Identification of three novel genes, PPK12, PPK23, and PPK25, involved in noxious cold detection in Drosophila

The reflexive response and perception of pain (nociception) is an evolutionarily conserved process in animals. Pain can be a major health concern and current treatments often prove insufficient, especially in regards to chronic pain. Greater understanding of the molecular processes underlying pain sensation could lead to new and more effective treatments. The aim of this study is to investigate the molecular mechanisms of cold nociception in Drosophila melanogaster. A specific subset of peripheral sensory neurons (Class III dendritic arborization (da) neurons), are implicated in Drosophila larvae’s response to noxious cold. Previous literature has implicated a variety of ion channel families, including transient receptor potential (TRP) and degenerin/epithelial sodium channels (DEG/ENaC) family members, in mediating sensory responses to noxious heat and mechanosensation. Though much is known about noxious mechanical and heat nociception in Drosophila, little is known regarding the molecular components mediating cold nociception. Here we focus on characterization of Drosophila DEG/ENaC family members as potential regulators of noxious cold-evoked sensory behavior. A novel behavioral assay, coupled with functional optogenetic studies and in vivo RNAi expression, has been utilized to investigate the role of select pickpocket (ppk) family members. Our analyses reveal that ppk12, ppk23, and ppk25 are required for noxious cold detection in larvae. These studies provide novel mechanistic insight into the molecular underpinnings of cold-evoked behavioral responses and demonstrate a previously uncharacterized function for DEG/ENaC molecules in cold nociception

Abortion, Infanticide, Personhood and Potential: Why Defenders of Abortion and Infanticide Cannot Principally and Consistently Reject Enslaving Actual Human Persons as Seriously Morally Wrong

Undergraduate Textual or Investigativ

Sleptons without Hadrons

Multilepton searches for electroweakino and slepton pair production at hadron colliders remain some of the best means to test weak-scale supersymmetry. Searches at the CERN Large Hadron Collider, however, are limited by large diboson and top quark pair backgrounds, despite the application of traditional, central jet vetoes. In this context, we report the impact of introducing dynamic jet vetoes in searches for colorless superpartners. As a representative scenario, we consider the Drell-Yan production of a pair of right-handed smuons decaying into a dimuon system accompanied with missing transverse energy. As an exploratory step, we consider several global and local measures of the leptonic and hadronic activity to construct the veto. In most all cases, we find that employing a dynamic jet veto improves the sensitivity, independently of the integrated luminosity. The inclusion of non-perturbative multiple particle interactions and next-to-leading order jet merging does not alter this picture. Directions for further improvements are discussed.Comment: 18 pages; 7 figures; additional discussions added; journal version; results unchange

Personhood, Threshold and Equality

Whether abortion and infanticide are permissible has been debated for a long time in philosophical literature and continues to this day. In this paper, I will assume without argument that one’s view about the moral status of the fetus and newborn will determine what side he/she comes down on in this debate. I am also proceeding with the assumption that personhood is not a conventional or linguistically effective device that has little or no connection to reality. Persons exist and personhood itself is real. With that being said, I will defend a more controversial claim that will undoubtedly stir a hornet’s nest. This will be stated succinctly but will be defended in greater detail throughout the paper: If the fetus and newborn are not persons, then abortion and infanticide are permissible. If a 3-year-old child is a person but to a lesser degree than a 14-year-old, then the 3-year-old child’s moral status is lower than the 14-year old’s. If no adequate threshold exists conjoined with the fact of metaphysical disparity among human beings that are persons, then no two human persons are moral equals

Petition of Benjamin Williamson, July 11, 1847

Petition of Benjamin William regarding the Last Will and Testament of Susan Ursin Niemcewicz. People included: Susan Ursin Niemcewicz,https://digitalcommons.kean.edu/lhc_1840s/1002/thumbnail.jp

Effects of Management Strategies and Molecular Breeding Values on Cattle Performance and Carcass Traits

