Fuels Guide for Sagebrush and Pinyon-Juniper Treatments: 10 Years Post-Treatment

Increased woody plant dominance and degraded understory vegetation are important issues on rangelands in the Intermountain West. Land managers implement woody plant reduction treatments of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.), juniper (Juniperus spp.), and pinyon pine (Pinus spp.) to increase understory diversity and cover, restore wildlife habitat, increase forage, improve ecosystem functions, and reduce or manipulate fuels to increase ecosystem resilience to fire and resistance to invasive annual grasses. Woody plant reduction treatments alter fuel orientation, continuity, and loading, and therefore have important implications for wildfire behavior, effects, and management. Currently, there is a lack of knowledge of the longer-term implications of these treatments on fuel loads and vegetation structure. Using data collected as part of the Sagebrush Steppe Treatment Evaluation Project (SageSTEP), this guide summarizes fuel loads, vegetation cover by functional group, and shrub and tree stem density 10 years after sagebrush and pinyon-juniper reduction treatments. The data was collected at 16 study sites in Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, and Utah, and is summarized by treatment type, region, and groups or woodland development phases based on pre-treatment vegetation. These summarized data can be used by land managers and fire behavior specialists to quickly estimate fuel loads in older treatments or to predict fuel loads 10 years after a potential treatment. These fuel loading data can be used to create custom fuel beds to model fire behavior and effects

Gas and stellar dynamics in NGC 1068. Probing the galactic gravitational potential

We present Sauron 2D spectrography of the central 1.5 kpc of the nearby Sey2 galaxy NGC1068, encompassing the well-known NIR inner bar. We have successively disentangled the respective contributions of the ionized gas and stars, thus deriving their 2D distribution and kinematics. The [OIII] and Hbeta emission lines exhibit very different spatial distribution and kinematics, the latter following inner spiral arms with clumps associated with star formation. Strong inwards streaming motions are observed in both the Hbeta and [OIII] kinematics. The stellar kinematics also exhibit clear signatures of a non-axisymmetric tumbling potential, with a twist in both the velocity and h3 fields. We re-examined the long-slit data of Shapiro et al (2003) using pPXF: a strong decoupling of h3 is revealed, and the central decrease in h4 hinted in the Sauron data is confirmed. These data also suggest that NGC1068 is a good candidate for a so-called sigma-drop. We confirm the possible presence of two pattern speeds. We also examine the stellar kinematics of bars formed in N-body+SPH simulations built from axisymmetric initial conditions. These successfully reproduce a number of properties observed in the 2D kinematics of NGC1068, and the long-slit data, showing that the kinematic signature of the NIR bar is imprinted in the stellar kinematics. The remaining differences between the models and the observed properties are mostly due to the exclusion of star formation and the lack of the primary large-scale oval/bar in the simulations. These models suggest that the inner bar could drive a significant amount of gas down to a scale of ~300 pc. This is consistent with the interpretation of the sigma-drop in NGC1068 being the result of central gas accretion followed by an episode of star formation.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRAS, 20 pages, 17 figures (high res version available at www-obs.univ-lyon1.fr/eric.emsellem/preprints/NGC1068_Emsellemetal_final.pdf

Treatment Longevity and Changes in Surface Fuel Loads After Pinyon–Juniper Mastication

In the Intermountain West, land managers masticate pinyon pine (Pinus spp.) and juniper (Juniperus spp.) trees that have encroached sagebrush steppe communities to reduce canopy fuels, alter potential fire behavior, and promote growth of understory grasses, forbs, and shrubs. At three study sites in Utah, 45 sampling plots spanning a range of tree cover from 5% to 50% were masticated. We measured surface fuel load components three times over a 10‐yr period. We also measured tree cover, density, and height as indicators of treatment longevity. Changes in these variables were analyzed across the range of pre‐treatment tree cover using linear mixed effects modeling. We detected decreases in 1‐h down woody debris by 5–6 yr post‐treatment, and from 5–6 to 10 yr post‐treatment, but did not detect changes in 10‐h or 100 + 1000‐h down woody debris. By 10 yr post‐treatment, there was very little duff and tree litter left for all pre‐treatment tree cover values. Herbaceous fuels (all standing live and dead biomass) increased through 10 yr post‐treatment. At 10 yr post‐treatment, pinyon–juniper cover ranged 0–2.6%, and the majority of trees were1‐h fuels were the only class of down woody debris that decreased, it may be beneficial to masticate woody fuels to the finest size possible. Decreases in 1‐h down woody debris and duff + litter fuels over time may have important implications for fire behavior and effects, but increases in herbaceous and shrub fuel loads should also be taken into account. At 10 yr post‐treatment, understory grasses and shrubs were not being outcompeted by trees, and average pinyon–juniper canopy cover wa

