Constitutive expression of a pea apyrase, psNTP9, increases seed yield in field-grown soybean.

To address the demand for food by a rapidly growing human population, agricultural scientists have carried out both plant breeding and genetic engineering research. Previously, we reported that the constitutive expression of a pea apyrase (Nucleoside triphosphate, diphosphohydrolase) gene, psNTP9, under the control of the CaMV35S promoter, resulted in soybean plants with an expanded root system architecture, enhanced drought resistance and increased seed yield when they are grown in greenhouses under controlled conditions. Here, we report that psNTP9-expressing soybean lines also show significantly enhanced seed yields when grown in multiple different field conditions at multiple field sites, including when the gene is introgressed into elite germplasm.

Three Mental Health Symptoms of Frontline Medical Staff Associated With Occupational Stressors During the COVID-19 Peak Outbreak in China: The Mediation of Perceived Stress and the Moderation of Social Support.

The outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic has increased work demands for medical staff and has a certain impact on their mental health. The present study aimed to examine the role of perceived stress and social support in explaining the association between the occupational stressors and three mental health symptoms (i.e.

Pheochromocytoma: An Incidental Finding in an Asymptomatic Older Adult With Renal Oncocytoma.

A high index of suspicion for pheochromocytoma is necessary during the workup of secondary hypertension as untreated pheochromocytoma may lead to significant morbidity and mortality, especially in patients who require any surgical treatment.

Zebrafish, , Skin Mucus Harbors a Distinct Bacterial Community Dominated by Actinobacteria.

The skin mucus of teleost fish harbors a complex microbial community that is continually interacting with the aquatic environment. Despite zebrafish, , serving as a model organism in a myriad of research fields, very little is known about the composition and role of the skin mucus microbiome. The purpose of this study was to determine a simple sampling method for the skin mucus microbiome, identify prominent bacterial members, and compare its composition to the microbial community of the surrounding environment.

Teaching "Crafty Microbiology": Safely Teaching Hands-On Microbiology Skills at Home.

Using nontoxic craft items and disposable lab consumables, we have developed nine modules to teach fundamental, hands-on microbiology lab skills safely at home. These "Crafty" teaching modules can be paired with virtual instruction and/or data collected by an instructor to replicate traditional microbiology lab exercises that characterize an unknown microbe. Materials and procedures used were carefully chosen to best mimic the texture of media, represent microbial diversity, assess aseptic technique, and produce analyzable data from results.

Parental male and female convict cichlids assess and respond to threats differently depending on intruder species.

In this field experiment, we presented pairs of monogamous convict cichlids with different intruders (conspecific and either cichlid or non-cichlid heterospecific) and observed the aggressive behavior of the pair to determine if pairs adjust aggression based upon species of intruder. We predicted that pairs would be more aggressive to conspecifics as these intruders represent multiple threats. The overall pair aggression was significantly higher to the conspecific intruder than to either heterospecific intruder.

A probabilistic approach for quantifying children's subitizing span.

The development of enumeration skills over childhood is thought to reflect improvements in both subitizing (for small sets) and serial counting (for larger sets). However, investigations into the contribution of subitizing to advancing mathematics ability are limited by challenges in measuring subitizing capacity across developmental populations. Subitizing capacity in adults is traditionally assessed by calculating the bilinear inflection point for reaction times or accuracy across set sizes, but in children greater variability and dramatic improvements in counting ability introduce problems with this approach.

Is Patient-Physician Gender Concordance Related to the Quality of Patient Care Experiences?

Background: There is great interest in identifying factors that are related to positive patient experiences such as physician communication style. Documented gender-specific physician communication and patient behavior differences raise the question of whether gender concordant relationships (i.e.

Occupational Stress and Mental Health: A Comparison Between Frontline Medical Staff and Non-frontline Medical Staff During the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease Outbreak.

During an epidemic, both frontline and non-frontline medical staff endure stressful work circumstances that render their mental health a major public health concern. This study aims at investigating and comparing the prevalence and severity of mental health symptoms (i.e.

Clearing the cobwebs: An analysis of the timing of youth concussion legislation in U.S. states.

After decades of ignoring head injury in youth sports, U.S. states passed youth concussion legislation with stipulations about when athletes can return to play.

Freed from insurance: Health care sharing ministries and the moralization of health care.

Since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed in 2010, health care freedom has become a kind of mega-narrative trumpeted by Republicans leaders who decry government overreach. I turn to faith-based, non-profit organizations called "health care sharing ministries"(HCSMs) to consider the work that this mega-narrative does in everyday health care lives. While HCSMs are not insurance, HCSMs share in the payment of medical bills and are written into the ACA as one religious exemption to the individual mandate.

Evidence of avian influenza virus in seabirds breeding on a Norwegian high-Arctic archipelago.

