The U.S. Arctic Observing Viewer: A Web-Mapping Application for Enhancing Environmental Observation of the Changing Arctic

Although much progress has been made with various Arctic Observing efforts, assessing that progress can be difficult. What data collection efforts are established or underway? Where? By whom? To help meet the strategic needs of programs such as the U.S. Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH), the Arctic Observing Network (AON), Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks (SAON) and related initiatives, an update has been released for the Arctic Observing Viewer (AOV; http://ArcticObservingViewer.org). This web mapping application and information system has begun to compile the who, what, where, and when for thousands of data collection sites (such as boreholes, ship tracks, buoys, towers, sampling stations, sensor networks, vegetation sites, stream gauges, and observatories) wherever marine, terrestrial, or atmospheric data are collected. Contributing partners for this collaborative resource include the U.S. NSF, ACADIS, ADIwg, AOOS, a2dc, AON, ARMAP, BAID, CAFF, IASOA, INTERACT, and others. While focusing on U.S. activities, the AOV welcomes information exchange with international groups for mutual benefit. Users can visualize, navigate, select, search, draw, print, and more. AOV is founded on principles of interoperability, with open metadata and web service standards, so that agencies and organizations can use AOV tools and services for their own purposes. In this way, AOV will reinforce and complement other distributed yet interoperable cyber-resources and will help science planners, funding agencies, researchers, data specialists, and others to assess status, identify overlap, fill gaps, optimize sampling design, refine network performance, clarify directions, access data, coordinate logistics, collaborate, and more in order to meet Arctic Observing goals.Malgré les progrès réalisés dans le cadre de nombreux efforts d’observation de l’Arctique, les progrès peuvent être difficiles à évaluer. Quelles initiatives de collecte de données sont en cours ou sont établies? À quel endroit? Et qui gère ces initiatives? Pour aider à répondre aux besoins stratégiques de programmes comme ceux de l’organisme américain Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH), du réseau Arctic Observing Network (AON), des réseaux Sustaining Arctic Observing Networks (SAON) et d’autres programmes connexes, on a procédé à la mise à jour de l’Arctic Observing Viewer (AOV; http://ArcticObservingViewer.org). Ce système d’information jumelé à une application de mappage sur le Web a amorcé la compilation des coordonnées et des renseignements se rapportant à des milliers de sites de collecte de données (comme les trous de forage, les trajets de navires, les bouées, les tours, les stations d’échantillonnage, les réseaux de capteurs, les sites de végétation, les fluviomètres et les observatoires) où des données marines, terrestres ou atmosphériques sont prélevées. Parmi les partenaires qui collaborent à cette ressource, notons U.S. NSF, ACADIS, ADIwg, AOOS, a2dc, AON, ARMAP, BAID, CAFF, IASOA, INTERACT et d’autres encore. Bien que l’AOV se concentre sur les activités américaines, il accepte l’échange d’information avec des groupes internationaux lorsqu’il existe des avantages mutuels. Les utilisateurs peuvent visualiser les données, naviguer dans le système, faire des sélections et des recherches, dessiner, imprimer et ainsi de suite. L’AOV fonctionne moyennant des principes d’interopérabilité, avec des métadonnées ouvertes et des normes de service sur le Web afin que les organismes et les organisations puissent utiliser les outils et les services de l’AOV pour leurs propres fins. De cette façon, l’AOV sera en mesure de consolider et de compléter d’autres cyberressources à la fois réparties et interopérables, en plus d’aider les planificateurs de la science, les bailleurs de fonds, les chercheurs, les spécialistes des données et d’autres encore à évaluer les statuts, à repérer les dédoublements, à combler les écarts, à optimiser les plans d’échantillonnage, à raffiner le rendement des réseaux, à clarifier les consignes, à accéder aux données, à coordonner la logistique, à collaborer et ainsi de suite afin de répondre aux objectifs d’observation de l’Arctique

Global analyses of TetR family transcriptional regulators in mycobacteria indicates conservation across species and diversity in regulated functions

BACKGROUND: Mycobacteria inhabit diverse niches and display high metabolic versatility. They can colonise both humans and animals and are also able to survive in the environment. In order to succeed, response to environmental cues via transcriptional regulation is required. In this study we focused on the TetR family of transcriptional regulators (TFTRs) in mycobacteria. RESULTS: We used InterPro to classify the entire complement of transcriptional regulators in 10 mycobacterial species and these analyses showed that TFTRs are the most abundant family of regulators in all species. We identified those TFTRs that are conserved across all species analysed and those that are unique to the pathogens included in the analysis. We examined genomic contexts of 663 of the conserved TFTRs and observed that the majority of TFTRs are separated by 200 bp or less from divergently oriented genes. Analyses of divergent genes indicated that the TFTRs control diverse biochemical functions not limited to efflux pumps. TFTRs typically bind to palindromic motifs and we identified 11 highly significant novel motifs in the upstream regions of divergently oriented TFTRs. The C-terminal ligand binding domain from the TFTR complement in M. tuberculosis showed great diversity in amino acid sequence but with an overall architecture common to other TFTRs. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that mycobacteria depend on TFTRs for the transcriptional control of a number of metabolic functions yet the physiological role of the majority of these regulators remain unknown. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-015-1696-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

