Feeding during hibernation shifts gene expression toward active season levels in brown bears ().

Hibernation in bears involves a suite of metabolical and physiological changes, including the onset of insulin resistance, that are driven in part by sweeping changes in gene expression in multiple tissues. Feeding bears glucose during hibernation partially restores active season physiological phenotypes, including partial resensitization to insulin, but the molecular mechanisms underlying this transition remain poorly understood. Here, we analyze tissue-level gene expression in adipose, liver, and muscle to identify genes that respond to midhibernation glucose feeding and thus potentially drive postfeeding metabolical and physiological shifts.

A multi-tissue gene expression dataset for hibernating brown bears.

Objectives: Complex physiological adaptations often involve the coordination of molecular responses across multiple tissues. Establishing transcriptomic resources for non-traditional model organisms with phenotypes of interest can provide a foundation for understanding the genomic basis of these phenotypes, and the degree to which these resemble, or contrast, those of traditional model organisms. Here, we present a one-of-a-kind gene expression dataset generated from multiple tissues of two hibernating brown bears (Ursus arctos).

Serum plays an important role in reprogramming the seasonal transcriptional profile of brown bear adipocytes.

Understanding how metabolic reprogramming happens in cells will aid the progress in the treatment of a variety of metabolic disorders. Brown bears undergo seasonal shifts in insulin sensitivity, including reversible insulin resistance in hibernation. We performed RNA-sequencing on brown bear adipocytes and proteomics on serum to identify changes possibly responsible for reversible insulin resistance.

Domestic Violence Risk Assessment Research to Real-World Practice: The Devil Is in the Implementation.

Assessing risk in domestic violence situations is foundational to ensuring safety. Although there is growing information about the reliability and validity of a variety of risk assessment tools across different practice contexts, there is a paucity of research on the feasibility and application of these tools in real world settings. The present qualitative study examined current practices in domestic violence risk assessment in Canada through a survey of professionals working across diverse sectors.

Selective deletion of human leukocyte antigens protects stem cell-derived islets from immune rejection.

Stem cell-based replacement therapies hold the promise to restore function of damaged or degenerated tissue such as the pancreatic islets in people with type 1 diabetes. Wide application of these therapies requires overcoming the fundamental roadblock of immune rejection. To address this issue, we use genetic engineering to create human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) in which the majority of the polymorphic human leukocyte antigens (HLAs), the main drivers of allogeneic rejection, are deleted.

Can offsetting the energetic cost of hibernation restore an active season phenotype in grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis)?

Hibernation is characterized by depression of many physiological processes. To determine if this state is reversible in a non-food caching species, we fed hibernating grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) dextrose for 10 days to replace 53% or 100% of the estimated minimum daily energetic cost of hibernation. Feeding caused serum concentrations of glycerol and ketones (β-hydroxybutyrate) to return to active season levels irrespective of the amount of glucose fed.

Challenges in Risk Assessment with Rural Domestic Violence Victims: Implications for Practice.

Through interviews the present study examined the perspectives of service providers ( = 14) in the violence against women (VAW) sector regarding risk factors and challenges in assessing risk for women experiencing domestic violence (DV) in rural locations. The present study also examined what promising practices VAW service providers are utilizing when working with women experiencing DV in rural locations. Interviews were coded and analyzed in a qualitative analysis computer program.

Complexities of the Police Response to Intimate Partner Violence: Police Officers' Perspectives on the Challenges of Keeping Families Safe.

Through interviews with police officers ( = 15), the present study examined police perspectives toward their response to intimate partner violence (IPV). Qualitative analyses indicated several challenges police officers face in responding to IPV, including barriers at the systemic, organizational, and individual levels. Police officers in the current study also identified recommendations toward overcoming barriers.

The Police Role in Domestic Homicide Prevention: Lessons From a Domestic Violence Death Review Committee.

This study examined the role of police in domestic homicide cases reviewed by a multidisciplinary death review committee in Ontario, Canada. Examining the 219 domestic homicide case summaries, this study explored the difference between homicides with, and without, prior police contact. Results indicated that police contacted cases had 63% more risk factors present compared with cases without prior police contact, with 80% of police-involved cases having 10 or more risk factors.

Barriers to police addressing risk to children exposed to domestic violence.

Unlabelled: Children are harmed by exposure to domestic violence (DV) and in extreme cases can become homicide victims themselves. A critical role for police responding to domestic violence calls is to assess risk for future violence. Training and procedural guidelines for assessment and intervention are often focused on adult victims, and children tend to be overlooked.

Diffusion of DNA-Binding Species in the Nucleus: AÂ Transient Anomalous Subdiffusion Model.

Single-particle tracking experiments have measured escape times of DNA-binding species diffusing in living cells: CRISPR-Cas9, TetR, and LacI. The observed distribution is a truncated power law. Working backward from the experimental results, the observed distribution appears inconsistent with a Gaussian distribution of binding energies.

