WALL-ASSOCIATED KINASE Like 14 regulates vascular tissue development in Arabidopsis and tomato.

Initiation of plant vascular tissue is regulated by transcriptional networks during development and in response to environmental stimuli. The WALL-ASSOCIATED KINASES (WAKs) and WAK-likes (WAKLs) are cell surface receptors involved in cell expansion and defence in cells with primary walls, yet their roles in regulation of vascular tissue development that contain secondary walls remains unclear. In this study, we showed tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) SlWAKL2 and the orthologous gene in Arabidopsis thaliana, AtWAKL14, were specifically expressed in vascular tissues.

Eviction and Poverty in American Cities.

More than two million U.S. households have an eviction case filed against them each year.

Spatiotemporal deposition of cell wall polysaccharides in oat endosperm during grain development.

Oat (Avena sativa) is a cereal crop whose grains are rich in (1,3;1,4)-β-D-glucan (mixed-linkage glucan or MLG), a soluble dietary fiber. In our study, we analyzed oat endosperm development in 2 Canadian varieties with differing MLG content and nutritional value. We confirmed that oat undergoes a nuclear type of endosperm development but with a shorter cellularization phase than barley (Hordeum vulgare).

Prevalence of Chronic Diseases, Depression, and Stress Among US Childcare Professionals During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Introduction: Given their central role in supporting children's development, childcare professionals' overall physical and mental health is important. We evaluated the prevalence of chronic diseases, depression, and stress levels during the COVID-19 pandemic among US childcare professionals.

Methods: Data were obtained from US childcare professionals (N = 81,682) through an online survey from May 22, 2020, through June 8, 2020.

Molecular Characterisation of Flavanone -methylation in .

Flavonoids are ubiquitous polyphenolic compounds in plants, long recognised for their health-promoting properties in humans. Methylated flavonoids have received increasing attention due to the potential of methylation to enhance medicinal efficacy. Recently, species with high levels of the -methylated flavanone pinostrobin have been identified.

Association of Child Masking With COVID-19-Related Closures in US Childcare Programs.

Importance: It is not known how effective child masking is in childcare settings in preventing the transmission of SARS-CoV-2. This question is critical to inform health policy and safe childcare practices.

Objective: To assess the association between masking children 2 years and older and subsequent childcare closure because of COVID-19.

COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Among US Child Care Providers.

Objectives: Ensuring high coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) vaccine uptake among US child care providers is crucial to mitigating the public health implications of child-staff and staff-child transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; however, the vaccination rate among this group was previously unknown.

Methods: To characterize vaccine uptake among US child care providers, we conducted a multistate cross-sectional survey of the child care workforce. Providers were identified through various national databases and state registries.

Biochemical and Functional Characterization of GALT8, an GT31 β-(1,3)-Galactosyltransferase That Influences Seedling Development.

Arabinogalactan-proteins (AGPs) are members of the hydroxyproline-rich glycoprotein (HRGP) superfamily, a group of highly diverse proteoglycans that are present in the cell wall, plasma membrane as well as secretions of almost all plants, with important roles in many developmental processes. The role of GALT8 (At1g22015), a Glycosyltransferase-31 (GT31) family member of the Carbohydrate-Active Enzyme database (CAZy), was examined by biochemical characterization and phenotypic analysis of a mutant line. To characterize its catalytic function, GALT8 was heterologously expressed in tobacco leaves and its enzymatic activity tested.

Fasciclin-Like Arabinogalactan-Protein 16 (FLA16) Is Required for Stem Development in .

The predominant Fascilin 1 (FAS1)-containing proteins in plants belong to the Fasciclin-Like Arabinogalactan-protein (FLA) family of extracellular glycoproteins. In addition to FAS1 domains, these multi-domain FLA proteins contain glycomotif regions predicted to direct addition of large arabinogalactan (AG) glycans and many contain signal sequences for addition of a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchor to tether them to the plasma membrane. FLAs are proposed to play both structural and signaling functions by forming a range of interactions in the plant extracellular matrix, similar to FAS1-containing proteins in animals.

Monoterpene synthases responsible for the terpene profile of anther glands in Eucalyptus polybractea R.T. Baker (Myrtaceae).

Research on terpene biosynthesis in the genus Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae) is poorly developed, but recently large numbers of terpene synthase (TPS) genes have been identified. Few of these have been characterized or their expression localized to specific tissues. A prime candidate for detailed examination of TPS gene expression is the bisexual eucalypt flower-composed of male and female reproductive organs, and vegetative tissues that may express different TPS genes.

The Role of Wall-Associated Kinases (WAKs) in Cell Expansion and Stress Responses.

The plant cell wall plays a critical role in signaling responses to environmental and developmental cues, acting as both the sensing interface and regulator of plant cell integrity. Wall-associated kinases (WAKs) are plant receptor-like kinases located at the wall-plasma membrane-cytoplasmic interface and implicated in cell wall integrity sensing. WAKs in have been shown to bind pectins in different forms under various conditions, such as oligogalacturonides (OG)s in stress response, and native pectin during cell expansion.

COVID-19 Transmission in US Child Care Programs.

