Tracing amino acid exchange during host-pathogen interaction by combined stable-isotope time-resolved Raman spectral imaging

This study investigates the temporal and spatial interchange of the aromatic amino acid phenylalanine (Phe) between human retinal pigment epithelial cell line (ARPE-19) and tachyzoites of the apicomplexan protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii). Stable isotope labelling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) is combined with Raman micro-spectroscopy to selectively monitor the incorporation of deuterium-labelled Phe into proteins in individual live tachyzoites. Our results show a very rapid uptake of L-Phe(D8) by the intracellular growing parasite. T. gondii tachyzoites are capable of extracting L-Phe(D8) from host cells as soon as it invades the cell. L-Phe(D8) from the host cell completely replaces the L-Phe within T. gondii tachyzoites 7–9 hours after infection. A quantitative model based on Raman spectra allowed an estimation of the exchange rate of Phe as 0.5–1.6 × 104 molecules/s. On the other hand, extracellular tachyzoites were not able to consume L-Phe(D8) after 24 hours of infection. These findings further our understanding of the amino acid trafficking between host cells and this strictly intracellular parasite. In particular, this study highlights new aspects of the metabolism of amino acid Phe operative during the interaction between T. gondii and its host cell

Insulin-like signalling to the maternal germline controls progeny response to osmotic stress

In 1893 August Weismann proposed that information about the environment could not pass from somatic cells to germ cells, a hypothesis now known as the Weismann barrier. However, recent studies have indicated that parental exposure to environmental stress can modify progeny physiology and that parental stress can contribute to progeny disorders. The mechanisms regulating these phenomena are poorly understood. We report that the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans can protect itself from osmotic stress by entering a state of arrested development and can protect its progeny from osmotic stress by increasing the expression of the glycerol biosynthetic enzyme GPDH-2 in progeny. Both of these protective mechanisms are regulated by insulin-like signalling: insulin-like signalling to the intestine regulates developmental arrest, while insulin-like signalling to the maternal germline regulates glycerol metabolism in progeny. Thus, there is a heritable link between insulin-like signalling to the maternal germline and progeny metabolism and gene expression. We speculate that analogous modulation of insulin-like signalling to the germline is responsible for effects of the maternal environment on human diseases that involve insulin signalling, such as obesity and type-2 diabetes

Child and Family Therapy Process: Concordance of Therapist and Observational Perspectives

The objective of this study is to examine the characteristics of outpatient mental health services delivered in community-based outpatient clinics, comparing information obtained from two different sources, therapists serving children and families, and observational coders viewing tapes of the same treatment sessions. Videotaped therapy sessions were rated by therapists and independent coders regarding goals and strategies pursued during each session. Sixty-three sessions were taped of outpatient care provided to 18 children and their caregivers by 11 therapists. Children were 4–13 years old and families were receiving services at least in part due to reported child behavior problems, confirmed by ratings from the Child Behavior Checklist and Conners Parent Rating Scale—Revised. Analyses assessed the frequency, type, and intensity of goals and strategies pursued in therapy sessions from both therapist and observational coders’ perspectives. Reliability of observer ratings and correspondence between therapist and observer reports were also examined. The reliability of observational coding of goals and strategies was moderate to good, with 76% of 39 codes having ICCs of .5 or greater. Therapists reported pursuing 2.5 times more goals and strategies per session, on average, than identified by observational coders. Correspondence between therapists and coders about the occurrence of specific goals and strategies in treatment sessions was low, with 20.5% of codes having a Kappa of .4 or higher. Substantial differences exist in what therapists and independent coders report as occurring in outpatient treatment sessions. Both perspectives suggest major differences between the content of services provided in community-based outpatient clinics and the structure of evidence-based programs, which emphasize intense pursuit of a small number of goals and strategies in each treatment session. Implications of the findings for quality improvement efforts in community-based mental health care settings are discussed

