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"King, Robert"
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Turning microplastics into nanoplastics through digestive fragmentation by Antarctic krill
Microplastics (plastics <5 mm diameter) are at the forefront of current environmental pollution research, however, little is known about the degradation of microplastics through ingestion. Here, by exposing Antarctic krill (
Euphausia superba
) to microplastics under acute static renewal conditions, we present evidence of physical size alteration of microplastics ingested by a planktonic crustacean. Ingested microplastics (31.5 µm) are fragmented into pieces less than 1 µm in diameter. Previous feeding studies have shown spherical microplastics either; pass unaffected through an organism and are excreted, or are sufficiently small for translocation to occur. We identify a new pathway; microplastics are fragmented into sizes small enough to cross physical barriers, or are egested as a mixture of triturated particles. These findings suggest that current laboratory-based feeding studies may be oversimplifying interactions between zooplankton and microplastics but also introduces a new role of Antarctic krill, and potentially other species, in the biogeochemical cycling and fate of plastic.
Microplastics are emerging ocean contaminants, but their fates in the ocean environment are poorly understood. Here the authors show that Antarctic krill digest micro plastics into nano plastics, thereby generating particles of a size that can cross biological and physical barriers.
Journal Article
Suppression of mutant C9orf72 expression by a potent mixed backbone antisense oligonucleotide
Expansions of a G
4
C
2
repeat in the
C9ORF72
gene are the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), two devastating adult-onset neurodegenerative disorders. Using C9-ALS/FTD patient-derived cells and
C9ORF72
BAC transgenic mice, we generated and optimized antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) that selectively blunt expression of G
4
C
2
repeat-containing transcripts and effectively suppress tissue levels of poly(GP) dipeptides. ASOs with reduced phosphorothioate content showed improved tolerability without sacrificing efficacy. In a single patient harboring mutant
C9ORF72
with the G
4
C
2
repeat expansion, repeated dosing by intrathecal delivery of the optimal ASO was well tolerated, leading to significant reductions in levels of cerebrospinal fluid poly(GP). This report provides insight into the effect of nucleic acid chemistry on toxicity and, to our knowledge, for the first time demonstrates the feasibility of clinical suppression of the
C9ORF72
gene. Additional clinical trials will be required to demonstrate safety and efficacy of this therapy in patients with
C9ORF72
gene mutations.
An antisense oligonucleotide targets mutant transcripts of the ALS gene C9orf72, suppressing the poly(GP) dipeptide in tissues in mice and in the spinal fluid of a single patient harboring the C9orf72 gene mutation
Journal Article
Science fiction for survival : an archive for Mars
Are you ready to travel to the outer limits of your imagination? This collection of science fiction writing and visuals, originally curated by York St John University's 'Terra Two' online magazine, is ready to blast off on a mind-expanding journey through space, time and consciousness, asking key questions along the way about our society, spirituality and sustainability. Through essays, drawings, poetry and fiction - including six new short stories exclusive to this anthology - an intrepid band of author adventurers have taken a giant leap into the unknown, to provide a survival guide for those of us curious enough to follow in their pioneering footsteps.
Book
Steady Source Gravity Wave Parameterizations and the Observed Momentum Flux Intermittency
Observational estimates of gravity wave momentum fluxes obtained from analyses of super‐pressure balloon tracks show an approximate log normal distribution in space and time. One study has suggested that a non‐orographic gravity wave parameterization with a steady source could reproduce this distribution through variability in the background wind, which “dynamically filters” the source spectrum. We use an implementation of a simple steady source gravity wave parameterization to show that this observed distribution is not reproduced, the most prominent departure from it being a large negative skew. We perform a crude tuning of the scheme's parameters to show that the discrepancy in the distribution cannot be corrected. We observe that at higher levels, parameterized fluxes are still skewed but less so. We suggest that dynamical filtering alone cannot introduce enough variability to obtain fluxes that are log normally distributed.
Journal Article
Wheat receptor-kinase-like protein Stb6 controls gene-for-gene resistance to fungal pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici
Deployment of fast-evolving disease-resistance genes is one of the most successful strategies used by plants to fend off pathogens
1
,
2
. In gene-for-gene relationships, most cloned disease-resistance genes encode intracellular nucleotide-binding leucine-rich-repeat proteins (NLRs) recognizing pathogen-secreted isolate-specific avirulence (Avr) effectors delivered to the host cytoplasm
3
,
4
. This process often triggers a localized hypersensitive response, which halts further disease development
5
. Here we report the map-based cloning of the wheat
Stb6
gene and demonstrate that it encodes a conserved wall-associated receptor kinase (WAK)-like protein, which detects the presence of a matching apoplastic effector
6
–
8
and confers pathogen resistance without a hypersensitive response
9
. This report demonstrates gene-for-gene disease resistance controlled by this class of proteins in plants. Moreover,
Stb6
is, to our knowledge, the first cloned gene specifying resistance to
Zymoseptoria tritici
, an important foliar fungal pathogen affecting wheat and causing economically damaging septoria tritici blotch (STB) disease
10
–
12
.
The authors report map-based cloning of the wheat
Stb6
gene, which encodes a conserved wall-associated receptor kinase (WAK)-like protein. Stb6 confers gene-for-gene disease resistance to fungal pathogen
Zymoseptoria tritici
by recognition of a matching pathogen effector.
Journal Article
The Spontaneous Transcendental Out-of-Body Experience: A Beneficial Absorption Response to Threat
The perceived out-of-body experience (OBE) is a state of altered consciousness in which one has the impression of being consciously separated from the physical body The location of this presumed disembodiment can be perceived as being either somewhere on Earth (often, but not always, in the vicinity of the physical body) or in some otherworldly place (such as having ventured into a paradisiacal or hellish environment). The latter can be referred to as a transcendental perceived OBE, which might also be qualified as a near-death experience (NDE) when it occurs during presumed life-threatening or near-death situations, and is the focus of this theoretical discussion. This paper postulates that such an experience, when spontaneous, is frequently initiated as an adaptive absorption response to brain-interpreted danger or threat and is meant to increase the probability for physical survival and wellbeing. The paper further suggests that the phenomenon accomplishes this by boosting the will to live and survive as a brain-induced simulated scenario with purposeful and beneficial psychological and physiological effects.
Journal Article