The Non-Lethal Effects of Climate Change on the Territoriality of Lottia gigantea

The intertidal zone has been described as ground zero for global warming. Here, the owl limpet, Lottia gigantea, adapted to the cool ocean temperatures, must withstand a few hours of baking sun during day-time low tides. This hardship is predicted to increase in frequency and severity in the future as the globe warms. Our research hypothesized that heat events compromise territorial behavior of L. gigantea. All observations and experiments were performed at Inspiration Point near Newport Beach, California. We measured the natural radiant temperature of tagged limpets during day-time low tides using a field-calibrated infrared “thermogun”. We also experimentally amplified radiant temperatures of limpets by 7-12°C using mirrors to reflect the sun’s heat. Control limpets were not heated. We then observed the behavior (Territorial, Retreat, or No Response) of the same limpets during high-low tide (0.5-0.6m ) when limpets were washed by the sea. Territorial encounters were staged by using “bait limpets” placed in the path of tested limpets to induce a response. We found that high radiant temperature is correlated with decreased movement, responsiveness, and aggressiveness of limpets. By contrast, experimental evidence of high temperatures reducing territoriality was weak, likely because of the short time span of heat amplification. Lottia gigantea is a bona fide “ecosystem engineer” whose territorial behavior shapes the rocky intertidal community of invertebrates. Our data show that local heat events compromise the territorial behavior of L. gigantea, which may consequently alter the rocky intertidal community

Fitting a Square Peg Into a Round Hole: Perceptions of Appalachian Physicians on the Incorporation of Chronic Disease Prevention Into Their Practice

This study used a focus group in August 2017 (n = 9) to explore the perceptions of rural physicians to a state request to incorporate diabetes prevention screening into their West Virginia medical practice. Analysis of the data revealed that the participants did not think private physicians were equipped to incorporate diabetes prevention programming into their practice. Three categories emerged from the data analysis to explain the reasoning of the health practitioners on the incorporation of pre-diabetes screening and management into their practice. ⁎ The practice of medicine ⁎ Prevention is a mismatch ⁎ Social determinants of health In the end, the study revealed that a request for physicians to identify and refer at risk patients to a diabetes prevention program is problematic due to conceptual and structural issues. Based on the findings it does not appear at this time that private physicians in rural settings can incorporate diabetes prevention into their existing practice. To address conceptual and structural barriers the invitation to rural physicians must: 1) present evidence on how physicians may be effective in a diabetes management team; 2) include a model that demonstrates a limited, specific role and duties for the physician within a team setting; and last, 3) integrate physicians into an existing community-based network of social and human service providers set up to provide diabetes prevention services

Spectroscopy of N-methylpyrrole-RG (RG = Ar, Kr) complexes: First excited neutral and ground cationic states

N-methylpyrrole-RG (RG = Ar, Kr) complexes are investigated using resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) and zero-electron-kinetic-energy (ZEKE) spectroscopy. The RG atom makes the electronic transition to the S1 state allowed, and the REMPI spectrum is blue-shifted compared to the N-methylpyrrole origin, with no bands associated with vibrational excitation of the N-methylpyrrole moiety. The nature of the electronic structure of the S1 state is discussed. Binding energies are obtained for all three electronic states. Adiabatic ionization energies are obtained from the ZEKE spectra, yielding values of 64077 ± 5 cm−1 and 64029 ± 5 cm−1 for RG = Ar and Kr, respectively

Subcellular localization of the antidepressant-sensitive norepinephrine transporter

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Reuptake of synaptic norepinephrine (NE) via the antidepressant-sensitive NE transporter (NET) supports efficient noradrenergic signaling and presynaptic NE homeostasis. Limited, and somewhat contradictory, information currently describes the axonal transport and localization of NET in neurons.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We elucidate NET localization in brain and superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurons, aided by a new NET monoclonal antibody, subcellular immunoisolation techniques and quantitative immunofluorescence approaches. We present evidence that axonal NET extensively colocalizes with syntaxin 1A, and to a limited degree with SCAMP2 and synaptophysin. Intracellular NET in SCG axons and boutons also quantitatively segregates from the vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2), findings corroborated by organelle isolation studies. At the surface of SCG boutons, NET resides in both lipid raft and non-lipid raft subdomains and colocalizes with syntaxin 1A.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings support the hypothesis that SCG NET is segregated prior to transport from the cell body from proteins comprising large dense core vesicles. Once localized to presynaptic boutons, NET does not recycle via VMAT2-positive, small dense core vesicles. Finally, once NET reaches presynaptic plasma membranes, the transporter localizes to syntaxin 1A-rich plasma membrane domains, with a portion found in cholera toxin-demarcated lipid rafts. Our findings indicate that activity-dependent insertion of NET into the SCG plasma membrane derives from vesicles distinct from those that deliver NE. Moreover, NET is localized in presynaptic membranes in a manner that can take advantage of regulatory processes targeting lipid raft subdomains.</p

IMPROvER : the Integral Membrane Protein Stability Selector

Identifying stabilising variants of membrane protein targets is often required for structure determination. Our new computational pipeline, the Integral Membrane Protein Stability Selector (IMPROvER) provides a rational approach to variant selection by employing three independent approaches: deep-sequence, model-based and data-driven. In silico tests using known stability data, and in vitro tests using three membrane protein targets with 7, 11 and 16 transmembrane helices provided measures of success. In vitro, individual approaches alone all identified stabilising variants at a rate better than expected by random selection. Low numbers of overlapping predictions between approaches meant a greater success rate was achieved (fourfold better than random) when approaches were combined and selections restricted to the highest ranked sites. The mix of information IMPROvER uses can be extracted for any helical membrane protein. We have developed the first general-purpose tool for selecting stabilising variants of alpha -helical membrane proteins, increasing efficiency and reducing workload. IMPROvER can be accessed at http://improver.ddns.net/IMPROvER/.Peer reviewe