Fab antibody fragment-functionalized liposomes for specific targeting of antigen-positive cells

Liposomes functionalized with monoclonal antibodies or their antigen-binding fragments have attracted much attention as specific drug delivery devices for treatment of various diseases including cancer. The conjugation of antibodies to liposomes is usually achieved by covalent coupling using cross-linkers in a reaction that might adversely affect the characteristics of the final product. Here we present an alternative strategy for liposome functionalization: we created a recombinant Fab antibody fragment genetically fused on its C-terminus to the hydrophobic peptide derived from pulmonary surfactant protein D, which became inserted into the liposomal bilayer during liposomal preparation and anchored the Fab onto the liposome surface. The Fab-conjugated liposomes specifically recognized antigen-positive cells and efficiently delivered their cargo, the Alexa Fluor 647 dye, into target cells in vitro and in vivo. In conclusion, our approach offers the potential for straightforward development of nanomedicines functionalized with an antibody of choice without the need of harmful cross-linkers.This work has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013; grant agreement NMP4-LA-2009-228827 NANOFOL) and Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program (grant agreement No 683356 - FOLSMART), further from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Transcriptomic profiling reveals a pronociceptive role for angiotensin II in inflammatory bowel disease

Visceral pain is a leading cause of morbidity in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), contributing significantly to reduced quality of life. Currently available analgesics often lack efficacy or have intolerable side effects, driving the need for a more complete understanding of the mechanisms causing pain. Whole transcriptome gene expression analysis was performed by bulk RNA sequencing of colonic biopsies from patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn disease (CD) reporting abdominal pain and compared with noninflamed control biopsies. Putative pronociceptive mediators were identified based on analysis of differentially expressed genes in IBD biopsy tissue and single-cell gene expression in murine colonic sensory neurons. Pronociceptive activity of identified mediators was assessed in assays of sensory neuron and colonic afferent activity. RNA sequencing analysis highlighted a 7.6-fold increase in the expression of angiotensinogen transcripts, Agt, which encode the precursor to angiotensin II (Ang II), in samples from UC patients (P = 3.2 × 10-8). Consistent with the marked expression of the angiotensin AT1 receptor in colonic sensory neurons, Ang II elicited an increase in intracellular Ca2+ in capsaicin-sensitive, voltage-gated sodium channel subtype NaV1.8-positive sensory neurons. Ang II also evoked action potential discharge in high-threshold colonic nociceptors. These effects were inhibited by the AT1 receptor antagonist valsartan. Findings from our study identify AT1 receptor-mediated colonic nociceptor activation as a novel pathway of visceral nociception in patients with UC. This work highlights the potential utility of angiotensin receptor blockers, such as valsartan, as treatments for pain in IBD

Association between Common Germline Genetic Variation in 94 Candidate Genes or Regions and Risks of Invasive Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

Background: Recent studies have identified several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the population that are associated with variations in the risks of many different diseases including cancers such as breast, prostate and colorectal. For ovarian cancer, the known highly penetrant susceptibility genes (BRCA1 and BRCA2) are probably responsible for only 40% of the excess familial ovarian cancer risks, suggesting that other susceptibility genes of lower penetrance exist.Methods: We have taken a candidate approach to identifying moderate risk susceptibility alleles for ovarian cancer. To date, we have genotyped 340 SNPs from 94 candidate genes or regions, in up to 1,491 invasive epithelial ovarian cancer cases and 3,145 unaffected controls from three different population based studies from the UK, Denmark and USA.Results: After adjusting for population stratification by genomic control, 18 SNPs (5.3%) were significant at the 5% level, and 5 SNPs (1.5%) were significant at the 1% level. The most significant association was for the SNP rs2107425, located on chromosome 11p15.5, which has previously been identified as a susceptibility allele for breast cancer from a genome wide association study (P-trend = 0.0012). When SNPs/genes were stratified into 7 different pathways or groups of validation SNPs, the breast cancer associated SNPs were the only group of SNPs that were significantly associated with ovarian cancer risk (P-heterogeneity = 0.0003; P-trend = 0.0028; adjusted (for population stratification) P-trend = 0.006). We did not find statistically significant associations when the combined data for all SNPs were analysed using an admixture maximum likelihood (AML) experiment- wise test for association (P-heterogeneity = 0.051; P-trend = 0.068).Conclusion: These data suggest that a proportion of the SNPs we evaluated were associated with ovarian cancer risk, but that the effect sizes were too small to detect associations with individual SNPs

