Tungsten Strongly Inhibits Sintering of Porous Iron During High-Temperature Redox Cycling.

Freeze-cast Fe-25 W (at%) lamellar foams show excellent resistance to degradation at 800 °C during steam-hydrogen redox cycling between the metallic and oxide states, with fast reaction kinetics maintained up to at least 100 redox cycles with full Fe utilization. This very high stability stems from the sintering inhibition of W combined with the freeze-cast architecture and the chemical vapor transport (CVT) mechanism of reduction. These three factors create a hierarchical porosity in the foam, consisting of i) macroscopic elongated channels, ii) micro-scale sintering inhibition pores, and iii) submicron CVT pores.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding COVID-19 among university students and employees in Massachusetts, USA: A qualitative study.

Objective: To explore the knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding COVID-19 in university affiliates to inform future COVID-19 policies and practices.

Participants: Undergraduate students, graduate students and university employees at a large public university.

Methods: Semi-structured focus groups and interviews were conducted between December 2020 and January 2021.

Attenuation of reverse transcriptase facilitates SAMHD1 restriction of HIV-1 in cycling cells.

Background: SAMHD1 is a deoxynucleotide triphosphohydrolase that restricts replication of HIV-1 in differentiated leucocytes. HIV-1 is not restricted in cycling cells and it has been proposed that this is due to phosphorylation of SAMHD1 at T592 in these cells inactivating the enzymatic activity. To distinguish between theories for how SAMHD1 restricts HIV-1 in differentiated but not cycling cells, we analysed the effects of substitutions at T592 on restriction and dNTP levels in both cycling and differentiated cells as well as tetramer stability and enzymatic activity in vitro.

Considerations for Meeting Students' Mental Health Needs at a U.S. University During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study.

Objective: To better understand the potential ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on U.S. university students' mental health and to generate hypotheses as to how universities may best meet students' mental health needs.

Academic mothers with disabilities: Navigating academia and parenthood during COVID-19.

Academic mothers (including nonbinary, trans, and genderqueer parents) have always faced challenges in their profession due to systemic barriers and a "motherhood tax"; however, COVID-19 has exacerbated already existing inequalities (Oleschuk, 2020). This study examines how the pandemic has affected academic mothers with mental health and physical disabilities, as these voices often remain hidden and unheard in academia despite increased awareness of their presence (Brown & Leigh, 2018; Kelly & Senior, 2020). Here, we share the voices of 23 participants using a qualitative methodology drawing from social justice and feminist theories to highlight the lived experience of academic mothers with mental and/or physical disabilities and their experiences as a scholar and parent during COVID-19.

Using mobile technology in assessment of entrustable professional activities in undergraduate medical education.

Background: The adoption of competency-based medical education requires objective assessments of a learner's capability to carry out clinical tasks within workplace-based learning settings. This study involved an evaluation of the use of mobile technology to record entrustable professional activity assessments in an undergraduate clerkship curriculum.

Approach: A paper-based form was adapted to a mobile platform called eClinic Card.

Leadership Development for Future Medical School Deans: Outcomes of the AAMC Council of Deans Fellowship Program.

Purpose: To determine the outcomes of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Council of Deans (COD) Fellowship Program with respect to participants' achieving the goals of becoming a medical school dean and developing leadership skills, and to ascertain fellows' views about the program's value, beneficial aspects, and areas for improvement.

Method: The 37 COD fellows from 2002 to 2016 were invited to participate in a 2017 survey addressing demographics, training, current leadership position, and value of the program. The survey also included 3 open-ended questions.

Phospho-dependent Regulation of SAMHD1 Oligomerisation Couples Catalysis and Restriction.

SAMHD1 restricts HIV-1 infection of myeloid-lineage and resting CD4+ T-cells. Most likely this occurs through deoxynucleoside triphosphate triphosphohydrolase activity that reduces cellular dNTP to a level where reverse transcriptase cannot function, although alternative mechanisms have been proposed recently. Here, we present combined structural and virological data demonstrating that in addition to allosteric activation and triphosphohydrolase activity, restriction correlates with the capacity of SAMHD1 to form "long-lived" enzymatically competent tetramers.