Objectives: Central to the debate over school and child care reopening is whether children are efficient coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmitters and are likely to increase community spread when programs reopen. We compared COVID-19 outcomes in child care providers who continued to provide direct in-person child care during the first 3 months of the US COVID-19 pandemic with outcomes in those who did not.

Methods: Data were obtained from US child care providers ( = 57 335) reporting whether they had ever tested positive or been hospitalized for COVID-19 ( = 427 cases) along with their degree of exposure to child care.

Information frictions and access to the Paycheck Protection Program.

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) extended 669 billion dollars of forgivable loans in an unprecedented effort to support small businesses affected by the COVID-19 crisis. This paper provides evidence that information frictions and the "first-come, first-served" design of the PPP program skewed its resources towards larger firms and may have permanently reduced its effectiveness. Using new daily survey data on small businesses in the U.

Returns to Education: The Causal Effects of Education on Earnings, Health, and Smoking.

This paper estimates returns to education using a dynamic model of educational choice that synthesizes approaches in the structural dynamic discrete choice literature with approaches used in the reduced form treatment effect literature. It is an empirically robust middle ground between the two approaches which estimates economically interpretable and policy-relevant dynamic treatment effects that account for heterogeneity in cognitive and non-cognitive skills and the continuation values of educational choices. Graduating college is not a wise choice for all.

The Nonmarket Benefits of Education and Ability.

This paper analyzes the non-market benefits of education and ability. Using a dynamic model of educational choice we estimate returns to education that account for selection bias and sorting on gains. We investigate a range of non-market outcomes including incarceration, mental health, voter participation, trust, and participation in welfare.

What grades and achievement tests measure.

Intelligence quotient (IQ), grades, and scores on achievement tests are widely used as measures of cognition, but the correlations among them are far from perfect. This paper uses a variety of datasets to show that personality and IQ predict grades and scores on achievement tests. Personality is relatively more important in predicting grades than scores on achievement tests.

Dynamic Treatment Effects.

This paper develops robust models for estimating and interpreting treatment effects arising from both ordered and unordered multistage decision problems. Identification is secured through instrumental variables and/or conditional independence (matching) assumptions. We decompose treatment effects into direct effects and continuation values associated with moving to the next stage of a decision problem.

Design and implementation of a privacy preserving electronic health record linkage tool in Chicago.

Objective: To design and implement a tool that creates a secure, privacy preserving linkage of electronic health record (EHR) data across multiple sites in a large metropolitan area in the United States (Chicago, IL), for use in clinical research.

Methods: The authors developed and distributed a software application that performs standardized data cleaning, preprocessing, and hashing of patient identifiers to remove all protected health information. The application creates seeded hash code combinations of patient identifiers using a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act compliant SHA-512 algorithm that minimizes re-identification risk.

The effect of alcohol on Sirt1 expression and function in animal and human models of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Introduction: Chronic heavy alcohol use is an independent risk factor for developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Sirtuin-1 (Sirt1) is a NAD+-dependent deacetylase implicated in alcohol-induced liver injury and overexpressed in human HCC. The aims of this study were to investigate Sirt1 expression in mouse models of HCC and chronic EtOH-feeding, and in human HCC cells expressing alcohol metabolizing enzymes.

Are designer plant cell walls a realistic aspiration or will the plasticity of the plant's metabolism win out?

Plants have been redesigned by humans since the advent of modern agriculture some 10000 years ago, to provide ever increasing benefits to society. The phenomenal success of the green revolution in converting biomass from vegetative tissues into grain yield has sustained a growing population. At the dawn of the 21st century the need to further optimise plant biomass (largely plant walls) for a sustainable future is increasingly evident as our supply of fossil fuels is finite and the quality of our crop-based foods (functional foods; also determined by the composition of walls) are critical to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Identification of PAN2 by quantitative proteomics as a leucine-rich repeat-receptor-like kinase acting upstream of PAN1 to polarize cell division in maize.

Mechanisms governing the polarization of plant cell division are poorly understood. Previously, we identified pangloss1 (PAN1) as a leucine-rich repeat-receptor-like kinase (LRR-RLK) that promotes the polarization of subsidiary mother cell (SMC) divisions toward the adjacent guard mother cell (GMC) during stomatal development in maize (Zea mays). Here, we identify pangloss2 (PAN2) as a second LRR-RLK promoting SMC polarization.

Taking the Easy Way Out: How the GED Testing Program Induces Students to Drop Out.

The option to obtain a General Education Development (GED) certificate changes the incentives facing high school students. This paper evaluates the effect of three different GED policy innovations on high school graduation rates. A six point decrease in the GED pass rate due to an increase in passing standards produced a 1.

Identification Problems in Personality Psychology.

This paper discusses and illustrates identification problems in personality psychology. The measures used by psychologists to infer traits are based on behaviors, broadly defined. These behaviors are produced from multiple traits interacting with incentives in situations.

ROP GTPases act with the receptor-like protein PAN1 to polarize asymmetric cell division in maize.

Plant Rho family GTPases (ROPs) have been investigated primarily for their functions in polarized cell growth. We previously showed that the maize (Zea mays) Leu-rich repeat receptor-like protein PANGLOSS1 (PAN1) promotes the polarization of asymmetric subsidiary mother cell (SMC) divisions during stomatal development. Here, we show that maize Type I ROPs 2 and 9 function together with PAN1 in this process.