Activation of PKR Causes Amyloid ß-Peptide Accumulation via De-Repression of BACE1 Expression

BACE1 is a key enzyme involved in the production of amyloid ß-peptide (Aß) in Alzheimer's disease (AD) brains. Normally, its expression is constitutively inhibited due to the presence of the 5′untranslated region (5′UTR) in the BACE1 promoter. BACE1 expression is activated by phosphorylation of the eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF)2-alpha, which reverses the inhibitory effect exerted by BACE1 5′UTR. There are four kinases associated with different types of stress that could phosphorylate eIF2-alpha. Here we focus on the double-stranded (ds) RNA-activated protein kinase (PKR). PKR is activated during viral infection, including that of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1), a virus suggested to be implicated in the development of AD, acting when present in brains of carriers of the type 4 allele of the apolipoprotein E gene. HSV1 is a dsDNA virus but it has genes on both strands of the genome, and from these genes complementary RNA molecules are transcribed. These could activate BACE1 expression by the PKR pathway. Here we demonstrate in HSV1-infected neuroblastoma cells, and in peripheral nervous tissue from HSV1-infected mice, that HSV1 activates PKR. Cloning BACE1 5′UTR upstream of a luciferase (luc) gene confirmed its inhibitory effect, which can be prevented by salubrinal, an inhibitor of the eIF2-alpha phosphatase PP1c. Treatment with the dsRNA analog poly (I∶C) mimicked the stimulatory effect exerted by salubrinal over BACE1 translation in the 5′UTR-luc construct and increased Aß production in HEK-APPsw cells. Summarizing, our data suggest that PKR activated in brain by HSV1 could play an important role in the development of AD

Gender and preferences at a young age: evidence from Armenia

We look at gender differences in competitiveness, risk preferences and altruism in a large sample of children and adolescents aged 7 to 16 in Armenia. Post-Soviet Armenia has few formal barriers to gender equality but is also characterized by a patrilineal kinship system and traditional gender roles. In contrast to research conducted in Western countries, we find that girls increase their performance more than boys in response to competition in a running task. We find no gender differences in the other three tasks we explore: skipping rope, a mathematical task, and a verbal task. We also find no difference in the willingness to compete in either the mathematical or the verbal task. In line with previous research, we find that boys are less altruistic and more risk taking than girls, and that the latter gap appears around the age of puberty

Somatic mutations of CADM1 in aldosterone-producing adenomas and gap junction-dependent regulation of aldosterone production

Aldosterone-producing adenomas (APAs) are the commonest curable cause of hypertension. Most have gain-of-function somatic mutations of ion channels or transporters. Herein we report the discovery, replication and phenotype of mutations in the neuronal cell adhesion gene CADM1. Independent whole exome sequencing of 40 and 81 APAs found intramembranous p.Val380Asp or p.Gly379Asp variants in two patients whose hypertension and periodic primary aldosteronism were cured by adrenalectomy. Replication identified two more APAs with each variant (total, n = 6). The most upregulated gene (10- to 25-fold) in human adrenocortical H295R cells transduced with the mutations (compared to wildtype) was CYP11B2 (aldosterone synthase), and biological rhythms were the most differentially expressed process. CADM1 knockdown or mutation inhibited gap junction (GJ)-permeable dye transfer. GJ blockade by Gap27 increased CYP11B2 similarly to CADM1 mutation. Human adrenal zona glomerulosa (ZG) expression of GJA1 (the main GJ protein) was patchy, and annular GJs (sequelae of GJ communication) were less prominent in CYP11B2-positive micronodules than adjacent ZG. Somatic mutations of CADM1 cause reversible hypertension and reveal a role for GJ communication in suppressing physiological aldosterone production