The Emerging Wealth Belt: New Jersey's New Millenium Geography

Describes the emergence of an economic cluster of counties in New Jersey and explains the reason for this new spatial alignment of the economy. The report also traces the historical shifts in the economic geography of New Jersey from its rural beginnings to its high technology present. Finally, the report describes the countervailing deomgraphy and economic intiatives that once more may tilt growth back to urban New Jersey. It notes, however, that a variety of economic and public policy challenges raise serious questions about the outcome of the redirection of our state's spatial development

Meta-Analysis of Herbal Cannabis Therapy for Chronic Pain

Since the first so-called “medical marijuana” legislation was passed in California in 1996, a total of twenty states and the District of Columbia have passed laws permitting limited use of cannabis. Despite the changes in state laws, cannabis remains illegal for any purpose under federal law. Changes in state laws have coincided with a renewed interest in the substance for the treatment of a variety of conditions. There has been a significant increase in published data over the past twenty years examining the efficacy of cannabis as an appetite stimulant, antiemetic agent, and analgesic adjuvant. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to synthesize published data on cannabis use as an analgesic agent. Five studies meeting inclusion criteria were located through searches of online databases, review of reference lists, author correspondence, and review of clinical trials databases. Meta-analysis was conducted using fixed-effects modeling. The overall effect of mean reduction of pain intensity was -4.895 (Z-score) with an associated p value of 0.003. The combined standardized mean difference (SMD) was -0.362 (CI -0.507 to -0.217), indicating on average a moderate significant reduction in pain intensity for patients with chronic pain. As the legal status of the substance evolves, additional research is needed to establish evidence-based clinical recommendations regarding the use of medicinal cannabis in pain management

Meeting the Needs of the Workforce in a Shifting Regional Economy

The tri-state region (New York/New Jersey/Connecticut) supports a highly complex and diverse labor market that has been subject not only to the shocking events of September 11th, 2001, but also to broad demographic and economic trends that have shaped the structure of work and the makeup of the available workforce. This paper examines the shifts that occurred in the regional economy throughout the past decade and discusses the possible implications of these changes for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, educational institutions, and state and local governments

Translation of MT-ATP6 pathogenic variants reveals distinct regulatory consequences from the co-translational quality control of mitochondrial protein synthesis

ddab314Pathogenic variants that disrupt human mitochondrial protein synthesis are associated with a clinically heterogeneous group of diseases. Despite an impairment in oxidative phosphorylation being a common phenotype, the underlying molecular pathogenesis is more complex than simply a bioenergetic deficiency. Currently, we have limited mechanistic understanding on the scope by which a primary defect in mitochondrial protein synthesis contributes to organelle dysfunction. Since the proteins encoded in the mitochondrial genome are hydrophobic and need co-translational insertion into a lipid bilayer, responsive quality control mechanisms are required to resolve aberrations that arise with the synthesis of truncated and misfolded proteins. Here, we show that defects in the OXA1L-mediated insertion of MT-ATP6 nascent chains into the mitochondrial inner membrane are rapidly resolved by the AFG3L2 protease complex. Using pathogenic MT-ATP6 variants, we then reveal discrete steps in this quality control mechanism and the differential functional consequences to mitochondrial gene expression. The inherent ability of a given cell type to recognize and resolve impairments in mitochondrial protein synthesis may in part contribute at the molecular level to the wide clinical spectrum of these disorders.Peer reviewe

Using bacterial extract along with differential gene expression in Acropora millepora Larvae to decouple the processes of attachment and metamorphosis

Biofilms of the bacterium Pseudoalteromonas induce metamorphosis of acroporid coral larvae. The bacterial metabolite tetrabromopyrrole (TBP), isolated from an extract of Pseudoalteromonas sp. associated with the crustose coralline alga (CCA) Neogoniolithon fosliei, induced coral larval metamorphosis (100%) with little or no attachment (0-2%). To better understand the molecular events and mechanisms underpinning the induction of Acropora millepora larval metamorphosis, including cell proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation, migration, adhesion and biomineralisation, two novel coral gene expression assays were implemented. These involved the use of reverse-transcriptase quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and employed 47 genes of interest (GOI), selected based on putative roles in the processes of settlement and metamorphosis. Substantial differences in transcriptomic responses of GOI were detected following incubation of A. millepora larvae with a threshold concentration and 10-fold elevated concentration of TBP-containing extracts of Pseudoalteromonas sp. The notable and relatively abrupt changes of the larval body structure during metamorphosis correlated, at the molecular level, with significant differences (p<0.05) in gene expression profiles of 24 GOI, 12 hours post exposure. Fourteen of those GOI also presented differences in expression (p<0.05) following exposure to the threshold concentration of bacterial TBP-containing extract. The specificity of the bacterial TBP-containing extract to induce the metamorphic stage in A. millepora larvae without attachment, using a robust, low cost, accurate, ecologically relevant and highly reproducible RT-qPCR assay, allowed partially decoupling of the transcriptomic processes of attachment and metamorphosis. The bacterial TBP-containing extract provided a unique opportunity to monitor the regulation of genes exclusively involved in the process of metamorphosis, contrasting previous gene expression studies that utilized cues, such as crustose coralline algae, biofilms or with GLW-amide neuropeptides that stimulate the entire onset of larval metamorphosis and attachment. © 2012 Siboni et al

Exploring Pompeii: discovering hospitality through research synergy

Hospitality research continues to broaden through an ever-increasing dialogue and alignment with a greater number of academic disciplines. This paper demonstrates how an enhanced understanding of hospitality can be achieved through synergy between archaeology, the classics and sociology. It focuses on classical Roman life, in particular Pompeii, to illustrate the potential for research synergy and collaboration, to advance the debate on hospitality research and to encourage divergence in research approaches. It demonstrates evidence of commercial hospitality activities through the excavation hotels, bars and taverns, restaurants and fast food sites. The paper also provides an example of the benefits to be gained from multidisciplinary analysis of hospitality and tourism

Coral Bleaching Independent of Photosynthetic Activity

SummaryThe global decline of reef-building corals is due in part to the loss of algal symbionts, or “bleaching,” during the increasingly frequent periods of high seawater temperatures [1, 2]. During bleaching, endosymbiotic dinoflagellate algae (Symbiodinium spp.) either are lost from the animal tissue or lose their photosynthetic pigments, resulting in host mortality if the Symbiodinium populations fail to recover [3]. The >1,000 studies of the causes of heat-induced bleaching have focused overwhelmingly on the consequences of damage to algal photosynthetic processes [4–6], and the prevailing model for bleaching invokes a light-dependent generation of toxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) by heat-damaged chloroplasts as the primary trigger [6–8]. However, the precise mechanisms of bleaching remain unknown, and there is evidence for involvement of multiple cellular processes [9, 10]. In this study, we asked the simple question of whether bleaching can be triggered by heat in the dark, in the absence of photosynthetically derived ROS. We used both the sea anemone model system Aiptasia [11, 12] and several species of reef-building corals to demonstrate that symbiont loss can occur rapidly during heat stress in complete darkness. Furthermore, we observed damage to the photosynthetic apparatus under these conditions in both Aiptasia endosymbionts and cultured Symbiodinium. These results do not directly contradict the view that light-stimulated ROS production is important in bleaching, but they do show that there must be another pathway leading to bleaching. Elucidation of this pathway should help to clarify bleaching mechanisms under the more usual conditions of heat stress in the light