Platelets are the small anuclear blood cells that are the product of megakaryocytopoiesis, the process of hematopoietic stem cell commitment to megakaryocyte production and the differentiation and ...maturation of these cells for platelet release. Deregulation or disruption of megakaryocytopoiesis can result in platelet deficiencies, the thrombocytopenias, with attendant risk of hemorrhage or thrombocytosis, a pathological excess of platelet numbers. Mouse models, particularly those engineered to carry genetic alterations modeling mutations associated with human disease, have provided important insights into megakaryocytopoiesis and deregulation of this process in disease. This review focuses on mouse models of diseases of altered megakaryocyte and platelet number, illustrating the profound contribution of these models in validating suspected roles of disease-associated genetic alterations, promoting discovery of new links between genetic mutations and specific diseases, and providing unique tools for better understanding of disease pathophysiology and progression, as well as resources to define drug action or develop new therapeutic strategies.
In addition to characteristic fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs), biodiesel produced from Isochrysis sp. contains a significant amount (14%, w/w) of predominantly C37 and C38 long-chain alkenones. ...These compounds are members of a class of lipids known collectively as polyunsaturated long-chain alkenones (PULCAs) that are produced by a range of other prymnesiophyte taxa. The physical properties of alkenones, such as high melting points (∼60 °C), renders the direct product unsuitable for use as a diesel fuel but, nonetheless, represents an important and as yet unexplored renewable carbon feedstock.
Three experiments examined how children's domain knowledge and observation of exemplars interact during concept acquisition and how exposure to novel exemplars causes revision of such knowledge. In ...Experiments 1 (N = 126) and 2 (N = 64), children aged 4 to 10 years were shown exemplars of fictitious animal categories that were either unrelated to, or consistent with, their prior knowledge in 25% or 75% of presented exemplars. In Experiment 3, children (N = 290) saw fictious animal, artifact, or unfamiliar social categories that were either consistent or inconsistent with their prior knowledge in 20%, 40%, 60%, or 80% of exemplars. In the test, children made judgments about the likely co-occurence of features. In all experiments, prior knowledge and exemplar observation independently influenced children's categorization judgments. Utilization of prior knowledge was consistent across age and domain, but 10-year-olds were more sensitive to observed feature covariation. Training with larger categories increased the impact of observed feature covariation and decreased reliance on prior knowledge.
School Nutrition Professionals (SNPs) can influence diet quality and local food systems by developing new recipes served to children participating in Federal school meal programs. This pilot ...project's objective is to enhance culinary skills of food preparers, thereby promoting acceptability of local food products in the state of Louisiana.
In 2021, the Louisiana Department of Education received a Team Nutrition Training Grant to support understanding, developing, and using standardized recipes within school meal programs. Improving the culinary skills of SNPs is critical to implementing newly developed recipes focusing on local foods. Culinary competence in knife and measuring skills will enhance SNPs confidence level resulting in improved job performance and student acceptance of new menu items. Student taste testing is critical to engaging staff in menu development, thereby increasing awareness of Farm to School initiatives.
We recruited 96 SNPs from twenty Louisiana parishes to participate in a one-day culinary training. Participants prepared newly developed recipes as part of the training, each of which included at least one locally grown/produced item. Pre/post-training evaluations about knife skills, measuring skills, food presentation, how closely recipes are followed and questions regarding use of local produce were included. How recipes reflect cultural and regional preferences and the likelihood of students’ willingness to try new recipes were also important.
Participants (39%) indicated Louisiana foods were served in their cafeterias and 92% believed the recipes reflected cultural and regional preferences of students. Approximately 83% of training attendees agreed that it is easy to encourage students to try local products. Pre/post training skill-based evaluations indicated competency in knife and measuring skills increased from 19% to 60% and 30% to 68%, respectively. The likelihood that program participants follow recipe instructions increased slightly. These one-day hands-on culinary trainings are cost-effective, efficient, fun, and will lead to consistent quality and quantity school meals while engaging with students about promoting local foods and acknowledging their nutrient contribution.
2021. This project was funded using U.S. Department of Agriculture grant funds.
Industrial-scale dumping of organic waste to the deep ocean was once common practice, leaving a legacy of chemical pollution for which a paucity of information exists. Using a nested approach with ...autonomous and remotely operated underwater vehicles, a dumpsite offshore California was surveyed and sampled. Discarded waste containers littered the site and structured the suboxic benthic environment. Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) was reportedly dumped in the area, and sediment analysis revealed substantial variability in concentrations of p,p-DDT and its analogs, with a peak concentration of 257 μg g–1, ∼40 times greater than the highest level of surface sediment contamination at the nearby DDT Superfund site. The occurrence of a conspicuous hydrocarbon mixture suggests that multiple petroleum distillates, potentially used in DDT manufacture, contributed to the waste stream. Application of a two end-member mixing model with DDTs and polychlorinated biphenyls enabled source differentiation between shelf discharge versus containerized waste. Ocean dumping was found to be the major source of DDT to more than 3000 km2 of the region’s deep seafloor. These results reveal that ocean dumping of containerized DDT waste was inherently sloppy, with the contents readily breaching containment and leading to regional scale contamination of the deep benthos.
Nanomedicine holds great promise for vascular disease diagnosis and specific therapy, yet rapid sequestration by the mononuclear phagocytic system limits the efficacy of particle-based agents. The ...use of low-fouling polymers, such as poly(ethylene glycol), efficiently reduces this immune recognition, but these nondegradable polymers can accumulate in the human body and may cause adverse effects after prolonged use. Thus, new particle formulations combining stealth, low immunogenicity and biocompatible features are required to enable clinical use. Here, a low-fouling particle platform is described using exclusively protein material. A recombinant protein with superior hydrophilic characteristics provided by the amino acid repeat proline, alanine, and serine (PAS) is designed and cross-linked into particles with lysine (K) and polyglutamic acid (E) using mesoporous silica templating. The obtained PASKE particles have low-fouling behavior, have a prolonged circulation time compared to albumin-based particles, and are rapidly degraded in the cell’s lysosomal compartment. When labeled with near-infrared fluorescent molecules and functionalized with an anti-glycoprotein IIb/IIIa single-chain antibody targeting activated platelets, the particles show potential as a noninvasive molecular imaging tool in a mouse model of carotid artery thrombosis. The PASKE particles constitute a promising biodegradable and versatile platform for molecular imaging of vascular diseases.
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