MS

thesisThe Stansbury Mountains consist of a single north-south trend­ing range located west of Tooele, Utah. Approximately 70 square miles of the southern Stansbury Mountains were mapped and studied for this report. A section of Paleozoic rocks, in excess of 27,000 feet is present. This includes 4,800+ feet of Cambrian (not includ­ing several thousand feet of unmeasured Tintic quartzite), 1,600+ feet of Ordovician, 600+ feet of Silurian, 600+ feet of Devonian, 3,400+feet of Mississippian (not including 1,200+ feet of unmeasur­ed Manning Canyon shale), and 14,000+feet of Pennsylvanian. Due to a pre-Mississippian uplift, Ordovician, Silurian, and Devonian rocks are absent in the central part of the range. The basal Mississippian rocks rest unconformably on Cambrian beds. Late Devonian beds, where present, are represented by a coarse conglomerate referred to as the Stansbury conglomerate. This formation which is hundreds of feet thick at the north end of the range, thins to a few tens of feet at the south end. Precambrian, Mesozozic and Tertiary rocks are not exposed in the area studied. Quaternary deposits includes pre-Lake Bonneville fan gravels, Lake Bonneville beds, creep and glacial deposits, Recent sand dune deposits and alluvium. Structurally the range consists of a north-south anticline. At the south end following folding., the west limb was removed by Laramide thrusting. Also during the Laramide period, high angle northwest- southeast normal faulting occurred. Later Basin and Range normal type faults roughly parallel the Laramide faults and fold structures

Mouse DRG Cell Line with Properties of Nociceptors

In vitro cell lines from DRG neurons aid drug discovery because they can be used for early stage, high-throughput screens for drugs targeting pain pathways, with minimal dependence on animals. We have established a conditionally immortal DRG cell line from the Immortomouse. Using immunocytochemistry, RT-PCR and calcium microfluorimetry, we demonstrate that the cell line MED17.11 expresses markers of cells committed to the sensory neuron lineage. Within a few hours under differentiating conditions, MED17.11 cells extend processes and following seven days of differentiation, express markers of more mature DRG neurons, such as NaV1.7 and Piezo2. However, at least at this time-point, the nociceptive marker NaV1.8 is not expressed, but the cells respond to compounds known to excite nociceptors, including the TRPV1 agonist capsaicin, the purinergic receptor agonist ATP and the voltage gated sodium channel agonist, veratridine. Robust calcium transients are observed in the presence of the inflammatory mediators bradykinin, histamine and norepinephrine. MED17.11 cells have the potential to replace or reduce the use of primary DRG culture in sensory, pain and developmental research by providing a simple model to study acute nociception, neurite outgrowth and the developmental specification of DRG neurons

The spatial scale of competition from recruits on an older cohort in Atlantic salmon

Competitive effects of younger cohorts on older ones are frequently assumed to be negligible in species where older, larger individuals dominate in pairwise behavioural interactions. Here, we provide field estimates of such competition by recruits on an older age class in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), a species where observational studies have documented strong body size advantages which should favour older individuals in direct interactions. By creating realistic levels of spatial variation in the density of underyearling (YOY) recruits over a 1-km stretch of a stream, and obtaining accurate measurements of individual growth rates of overyearlings (parr) from capture–mark–recapture data on a fine spatial scale, we demonstrate that high YOY density can substantially decrease parr growth. Models integrating multiple spatial scales indicated that parr were influenced by YOY density within 16 m. The preferred model suggested parr daily mass increase to be reduced by 39% when increasing YOY density from 0.0 to 1.0 m−2, which is well within the range of naturally occurring densities. Reduced juvenile growth rates will in general be expected to reduce juvenile survival (via increased length of exposure to freshwater mortality) and increase generation times (via increased age at seaward migrations). Thus, increased recruitment can significantly affect the performance of older cohorts, with important implications for population dynamics. Our results highlight that, even for the wide range of organisms that rely on defendable resources, the direction of competition among age classes cannot be assumed a priori or be inferred from behavioural observations alone