Speciation of arsenic in sulfidic waters

Formation constants for thioarsenite species have been determined in dilute solutions at 25°C, ΣH(2)S from 10(-7.5 )to 10(-3.0 )M, ΣAs from 10(-5.6 )to 10(-4.8 )M, and pH 7 and 10. The principal inorganic arsenic species in anoxic aquatic systems are arsenite, As(OH)(3)(0), and a mononuclear thioarsenite with an S/As ratio of 3:1. Thioarsenic species with S/As ratios of 1 : 1,2 : 1, and 4 : 1 are lesser components in sulfidic solutions that might be encountered in natural aquatic environments. Thioarsenites dominate arsenic speciation at sulfide concentrations > 10(-4.3 )M at neutral pH. Conversion from neutral As(OH)(3)(0 )to anionic thioarsenite species may regulate the transport and fate of arsenic in sulfate-reducing environments by governing sorption and mineral precipitation reactions

Ritual plants of Muslim graveyards in northern Israel

This article surveys the botanical composition of 40 Muslim graveyards in northern Israel, accompanied by an ethnobotanical study of the folkloristic traditions of the use of these plants in cemeteries. Three groups of plants were found to be repeated systematically and were also recognized for their ritual importance: aromatics herbs (especially Salvia fruticosa and Rosmarinus officinalis), white flowered plants (mainly Narcissus tazetta, Urginea maritima, Iris spp. and Pancratium spp.) and Cupressus sempervirens as the leading cemetery tree. As endemic use we can indicate the essential role of S. fruticosa as the main plant used in all human rites of passage symbolizing the human life cycle. The rosemary is of European origin while the use of basil is of Indian influence. The use of white flowers as cemeteries plants reflects an old European influence and almost the same species are used or their congeners. Most of the trees and shrubs that are planted in Muslim cemeteries in Israel have the same use in ancient as well in modern European cultures. In conclusion, our findings on the occurrence of plants in graveyards reflect the geographic situation of Israel as a crossroads in the cultural arena between Asia and Europe. Most of the traditions are common to the whole Middle East showing high relatedness to the classical world as well as to the present-day Europe

Reframing professional development through understanding authentic professional learning

Continuing to learn is universally accepted and expected by professionals and other stakeholders across all professions. However, despite changes in response to research findings about how professionals learn, many professional development practices still focus on delivering content rather than enhancing learning. In exploring reasons for the continuation of didactic practices in professional development, this article critiques the usual conceptualization of professional development through a review of recent literature across professions. An alternative conceptualization is proposed, based on philosophical assumptions congruent with evidence about professional learning from seminal educational research of the past two decades. An argument is presented for a shift in discourse and focus from delivering and evaluating professional development programs to understanding and supporting authentic professional learning

Using ensemble meteorological datasets to treat meteorological uncertainties in a Bayesian volcanic ash inverse modelling system: a case study, Grímsvötn 2011

This is the final version. Available from the American Geophysical Union via the DOI in this record. Data Availability Statement: The satellite data, NAME model runs and source inversion data from InTEM generated and analyzed during this study are archived at Webster (2022). The data is made available under the terms of the Non-Commercial Government License (see https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/non-commercial-government-licence/version/2/). The NAME and InTEM models are available for use under license.Atmospheric dispersion models are employed in forecasting the atmospheric transport of ash clouds following a volcanic eruption. Errors in input meteorological data can, however, lead to discrepancies between the modeled and observed ash cloud locations. Furthermore, meteorological errors can affect the performance of inversion techniques used to estimate ash emissions. This study explores using ensemble meteorological data sets to overcome issues with meteorological errors in a Bayesian inversion system, Inversion Technique for Emissions Modelling (InTEM) for volcanic ash. Two measures (the evidence value and a cost function) are obtained from the Bayesian framework, and each measure is used to select a “best” meteorological data set from within the ensemble. These two best meteorological data sets are constructed in an iterative manner which is ideally suited for operational use when ash cloud forecasts are updated at regular intervals. The method is applied to the 2011 eruption of the Icelandic volcano Grímsvötn and improvements to ash cloud forecasts using the best meteorological data sets assessed. In this case study, errors in the deterministic meteorological data are significant, resulting in a reduction of ash emissions estimated by InTEM for volcanic ash. We also illustrate how the best meteorological data sets lead to more accurate modeling of the ash cloud