Hibernation induces widespread transcriptional remodeling in metabolic tissues of the grizzly bear.

Revealing the mechanisms underlying the reversible physiology of hibernation could have applications to both human and animal health as hibernation is often associated with disease-like states. The present study uses RNA-sequencing to reveal the tissue and seasonal transcriptional changes occurring in grizzly bears (). Comparing hibernation to other seasons, bear adipose has a greater number of differentially expressed genes than liver and skeletal muscle.

Author Correction: Recapitulating endocrine cell clustering in culture promotes maturation of human stem-cell-derived β cells.

In the version of this article originally published, the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) accession number listed in the data availability section was incorrectly given as GSE10979 instead of GSE109795. The sentence should read "RNA-seq data that support the findings of this study have been deposited in the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) under accession code GSE109795," and the code should link to https://www.ncbi.

Recapitulating endocrine cell clustering in culture promotes maturation of human stem-cell-derived β cells.

Despite advances in the differentiation of insulin-producing cells from human embryonic stem cells, the generation of mature functional β cells in vitro has remained elusive. To accomplish this goal, we have developed cell culture conditions to closely mimic events occurring during pancreatic islet organogenesis and β cell maturation. In particular, we have focused on recapitulating endocrine cell clustering by isolating and reaggregating immature β-like cells to form islet-sized enriched β-clusters (eBCs).

Infectious Canine Hepatitis in a Brown Bear ( Ursus arctos horribilis) from Alaska, USA.

We diagnosed infectious canine hepatitis in a free-ranging brown bear ( Ursus arctos horribilis) cub from Alaska, US, found dead in October 2015. Intranuclear inclusion bodies were present in hepatocytes, and immunohistochemistry showed reactivity to adenoviral antigens. Sequencing of the hexon protein of adenovirus showed 100% identity to canine adenovirus 1.

Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence Victims With Police and the Justice System in Canada.

Legal responses to intimate partner violence (IPV) can determine whether and how those exposed to IPV seek help. Understanding the victim's perspective is essential to developing policy and practice standards, as well as informing professionals working in policing and the justice system. In this survey study, we utilized a subset of 2,831 people who reported experiencing IPV to examine (a) rates of reporting to the police; (b) experiences with, and perceived helpfulness of, police; (c) rates of involvement with the criminal and family law systems, including protection orders; and (d) experiences with, and perceived helpfulness of, the justice system.

Gender Differences in Workplace Disclosure and Supports for Domestic Violence: Results of a Pan-Canadian Survey.

Although domestic violence is increasingly identified as a workplace issue, little is known about workplace supports and the role of gender in workplace disclosure experiences. Using a subset of 2,831 people who experienced domestic violence, we examined (a) who discloses at work and to whom, and reasons for not disclosing; (b) helpfulness of disclosure recipients, including types of supports received; and (c) overall outcomes of disclosing, including negative consequences. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and content analysis.

Wanted: scalable tracers for diffusion measurements.

Scalable tracers are potentially a useful tool to examine diffusion mechanisms and to predict diffusion coefficients, particularly for hindered diffusion in complex, heterogeneous, or crowded systems. Scalable tracers are defined as a series of tracers varying in size but with the same shape, structure, surface chemistry, deformability, and diffusion mechanism. Both chemical homology and constant dynamics are required.

Wanted: a positive control for anomalous subdiffusion.

Anomalous subdiffusion in cells and model systems is an active area of research. The main questions are whether diffusion is anomalous or normal, and if it is anomalous, its mechanism. The subject is controversial, especially the hypothesis that crowding causes anomalous subdiffusion.

Two-dimensional continuum percolation threshold for diffusing particles of nonzero radius.

Lateral diffusion in the plasma membrane is obstructed by proteins bound to the cytoskeleton. The most important parameter describing obstructed diffusion is the percolation threshold. The thresholds are well known for point tracers, but for tracers of nonzero radius, the threshold depends on the excluded area, not just the obstacle concentration.

Modeling 2D and 3D diffusion.

Modeling obstructed diffusion is essential to the understanding of diffusion-mediated processes in the crowded cellular environment. Simple Monte Carlo techniques for modeling obstructed random walks are explained and related to Brownian dynamics and more complicated Monte Carlo methods. Random number generation is reviewed in the context of random walk simulations.

A biological interpretation of transient anomalous subdiffusion. II. Reaction kinetics.

Reaction kinetics in a cell or cell membrane is modeled in terms of the first passage time for a random walker at a random initial position to reach an immobile target site in the presence of a hierarchy of nonreactive binding sites. Monte Carlo calculations are carried out for the triangular, square, and cubic lattices. The mean capture time is expressed as the product of three factors: the analytical expression of Montroll for the capture time in a system with a single target and no binding sites; an exact expression for the mean escape time from the set of lattice points; and a correction factor for the number of targets present.