Estudios americanos: revista de síntesis e interpretación 13 (69-70)

Feijóo y los americanosEn torno al concepto de HispanidadGabriela MistralLa revolución en la política económica de HispanoaméricaX Aniversario del Instituto Riva Agüero de LimaEvolución de una JudicaturaComité Intergubernamental de Migraciones EuropeasArbitraje en litigios obreros del CanadáAsociaciones de Créditos para Viviendas en el PerúII Congreso de EstudiantesParticipación de la América Latina en las Naciones UnidasAmérica en la bibliografía españolaPeer reviewe

Selective Photomechanical Detachment and Retrieval of Divided Sister Cells from Enclosed Microfluidics for Downstream Analyses

Considerable evidence suggests that self-renewal and differentiation of cancer stem-like cells, a key cell population in tumorgenesis, can determine the outcome of disease. Though the development of microfluidics has enhanced the study of cellular lineage, it remains challenging to retrieve sister cells separately inside enclosed microfluidics for further analyses. In this work, we developed a photomechanical method to selectively detach and reliably retrieve target cells from enclosed microfluidic chambers. Cells cultured on carbon nanotube–polydimethylsiloxane composite surfaces can be detached using shear force induced through irradiation of a nanosecond-pulsed laser. This retrieval process has been verified to preserve cell viability, membrane proteins, and mRNA expression levels. Using the presented method, we have successfully performed 96-plex single-cell transcriptome analysis on sister cells in order to identify the genes altered during self-renewal and differentiation, demonstrating phenomenal resolution in the study of cellular lineage

Antioxidant supplementation enhances erythrocyte antioxidant status and attenuates cyclosporine-induced vascular dysfunction

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of dietary antioxidant supplementation with a-tocopherol and a-lipoic acid on cyclosporine induced alterations to erythrocyte and plasma redox balance, and cyclosporine-induced endothelial and smooth muscle dysfunction. Rats were randomly assignedto either control, antioxidant, cyclosporine or cyclosporine + antioxidant treatments. Cyclosporine A was administered for 10 days after an 8-week feeding period. Plasma was analyzed for a-tocopherol, total antioxidant capacity, malondialdehyde and creatinine. Erythrocytes were analyzed for glutathione, methemoglobin, superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, a-tocopherol and malondialdehye. Vascular endothelial and smooth muscle function was determined in vitro. Antioxidant supplementation resulted in significant increases in erythrocyte a-tocopherol concentration and glutathione peroxidase activity in both of the antioxidant-supplemented groups. Cyclosporine administration caused significant decreases in glutathione concentration, methemoglobin concentration and superoxide dismutase activity. Antioxidant supplementation attenuated the cyclosporine-induced decrease in superoxide dismutase activity. Cyclosporine therapy impaired both endothelium-independent and -dependent relaxation of the thoracic aorta, and this was attenuated by antioxidant supplementation. In summary, dietary supplementation with a-tocopherol and a -lipoic acid attenuated the cyclosporine-induced decrease in erythrocyte superoxide dismutase activity and attenuated cyclosporine-induced vascular dysfunction

Mutual influence of backbone proline substitution and lipophilic tail character on the biological activity of simplified analogues of caspofungin

The echinocandins represent the most recent class of antifungal drugs. Previous structure–activity relationship studies on these lipopeptides have relied mainly upon semisynthetic derivatives due to their complex chemical structures. A successful strategy for the rapid enantioselective synthesis of the branched fatty acid chain of caspofungin and analogues was developed to synthesize several simplified analogues of caspofungin. The specific minimum inhibitory activity of each mimic was determined against a panel of Candida strains. This approach gave access to new fully synthetic derived caspofungin mimics with high and selective antifungal activities against Candida strains. In addition, the data suggested an important role of the hydroxy proline residue in the bioactive conformation of the macrocyclic peptide ring structure.