A library of lineage-specific driver lines connects developing neuronal circuits to behavior in the Ventral Nerve Cord.

Understanding the developmental trajectories of neuronal lineages is crucial for elucidating how they are assembled into functional neural networks. Studies investigating the nervous system development in model animals have focused only on a few regions of the Central Nervous System due to the limited availability of genetic drivers to target these regions throughout development and adult life. This hindered our understanding of how distinct neuronal lineages come together to form neuronal circuits during development.

A genetic screen in Drosophila uncovers a role for senseless-2 in surface glia in the peripheral nervous system to regulate CNS morphology.

Despite increasing in mass approximately 100-fold during larval life, the Drosophila CNS maintains its characteristic form. Dynamic interactions between the overlying basement membrane and underlying surface glia are known to regulate CNS structure in Drosophila, but the genes and pathways that establish and maintain CNS morphology during development remain poorly characterized. To identify genes that regulate CNS shape in Drosophila, we conducted an EMS-based, forward genetic screen of the second chromosome, uncovered 50 mutations that disrupt CNS structure, and mapped these alleles to 17 genes.

Loss of dihydroceramide desaturase drives neurodegeneration by disrupting endoplasmic reticulum and lipid droplet homeostasis in glial cells.

Dihydroceramide desaturases convert dihydroceramides to ceramides, the precursors of all complex sphingolipids. Reduction of DEGS1 dihydroceramide desaturase function causes pediatric neurodegenerative disorder hypomyelinating leukodystrophy-18 (HLD-18). We discovered that , the homolog, is expressed primarily in glial cells to promote CNS development by guarding against neurodegeneration.

Re-imagining transdisciplinary education work through liminality: creative third space in liminal times.

This study draws on the tradition of transdisciplinarity to extend the boundaries of interdisciplinary educational work. In this paper, we apply the concepts of liminality and third space to examine a case of a professional immersive experience (PIEx), designed in response to the catastrophic disruption of work-integrated learning opportunities by the COVID-19 pandemic. The study uses a participatory reflexive methodology to interrogate the range of ways liminality was manifest in PIEx.

Coping experiences of young adults diagnosed with a chronic illness: a qualitative systematic review protocol.

Objective: The objective of this review is to gain insight about the experience of emerging adults who are coping with a chronic illness diagnosis.

Introduction: Receiving a chronic illness diagnosis is filled with challenges and changes to a person's life. Coping is not an easy or linear process, and is particularly complex for emerging adults.

Assistive technologies that support social interaction in long-term care homes: a scoping review.

Objective: The objective of this review was to chart the literature on assistive technologies (excluding robots) that support social interaction of older adults in long-term care homes, and to advance a definition of socially assistive technologies.

Introduction: Loneliness and social isolation have adverse effects on the health and well-being of older adults. Many long-term care homes provide recreational programming intended to entertain or distract residents, yet the evidence of their effectiveness is limited.

A genetic screen for regulators of muscle morphogenesis in Drosophila.

The mechanisms that determine the final topology of skeletal muscles remain largely unknown. We have been developing Drosophila body wall musculature as a model to identify and characterize the pathways that control muscle size, shape, and orientation during embryogenesis. Our working model argues muscle morphogenesis is regulated by (1) extracellular guidance cues that direct muscle cells toward muscle attachment sites, and (2) contact-dependent interactions between muscles and tendon cells.

Biological basis of child health 6: development of the skeletal system and orthopaedic conditions.

This article is the sixth in a series on the biological basis of child health. It provides an overview of the development of the skeletal system before and after birth, and outlines the potential congenital anomalies that may occur. The article explains the structure and function of the bones before describing the role of the joints, tendons and ligaments.

Assistive technologies that support social interaction in long-term care homes: a scoping review protocol.

Objective: The objective of this scoping review is to chart the literature on assistive technologies that support social interaction (excluding robots) used with older adults in long-term care (LTC).

Introduction: The need for LTC in institutional settings is in high demand. Loneliness and social isolation are common in these settings.

The extracellular metalloprotease AdamTS-A anchors neural lineages in place within and preserves the architecture of the central nervous system.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) regulates cell migration and sculpts organ shape. AdamTS proteins are extracellular metalloproteases known to modify ECM proteins and promote cell migration, but demonstrated roles for AdamTS proteins in regulating CNS structure and ensuring cell lineages remain fixed in place have not been uncovered. Using forward genetic approaches in , we find that reduction of function induces both the mass exodus of neural lineages out of the CNS and drastic perturbations to CNS structure.

Collaborative Control of Cell Cycle Progression by the RNA Exonuclease Dis3 and Ras Is Conserved Across Species.

Dis3 encodes a conserved RNase that degrades or processes all RNA species via an N-terminal PilT N terminus (PIN) domain and C-terminal RNB domain that harbor, respectively, endonuclease activity and 3'-5' exonuclease activity. In Schizosaccharomyces pombe, dis3 mutations cause chromosome missegregation and failure in mitosis, suggesting dis3 promotes cell division. In humans, apparently hypomorphic dis3 mutations are found recurrently in multiple myeloma, suggesting dis3 opposes cell division.