Exploring parameter and meteorological uncertainty via emulation in volcanic ash atmospheric dispersion modelling

This is the author accepted manuscript.Code and data availability: NAME simulation output is available at https://doi.org/10.17635/lancaster/researchdata/491. Code for emulation and calibration is available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10820858Consideration of uncertainty in volcanic ash cloud forecasts is increasingly of interest, with an industry goal to provide probabilistic forecasts alongside deterministic forecasts. Simulations of volcanic clouds via dispersion modelling are subject to a number of uncertainties, relating to the eruption itself (mass of ash emitted, and when), parametrisations of physical processes, and the meteorological conditions. To fully explore these uncertainties through atmospheric dispersion model simulations alone may be expensive, and instead an emulator can be used to increase understanding of uncertainties in the model inputs and outputs, going beyond combinations of source, physical and meteorological inputs that were simulated by the dispersion model. We emulate the NAME dispersion model for simulations of the Raikoke 2019 eruption, and use these emulators to compare simulated ash clouds to observations derived from satellites, constraining NAME source and internal parameters via history matching. We demonstrate that the effect of varying both meteorological scenarios and model parameters can be captured in this way, with accurate emulation using only a small number of runs per meteorological scenario. We show that accounting for meteorological uncertainty simultaneously with other uncertainties may lead to the identification of different sensitive model parameters, and may lead to less constrained source and internal NAME parameters, however through idealised experiments we argue that this is a reasonable result and is properly accounting for all sources of uncertainty in the model inputs

Modelling Wind‐blown Umbrella Clouds in Lagrangian Dispersion Models

This is the final version. Available on open access from the American Geophysical Union via the DOI in this recordData Availability Statement: Satellite measurements used in this research are available in a public repository (Millward et al., 2023), except those from Ulawun, which are available from P-Tree System, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) at https://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/ptree/. The dimensionless velocity field that underlies the wind-blown parametrization, the NAME input files, and the resulting model outputs used to generate the figures in this paper are also provided in this repository. The NAME 8.1 software (Jones et al., 2007) used to test the wind-blown parametrization may be licensed from the Met Office (https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/, [email protected]). The Python package iris (Met Office, 2016) was used to load and process NAME outputs, and iris, cartopy (Elson et al., 2020) and matplotlib (Caswell et al., 2021) were used for plotting.The ash and gas released by large explosive volcanic eruptions rises to its neutral buoyancy level in the atmosphere, then spreads laterally to form an umbrella cloud. Density stratification of the atmosphere generates buoyancy forces in the cloud, which drive the outward spread. Although umbrella clouds are often modeled as circular axisymmetric structures, in practice they are usually influenced quite strongly by the meteorological wind, with spread in the upwind direction halted by the oncoming wind, and different rates of spreading in the downwind and crosswind directions. In this work, we derive a simple parametrization of non-axisymmetric umbrella cloud spreading from a much more complex physically based shallow-layer intrusion model. The new parametrization is quick to evaluate and so is suitable for use in operational Volcanic Ash Transport and Dispersion Models (VATDMs). In contrast to previous parametrizations, in which there is assumed to be no interaction between a circular umbrella cloud and the meteorological wind, here the umbrella cloud is influenced by the wind and adopts a shape determined by the balance of buoyant spreading and downwind drag forces. We apply the new scheme to four historical case studies of eruptions at Puyehue 2011, Pinatubo 1991, Ulawun 2019, and Calbuco 2015. The results are compared with VATDM simulations using a conventional circular umbrella cloud parametrization. Using the new scheme, good descriptions of cloud spread are recovered and the prediction of horizontal ash distribution is improved relative to the axisymmetric parametrization.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC