Assessment and mapping of Civilian Conservation Corps structures on the Maple River in Emmet County, Michigan.

LimnologyThe purpose of this survey was to evaluate the condition of in-stream structures created by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) on the Combined Branch of the Maple River in Emmet County, MI. These structures were put in place to create fish habitats and spawning areas for Trout species that are not indigenous to the Maple River. On July 31st and August 3rd of 2013, we traveled down the stretch of the Maple River between Lake Kathleen and Brutus Road to locate and assess the status of the CCC constructed trout habitats. A total of 49 CCC structured were mapped and surveyed. The locations of trout spawning areas provided to us from Trout Unlimited, in addition to our Google map database, allowed us to identify which structures were in close proximity to redds. Also, we identified structures that were in poor in quality due to sediment accumulation from soil erosion. For future assessment of trout habitat we recommend every two years evaluation of the condition of CCC structures. We hope our Google Map database provides the grounds for future surveys to improve trout conditions in the Maple River.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/101750/1/Alizadeh_Halm_Gezon_Gingerich_Ludington_2013.pd

A bioinformatics approach to defining the AU-Rich Element (AURE) Identification of novel motifs flanking AU-Rich Elements

Post-transcriptional regulation of genes is critical for the proper temporal and spatial expression of gene products. mRNA transcripts contain cis AU-rich elements (AUREs) in their 3’ untranslated region (UTR) that facilitate the binding of trans acting stability factors. AUREs however remain poorly characterized. Using regular expressions inherent in the PERL programming language, coupled to the Ensemble Human Transcriptome database, we confirm trends observed in already characterized 3’ UTRs as well as identify several significant and novel 3’ UTR flanking sequences that may have biological significance

Technoeconomic Optimization of Emerging Technologies for Regulatory Analysis

Evaluating sustainable technologies during the regulatory design process requires tools for rapidly assessing the cost and performance of compliance technologies that leverage process integration or are still in the development phase. This work demonstrates the use of gray-box optimization to facilitate process assessment during regulatory design, using the recent Effluent Limitation Guidelines regulating the discharge of flue gas desulfurization wastewater as a case study. We build computationally lean meta-models of an emerging ammonium-bicarbonate forward osmosis (NH₄HCO₃ FO) technology that is heavily integrated with heat sources at the power plant. We then compare the capital and operational costs of an NH₄HCO₃ FO and crystallization treatment train against that of mechanical vapor recompression and crystallization, the “Best Available Technology” for zero liquid discharge and the basis for EPA’s benefit cost analysis during the regulatory process. We estimate that the NH₄HCO₃ FO treatment train would reduce the cost of zero liquid discharge by $0.30–$1.20/m³ and would have reduced the cost for a stricter evaporative standard by $20–$70 million nationwide. Finally, we discuss opportunities and challenges associated with deploying gray-box optimization techniques for the rapid assessment of emerging technologies in policy analysis

Mammary differentiation induces expression of Tristetraprolin, a tumor suppressor AU-rich mRNA-binding protein

Tristetraprolin (TTP) is a RNA-binding protein that inhibits the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and invasiveness-associated genes. TTP levels are decreased in many different cancer types and it has been proposed that this protein could be used as a prognostic factor in breast cancer. Here, using publicly available DNA microarray datasets, “serial analysis of gene expression” libraries and qRT-PCR analysis, we determined that TTP mRNA is present in normal breast cells and its levels are significantly decreased in all breast cancer subtypes. In addition, by immunostaining, we found that TTP expression is higher in normal breast tissue and benign lesions than in infiltrating carcinomas. Among these, lower grade tumors showed increased TTP expression compared to higher grade cancers. Therefore, these data indicate that TTP protein levels would provide a better negative correlation with breast cancer invasiveness than TTP transcript levels. In mice, we found that TTP mRNA and protein expression is also diminished in mammary tumors. Interestingly, a strong positive association of TTP expression and mammary differentiation was identified in normal and tumor cells. In fact, TTP expression is highly increased during lactation, showing good correlation with various mammary differentiation factors. TTP expression was also induced in mammary HC11 cells treated with lactogenic hormones, mainly by prolactin, through Stat5A activation. The effect of this hormone was highly dependent on mammary differentiation status, as prolactin was unable to elicit a similar response in proliferating or neoplastic mammary cells. In summary, these studies show that TTP expression is strongly linked to the mammary differentiation program in human and mice, suggesting that this protein might play specific and relevant roles in the normal physiology of the gland.Facultad de Ciencias MédicasCentro de Investigaciones Inmunológicas Básicas y Aplicada

Activation of the Parasympathetic Nervous System Is Necessary for Normal Meal-Induced Insulin Secretion in Rhesus Macaques1

Meal-induced insulin secretion is thought to be regulated primarily by absorbed nutrients and incretin hormones released from the gastrointestinal tract. In addition, the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) is known to mediate preabsorptive, or cephalic phase, insulin secretion. Despite evidence that the PNS remains activated during the absorptive phase of the meal, its role in mediating postprandial insulin secretion has not been established. To study the role of the PNS in absorptive phase insulin release, we measured plasma concentrations of glucose as well as islet hormones and incretins in six healthy rhesus monkeys before and for 60 min after meals while they were infused with saline (control), atropine (muscarinic blockade), or trimethaphan (nicotinic blockade). During the infusion of saline, plasma levels of glucose, pancreatic polypeptide (PP), insulin, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, and glucagon-like peptide-1 increased promptly after meal ingestion and remained elevated throughout the 60 min of the study. The PP response was nearly abolished in animals treated with trimethaphan, indicating functional blockade of PNS input to the islet, and in contrast to the control study, there were minimal changes in plasma concentrations of glucose, incretin hormones, and insulin. Because trimethaphan inhibited glycemic and incretin stimuli in addition to blocking PNS input to the islet, it was not possible to discern the relative roles of these factors in the stimulation of insulin secretion. Atropine also significantly decreased PNS transmission to the islet, as reflected by PP levels similar to those observed with trimethaphan. Unlike the trimethaphan study, plasma glucose levels rose normally during atropine treatment and were similar to those in the control study over the course of the experiments (114 +/- 22 and 132 +/- 23 mmol/L.60 min, respectively). In addition, the rise in plasma glucagon-like peptide-1 following the meal was not suppressed by atropine, and the glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide responses were only modestly decreased. Despite the significant increases in circulating glucose and incretins, plasma insulin levels were greatly attenuated by atropine, so that the 60 min responses were more comparable to those during trimethaphan treatment than to those in the control study (atropine, 3,576 +/- 1,284; trimethaphan, 4,128 +/- 2,616; control, 15,834 +/- 5,586 pmol/L.60 min; P: < 0.05). Thus, muscarinic blockade markedly suppressed the meal-induced insulin response despite normal postprandial glycemia and significant elevations of incretins. These results indicate that activation of the PNS during the absorptive phase of meals contributes significantly to the postprandial insulin secretory response