Synergic interplay of the La motif, RRM1 and the interdomain linker of LARP6 in the recognition of collagen mRNA expands the RNA binding repertoire of the La module.

The La-related proteins (LARPs) form a diverse group of RNA-binding proteins characterized by the possession of a composite RNA binding unit, the La module. The La module comprises two domains, the La motif (LaM) and the RRM1, which together recognize and bind to a wide array of RNA substrates. Structural information regarding the La module is at present restricted to the prototypic La protein, which acts as an RNA chaperone binding to 3' UUUOH sequences of nascent RNA polymerase III transcripts.

FAN1 activity on asymmetric repair intermediates is mediated by an atypical monomeric virus-type replication-repair nuclease domain.

FAN1 is a structure-selective DNA repair nuclease with 5' flap endonuclease activity, involved in the repair of interstrand DNA crosslinks. It is the only eukaryotic protein with a virus-type replication-repair nuclease ("VRR-Nuc") "module" that commonly occurs as a standalone domain in many bacteria and viruses. Crystal structures of three representatives show that they structurally resemble Holliday junction resolvases (HJRs), are dimeric in solution, and are able to cleave symmetric four-way junctions.

Malformation syndromes associated with disorders of sex development.

When embryological development of the internal and/or external genitalia is disrupted, the patient presents with a disorder of sex development (DSD) in the neonatal period or sometime later in life. Some of these patients have other, nongenital malformations, which makes their overall management more complex than if they just had a DSD. This Review summarises these malformation syndromes and discusses the recent research into their aetiology.

Fetal progenitor cell transplantation treats methylmalonic aciduria in a mouse model.

Methylmalonic aciduria is a rare disorder caused by an inborn error of organic acid metabolism. Current treatment options are limited and generally focus on disease management. We aimed to investigate the use of fetal progenitor cells to treat this disorder using a mouse model with an intermediate form of methylmalonic aciduria.

'A matter of so great importance to my health': Alimentary knowledge in practice.

The early modern period persists in being the neglected era for concerted study of what the editors have called 'alimentary knowledge' and its applications. Using the details of a regimen penned by a Sussex school teacher in the middle of the eighteenth century, this short afterword considers how far some of the features of that alimentary knowledge-scape, as debated by the contributors to this volume, penetrated into quotidian practice. The possibilities for other forms of research, which might enrich our mapping of these foodways and their impacts, are briefly discussed in conclusion.

Analysis of the interaction with the hepatitis C virus mRNA reveals an alternative mode of RNA recognition by the human La protein.

Human La protein is an essential factor in the biology of both coding and non-coding RNAs. In the nucleus, La binds primarily to 3' oligoU containing RNAs, while in the cytoplasm La interacts with an array of different mRNAs lacking a 3' UUU(OH) trailer. An example of the latter is the binding of La to the IRES domain IV of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA, which is associated with viral translation stimulation.

Structural and functional analysis of phosphothreonine-dependent FHA domain interactions.

FHA domains are well established as phospho-dependent binding modules mediating signal transduction in Ser/Thr kinase signaling networks in both eukaryotic and prokaryotic species. Although they are unique in binding exclusively to phosphothreonine, the basis for this discrimination over phosphoserine has remained elusive. Here, we attempt to dissect overall binding specificity at the molecular level.

Simple fluidic system for purifying and concentrating diagnostic biomarkers using stimuli-responsive antibody conjugates and membranes.

We report a simple fluidic system that can purify and concentrate diagnostic biomarkers through the capture and triggered release of stimuli-responsive polymer-antibody conjugates at porous membranes that are grafted with the same stimuli-responsive polymer. This technique is applied here to the capture and detection of a model streptavidin antigen and subsequently to clinical ranges of the malaria antigen Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich protein 2 (PfHRP2) from spiked human plasma. The carboxyl end-groups of semi-telechelic poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAAm) synthesized by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization were modified with tetrafluorophenol to yield amine-reactive ester groups for conjugation to amine groups of anti-streptavidin and anti-PfHRP2 antibodies.

RNA pseudoknots and the regulation of protein synthesis.