A highly conserved transcriptional repressor controls a large regulon involved in lipid degradation in Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis TetR-type regulator Rv3574 has been implicated in pathogenesis as it is induced in vivo, and genome-wide essentiality studies show it is required for infection. As the gene is highly conserved in the mycobacteria, we deleted the Rv3574 orthologue in Mycobacterium smegmatis (MSMEG_6042) and used real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and microarray analyses to show that it represses the transcription both of itself and of a large number of genes involved in lipid metabolism. We identified a conserved motif within its own promoter (TnnAACnnGTTnnA) and showed that it binds as a dimer to 29 bp probes containing the motif. We found 16 and 31 other instances of the motif in intergenic regions of M. tuberculosis and M. smegmatis respectively. Combining the results of the microarray studies with the motif analyses, we predict that Rv3574 directly controls the expression of 83 genes in M. smegmatis, and 74 in M. tuberculosis. Many of these genes are known to be induced by growth on cholesterol in rhodococci, and palmitate in M. tuberculosis. We conclude that this regulator, designated elsewhere as kstR, controls the expression of genes used for utilizing diverse lipids as energy sources, possibly imported through the mce4 system

A Mitosis Block Links Active Cell Cycle with Human Epidermal Differentiation and Results in Endoreplication

How human self-renewal tissues co-ordinate proliferation with differentiation is unclear. Human epidermis undergoes continuous cell growth and differentiation and is permanently exposed to mutagenic hazard. Keratinocytes are thought to arrest cell growth and cell cycle prior to terminal differentiation. However, a growing body of evidence does not satisfy this model. For instance, it does not explain how skin maintains tissue structure in hyperproliferative benign lesions. We have developed and applied novel cell cycle techniques to human skin in situ and determined the dynamics of key cell cycle regulators of DNA replication or mitosis, such as cyclins E, A and B, or members of the anaphase promoting complex pathway: cdc14A, Ndc80/Hec1 and Aurora kinase B. The results show that actively cycling keratinocytes initiate terminal differentiation, arrest in mitosis, continue DNA replication in a special G2/M state, and become polyploid by mitotic slippage. They unambiguously demonstrate that cell cycle progression coexists with terminal differentiation, thus explaining how differentiating cells increase in size. Epidermal differentiating cells arrest in mitosis and a genotoxic-induced mitosis block rapidly pushes epidermal basal cells into differentiation and polyploidy. These observations unravel a novel mitosis-differentiation link that provides new insight into skin homeostasis and cancer. It might constitute a self-defence mechanism against oncogenic alterations such as Myc deregulation

Platelet Activating Factor Blocks Interkinetic Nuclear Migration in Retinal Progenitors through an Arrest of the Cell Cycle at the S/G2 Transition

Nuclear migration is regulated by the LIS1 protein, which is the regulatory subunit of platelet activating factor (PAF) acetyl-hydrolase, an enzyme complex that inactivates the lipid mediator PAF. Among other functions, PAF modulates cell proliferation, but its effects upon mechanisms of the cell cycle are unknown. Here we show that PAF inhibited interkinetic nuclear migration (IKNM) in retinal proliferating progenitors. The lipid did not, however, affect the velocity of nuclear migration in cells that escaped IKNM blockade. The effect depended on the PAF receptor, Erk and p38 pathways and Chk1. PAF induced no cell death, nor a reduction in nucleotide incorporation, which rules out an intra-S checkpoint. Notwithstanding, the expected increase in cyclin B1 content during G2-phase was prevented in the proliferating cells. We conclude that PAF blocks interkinetic nuclear migration in retinal progenitor cells through an unusual arrest of the cell cycle at the transition from S to G2 phases. These data suggest the operation, in the developing retina, of a checkpoint that monitors the transition from S to G2 phases of the cell cycle

Exploration of the Mid-Cayman Rise

Mid-Cayman Rise objectives were built on exciting results from a flurry of recent expeditions that investigated hydrothermal sites in the region (German et al., 2010, 2012). The 2013 E/V Nautilus cruise explored oceanic core complexes (OCCs), tall, smooth-sided hills that rise from the seafloor on the flanks of some mid-ocean ridges. Dives (Figure 1) explored the full extent and nature of life around the Von Damm hydrothermal field, previously discovered there, as well as the geology to further understanding of the vents’ origins, and to survey the OCC summits that had never before been investigated by a deep diving vehicle. This 2013 study was the first Nautilus cruise to have more scientists participating in the expedition from locations on shore than from the ship, tripling the size of the science party

Professionals’ views of fetal monitoring during labour: a systematic review and thematic analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Current recommendations do not support the use of continuous electronic fetal monitoring (EFM) for low risk women during labour, yet EFM remains widespread in clinical practice. Consideration of the views, perspectives and experiences of individuals directly concerned with EFM application may be beneficial for identifying barriers to and facilitators for implementing evidence-based maternity care. The aim of this paper is to offer insight and understanding, through systematic review and thematic analysis, of research into professionals’ views on fetal heart rate monitoring during labour.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Any study whose aim was to explore professional views of fetal monitoring during labour was considered eligible for inclusion. The electronic databases of MEDLINE (1966–2010), CINAHL (1980–2010), EMBASE (1974–2010) and Maternity and Infant Care: MIDIRS (1971–2010) were searched in January 2010 and an updated search was performed in March 2012. Quality appraisal of each included study was performed. Data extraction tables were developed to collect data. Data synthesis was by thematic analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Eleven studies, including 1,194 participants, were identified and included in this review. Four themes emerged from the data: 1) reassurance, 2) technology, 3) communication/education and 4) midwife by proxy.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This systematic review and thematic analysis offers insight into some of the views of professionals on fetal monitoring during labour. It provides evidence for the continuing use of EFM when caring for low-risk women, contrary to current research evidence. Further research to ascertain how some of these views might be addressed to ensure the provision of evidence-based care for women and their babies is recommended.</p