Developing computational thinking through pattern recognition in early years education

Alongside recent UK initiatives on computing education, coupled with demands for the development of broader societal digital competencies, we propose that computational thinking skills can be taught to early year students and highlight a method for teaching a specific aspect, namely pattern recognition. Although our example might appear specific to this context, we identify how this could readily be extended to a broader class of educational settings, proposing an underlying pedagogical framework. Finally, a proof-of-concept prototype, corresponding to the implementation of the method, is highlighted

A Targeted Study on the Match between Cybersecurity Higher Education Offerings and Workforce Needs

The Cybersecurity Workforce Gap is a call to action on a two-fold problem: the worldwide shortage of qualified cybersecurity workers and the need to develop a growing highly-knowledgeable, agile, well-trained cybersecurity workforce. This paper presents a methodological approach to achieve this goal in the Northern Virginia area. The area is characterized by an abundance of cyber-related industries, government agencies, and large businesses with high demand of skilled cybersecurity workers; at the same time, academic institutions offer cutting edge education and training access to highly capable students. Central to this methodology is the collaboration between local academia and industry and it includes: an examination of current literature to identify common practices in the development of cybersecurity talent; a Workforce Needs Survey answered by key local industry partners, followed by a thorough analysis of the results; and a review and analysis of the existing cybersecurity educational programs and experiential learning offered by Northern Virginia academic institutions. The outcome is to identify existing pathways to meet workforce needs as well as to reveal gaps in educational programs that need to be addressed. Finally, much needed recommendations for employers, academic institutions and students are presented

BdGT43B2 functions in xylan biosynthesis and is essential for seedling survival in Brachypodium distachyon.

Xylan is the predominant hemicellulose in the primary cell walls of grasses, but its synthesis and interactions with other wall polysaccharides are complex and incompletely understood. To probe xylan biosynthesis, we generated CRISPR/Cas9 knockout and amiRNA knockdown lines of BdGT43B2, an ortholog of the wheat TaGT43-4 xylan synthase scaffolding protein in the IRX14 clade, in Brachypodium distachyon. Knockout of BdGT43B2 caused stunting and premature death in Brachypodium seedlings. Immunofluorescence labeling of xylans was greatly reduced in homozygous knockout BdGT43B2 mutants, whereas cellulose labeling was unchanged or slightly increased. Biochemical analysis showed reductions in digestible xylan in knockout mutant walls, and cell size was smaller in knockout leaves. BdGT43B2 knockdown plants appeared morphologically normal as adults, but showed slight reductions in seedling growth and small decreases in xylose content in isolated cell walls. Immunofluorescence labeling of xylan and cellulose staining was both reduced in BdGT43B2 knockdown plants. Together, these data indicate that BdGT43B2 functions in the synthesis of a form of xylan that is required for seedling growth and survival in Brachypodium distachyon

Characterisation of FUT4 and FUT6 α-(1 → 2)-fucosyltransferases reveals that absence of root arabinogalactan fucosylation increases Arabidopsis root growth salt sensitivity.

Plant type II arabinogalactan (AG) polysaccharides are attached to arabinogalactan proteins (AGPs) at hydroxyproline residues, and they are very diverse and heterogeneous structures. The AG consists of a β-(1 → 3)-linked galactan backbone with β-(1 → 6)-galactan side chains that are modified mainly with arabinose, but they may also contain glucuronic acid, rhamnose or other sugars. Here, we studied the positions of fucose substitutions in AGPs, and we investigated the functions of this fucosylation. Monosaccharide analysis of Arabidopsis leaf AGP extracts revealed a significant reduction in L-Fucose content in the fut4 mutant, but not in the fut6 mutant. In addition, Fucose was reduced in the fut4 mutant in root AGP extracts and was absent in the fut4/fut6 mutant. Curiously, in all cases reduction of fucose was accompanied with a reduction in xylose levels. The fucosylated AGP structures in leaves and roots in wild type and fut mutant plants were characterised by sequential digestion with AG specific enzymes, analysis by Polysaccharide Analysis using Carbohydrate gel Electrophoresis, and Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionisation (MALDI)-Time of Flight Mass spectrometry (MS). We found that FUT4 is solely responsible for the fucosylation of AGPs in leaves. The Arabidopsis thaliana FUT4 and FUT6 genes have been previously proposed to be non-redundant AG-specific fucosyltransferases. Unexpectedly, FUT4 and FUT6 enzymes both fucosylate the same AGP structures in roots, suggesting partial redundancy to each other. Detailed structural characterisation of root AGPs with high energy MALDI-Collision Induced Dissociation MS and NMR revealed an abundant unique AG oligosaccharide structure consisting of terminal xylose attached to fucose. The loss of this structure in fut4/fut6 mutants explains the reduction of both fucose and xylose in AGP extracts. Under salt-stress growth conditions the fut4/fut6 mutant lacking AGP fucosylation exhibited a shorter root phenotype than wild type plants, implicating fucosylation of AGPs in maintaining proper cell expansion under these conditions

Development of an oligosaccharide library to characterise the structural variation in glucuronoarabinoxylan in the cell walls of vegetative tissues in grasses.