RNA pseudoknots are structural elements found in almost all classes of RNA. Pseudoknots form when a single-stranded region in the loop of a hairpin base-pairs with a stretch of complementary nucleotides elsewhere in the RNA chain. This simple folding strategy is capable of generating a large number of stable three-dimensional folds that display a diverse range of highly specific functions in a variety of biological processes.

Felicitometry: measuring the 'quality' in quality of life.

Following Bernheim,(1) we examine aspects of 'felicitometrics,'(2) the measurement of the 'quality' term in Quality of Life (QOL). Bernheim argued that overall QOL is best captured as the Gestalt(3) of a global self-assessment and suggested that the Anamnestic Comparative Self Assessment (ACSA) approach, in which subjects' memories of the best and worst times of their lives are used to anchor a Visual Analog Scale (VAS), provided a serious answer to the serious question, 'How have you been?' Bernheim compares and contrasts the ACSA to multi-item questionnaire QOL instruments, such as the SF-36, concluding that the ACSA has a number of advantages. His discussion assumes that the use of QOL outcomes in clinical trials is both relevant and appropriate.

The stimulatory RNA of the Visna-Maedi retrovirus ribosomal frameshifting signal is an unusual pseudoknot with an interstem element.

The stimulatory RNA of the Visna-Maedi virus (VMV) -1 ribosomal frameshifting signal has not previously been characterized but can be modeled either as a two-stem helix, reminiscent of the HIV-1 frameshift-stimulatory RNA, or as an RNA pseudoknot. The pseudoknot is unusual in that it would include a 7 nucleotide loop (termed here an interstem element [ISE]) between the two stems. In almost all frameshift-promoting pseudoknots, ISEs are absent or comprise a single adenosine residue.

Ocean sequestration of carbon dioxide: modeling the deep ocean release of a dense emulsion of liquid Co2-in-water stabilized by pulverized limestone particles.

The release into the deep ocean of an emulsion of liquid carbon dioxide-in-seawater stabilized by fine particles of pulverized limestone (CaCO3) is modeled. The emulsion is denser than seawater, hence, it will sink deeper from the injection point, increasing the sequestration period. Also, the presence of CaCO3 will partially buffer the carbonic acid that results when the emulsion eventually disintegrates.

Viral RNA pseudoknots: versatile motifs in gene expression and replication.

RNA pseudoknots are structural elements found in almost all classes of RNA. First recognized in the genomes of plant viruses, they are now established as a widespread motif with diverse functions in various biological processes. This Review focuses on viral pseudoknots and their role in virus gene expression and genome replication.

Structure of a Mycobacterium tuberculosis NusA-RNA complex.

NusA is a key regulator of bacterial transcriptional elongation, pausing, termination and antitermination, yet relatively little is known about the molecular basis of its activity in these fundamental processes. In Mycobacterium tuberculosis, NusA has been shown to bind with high affinity and specificity to BoxB-BoxA-BoxC antitermination sequences within the leader region of the single ribosomal RNA (rRNA) operon. We have determined high-resolution X-ray structures of a complex of NusA with two short oligo-ribonucleotides derived from the BoxC stem-loop motif and have characterised the interaction of NusA with a variety of RNAs derived from the antitermination region.

The development and implementation of the National Comorbidity Survey Replication, the National Survey of American Life, and the National Latino and Asian American Survey.

This paper provides an overview of the development and implementation of the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (CPES): the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R), the National Survey of American Life (NSAL), and the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS). It describes the instrument development and testing phases, the development of training and other project materials, interviewer recruitment and training activities, and data collection procedures and outcomes. The last section offers recommendations for other researchers who undertake similar studies and who might benefit from the experiences learned in the development and operation of NCS-R, NSAL and NLAAS.

A high-affinity interaction between NusA and the rrn nut site in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

The bacterial NusA protein enhances transcriptional pausing and termination and is known to play an essential role in antitermination. Antitermination is signaled by a nut-like cis-acting RNA sequence comprising boxB, boxA, and boxC. In the present study, we demonstrate a direct, specific high-affinity interaction between the rrn leader nut-like sites and the NusA proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Escherichia coli.