Forty-eight Gelbvieh x Angus steers (265 ¡À 40 kg) were utilized to determine the relationships among molecular breeding values (MBV), steer performance, and carcass traits. Body weight (BW), hip height (HH), hip width (HW), exit velocity (EV; rate at which steers exited the squeeze chute and traversed 1.8 m) and body ultrasound measurements of steers were recorded at d 0, 93 and 154 of grazing mixed stockpiled endophyte-infected and -free tall fescue. Tissue samples were collected for genomic profiling (Igenity, Merial Limited, Duluth, GA). Steers were transported to the Oklahoma State U fed for 159 d, harvested and carcass parameters recorded. At d 0 and 154 of grazing, BW was correlated (P \u3c 0.05) with MBV for ADG (r = 0.31 and 0.32 for d 0 and 154, respectively). Hip width was correlated (P \u3c 0.05) with MBV for ADG (r = 0.33 and 0.32 for d 0 and 154, respectively) at d 0 and 154. An inverse correlation between EV and MBV for LM area on d 0 (P \u3c 0.01; r = -0.48) and d 154 (P \u3c 0.03; r = -0.03) of grazing was observed; on d 93, EV and MBV for LM area tended to be inversely correlated. Ultrasound measurements for intramuscular fat on d 0 were correlated (P \u3c 0.05) with MBV for docility (r = 0.40). Predictive potential of MBV from the stepwise procedure for steer performance and carcass composition was low (r2 ¡Ü 0.22). Molecular breeding values were correlated with several measurable traits that can be obtained on-farm. Incorporation of MBV may aid cattle producers in more accurate selection practices to increase profitability of beef production. Environmental and managerial conditions are known to affect subsequent performance and carcass traits of beef cattle. The objective of the second study was to document the effect of stocking rate (SR), grazing method (GM) and breed of sire on carcass traits. Steers and heifers (n = 460) grazed ¡®Maton¡¯ rye (Secale cereale L.) and ¡®TAM90¡¯ annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum L.) pastures from January to mid-May during 5 yr. Cattle were allotted to stocking rates (SR) of high (9 animals/ha), medium (6 animals/ha), or low (4 animals/ha), GM of continuous (CONT) or rotational (RT), and fed in commercial feedyards. Calves were sired by bulls from the following breeds; Angus (n = 171), Bonsmara (n = 108), Brahman (n = 109), Braunvieh (n = 31), Hereford (n = 12), and Simmental (n = 29). Body condition score (BCS); ultrasound measurements of intramuscular fat (UIMF), longissimus dorsi muscle area , and rump fat at end of grazing; ADG during grazing (119 d ¡À 25) and feedyard (125 d ¡À 28) phases; hot carcass weight (HCW); carcass ribfat (CRF); carcass LM area (CLMA); and yield grade (YG) were determined. Effects of year, gender, SR, GM, breed of sire, and interactions were determined by ANOVA. Simmental offspring had greater (P \u3c 0.01) amounts of UIMF than Bonsmara and Brahman (0.11 ¡À 0.03 and 0.13 ¡À 0.03, respectively). Stocking rate affected the HCW of cattle (P \u3c 0.05) with high SR (314.1 ¡À 5.8 kg) cattle having lighter HCW than low SR (329.0 ¡À 4.9 kg). Stocking rates and breed of sire did affect carcass traits, and these variables can be managed to maximize carcass value

Hydrodynamic Impacts of a Marine Renewable Energy Installation on the Benthic Boundary Layer in a Tidal Channel

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Examination of Benjamin Williamson, June 15, 1847

Examination of the witness, Benjamin Williamson in the matter of the Petition of Henry I. Williams. People Included: Anthony Rutgers, John Kean, Susan Ursin Niemcewicz, Peter A. Jay, Julia Kean Fish, Hamilton Fish, Christine Alexander William Kean, Robert Birch, Sarah A. Birchhttps://digitalcommons.kean.edu/lhc_1840s/1011/thumbnail.jp

Lagrangian submanifolds in affine symplectic geometry

We uncover the lowest order differential invariants of Lagrangian submanifolds under affine symplectic maps, and find out what happens when they are constant.Comment: 23 pages, no figure