Background: Wild aquatic birds serve as the natural reservoir for avian influenza virus (AIV), a disease with significant implications for avian and mammalian health. Climate change is predicted to impact the dynamics of AIV, particularly in areas such as the Arctic, but the baseline data needed to detect these shifts is often unavailable. In this study, plasma from two species of gulls breeding on the high-Arctic Svalbard archipelago were screened for antibodies to AIV.

No evidence of avian influenza antibodies in two species of raptor nestlings inhabiting Norway.

Background: Since 2016, incursions of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) H5N8 clade 2.3.4.

Flagellar regulation mediated by the Rcs pathway is required for virulence in the fish pathogen Yersinia ruckeri.

The flagellum is a complex surface structure necessary for a number of activities including motility, chemotaxis, biofilm formation and host attachment. Flagellin, the primary structural protein making up the flagellum, is an abundant and potent activator of innate and adaptive immunity and therefore expression of flagellin during infection could be deleterious to the infection process due to flagellin-mediated host recognition. Here, we use quantitative RT-PCR to demonstrate that expression of the flagellin locus fliC is repressed during the course of infection and subsequently up-regulated upon host mortality in a motile strain of Yersinia ruckeri.

Spaced radiology: encouraging durable memory using spaced testing in pediatric radiology.

Applied memory research in the field of cognitive and educational psychology has generated a large body of data to support the use of spacing and testing to promote long-term or durable memory. Despite the consensus of this scientific community, most learners, including radiology residents, do not utilize these tools for learning new information. We present a discussion of these parallel and synergistic learning techniques and their incorporation into a software platform, called Spaced Radiology, which we created for teaching radiology residents.

Thrifting for More: Savings and Aspirations in Health Care Sharing Ministries after the Affordable Care Act.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 includes health care sharing ministries (HCSMs) on the list of religious exemptions to the individual mandate. HCSMs are non-profit, faith-based organizations that share in the cost of medical bills but are not actually insurance. Precisely because HCSMs are not beholden to any of the ACA's insurance reforms, they have the advantage of costing less.

Some Effects of Supplemental Pilates Training on the Posture, Strength, and Flexibility of Dancers 17 to 22 Years of Age.

Proper alignment in dancers is a pre-requisite for achieving aesthetic line and form and for efficient execution of movement. Pelvic alignment is a common deficit in dancers that results in faulty technique and impaired performance. Dancers must be able to obtain their personal neutral alignment to avoid injury and achieve ease of execution.

Ectopic expression of a pea apyrase enhances root system architecture and drought survival in Arabidopsis and soybean.

Ectoapyrases (ecto-NTPDases) function to decrease levels of extracellular ATP and ADP in animals and plants. Prior studies showed that ectopic expression of a pea ectoapyrase, psNTP9, enhanced growth in Arabidopsis seedlings and that the overexpression of the two Arabidopsis apyrases most closely related to psNTP9 enhanced auxin transport and growth in Arabidopsis. These results predicted that ectopic expression of psNTP9 could promote a more extensive root system architecture (RSA) in Arabidopsis.

Structure-activity relationships among DNA ligase inhibitors: Characterization of a selective uncompetitive DNA ligase I inhibitor.

In human cells, there are three genes that encode DNA ligase polypeptides with distinct but overlapping functions. Previously small molecule inhibitors of human DNA ligases were identified using a structure-based approach. Three of these inhibitors, L82, a DNA ligase I (LigI)-selective inhibitor, and L67, an inhibitor of LigI and DNA ligases III (LigIII), and L189, an inhibitor of all three human DNA ligases, have related structures that are composed of two 6-member aromatic rings separated by different linkers.

What Would I Know About Mercy? Faith and Optimistic Expectancies Among African Americans.

A small body of research has begun to explore the association between faith and optimism among African Americans. However, missing from the extant work is an examination of the extent to which traditional indices of religious commitment work together with beliefs about God to shape optimism. The present study examines the utility of indices of social location, religious commitment (i.

Esophageal Adenocarcinoma-Derived Extracellular Vesicle MicroRNAs Induce a Neoplastic Phenotype in Gastric Organoids.

There have been no reports describing the effects of cancer cell-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) on three-dimensional organoids. In this study, we delineated the proneoplastic effects of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC)-derived EVs on gastric organoids (gastroids) and elucidated molecular mechanisms underlying these effects. EVs were identified using PKH-67 staining.

Patterning Superconductivity in a Topological Insulator.

Topologically protected states in combination with superconductivity hold great promise for quantum computing applications, but the progress on electrical transport measurements in such systems has been impeded by the difficulty of fabricating devices with reliable electrical contacts. We find that superconductivity can be patterned directly into BiSe nanostructures by local doping with palladium. Superconducting regions are defined by depositing palladium on top of the nanostructures using electron beam lithography followed by in situ annealing.