BACKGROUND: Grass glucuronoarabinoxylan (GAX) substitutions can inhibit enzymatic degradation and are involved in the interaction of xylan with cell wall cellulose and lignin, factors which contribute to the recalcitrance of biomass to saccharification. Therefore, identification of xylan characteristics central to biomass biorefining improvement is essential. However, the task of assessing biomass quality is complicated and is often hindered by the lack of a reference for a given crop. RESULTS: In this study, we created a reference library, expressed in glucose units, of Miscanthus sinensis GAX stem and leaf oligosaccharides, using DNA sequencer-Assisted Saccharide analysis in high throughput (DASH), supported by liquid chromatography (LC), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and mass spectrometry (MS). Our analysis of a number of grass species highlighted variations in substitution type and frequency of stem and leaf GAX. In miscanthus, for example, the β-Xylp-(1 → 2)-α-Araf-(1 → 3) side chain is more abundant in leaf than stem. CONCLUSIONS: The reference library allows fast identification and comparison of GAX structures from different plants and tissues. Ultimately, this reference library can be used in directing biomass selection and improving biorefining

Xylan Structure and Dynamics in Native <i>Brachypodium</i> Grass Cell Walls Investigated by Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy.

The polysaccharide composition and dynamics of the intact stem and leaf cell walls of the model grass Brachypodium distachyon are investigated to understand how developmental stage affects the polysaccharide structure of grass cell walls. 13C enrichment of the entire plant allowed detailed analysis of the xylan structure, side-chain functionalization, dynamics, and interaction with cellulose using magic-angle-spinning solid-state NMR spectroscopy. Quantitative one-dimensional 13C NMR spectra and two-dimensional 13C-13C correlation spectra indicate that stem and leaf cell walls contain less pectic polysaccharides compared to previously studied seedling primary cell walls. Between the stem and the leaf, the secondary cell wall-rich stem contains more xylan and more cellulose compared to the leaf. Moreover, the xylan chains are about twofold more acetylated and about 60% more ferulated in the stem. These highly acetylated and ferulated xylan chains adopt a twofold conformation more prevalently and interact more extensively with cellulose. These results support the notion that acetylated xylan is found more in the twofold screw conformation, which preferentially binds cellulose. This in turn promotes cellulose-lignin interactions that are essential for the formation of the secondary cell wall

L-Fucose-containing arabinogalactan-protein in radish leaves.

The carbohydrate moieties of arabinogalactan-proteins (AGPs) have β-(1 → 3)-galactan backbones to which side chains of (1 → 6)-linked β-Gal residues are attached through O-6. Some of these side chains are further substituted with other sugars. We investigated the structure of L-Fuc-containing oligosaccharides released from the carbohydrate moieties of a radish leaf AGP by digestion with α-L-arabinofuranosidase, followed by exo-β-(1 → 3)-galactanase. We detected a series of neutral β-(1 → 6)-galactooligosaccharides branching variously at O-3 of the Gal residues, together with corresponding acidic derivatives terminating in 4-O-methyl-GlcA (4-Me-GlcA) or GlcA at the non-reducing terminals. In neutral oligosaccharides with degree of polymerization (dp) mainly higher than 10, L-Fuc groups were attached through L-Ara residues as the sequence, α-L-Fucp-(1 → 2)-α-L-Araf-(1 →. This sequence was verified by isolation of the pentasaccharide α-L-Fuc-(1 → 2)-α-L-Araf-(1 → 3)-β-Gal-(1 → 6)-β-Gal-(1 → 6)-Gal upon digestion of the higher oligosaccharides with endo-β-(1 → 6)-galactanase. By contrast, in lower polymerized (predominantly dp 4) acidic oligosaccharides, L-Fuc groups were attached directly at the non-reducing terminals through α-(1 → 2)-linkages, resulting in the release of the tetrasaccharides, α-L-Fucp-(1 → 2)-β-GlcA-(1 → 6)-β-Gal-(1 → 6)-Gal and α-L-Fucp-(1 → 2)-β-4-Me-GlcA-(1 → 6)-β-Gal-(1 → 6)-Gal. In long acidic oligosaccharides with dp mainly higher than 13, L-Fuc groups localized on branches were attached to the uronic acids directly and/or L-Ara residues as in the neutral oligosaccharides.The authors would like to thank Prof. M. Hisamatsu, Mie University, Tsu, Japan, for a gift of cyclic β-(1→2)-glucan. This work was supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research no. 23570048 to Y.T. and no. 24114006 to Y.T. and T.K.). Support was also provided by BBSRC Sustainable Bioenergy Centre: Cell wall sugars program (Grant No. BB/G016240/1) to P.D.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.carres.2015.07.00

Two members of the DUF579 family are responsible for arabinogalactan methylation in Arabidopsis.

All members of the DUF579 family characterized so far have been described to affect the integrity of the hemicellulosic cell wall component xylan: GXMs are glucuronoxylan methyltransferases catalyzing 4-O-methylation of glucuronic acid on xylan; IRX15 and IRX15L, although their enzymatic activity is unknown, are required for xylan biosynthesis and/or xylan deposition. Here we show that the DUF579 family members, AGM1 and AGM2, are required for 4-O-methylation of glucuronic acid of a different plant cell wall component, the highly glycosylated arabinogalactan proteins (AGPs)