Essentials of Biology I & II (GSW)

This Grants Collection for Essentials of Biology was created under a Round Four ALG Textbook Transformation Grant. Affordable Learning Georgia Grants Collections are intended to provide faculty with the frameworks to quickly implement or revise the same materials as a Textbook Transformation Grants team, along with the aims and lessons learned from project teams during the implementation process. Documents are in .pdf format, with a separate .docx (Word) version available for download. Each collection contains the following materials: Linked Syllabus Initial Proposal Final Reporthttps://oer.galileo.usg.edu/biology-collections/1010/thumbnail.jp

The nature and fate of natural resins in the geosphere XIII: a probable pinaceous resin from the early Cretaceous (Barremian), Isle of Wight

Terpenoid resin is produced by all families and most genera of the order Coniferales (the conifers), and the distribution of terpenes present in most conifer resins is characteristic of the originating family. Analyses of early Cretaceous (Barremian) amber (fossil resin) from the English Wealden, Isle of Wight, southern England, by pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS), indicate a terpene distribution dominated by abietane- and labdane-type terpenes. Similar distributions are observed in some species of the extant family Pinaceae. The Pinaceae are well represented within the Wealden deposits of southern England, by only one (known) species, Pityites solmsii (Seward) Seward, whereas the macro-fossil record of these deposits is dominated by the extinct conifer family Cheirolepidiaceae, for which no resin chemistry has been reported. By analogy with modern materials, it is probable that the ambers found in these deposits are derived from an extinct member of the Pinaceae, but given the absence of evidence concerning the chemotaxonomy of the Cheirolepidiaceae, this family cannot be excluded a priori as a possible paleobotanical source. These ambers may therefore be assigned to either the Pinaceae or to the Cheirolepidiaceae. These samples are the oldest ambers to date to yield useful chemotaxonomic data

Reaction to Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress via ATF6 in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Deteriorates With Aging

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a multisystemic neurodegenerative disorder. Given that peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) serve as a “window to the central nervous system” we aimed to answer whether endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in ALS-PBMCs is related to disease aggressiveness. We studied ER stress in the PBMCs of 49 patients with ALS and 31 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. The expression of a main ER stress marker, activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6), was significantly higher in ALS compared to controls, but did not correlate with age, disease severity, disease duration and disease progression rate. When ATF6 expression levels were plotted against relative D50 (rD50)-derived disease phases derived from the D50 ALS model, two distinct clusters of patients were observed: cluster 1, with progressively increasing ATF6 expression levels and cluster 2, which demonstrated stable ATF6 expression over the disease course. Individuals in the two clusters did not significantly differ in terms of ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R), disease aggressiveness, disease duration and subtype. However, patients with the increasing ATF6 level were significantly younger, indicating that aging processes might be related to ER stress in ALS. Our data suggest that the reaction to ER stress during disease course may be compromised in older patients with ALS

The prediction of visual stimuli influences auditory loudness discrimination

The brain combines information from different senses to improve performance on perceptual tasks. For instance, auditory processing is enhanced by the mere fact that a visual input is processed simultaneously. However, the sensory processing of one modality is itself subject to diverse influences. Namely, perceptual processing depends on the degree to which a stimulus is predicted. The present study investigated the extent to which the influence of one processing pathway on another pathway depends on whether or not the stimulation in this pathway is predicted. We used an action–effect paradigm to vary the match between incoming and predicted visual stimulation. Participants triggered a bimodal stimulus composed of a Gabor and a tone. The Gabor was either congruent or incongruent compared to an action–effect association that participants learned in an acquisition phase.We tested the influence of action–effect congruency on the loudness perception of the tone. We observed that an incongruent–task-irrelevant Gabor stimulus increases participant’s sensitivity to loudness discrimination. An identical result was obtained for a second condition in which the visual stimulus was predicted by a cue instead of an action. Our results suggest that prediction error is a driving factor of the crossmodal interplay between vision and audition

Avoiding Loss of Catalytic Activity of Pd Nanoparticles Partially Embedded in Nanoditches in SiC Nanowires

Nanoditches from selective etching of periodically twinned SiC nanowires were employed to hinder the migration and coalescence of Pd nanoparticles supported on the nanowires, and thus to improve their catalytic stability for total combustion of methane. The results show that the etched Pd/SiC catalyst can keep the methane conversion of almost 100% while the unetched one has an obvious decline in the catalytic activity from 100 to 82% after ten repeated reaction cycles. The excellent catalytic stability originates from the limitation of the nanoditches to the migration and growth of Pd nanoparticles