WISE/NEOWISE observations of Active Bodies in the Main Belt

We report results based on mid-infrared photometry of 5 active main belt objects (AMBOs) detected by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft. Four of these bodies, P/2010 R2 (La Sagra), 133P/Elst-Pizarro, (596) Scheila, and 176P/LINEAR, showed no signs of activity at the time of the observations, allowing the WISE detections to place firm constraints on their diameters and albedos. Geometric albedos were in the range of a few percent, and on the order of other measured comet nuclei. P/2010 A2 was observed on April 2-3, 2010, three months after its peak activity. Photometry of the coma at 12 and 22 {\mu}m combined with ground-based visible-wavelength measurements provides constraints on the dust particle mass distribution (PMD), dlogn/dlogm, yielding power-law slope values of {\alpha} = -0.5 +/- 0.1. This PMD is considerably more shallow than that found for other comets, in particular inbound particle fluence during the Stardust encounter of comet 81P/Wild 2. It is similar to the PMD seen for 9P/Tempel 1 in the immediate aftermath of the Deep Impact experiment. Upper limits for CO2 & CO production are also provided for each AMBO and compared with revised production numbers for WISE observations of 103P/Hartley 2.Comment: 32 Pages, including 5 Figure

Overview of the ImageCLEFcoral 2020 Task: Automated Coral Reef Image Annotation

This paper presents an overview of the ImageCLEFcoral 2020 task that was organised as part of the Conference and Labs of the Evaluation Forum - CLEF Labs 2020. The task addresses the problem of automatically segmenting and labelling a collection of underwater images that can be used in combination to create 3D models for the monitoring of coral reefs. The data set comprises 440 human-annotated training images, with 12,082 hand-annotated substrates, from a single geographical region. The test set comprises a further 400 test images, with 8,640 substrates annotated, from four geographical regions ranging in geographical similarity and ecological connectedness to the training data (100 images per subset). 15 teams registered, of which 4 teams submitted 53 runs. The majority of submissions used deep neural networks, generally convolutional ones. Participants’ entries showed that some level of automatically annotating corals and benthic substrates was possible, despite this being a difficult task due to the variation of colour, texture and morphology between and within classification types

Behavioral phenotyping of a rat model of the BDNF Val66Met polymorphism reveals selective impairment of fear memory

The common brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met polymorphism is associated with reduced activity-dependent BDNF release and increased risk for anxiety disorders and PTSD. Here we behaviorally phenotyped a novel Val66Met rat model with an equivalent valine to methionine substitution in the rat Bdnf gene (Val68Met). In a three-day fear conditioning protocol of fear learning and extinction, adult rats with the Met/Met genotype demonstrated impaired fear memory compared to Val/Met rats and Val/Val controls, with no genotype differences in fear learning or extinction. This deficit in fear memory occurred irrespective of the sex of the animals and was not seen in adolescence (4 weeks of age). There were no changes in open-field locomotor activity or anxiety measured in the elevated plus maze (EPM) nor in other types of memory measured using the novel-object recognition test or Y-maze. BDNF exon VI expression in the dorsal hippocampus was higher and BDNF protein level in the ventral hippocampus was lower in female Val/Met rats than female Val/Val rats, with no other genotype differences, including in total BDNF, BDNF long, or BDNF IV mRNA. These data suggest a specific role for the BDNF Met/Met genotype in fear memory in rats. Further studies are required to investigate gene–environment interactions in this novel animal model

Deep Extragalactic VIsible Legacy Survey (DEVILS): SED fitting in the D10-COSMOS field and the evolution of the stellar mass function and SFR–M⋆ relation

We present catalogues of stellar masses, star formation rates (SFRs), and ancillary stellar population parameters for galaxies spanning 0 \u3c z \u3c 9 from the Deep Extragalactic VIsible Legacy Survey (DEVILS). DEVILS is a deep spectroscopic redshift survey with very high completeness, covering several premier deep fields including COSMOS (D10). Our stellar mass and SFR estimates are self-consistently derived using the spectral energy distribution (SED) modelling code PROSPECT, using well-motivated parametrizations for dust attenuation, star formation histories, and metallicity evolution. We show how these improvements, and especially our physically motivated assumptions about metallicity evolution, have an appreciable systematic effect on the inferred stellar masses, at the level of ∼0.2 dex. To illustrate the scientific value of these data, we map the evolving galaxy stellar mass function (SMF) and the SFR–M⋆ relation for 0 \u3c z \u3c 4.25. In agreement with past studies, we find that most of the evolution in the SMF is driven by the characteristic density parameter, with little evolution in the characteristic mass and low-mass slopes. Where the SFR–M⋆ relation is indistinguishable from a power law at z \u3e 2.6, we see evidence of a bend in the relation at low redshifts (z \u3c 0.45). This suggests evolution in both the normalization and shape of the SFR–M⋆ relation since cosmic noon. It is significant that we only clearly see this bend when combining our new DEVILS measurements with consistently derived values for lower redshift galaxies from the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey: this shows the power of having consistent treatment for galaxies at all redshifts