Empowering faculty to initiate STEM education transformation: Efficacy of a systems thinking approach.

Just a decade ago Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action was released, catalyzing several initiatives to transform undergraduate life sciences education. Among these was the Partnership for Undergraduate Life Sciences Education (PULSE), a national organization commissioned to increase the adoption of Vision and Change recommendations within academic life sciences departments. PULSE activities have been designed based on the recognition that life sciences departments and faculty are embedded within institutions of higher education which, similar to other large organizations, are complex systems composed of multiple, interconnected subsystems.

Phylogenetics and genetic variation of in Western pocket gophers ( spp.).

The host specificities and systematics of North American species remain particularly uncertain. The primary aim of this study was to verify that a species described previously based only on morphology, , from pocket gopher (Rodentia: Geomyidae) hosts in Oregon represented a monophyletic lineage. In order to address this aspect, as well as to further understand relationships and geographic patterns, we carried out phylogenetic, genetic diversity, and population dynamic analyses using partial 18S rRNA and COI mtDNA sequences of specimens.

Black women's experiences with professional accompaniment at prenatal appointments.

Unlabelled: U.S. public health statistics report dismal Black infant and maternal mortality rates.

Experiences of Black women during pregnancy: The meaning of perinatal support.

This study describes findings of a phenomenological study of Black women's experiences with a community-based perinatal support organization based in Cleveland, Ohio. Twenty-five women participated in interviews after their babies were born about how the organization in general, and perinatal support professionals (PSPs) in particular supported them during their pregnancies and the meaning of that support. The overall meaning of perinatal support was described as easing participants' transitions into motherhood through reducing uncertainty, social isolation, and stress.

"I felt like it would've been perfect, if they hadn't been rushing": Black women's childbirth experiences with medical providers when accompanied by perinatal support professionals.

Aims: This study examined the nature and characteristics of Black women's interactions with medical providers during childbirth when accompanied by a perinatal support professional (PSP; similar to a doula).

Design: The design was qualitative, and a phenomenological approach was employed to examine the meaning of women's experiences.

Methods: We conducted in-depth interviews with 25 Black women enrolled in a perinatal support program in Cleveland, Ohio, in late 2017 and early 2018, exploring their interactions with medical providers, the meaning of their experiences, and the roles their PSPs played.

Lack of Evidence for Time or Dose Relationship between Antenatal Magnesium Sulfate and Intestinal Injury in Extremely Preterm Neonates.

Background: Recent studies reported conflicting results on the relationship between antenatal magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) exposure and neonatal intestinal injury. Most studies have not assessed MgSO4 exposure quantitatively and none reported the exposure timing.

Objectives: The aim of this work was to assess whether there is a temporal or dose-dependent relationship between antenatal MgSO4 exposure and intestinal injury in extremely preterm neonates.

Dispositional Optimism and Cardiovascular Reactivity Accompanying Anger and Sadness in Young Adults.

Background: Dispositional optimism, a generalized expectation for positive outcomes, appears to promote physical health and well-being, including positive effects on cardiovascular disease outcomes. Mechanisms may involve adaptive responses to psychological stressors that dampen their physiological impact.

Purpose: This study investigated (i) whether individual differences in optimism are associated with attenuated cardiovascular reactivity (CVR); (ii) whether the CVR moderating effect of optimism differs for two stress emotions, anger and sadness; and (iii) whether separate measures of optimism and pessimism, and the more commonly used measure that combines them, differ in their relationships with CVR.

Does hippotherapy improve balance in persons with multiple sclerosis: a systematic review.

Aim: Multiple sclerosis (MS) leads to changes in balance due to the breakdown of a number of neurological processes. Hippotherapy utilizes the movement of the horse to provide sensory feedback and has been used as a therapeutic intervention for different neurological conditions. Little is known about the effects of hippotherapy in MS.

Kangaroo Care (skin contact) reduces crying response to pain in preterm neonates: pilot results.

Crying commonly occurs in response to heel stick and adversely affects the infant's physiologic stability. Minimal crying in response to pain is desired. "Kangaroo Care," skin contact between mother and infant, reduces pain and may reduce crying in response to pain.

Beta 2-microglobulin deficient mice catabolize IgG more rapidly than FcRn- alpha-chain deficient mice.

FcRn, a nonclassical MHC-I protein bound to beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2m), diverts IgG and albumin from an intracellular degradative fate, prolonging the half-lives of both. While knockout mouse strains lacking either FcRn-alpha-chain (AK) or beta 2m (BK) show much shorter half-lives of IgG and albumin than normal mice, the plasma IgG half-life in the BK and AK strains is different, being shorter in the BK strain. Since beta 2m does not affect the IgG production rate, we tested whether an additional beta 2m-associated mechanism protects IgG from catabolism.

Seed Transmission of Fusarium verticillioides in Maize Plants Grown Under Three Different Temperature Regimes.

Fusarium verticillioides can be seed transmitted and cause systemic infection of maize; however, the frequency of these phenomena has varied widely among and within individual studies. In order to better understand this variability, we evaluated the effect of temperature on the first step in the systemic infection process, the transmission of F. verticillioides from seed to seedling.

Genotypes A and B of Cadophora gregata Differ in Ability to Colonize Susceptible Soybean.

Growth chamber experiments were conducted to determine if extent of colonization of soybean stems by genotypes A and B of Cadophora gregata (Phialophora gregata), the causal agent of brown stem rot (BSR) of soybean, is similar in soybean plants resistant or susceptible to genotype A. Upon introduction of the two genotypes separately into the base of stems of 2-week-old seedlings, genotype A advanced with the growing tips of susceptible but not resistant genotypes. In contrast, genotype B did not advance with the growing tips of either resistant or susceptible soybean.

