Regulation of the expression and processing of caspase-12

Phylogenetic analysis clusters caspase-12 with the inflammatory caspases 1 and 11. We analyzed the expression of caspase-12 in mouse embryos, adult organs, and different cell types and tested the effect of interferons (IFNs) and other proinflammatory stimuli. Constitutive expression of the caspase-12 protein was restricted to certain cell types, such as epithelial cells, primary fibroblasts, and L929 fibrosarcoma cells. In fibroblasts and B16/B16 melanoma cells, caspase-12 expression is stimulated by IFN-γ but not by IFN-α or -β. The effect is increased further when IFN-γ is combined with TNF, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), or dsRNA. These stimuli also induce caspase-1 and -11 but inhibit the expression of caspase-3 and -9. In contrast to caspase-1 and -11, no caspase-12 protein was detected in macrophages in any of these treatments. Transient overexpression of full-length caspase-12 leads to proteolytic processing of the enzyme and apoptosis. Similar processing occurs in TNF-, LPS-, Fas ligand–, and thapsigargin (Tg)-induced apoptosis. However, B16/B16 melanoma cells die when treated with the ER stress–inducing agent Tg whether they express caspase-12 or not

Factor score regression with social relations model components : a case study exploring antecedents and consequences of perceived support in families

The family social relations model (SRM) is applied to identify the sources of variance in interpersonal dispositions in families, but the antecedents or consequences of those sources are rarely investigated. Simultaneous modeling of the SRM with antecedents or consequences using structural equation modeling (SEM) allows to do so, but may become computationally prohibitive in small samples. We therefore consider two factor score regression (FSR) methods: regression and Bartlett FSR. Based on full information maximum likelihood (FIML), we derive closed-form expressions for the regression and Bartlett factor scores in the presence of missingness. A simulation study in both a complete- and incomplete-case setting compares the performance of these FSR methods with SEM and an ANOVA-based approach. In both settings, the regression FIML factor scores as explanatory variable produces unbiased estimators with precision comparable to the SEM-estimators. When SRM-effects are used as dependent variables, none of the FSR methods are a suitable alternative for SEM. The latter result deviates from previous studies on FSR in more simple settings. As an example, we explore whether gender and past victimhood of relational and physical aggression are antecedents for family dynamics of perceived support, and whether those dynamics predict physical and relational aggression

Patterns of Spatial Variation of Assemblages Associated with Intertidal Rocky Shores: A Global Perspective

Assemblages associated with intertidal rocky shores were examined for large scale distribution patterns with specific emphasis on identifying latitudinal trends of species richness and taxonomic distinctiveness. Seventy-two sites distributed around the globe were evaluated following the standardized sampling protocol of the Census of Marine Life NaGISA project (www.nagisa.coml.org). There were no clear patterns of standardized estimators of species richness along latitudinal gradients or among Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs); however, a strong latitudinal gradient in taxonomic composition (i.e., proportion of different taxonomic groups in a given sample) was observed. Environmental variables related to natural influences were strongly related to the distribution patterns of the assemblages on the LME scale, particularly photoperiod, sea surface temperature (SST) and rainfall. In contrast, no environmental variables directly associated with human influences (with the exception of the inorganic pollution index) were related to assemblage patterns among LMEs. Correlations of the natural assemblages with either latitudinal gradients or environmental variables were equally strong suggesting that neither neutral models nor models based solely on environmental variables sufficiently explain spatial variation of these assemblages at a global scale. Despite the data shortcomings in this study (e.g., unbalanced sample distribution), we show the importance of generating biological global databases for the use in large-scale diversity comparisons of rocky intertidal assemblages to stimulate continued sampling and analyses

Königinnen ohne König. Zur Rolle der Witwen Alexanders im Zeitalter der Diadochen

Harders A-C. Königinnen ohne König. Zur Rolle der Witwen Alexanders im Zeitalter der Diadochen. In: Hauben H, Meeus A, eds. The age of the successors and the creation of the Hellenistic kingdoms (323 -276 B.C.). Studia hellenistica, 53. Leuven: Peeters; 2014: 345-378

The Caspase-Generated Fragments of PKR Cooperate to Activate Full Length PKR and Inhibit Translation

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

The Caspase-Generated Fragments of PKR Cooperate to Activate Full Length PKR and Inhibit Translation

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Een lerarenopleiding en studenten in kansarmoede: de krachten gebundeld!

De Raad Hoger Onderwijs van de VLOR stelt dat, alhoewel het Vlaamse hoger onderwijs een afspiegeling zou moeten zijn van de divers samengestelde maatschappij waarin kansarmoede voortdurend toeneemt, studenten in kansarmoede nog steeds ondervertegenwoordigd zijn in het hoger onderwijs. Tevens wordt aangegeven dat de kansarmoedeproblematiek nog te weinig gekend is op niveau van het hoger onderwijs, ook meer bepaald binnen de lerarenopleiding (VLOR, 2011, 2015). Vanuit deze inzichten laten we in dit onderzoeksproject studenten en oud-studenten met een kansarmoedeachtergrond aan het woord om een tweeledige doelstelling na te streven. Enerzijds gaan we met hen na hoe we de lerarenopleiding beter kunnen afstemmen op wat studenten in kansarmoede nodig hebben om de opleiding te starten en succesvol te doorlopen. Op die manier willen we uitsluitingsmechanismen ondervangen en gelijke onderwijskansen bieden aan alle studenten. Anderzijds doen we vanuit een waarderende benadering een beroep op hun expertise en ervaringsdeskundigheid omtrent kansarmoede om de opleiding te verrijken betreffende de competentie ‘omgaan met kansarmoede’. Die competentie dient niet enkel verworven te worden door de studenten, maar vanuit een voorbeeldfunctie tevens te worden voorgeleefd door de lerarenopleiders.status: publishe

Green Pioneers, a citizen science project at Meise Botanic Garden

Part of SPNHC 2019 | https://osf.io/view/SPNHC201

Green Pioneers: Raising awareness of invasive plants for all ages

When researchers and managers are asked to rank the issues that prevent adequate control of invasive species, lack of public awareness is at the top of the list (Dehnen‐Schmutz et al. 2018). It is therefore imperative to raise the general public's awareness of the potential risks of introducing alien species into the wild. Green Pioneers, a citizen science project funded by the Flemish Government, (Fig. 1) aims to address this issue in Belgium, across age groups. The project aims to Create awareness on invasive species, highlighting how invasions can be avoided and how to mitigate their impact. Improve communication between citizens and scientists on conservation and invasive plant species. Augment the quality and quantity of data on invasive species. The project is developing three kinds of activity, specifically to attract a broad demographic: - 'Young Pioneers', by developing tools for teachers in science, technology, engineering and mathemathics for school children from 12-15 years old. - 'Online Pioneers', through our online citizen science platform DoeDat.be, by helping with the transcription of label information on herbarium specimens, - and 'Visiteers', by inviting companies and working age people to help us in the collection and to inform them about invasive species. Finally, we will be organizing a BioBlitz in spring 2020 at Meise Botanic Garden where we will celebrate plants and all our Green Pioneers, while also spreading the message of invasive plant awareness. During our 48 hour BioBlitz, scientists, volunteers and citizens are workig together to survey the biodiversity of our Botanic Garden. Ultimately, Green Pioneers aim to encourage recording of alien species by amateur botanists and create a generation of responsible gardeners who understand the consequences of releasing invasive alien plants into the wild

The caspase-generated fragments of PKR cooperate to activate full length PKR and inhibit translation

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe