Wild Bill Hickok Gets His Kicks: Expanding Collection Development through Intentional Collaboration.

Various cultural memory institutions (academic libraries, history museums, public libraries, art museums, state agencies, even theme parks) in the metropolitan area around Springfield, Missouri, have been partnering and collaborating for decades in many ways. The collaboration was primarily intentional but at times organic or opportunistic, and revolved around a local history collection strategy. The collaborative efforts expanded geographically beginning with a local history museum and culminating with a partnership to document a legendary national highway from Chicago, Illinois, to Santa Monica, California. A shared central premise based on preserving and providing access to a city’s unique history and place has fostered enduring collaborative relationships

Rate of photosynthetic induction in fluctuating light varies widely among genotypes of wheat.

Crop photosynthesis and yield are limited by slow photosynthetic induction in sunflecks. We quantified variation in induction kinetics across diverse genotypes of wheat for the first time. Following a preliminary study that hinted at wide variation in induction kinetics across 58 genotypes, we grew 10 genotypes with contrasting responses in a controlled environment and quantified induction kinetics of carboxylation capacity (Vcmax) from dynamic A versus ci curves after a shift from low to high light (from 50 µmol m-2 s-1 to 1500 µmol m-2 s-1), in five flag leaves per genotype. Within-genotype median time for 95% induction (t95) of Vcmax varied 1.8-fold, from 5.2 min to 9.5 min. Our simulations suggest that non-instantaneous induction reduces daily net carbon gain by up to 15%, and that breeding to speed up Vcmax induction in the slowest of our 10 genotypes to match that in the fastest genotype could increase daily net carbon gain by up to 3.4%, particularly for leaves in mid-canopy positions (cumulative leaf area index ≤1.5 m2 m-2), those that experience predominantly short-duration sunflecks, and those with high photosynthetic capacities

Horizontal gene transfer in osmotrophs: playing with public goods.

Please cite published version available by following the DOI link above.Osmotrophic microorganisms, such as fungi and oomycetes, feed by secreting depolymerizing enzymes to process complex food sources in the extracellular environment, and taking up the resulting simple sugars, micronutrients and amino acids. As a consequence of this lifestyle, osmotrophs engage in the acquisition and protection of public goods. In this Opinion article, we propose that horizontal gene transfer (HGT) has played a key part in shaping both the repertoire of proteins required for osmotrophy and the nature of public goods interactions in which eukaryotic microorganisms engage.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC

The estimation and characterization of plankton populations by pigment analyses II. A spectrophotometric method for the estimation of plankton pigments

A semimicro spectrophotometric method is described for the estimation of chlorophyll a, b, and c and of astacin and nonastacin type carotenoids in acetone extracts of plant and animal material. Developed specifically for use in estimating and characterizing plankton populations, the method is highly sensitive and practical for shipboard use. Methods of collecting, preparing and extracting plankton samples, spectrophotometric measurements, computation of results, and errors are discussed

REFGEN and TREENAMER: automated sequence data handling for phylogenetic analysis in the genomic era.

Published onlineJournal ArticleThe phylogenetic analysis of nucleotide sequences and increasingly that of amino acid sequences is used to address a number of biological questions. Access to extensive datasets, including numerous genome projects, means that standard phylogenetic analyses can include many hundreds of sequences. Unfortunately, most phylogenetic analysis programs do not tolerate the sequence naming conventions of genome databases. Managing large numbers of sequences and standardizing sequence labels for use in phylogenetic analysis programs can be a time consuming and laborious task. Here we report the availability of an online resource for the management of gene sequences recovered from public access genome databases such as GenBank. These web utilities include the facility for renaming every sequence in a FASTA alignment file, with each sequence label derived from a user-defined combination of the species name and/or database accession number. This facility enables the user to keep track of the branching order of the sequences/taxa during multiple tree calculations and re-optimisations. Post phylogenetic analysis, these webpages can then be used to rename every label in the subsequent tree files (with a user-defined combination of species name and/or database accession number). Together these programs drastically reduce the time required for managing sequence alignments and labelling phylogenetic figures. Additional features of our platform include the automatic removal of identical accession numbers (recorded in the report file) and generation of species and accession number lists for use in supplementary materials or figure legends.Leverhulm

Patterns of kinesin evolution reveal a complex ancestral eukaryote with a multifunctional cytoskeleton