Accelerated transferrin degradation in HFE-deficient mice is associated with increased transferrin saturation.

HFE, a major histocompatibility complex class I-related protein, is implicated in the iron overload disease, hereditary hemochromatosis. Whereas patients with hereditary hemochromatosis have low serum transferrin levels, little is known about transferrin turnover in HFE deficiency states. We injected mice intravenously with radioiodinated transferrin and compared plasma transferrin decay and steady-state endogenous transferrin concentration in the plasma between HFE-deficient and wild-type C57BL/6 mouse strains.

Soybean Stem Colonization by Genotypes A and B of Cadophora gregata Increases with Increasing Population Densities of Heterodera glycines.

Growth chamber experiments were conducted to investigate whether parasitism by increasing population densities of Heterodera glycines, the soybean cyst nematode, increases the incidence and severity of stem colonization by the aggressive genotype A and the mild genotype B of Cadophora gregata (Phialophora gregata), causal agents of brown stem rot of soybeans. Soybean genotypes with three combinations of resistance and susceptibility to H. glycines and genotype A of C.

A New Greenhouse Method to Assay Soybean Resistance to Brown Stem Rot.

Greenhouse, growth chamber, and field experiments were conducted to develop a method to assess resistance of soybeans to Cadophora gregata (Phialophora gregata), causal agent of brown stem rot (BSR). In the new method, C. gregata is introduced at the base of the stems of 2-week-old soybeans, and the presence of the fungus is assessed in the tips of the stems 5 weeks later.

Perspective-- FcRn transports albumin: relevance to immunology and medicine.

Recent evidence validates a forgotten 40-year-old hypothesis: the MHC-related Fc receptor for IgG (FcRn) protects albumin from intracellular catabolic degradation, as it does for IgG, accounting for the uniquely long half-lives of both molecules and explaining their direct concentration-catabolism relationships. Albumin and IgG bind to FcRn at low pH but not at physiological pH. These two ligands bind independently of one another by distinctive mechanisms and to different surfaces of the receptor.

Familial hypercatabolic hypoproteinemia caused by deficiency of the neonatal Fc receptor, FcRn, due to a mutant beta2-microglobulin gene.

Two siblings, products of a consanguineous marriage, were markedly deficient in both albumin and IgG because of rapid degradation of these proteins, suggesting a lack of the neonatal Fc receptor, FcRn. FcRn is a heterodimeric receptor composed of a nonclassical MHC class I alpha-chain and beta(2)-microglobulin (beta(2)m) that binds two ligands, IgG and albumin, and extends the catabolic half-lives of both. Eight relatives of the siblings were moderately IgG-deficient.

Albumin turnover: FcRn-mediated recycling saves as much albumin from degradation as the liver produces.

It is now understood that the nonclassical major histocompatibility complex-I molecule FcRn binds albumin and retrieves it from an intracellular degradative fate. Whether FcRn in the liver modulates albumin turnover through effects on biosynthesis and production is not known. Thus we quantified the appearance of biosynthetically labeled albumin in plasma after an intravenous bolus injection of [(3)H]leucine in FcRn-deficient mice.

Resistance to Phialophora gregata Is Expressed in the Stems of Resistant Soybeans.

Growth chamber experiments were conducted to determine if resistance to Phialophora gregata, the causal agent of brown stem rot (BSR) of soybean, is expressed in the stems of resistant soybean genotypes. Upon introduction of the pathogen into the base of stems of 2-week-old seedlings, the fungus advanced with the growing tips of plants of susceptible genotypes but lagged behind in resistant genotypes. Five weeks after introduction of the pathogen, both mean percent stem length colonized by P.

Heterodera glycines Infection Increases Incidence and Severity of Brown Stem Rot in Both Resistant and Susceptible Soybean.

Growth chamber experiments were conducted to investigate whether parasitism by Heterodera glycines, the soybean cyst nematode, increases incidence and severity of brown stem rot (BSR) of soybean, caused by Phialophora gregata, in both resistant and susceptible soybean cultivars. Soybean genotypes with various combinations of resistance and susceptibility to both pathogens were inoculated with P. gregata alone or P.

A test of the endogenous and exogenous selection hypotheses for the maintenance of a narrow avian hybrid zone.

The contributions of genetic and environmental factors to differential reproductive success across hybrid zones have rarely been tested. Here, we report a manipulative experiment that simultaneously tested endogenous (genetic-based) and exogenous (environmental-based) selection within a hybrid zone. We transplanted mated pairs of two chickadee species (Poecile atricapilla and P.

Physical mapping of plasmid and cosmid clones in filamentous fungi by fiber-FISH.

Fluorescence in situ hybridization to extended DNA fibers (fiber-FISH) serves as a powerful tool for direct physical mapping in plants and animals. Here, we show that fiber-FISH is useful for contig mapping as well as for estimating the physical distance between genetic markers in fungi. A five-cosmid contig from a chromosome of Nectria haematococca and four cloned genetic markers from a linkage map of Cochliobolus heterostrophus were chosen as models for the application of this technology.

Genetic mapping of telomeric DNA sequences in the maize pathogen Cochliobolus heterostrophus.

Numerous polymorphic bands were observed when genomic DNA of Cochliobolus heterostrophus was cut with restriction enzymes and hybridized with a telomere-specific probe. Bal31 digestion demonstrated that the majority of the bands were from the chromosome termini and thus constitute telomeres. However, numerous hybridizing sequences in the strain B30.