One-step reforming of CO₂ and CH₄ to high-value liquid chemicals and fuels at room temperature via plasma-driven catalysis

Conversion of CO₂ with CH₄ into liquid fuels and chemicals in a single-step catalytic process bypassing the production of syngas remains a challenge. In this study, one-step synthesis of liquid fuels and chemicals (e.g. acetic acid, methanol, ethanol and formaldehyde) from CO₂ and CH₄ has been achieved at room temperature (30°C) and atmospheric pressure for the first time using a novel plasma reactor with a water electrode. The total selectivity to oxygenates was ca. 50-60%, with acetic acid the major component at 40.2% selectivity, the highest value reported for acetic acid so far. Interestingly, direct plasma synthesis of acetic acid from CH₄ and CO₂ is an ideal reaction with a 100% atom economy, but it is almost impossible via thermal catalysis due to the significant thermodynamic barrier. The combination of plasma and catalyst in this process shows great potential for manipulating the distribution of different liquid chemicals

Alternative Splicing and Gene Duplication in the Evolution of the FoxP Gene Subfamily

The FoxP gene subfamily of transcription factors is defined by its characteristic 110 amino acid long DNA-binding forkhead domain and plays essential roles in vertebrate biology. Its four members, FoxP1–P4, have been extensively characterized functionally. FoxP1, FoxP2, and FoxP4 are involved in lung, heart, gut, and central nervous system (CNS) development. FoxP3 is necessary and sufficient for the specification of regulatory T cells (Tregs) of the adaptive immune system

Retrograde Interference in Perceptual Learning of a Peripheral Hyperacuity Task

Consolidation, a process that stabilizes memory trace after initial acquisition, has been studied for over a century. A number of studies have shown that a skill or memory must be consolidated after acquisition so that it becomes resistant to interference from new information. Previous research found that training on a peripheral 3-dot hyperacuity task could retrogradely interfere with earlier training on the same task but with a mirrored stimulus configuration. However, a recent study failed to replicate this finding. Here we address the controversy by replicating both patterns of results, however, under different experimental settings. We find that retrograde interference occurs when eye-movements are tightly controlled, using a gaze-contingent display, where the peripheral stimuli were only presented when subjects maintained fixation. On the other hand, no retrograde interference was found in a group of subjects who performed the task without this fixation control. Our results provide a plausible explanation of why divergent results were found for retrograde interference in perceptual learning on the 3-dot hyperacuity task and confirm that retrograde interference can occur in this type of low-level perceptual learning. Furthermore, our results demonstrate the importance of eye-movement controls in studies of perceptual learning in the peripheral visual field

SP7 Inhibits Osteoblast Differentiation at a Late Stage in Mice

RUNX2 and SP7 are essential transcription factors for osteoblast differentiation at an early stage. Although RUNX2 inhibits osteoblast differentiation at a late stage, the function of SP7 at the late stage of osteoblast differentiation is not fully elucidated. Thus, we pursued the function of SP7 in osteoblast differentiation. RUNX2 induced Sp7 expression in Runx2−/− calvarial cells. Adenoviral transfer of sh-Sp7 into primary osteoblasts reduced the expression of Alpl, Col1a1, and Bglap2 and mineralization, whereas that of Sp7 reduced Bglap2 expression and mineralization at a late stage of osteoblast differentiation. Sp7 transgenic mice under the control of 2.3 kb Col1a1 promoter showed osteopenia and woven-bone like structure in the cortical bone, which was thin and less mineralized, in a dose-dependent manner. Further, the number of processes in the osteoblasts and osteocytes was reduced. Although the osteoblast density was increased, the bone formation was reduced. The frequency of BrdU incorporation was increased in the osteoblastic cells, while the expression of Col1a1, Spp1, Ibsp, and Bglap2 was reduced. Further, the osteopenia in Sp7 or Runx2 transgenic mice was worsened in Sp7/Runx2 double transgenic mice and the expression of Col1a1 and Bglap2 was reduced. The expression of Sp7 and Runx2 was not increased in Runx2 and Sp7 transgenic mice, respectively. The expression of endogenous Sp7 was increased in Sp7 transgenic mice and Sp7-transduced cells; the introduction of Sp7 activated and sh-Sp7 inhibited Sp7 promoter; and ChIP assay showed the binding of endogenous SP7 in the proximal region of Sp7 promoter. These findings suggest that SP7 and RUNX2 inhibit osteoblast differentiation at a late stage in a manner independent of RUNX2 and SP7, respectively, and SP7 positively regulates its own promoter