Exploring the Associations of Afterschool Science Participation and Friendships with Science Identities.

Building on previous research that demonstrates the association of youth experiences in afterschool science and higher science identities, this paper presents a network study of 421 middle school students that examines afterschool science participation, friendship ties, and science identities. Participation in afterschool science clubs is associated with higher science identity, but the mechanisms and order of causality are unclear. Youth form friendships inside and outside of school, and peers may influence participation in afterschool activities, as empirical research on friendships shows that they are associated with youth interests.

Rational Design and Screening of Synthetic Promoters in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Synthetic promoters are powerful tools to boost the biotechnological potential of microalgae as eco-sustainable industrial hosts. The increasing availability of transcriptome data on microalgae in a variety of environmental conditions allows to identify cis-regulatory elements (CREs) that are responsible for the transcriptional output. Furthermore, advanced cloning technologies, such as golden gate-based MoClo toolkits, enable the creation of modular constructs for testing multiple promoters and a range of reporter systems in a convenient manner.

LFQRatio: A Normalization Method to Decipher Quantitative Proteome Changes in Microbial Coculture Systems.

The value of synthetic microbial communities in biotechnology is gaining traction due to their ability to undertake more complex metabolic tasks than monocultures. However, a thorough understanding of strain interactions, productivity, and stability is often required to optimize growth and scale up cultivation. Quantitative proteomics can provide valuable insights into how microbial strains adapt to changing conditions in biomanufacturing.

Self-Perceived Infertility is Not Always Associated with Having Fewer Children: Evidence from German Panel Data.

Proximate determinants theory considers infertility rates a risk factor for lower fertility rates, but the assumption that people who perceive infertility will have fewer children has not been tested. This study investigates the association of self-perceived infertility with the number of children people have had after 11 years. Infertility implies reduced chances of conception (rather than sterility), but people do not always consistently perceive infertility over time.

Proteomic characterization of a lutein-hyperaccumulating Chlamydomonas reinhardtii mutant reveals photoprotection-related factors as targets for increasing cellular carotenoid content.

Background: Microalgae are emerging hosts for the sustainable production of lutein, a high-value carotenoid; however, to be commercially competitive with existing systems, their capacity for lutein sequestration must be augmented. Previous attempts to boost microalgal lutein production have focussed on upregulating carotenoid biosynthetic enzymes, in part due to a lack of metabolic engineering targets for expanding lutein storage.

Results: Here, we isolated a lutein hyper-producing mutant of the model green microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and characterized the metabolic mechanisms driving its enhanced lutein accumulation using label-free quantitative proteomics.

Linked Th17 and Calgranulin Responses in Maternal-cord Blood Dyads of Preterm Gestations with Histologic Chorioamnionitis.

Introduction: Maternal-fetal immune crosstalk mechanisms are increasingly identified in the pathogenesis of gestational disorders, including histologic chorioamnionitis (HCA). Although an inflammatory Th17 immune phenotype has been described in preterm neonates with HCA, the associated maternal Th17 response is relatively unknown. To refine our understanding of Th17 biology in this context, we examined Th17 responses in maternal-cord blood dyads of preterm gestations.

Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction for the estimation of toxigenic microalgae abundance in shellfish production waters.

Certain species of marine microalgae produce potent biotoxins that pose a risk to human health if contaminated seafood is consumed, particularly filter feeding bivalve shellfish. In regions where this is likely to occur water and seafood produce are regularly monitored for the presence of harmful algal cells and their associated toxins, but the current approach is flawed by a lengthy delay before results are available to local authorities. Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) can be used to measure phytoplankton DNA sequences in a shorter timeframe, however it is not currently used in official testing practices.

Decline Is Not Inevitable: Changes in Science Identity during the Progression through a U.S. Middle School among Boys and Girls.

In the United States, science capital is important for navigating many aspects of life. Yet during middle school, science interest declines more for girls than boys. It is unclear, however, whether science identity also declines during the middle school years and if there are differences by gender.

Project Tooth Fairy: a pan-London initiative from conception to delivery to patient-reported experience measures.

Pressure on paediatric dental general anaesthetic (GA) waiting lists has recently been at its highest, further compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. Project Tooth Fairy (PTF), a pan-London collaborative project, was conceived in response to this backlog. A dedicated day case GA suite was established within The Royal London Dental Hospital (Barts Health NHS Trust) for use by multiple trusts to enhance elective recovery.

Challenges and advances towards the rational design of microalgal synthetic promoters in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Microalgae hold enormous potential to provide a safe and sustainable source of high-value compounds, acting as carbon-fixing biofactories that could help to mitigate rapidly progressing climate change. Bioengineering microalgal strains will be key to optimizing and modifying their metabolic outputs, and to render them competitive with established industrial biotechnology hosts, such as bacteria or yeast. To achieve this, precise and tuneable control over transgene expression will be essential, which would require the development and rational design of synthetic promoters as a key strategy.

