Beyond the Provision of Education: How do Local Host Communities Benefit from Universities? The Case of Malawi University of Science and Technology in Thyolo, Malawi

University education contribution has for long period of time been viewed mainly through the lenses of its contribution to national development and not particularly on how much they contribute to the host communities’ development. This study was conducted to fill this existing gap in literature by assessing the social impacts of university projects on host communities using the case of Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) on livelihoods. The study used narrative qualitative method. The University project increased income opportunities through; employment and business especially for the rural youth thereby altering their social status, improved community interaction mainly through sports, religious activities and music, changes in property rights (housing; land and improvement of municipal and social service infrastructure).  On the other side of the coin, there has been a major threat on youth behaviour which was in conflict with local culture; and increased land dispossession from the local host community members thereby threatening the livelihoods of some in the long run as land is the life blood for the poor.  The study recommends that local people need to increase their knowledge and capacity to cease opportunities brought by these infrastructural projects in order to enhance their livelihoods. Keywords: Universities, Local Host Community, Rural Development, Malaw

Erk1/2 activation and modulation of STAT3 signaling in oral cancer

Constitutive activation of the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) signaling pathway possesses confirmed oncogenic potential in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Crosstalk with other molecular pathways contributes to STAT3 regulation in cancer. The effects of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and particularly extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (Erk1/2) on STAT3 signaling in OSCC have not been thoroughly investigated. The present study examined the effects of Erk1/2 modulation on STAT3 signaling and cell growth in OSCC cells. Constitutive expression levels of phosphorylated (tyrosine and serine) and total STAT3, Erk1/2 and cyclin D1 were assessed in OSCC cell lines. Erk1/2 modulation was achieved by pharmacological agents; siRNA silencing against Erk1/2 was also performed. Cell proliferation and viability were assessed. Erk1/2 inhibition with either U0126 treatment or specific siRNA silencing resulted in decreases in p-ser STAT3 and cyclin D1 levels and increases in p-tyr STAT3 in OSCC cells. Moreover, Erk1/2 inhibition resulted in a dose-dependent reduction in OSCC cell growth and viability. Erk1/2 induction had the opposite effects. Taken together, these results are supportive of an active crosstalk between the oncogenic Erk1/2 and STAT3 pathways in OSCC, the significance of which requires further investigation

Multi-ancestry genome-wide association study of 21,000 cases and 95,000 controls identifies new risk loci for atopic dermatitis

Genetic association studies have identified 21 loci associated with atopic dermatitis risk predominantly in populations of European ancestry. To identify further susceptibility loci for this common, complex skin disease, we performed a meta-analysis of >15 million genetic variants in 21,399 cases and 95,464 controls from populations of European, African, Japanese and Latino ancestry, followed by replication in 32,059 cases and 228,628 controls from 18 studies. We identified ten new risk loci, bringing the total number of known atopic dermatitis risk loci to 31 (with new secondary signals at four of these loci). Notably, the new loci include candidate genes with roles in the regulation of innate host defenses and T cell function, underscoring the important contribution of (auto)immune mechanisms to atopic dermatitis pathogenesis

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Spatial Distribution and Contamination Assessment of Surface Heavy Metals off the Western Guangdong Province and Northeastern Hainan Island

Surface sediments collected from the continental shelf off the western Guangdong Province and northeastern Hainan Island are analyzed for selected heavy metals contents including Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn, and As to determine spatial distribution, potential ecological risks, and sources. In addition, some of the controlling factors of heavy metals distribution are also discussed. The average heavy metals contents decrease in the order of Zn > Cr > Pb > Cu > As > Cd. The averaged pollution degree, as shown by the index of geo-accumulation (Igeo), decreases in the order of Zn > Cu > Pb > Cr > Cd > As. Due to the barrier of islands, the Igeo values of Zn, Pb, Cr, Cu, and Cd near the Hailing and Xiachuan Islands are larger than those in other areas. Meanwhile, the Igeo value of As near the coastal area off the estuary of Wanquan River is clearly larger than that in other areas. Based on the results of potential ecological risk index, Cd, Cu, and As should be paid more attention for the contamination risk in future. The results of Pearson correlation analysis and principal component analysis indicate that Zn, Cr, Pb, Cu, and Cd are mainly from the Pearl River and surrounding small rivers, whereas As originates from the Hainan Island. The grain size is one of the main controlling factors for heavy metals distribution, and the anthropogenic activity also plays an important role

A functional core of the mitochondrial genome maintenance protein Mgm101p in Saccharomyces cerevisiae determined with a temperature-conditional allele

Analysis of Mgm101p isolated from mitochondria shows that the mature protein of 27.6 kDa lacks 22 amino acids from the N-terminus. This mitochondrial targeting sequence has been incorporated in the design of oligonucleotides used to determine a functional core of Mgm101p. Progressive deletions, although retaining the targeting sequence, reveal that 76 N-terminal and six C-terminal amino acids of Mgm101p can be removed without altering the ability to complement an mgm101-1ts temperature-sensitive mutant. However, this active core is unable to complement mgm101 null mutants, suggesting that the Mgm101p might need to form a dimer or multimer to be functional in vivo. The active core, enriched in basic residues, contains 165 amino acids with a pI of 9.2. Alignment with 22 Mgm101p sequences from other lower eukaryotes shows that a number of amino acids are highly conserved in this region. Random mutagenesis confirms that certain critical amino acids required for function are invariant across the 23 proteins. Searches in the PFAM database revealed a low level of structural similarity between the active core and the Rad52 protein family

