Growth in young children with homozygous sickle cell disease

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Capacitive ionic current measurement in a polymer-electrolyte transistor

Journal ArticleOrganic transistors that use dissolved ions to conduct current are able to reproduce the current-voltage characteristics of semiconductor transistors. The polymer-electrolyte transistor (PET) consists of a three-source acid-base reaction system, where a polymer gel separates the three source electrolytes and allows for transistor activity in the movement of the ions through the gel. The ability to directly measure the ionic current in the polymer of a PET reaction system without interfering with the reaction is a difficult task. Understanding the interfacial properties of an electrode-polymer junction will allow for a non-invasive method of directly measuring the ionic currents of the PET. The complex dielectric properties of a polymer system are considered, as well as the effect of the polymer-electrode interface

SigTree: A Microbial Community Analysis Tool to Identify and Visualize Significantly Responsive Branches in a Phylogenetic Tree.

Microbial community analysis experiments to assess the effect of a treatment intervention (or environmental change) on the relative abundance levels of multiple related microbial species (or operational taxonomic units) simultaneously using high throughput genomics are becoming increasingly common. Within the framework of the evolutionary phylogeny of all species considered in the experiment, this translates to a statistical need to identify the phylogenetic branches that exhibit a significant consensus response (in terms of operational taxonomic unit abundance) to the intervention. We present the R software package SigTree, a collection of flexible tools that make use of meta-analysis methods and regular expressions to identify and visualize significantly responsive branches in a phylogenetic tree, while appropriately adjusting for multiple comparisons

Trypanosomes are monophyletic: evidence from genes for glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase and small subunit ribosomal RNA.

The genomes of Trypanosoma brucei, Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania major have been sequenced, but the phylogenetic relationships of these three protozoa remain uncertain. We have constructed trypanosomatid phylogenies based on genes for glycosomal glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase (gGAPDH) and small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA). Trees based on gGAPDH nucleotide and amino acid sequences (51 taxa) robustly support monophyly of genus Trypanosoma, which is revealed to be a relatively late-evolving lineage of the family Trypanosomatidae. Other trypanosomatids, including genus Leishmania, branch paraphyletically at the base of the trypanosome clade. On the other hand, analysis of the SSU rRNA gene data produced equivocal results, as trees either robustly support or reject monophyly depending on the range of taxa included in the alignment. We conclude that the SSU rRNA gene is not a reliable marker for inferring deep level trypanosome phylogeny. The gGAPDH results support the hypothesis that trypanosomes evolved from an ancestral insect parasite, which adapted to a vertebrate/insect transmission cycle. This implies that the switch from terrestrial insect to aquatic leech vectors for fish and some amphibian trypanosomes was secondary. We conclude that the three sequenced pathogens, T. brucei, T. cruzi and L. major, are only distantly related and have distinct evolutionary histories

Forest views: Northeast Oregon survey looks at community and environment

This brief reports on a survey conducted in fall 2011 as one component of the ongoing Communities and Forests in Oregon (CAFOR) project. The CAFOR project focuses on the people and landscapes of three counties in northeast Oregon (Baker, Union, and Wallowa), where landscapes and communities are changing in interconnected ways

Disrupted Maturation of the Microbiota and Metabolome among Extremely Preterm Infants with Postnatal Growth Failure

Growth failure during infancy is a major global problem that has adverse effects on long-term health and neurodevelopment. Preterm infants are disproportionately affected by growth failure and its effects. Herein we found that extremely preterm infants with postnatal growth failure have disrupted maturation of the intestinal microbiota, characterized by persistently low diversity, dominance of pathogenic bacteria within the Enterobacteriaceae family, and a paucity of strictly anaerobic taxa including Veillonella relative to infants with appropriate postnatal growth. Metabolomic profiling of infants with growth failure demonstrated elevated serum acylcarnitines, fatty acids, and other byproducts of lipolysis and fatty acid oxidation. Machine learning algorithms for normal maturation of the microbiota and metabolome among infants with appropriate growth revealed a pattern of delayed maturation of the microbiota and metabolome among infants with growth failure. Collectively, we identified novel microbial and metabolic features of growth failure in preterm infants and potentially modifiable targets for intervention

Wildfire, climate, and perceptions in northeast Oregon

Wildfire poses a rising threat in the western USA, fueled by synergies between historical fire suppression, changing land use, insects and disease, and shifts toward a drier, warmer climate. The rugged landscapes of northeast Oregon, with their historically forest- and resource-based economies, have been one of the areas affected. A 2011 survey found area residents highly concerned about fire and insect threats, but not about climate change. In 2014 we conducted a second survey that, to explore this apparent disconnect, included questions about past and future summertime (fire season) temperatures. Although regional temperatures have warmed in recent decades at twice the global rate, accompanied by increasing dryness and fire risks, the warming itself is recognized by only 40 % of our respondents. Awareness of recent warming proves unrelated to individual characteristics that might indicate experience on the land: old-timer versus newcomer status, year-round versus seasonal residence, and ownership of forested land. Perceptions of past warming and expectations of future warming are more common among younger respondents and less common among Tea Party supporters. The best-educated partisans stand farthest apart. Perceptions about local temperatures that are important for adaptation planning thus follow ideological patterns similar to beliefs about global climate change

The rise of aquaculture by-products: Increasing food production, value, and sustainability through strategic utilisation

Since 2000, the use of wild fish inputs in the production of farm raised fish outputs, also known as the Fish In: Fish Out (FI:FO) ratio, has been a primary concern of the sustainability dialogue surrounding aquaculture production. Far less attention has been placed on the sustainability of downstream processing, including how by-products are managed. This paper contributes new information on the current utilisation of aquaculture by-products in a case study on the Scottish Atlantic salmon industry. The findings show that there is considerable potential to increase the sustainability of the industry through maximising human edible yield by strategically managing by-products. Supporting the movement towards the full utilisation of by-products, this paper goes a step further by emphasising the need to maximise their use in human consumption and select animal feeds, highlighting the economic, food security, and environmental benefits of doing so. Through exploratory scenarios based on the case study, the paper identifies that Scotland could increase food production from fish farming by over 60%, increase by-product revenue by 803%, and increase the industry bottom-line by over 5%, all without having to put any new cages in the water, or use any more marine resources. As the aquaculture industry moves into a new era of production and processing, where a diverse range of products can be produced from a single species, sustainability will be sought throughout the value chain. It is hoped that the ideas raised within this paper will encourage further discussion and collaboration on this topic going forward