Quantitative analysis of diplopia following orbital fracture repair.

Orbital fractures can result in devastating functional complications to sight and well-being, yet our understanding of functional sequelae post reconstruction is not well understood in the literature. This research retrospectively analysed the activity of a specialist orbital surgeon over five years to evaluate the incidence of, and risk factors for, debilitating complications such as diplopia and restriction of extraocular movement. Orbital fracture cases repaired between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2019 were retrospectively analysed.

Accuracy of COVID-19 relevant knowledge among youth: Number of information sources matters.

Can comics effectively convey scientific knowledge about COVID-19 to youth? What types and how many sources of information did youth have about COVID-19 during the pandemic? How are sources of information associated with accurate COVID-19 knowledge? To answer these questions, we surveyed youth in grades 5-9 in a Midwestern United States school district in the winter of 2020-2021. The online survey used measures of COVID-19 knowledge and sources, with an embedded experiment on COVID-19 relevant comics. Guided by an integrated science capital and just-in-time health and science information acquisition model, we also measured level of science capital, science identity, and utility of science for health and society.

Replicating or franchising a STEM afterschool program model: core elements of programmatic integrity.

Background: Designed in 2012 with a first implementation in 2013, NE STEM 4U is a professional development program for post-secondary students/undergraduates, and serves as a source of outreach, content knowledge generation, and STEM literacy for youth in grades kindergarten through 8th grade (ages 5-14). The model empowers post-secondary students as facilitators of inquiry-based learning within the context of an out-of-school time program. This study investigated the potential for replicating or 'franchising' this model by evaluating on the following: (1) Is the model replicable? And, if so, (2) what core elements are necessary for program fidelity? And (3) is there a dependency on a particular setting/participant type (e.

Novel cis-regulatory elements as synthetic promoters to drive recombinant protein expression from the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii nuclear genome.

Eukaryotic green microalgae represent a sustainable, photosynthetic biotechnology platform for generating high-value products. The model green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii has already been used to generate high value bioproducts such as recombinant proteins and terpenoids. However, low, unstable, and variable nuclear transgene expression has limited the ease and speed of metabolic engineering and recombinant protein expression in this system.

Is perceived inability to procreate associated with life satisfaction? Evidence from a German panel study.

Most studies of the psychosocial consequences of infertility have focused on those who seek medical treatment, leaving a research gap regarding the psychosocial consequences of perceived inability to procreate in the general population. Moreover, most studies are cross-sectional and the results are thus likely affected by omitted variable bias. Inspired by aspects of the Theory of Conjunctural Action this study analysed 10 waves of data from the German Family Panel (pairfam) for women and men using fixed effects panel regression and including time-varying control variables suggested by theory and research.

Developing Pandemic Comics for Youth Audiences.

In spring 2020 our team received funding from the Rapid Response Research program of the National Science Foundation to develop comics that would help youth understand the COVID-19 pandemic. Our project built on a decade of expertise creating comics about the biology of viruses. In collaboration with virologists and artists, we developed three comic stories about COVID-19 during the pandemic and posted them on-line during the last half of 2020.

Associations of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Depressive Symptoms Over Time: Are There Differences by Education, Race/Ethnicity, and Gender?

Objective: To examine associations between changes in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) symptoms and depressive symptoms adjusted for other time-varying characteristics, and to test if these associations differed by education, race/ethnicity, or gender.

Methods: Data from the 1988-1998 US National Rheumatoid Arthritis Study were analyzed (n = 854). Time-varying covariates included year of the study, pain, functional ability, household work disability, parental status, marital status, employment status, and social support.

Medically Defined Infertility Versus Self-Perceived Fertility Problem: Implications of Survey Wording for Assessing Associations with Depressive Symptoms.

To examine how measures of infertility based on medical criteria and based on self-perception relate to depressive symptoms among women with infertility. Survey-based studies of depressive symptoms have used either measures of self-reported infertility based on meeting medical criteria or measures of self-perceived fertility problems, but seldom both. It is, therefore, not known which type of measure is more closely associated with depressive symptoms.

Is a dyadic stressor experienced as equally distressing by both partners? The case of perceived fertility problems.

Using data from a population survey, this article explores whether perceptions of having a fertility problem among 926 U.S. couples in heterosexual relationships (women aged 25-45 and male partners) are associated with distress.

Recombinase polymerase amplification for fast, selective, DNA-based detection of faecal indicator Escherichia coli.

The bacterium Escherichia coli is commonly associated with the presence of faecal contamination in environmental samples, and is therefore subject to statutory surveillance. This is normally done using a culture-based methodology, which can be slow and laborious. Nucleic acid amplification for the detection of E.