Are Existing Modeling Tools Useful to Evaluate Outcomes in Mangrove Restoration and Rehabilitation Projects? A Minireview

Ecosystem modeling is a critical process for understanding complex systems at spatiotemporal scales needed to conserve, manage, and restore ecosystem services (ESs). Although mangrove wetlands are sources of ESs worth billions of dollars, there is a lack of modeling tools. This is reflected in our lack of understanding of mangroves’ functional and structural attributes. Here, we discuss the “state of the art” of mangrove models used in the planning and monitoring of R/R projects during the last 30 years. The main objectives were to characterize the most frequent modeling approach, their spatiotemporal resolution, and their current utility/application in management decisions. We identified 281 studies in six broad model categories: conceptual, agent-based (ABM), process-based (PBM), spatial, statistical, and socioeconomic/management (ScoEco). The most widely used models are spatial and statistical, followed by PBM, ScoEco, and conceptual categories, while the ABMs were the least frequently used. Yet, the application of mangrove models in R/R projects since the early 1990s has been extremely limited, especially in the mechanistic model category. We discuss several approaches to help advance model development and applications, including the targeted allocation of potential revenue from global carbon markets to R/R projects using a multi-model and integrated approach

Observing System Evaluation Based on Ocean Data Assimilation and Prediction Systems: On-Going Challenges and a Future Vision for Designing and Supporting Ocean Observational Networks

International audienceThis paper summarizes recent efforts on Observing System Evaluation (OS-Eval) by the Ocean Data Assimilation and Prediction (ODAP) communities such as GODAE OceanView and CLIVAR-GSOP. It provides some examples of existing OS-Eval methodologies, and attempts to discuss the potential and limitation of the existing approaches. Observing System Experiment (OSE) studies illustrate the impacts of the severe decrease in the number of TAO buoys during 2012-2014 and TRITON buoys since 2013 on ODAP system performance. Multi-system evaluation of the impacts of assimilating satellite sea surface salinity data based on OSEs has been performed to demonstrate the need to continue and enhance satellite salinity missions. Impacts of underwater gliders have been assessed using Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) to provide guidance on the effective coordination of the western North Atlantic observing system elements. OSSEs are also being performed under H2020 AtlantOS project with the goal to enhance and optimize the Atlanticin-situnetworks. Potential offuture satellite missions of wide-swath altimetry and surface ocean currents monitoring isexplored through OSSEs and evaluation of Degrees of Freedomfor Signal (DFS). ForecastSensitivity Observation Impacts (FSOI) are routinely evaluated for monitoring the oceanobservation impacts in the US Navy’s ODAP system. Perspectives on the extension ofOS-Eval to coastal regions, the deep ocean, polar regions, coupled data assimilation,and biogeochemical applications are also presented. Basedon the examples above,we identify the limitations of OS-Eval, indicating that themost significant limitation isreduction of robustness and reliability of the results due to their system-dependency.The difficulty of performing evaluation in near real time is also critical. A strategy tomitigate the limitation and to strengthen the impact of evaluations is discussed. Inparticular, we emphasize the importance of collaboration within the ODAP community formulti-system evaluation and of communication with ocean observational communitieson the design of OS-Eval, required resources, and effectivedistribution of the results.Finally, we recommend further developing OS-Eval activities at international level withthe support of the international ODAP (e.g., OceanPredict and CLIVAR-GSOP) andobservational communities

Observing system evaluation based on ocean data assimilation and prediction systems: On-going challenges and future vision for designing/supporting ocean observational networks

This paper summarizes recent efforts on Observing System Evaluation (OS-Eval) by the Ocean Data Assimilation and Prediction (ODAP) communities such as GODAE OceanView and CLIVAR-GSOP. It provides some examples of existing OS-Eval methodologies, and attempts to discuss the potential and limitation of the existing approaches. Observing System Experiment (OSE) studies illustrate the impacts of the severe decrease in the number of TAO buoys during 2012–2014 and TRITON buoys since 2013 on ODAP system performance. Multi-system evaluation of the impacts of assimilating satellite sea surface salinity data based on OSEs has been performed to demonstrate the need to continue and enhance satellite salinity missions. Impacts of underwater gliders have been assessed using Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) to provide guidance on the effective coordination of the western North Atlantic observing system elements. OSSEs are also being performed under H2020 AtlantOS project with the goal to enhance and optimize the Atlantic in-situ networks. Potential of future satellite missions of wide-swath altimetry and surface ocean currents monitoring is explored through OSSEs and evaluation of Degrees of Freedom for Signal (DFS). Forecast Sensitivity Observation Impacts (FSOI) are routinely evaluated for monitoring the ocean observation impacts in the US Navy's ODAP system. Perspectives on the extension of OS-Eval to coastal regions, the deep ocean, polar regions, coupled data assimilation, and biogeochemical applications are also presented. Based on the examples above, we identify the limitations of OS-Eval, indicating that the most significant limitation is reduction of robustness and reliability of the results due to their system-dependency. The difficulty of performing evaluation in near real time is also critical. A strategy to mitigate the limitation and to strengthen the impact of evaluations is discussed. In particular, we emphasize the importance of collaboration within the ODAP community for multi-system evaluation and of communication with ocean observational communities on the design of OS-Eval, required resources, and effective distribution of the results. Finally, we recommend further developing OS-Eval activities at international level with the support of the international ODAP (e.g., OceanPredict and CLIVAR-GSOP) and observational communities