Background: The genesis of the eukaryotes was a pivotal event in evolution and was accompanied by the acquisition of numerous new cellular features including compartmentalization by cytoplasmic organelles, mitosis and meiosis, and ciliary motility. Essential for the development of these features was the tubulin cytoskeleton and associated motors. It is therefore possible to map ancient cell evolution by reconstructing the evolutionary history of motor proteins. Here, we have used the kinesin motor repertoire of 45 extant eukaryotes to infer the ancestral state of this superfamily in the last common eukaryotic ancestor (LCEA). Results: We bioinformatically identified 1624 putative kinesin proteins, determined their protein domain architectures and calculated a comprehensive Bayesian phylogeny for the kinesin superfamily with statistical support. These data enabled us to define 51 anciently-derived kinesin paralogs (including three new kinesin families) and 105 domain architectures. We then mapped these characters acros eukaryotes, accounting for secondary loss within established eukaryotic groupings, and alternative tree topologies. Conclusions: We show that a minimum of 11 kinesin families and 3 protein domain architectures were present in the LCEA. This demonstrates that the microtubule-based cytoskeleton of the LCEA was surprisingly highly developed in terms of kinesin motor types, but that domain architectures have been extensively modified during the diversification of the eukaryotes. Our analysis provides molecular evidence for the existence of several key cellular functions in the LCEA, and shows that a large proportion of motor family diversity and cellular complexity had already arisen in this ancient cell

Is Marital Quality Related to Physical Activity Across the Life Course for Men and Women?

Objectives: Although physical activity is linked to multiple health outcomes, a majority of Americans do not meet physical activity guidelines, often with precipitous declines among older adults. Marital quality is a less-explored, but important, factor that may influence physical activity, as spouses often influence each other’s health behaviors. Methods: We use nationally representative panel data to investigate whether positive and negative dimensions of marital quality influence physical activity, and whether age and gender moderate these relationships. Results: We find that both marital support and strain are related to higher odds of more frequent active exercise and walking, pointing to the complex influence of marital quality. Marital support became increasingly important to higher levels of walking frequency as men aged. Discussion: This study provides new information on the ways in which both positive and negative dimensions of marital quality may contribute to trajectories of physical activity across the life course

A Framework for Intranet-Based Information Systems (I-BIS) Applications

A recent survey of business executives showed that of 169 decision makers who responded to a survey by the Business Research Group, over fifty percent have either already implemented an internal web site or are in the process of developing such a site (Engler, 1996). These results were similar to those reported in InformationWeek, which showed that 49% of those firms responding to the survey already had direct Internet access for their employees. According to this same survey, this figure is expected to increase to 67% of these same firms by the spring of 1997 with another 10% of the firms testing the viability of such a connectivity policy (Yankelovich, 1996). Gantz (1986) reported that the microcomputer had achieved the same level of penetration into the corporate world (in terms of the percentage of employees with desktop access) in ten years that the telephone required 75 years to achieve. With these systems increasingly tied together in local or wide area networks, it is likely that a comparable level of penetration of Intranet-Based Information System (I-BIS) will occur in an even shorter time span. The rapid proliferation of network communication technology points to a need to measure how and where these systems are being implemented, and what results are being achieved. Recently published reports concerning Intranet-Based Information Systems (I-BIS) have cited return on investment values exceeding 1300% and direct payback time periods of six to twelve weeks (Campbell, 1996). While these systems have already been widely accepted and implemented, scant attention has been paid to rigorous research in relation to users\u27 acceptance and utilization of these systems or the perceived quality of these system

REFGEN and TREENAMER: Automated Sequence Data Handling for Phylogenetic Analysis in the Genomic Era

The phylogenetic analysis of nucleotide sequences and increasingly that of amino acid sequences is used to address a number of biological questions. Access to extensive datasets, including numerous genome projects, means that standard phylogenetic analyses can include many hundreds of sequences. Unfortunately, most phylogenetic analysis programs do not tolerate the sequence naming conventions of genome databases. Managing large numbers of sequences and standardizing sequence labels for use in phylogenetic analysis programs can be a time consuming and laborious task. Here we report the availability of an online resource for the management of gene sequences recovered from public access genome databases such as GenBank. These web utilities include the facility for renaming every sequence in a FASTA alignment file, with each sequence label derived from a user-defined combination of the species name and/or database accession number. This facility enables the user to keep track of the branching order of the sequences/taxa during multiple tree calculations and re-optimisations. Post phylogenetic analysis, these webpages can then be used to rename every label in the subsequent tree files (with a user-defined combination of species name and/or database accession number). Together these programs drastically reduce the time required for managing sequence alignments and labelling phylogenetic figures. Additional features of our platform include the automatic removal of identical accession numbers (recorded in the report file) and generation of species and accession number lists for use in supplementary materials or figure legends

Single cell ecology

Cells are the building blocks of life, from single-celled microbes through to multi-cellular organisms. To understand a multitude of biological processes we need to understand how cells behave, how they interact with each other and how they respond to their environment. The use of new methodologies is changing the way we study cells allowing us to study them on minute scales and in unprecedented detail. These same methods are allowing researchers to begin to sample the vast diversity of microbes that dominate natural environments. The aim of this special issue is to bring together research and perspectives on the application of new approaches to understand the biological properties of cells, including how they interact with other biological entities