Schweiz

In organic potato production, copper fungicides are the only mean for an effective direct control of late blight. To avoid negative impacts of copper accumulation in the environment, intensive research is done to develop efficient copper free agents (CFA) and new strategies for disease prevention. However, the search for such CFA and strategies proves to be more difficult than expected. Therefore an abdication of copper products is not yet possible. To approach a copper free organic potato production, the Agroscope FAL Reckenholz is developing the Bio-PhytoPRE decision support system to assist Swiss organic potato producers to control late blight with reduced amounts of copper or CFA

Portfolio assessment in the classroom

In many classrooms today, educators are implementing the whole language concept. Whole language is a theory of instruction--a set of beliefs about language, literacy, and learning that guides teaching (Pinnell & Matlin, 1989). Language is a process rather than a product. Children develop thinking-language abilities while engaging in the functions of language within the structure of whole units

Isolation and in vitro cultivation of adrenal cells from mice

The adrenal gland consists of two tissues, cortex and medulla, united under one capsule. Adrenal stem/progenitor cells play a key role in development and homeostasis. Here, we describe a protocol for generating primary cultures of adrenal cells from mice. We describe techniques for separating the cortex and medulla, generating spheroid cultures containing stem- and progenitor cells, and for the differentiation into steroidogenic and chromaffin cells, respectively. This protocol enables analysis of various treatments before, during, or after differentiation. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Rubin de Celis et al. (2015), Steenblock et al. (2018), and Werdermann et al. (2021)

Improving susceptibility of neuroendocrine tumors to radionuclide therapies: personalized approaches towards complementary treatments

Radionuclide therapies are an important tool for the management of patients with neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs). Especially [$^{131}$I]MIBG and [$^{177}$Lu]Lu-DOTA-TATE are routinely used for the treatment of a subset of NENs, including pheochromocytomas, paragangliomas and gastroenteropancreatic tumors. Some patients suffering from other forms of NENs, such as medullary thyroid carcinoma or neuroblastoma, were shown to respond to radionuclide therapy; however, no general recommendations exist. Although [$^{131}$I]MIBG and [$^{177}$Lu]Lu-DOTA-TATE can delay disease progression and improve quality of life, complete remissions are achieved rarely. Hence, better individually tailored combination regimes are required. This review summarizes currently applied radionuclide therapies in the context of NENs and informs about recent advances in the development of theranostic agents that might enable targeting subgroups of NENs that previously did not respond to [$^{131}$I]MIBG or [$^{177}$Lu]Lu-DOTA-TATE. Moreover, molecular pathways involved in NEN tumorigenesis and progression that mediate features of radioresistance and are particularly related to the stemness of cancer cells are discussed. Pharmacological inhibition of such pathways might result in radiosensitization or general complementary antitumor effects in patients with certain genetic, transcriptomic, or metabolic characteristics. Finally, we provide an overview of approved targeted agents that might be beneficial in combination with radionuclide therapies in the context of a personalized molecular profiling approach

Development of a Cell-Based Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer Reporter for Bacillus anthracis Lethal Factor Protease

We report the construction of a cell-based fluorescent reporter for anthrax lethal factor (LF) protease activity using the principle of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). This was accomplished by engineering an Escherichia coli cell line to express a genetically encoded FRET reporter and LF protease. Both proteins were encoded in two different expression plasmids under the control of different tightly controlled inducible promoters. The FRET-based reporter was designed to contain a LF recognition sequence flanked by the FRET pair formed by CyPet and YPet fluorescent proteins. The length of the linker between both fluorescent proteins was optimized using a flexible peptide linker containing several Gly-Gly-Ser repeats. Our results indicate that this FRET-based LF reporter was readily expressed in E. coli cells showing high levels of FRET in vivo in the absence of LF. The FRET signal, however, decreased 5 times after inducing LF expression in the same cell. These results suggest that this cell-based LF FRET reporter may be used to screen genetically encoded libraries in vivo against LF

Adrenal Hormone Interactions and Metabolism: A Single Sample Multi-Omics Approach

The adrenal gland is important for many physiological and pathophysiological processes, but studies are often restricted by limited availability of sample material. Improved methods for sample preparation are needed to facilitate analyses of multiple classes of adrenal metabolites and macromolecules in a single sample. A procedure was developed for preparation of chromaffin cells, mouse adrenals, and human chromaffin tumors that allows for multi-omics analyses of different metabolites and preservation of native proteins. To evaluate the new procedure, aliquots of samples were also prepared using conventional procedures. Metabolites were analyzed by liquid-chromatography with mass spectrometry or electrochemical detection. Metabolite contents of chromaffin cells and tissues analyzed with the new procedure were similar or even higher than with conventional methods. Catecholamine contents were comparable between both procedures. The TCA cycle metabolites, cis-aconitate, isocitate, and α-ketoglutarate were detected at higher concentrations in cells, while in tumor tissue only isocitrate and potentially fumarate were measured at higher contents. In contrast, in a broad untargeted metabolomics approach, a methanol-based preparation procedure of adrenals led to a 1.3-fold higher number of detected metabolites. The established procedure also allows for simultaneous investigation of adrenal hormones and related enzyme activities as well as proteins within a single sample. This novel multi-omics approach not only minimizes the amount of sample required and overcomes problems associated with tissue heterogeneity, but also provides a more complete picture of adrenal function and intra-adrenal interactions than previously possible