Cumulative risk, cumulative outcome: a 20-year longitudinal study.

Cumulative risk (CR) models provide some of the most robust findings in the developmental literature, predicting numerous and varied outcomes. Typically, however, these outcomes are predicted one at a time, across different samples, using concurrent designs, longitudinal designs of short duration, or retrospective designs. We predicted that a single CR index, applied within a single sample, would prospectively predict diverse outcomes, i.

Transcription factor expression uniquely identifies most postembryonic neuronal lineages in the Drosophila thoracic central nervous system.

Most neurons of the adult Drosophila ventral nerve cord arise from a burst of neurogenesis during the third larval instar stage. Most of this growth occurs in thoracic neuromeres, which contain 25 individually identifiable postembryonic neuronal lineages. Initially, each lineage consists of two hemilineages--'A' (Notch(On)) and 'B' (Notch(Off))--that exhibit distinct axonal trajectories or fates.

Genome-wide identification of Drosophila Hb9 targets reveals a pivotal role in directing the transcriptome within eight neuronal lineages, including activation of nitric oxide synthase and Fd59a/Fox-D.

Hb9 is a homeodomain-containing transcription factor that acts in combination with Nkx6, Lim3, and Tail-up (Islet) to guide the stereotyped differentiation, connectivity, and function of a subset of neurons in Drosophila. The role of Hb9 in directing neuronal differentiation is well documented, but the lineage of Hb9(+) neurons is only partly characterized, its regulation is poorly understood, and most of the downstream genes through which it acts remain at large. Here, we complete the lineage tracing of all embryonic Hb9(+) neurons (to eight neuronal lineages) and provide evidence that hb9, lim3, and tail-up are coordinately regulated by a common set of upstream factors.

Quality improvement related to radiation safety chest radiography in the NICU.

Discussion includes radiation safety and radiographic quality management, continual quality improvement processes, and management review over a three year period. The results of radiation safety and radiographic quality audits conducted on random samples of chest radiographs are included. Specific measures and improvement strategies are presented as they relate to "babygrams" patient positioning, shielding, collimation, exposure technique, exposure index, and patient holding by NICU staff.

Guanidinylated neomycin mediates heparan sulfate-dependent transport of active enzymes to lysosomes.

Guanidinylated neomycin (GNeo) can transport bioactive, high molecular weight cargo into the interior of cells in a process that depends on cell surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans. In this report, we show that GNeo-modified quantum dots bind to cell surface heparan sulfate, undergo endocytosis and eventually reach the lysosomal compartment. An N-hydroxysuccinimide activated ester of GNeo (GNeo-NHS) was prepared and conjugated to two lysosomal enzymes, beta-D-glucuronidase (GUS) and alpha-L-iduronidase.

Sanpodo: a context-dependent activator and inhibitor of Notch signaling during asymmetric divisions.

Asymmetric cell divisions generate sibling cells of distinct fates ('A', 'B') and constitute a fundamental mechanism that creates cell-type diversity in multicellular organisms. Antagonistic interactions between the Notch pathway and the intrinsic cell-fate determinant Numb appear to regulate asymmetric divisions in flies and vertebrates. During these divisions, productive Notch signaling requires sanpodo, which encodes a novel transmembrane protein.

Effects of dairy compared with soy on oxidative and inflammatory stress in overweight and obese subjects.

Background: We recently showed that calcitriol increases oxidative and inflammatory stress; moreover, inhibition of calcitriol with high-calcium diets decreased both adipose tissue and systemic oxidative and inflammatory stress in obese mice, whereas dairy exerted a greater effect. However, these findings may be confounded by concomitant changes in adiposity.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the acute effects of a dairy-rich diet on oxidative and inflammatory stress in overweight and obese subjects in the absence of adiposity changes.

dbx mediates neuronal specification and differentiation through cross-repressive, lineage-specific interactions with eve and hb9.

Individual neurons adopt and maintain defined morphological and physiological phenotypes as a result of the expression of specific combinations of transcription factors. In particular, homeodomain-containing transcription factors play key roles in determining neuronal subtype identity in flies and vertebrates. dbx belongs to the highly divergent H2.

Physical activity and senior games participation: benefits, constraints, and behaviors.

The purpose of the article was to examine the physical activity perceptions and behaviors of older adults who were active participants in a statewide senior games (i.e., North Carolina Senior Games; NCSG) program with its focus on year-round involvement through activities in local communities.

Synthesis and DNA interactions of a bis-phenothiazinium photosensitizer.

We report the synthesis and characterization of N,N-bis[(7-dimethylamino)phenothiazin-5-ium-3-yl]-4,4-ethylenedipiperidine diiodide (3), consisting of two photosensitizing phenothiazinium rings attached to a central ethylenedipiperidine linker. At all time points (10, 30, 60 min) and all wavelengths (676, 700, 710 nm) tested, photocleavage of pUC19 plasmid DNA (22 degrees C and pH 7.0) was markedly enhanced by 1 microM of 3 in comparison to 1 microM of the parent phenothiazine methylene blue (MB).