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The commitment to the construction of a diverse and equitable democracy is even more imperative than ever given our changing demographics, growing inequality, and the eroding of gains of the civil rights movement. For instance, the criminalization of communities of color, with Blacks imprisoned five times more than Whites, and Hispanics nearly twice as likely as Whites to be imprisoned, according to the US Census. Since the 2013 Supreme Court decision in "Shelby County v. Holder," which invalidated the coverage formula in the Voting Rights Act and limited the law's enforcement tools, voter suppression has been on the rise. In 2018, according to the FBI, hate crimes hit a sixteen-year high. All of these examples indicate the need for drastic change to reconstitute a nation that embodies its ideals. The most direct path to that is through community empowerment and civic action--especially for communities of color. While the authors' paths to civic engagement had different beginnings, the critical frameworks showing discrepancies between their lived experiences and prominent narratives about American democracy, as well as mentorship and opportunities to practice engagement, were all crucial for their success. In this article, they share their own stories of civic transformation and how they are seeds in a garden that cultivates and harvests the fruits of a diverse democracy.

Krill oil (KO) and the impregnation process to enrich food matrices with bioactive compounds have become relevant. The impregnation process of KO microcapsules into Golden apple tissue was evaluated in this study. A KO emulsion was used at different temperatures to impregnate Golden apple slices. The results show that an increase in temperature causes greater removal of water and penetration of the KO microcapsules. At 60 °C, the volume changes of the samples were evident, obtaining the highest concentration of astaxanthin. Through the impregnation process, it is possible to produce a new food product with potential functional properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monodelphis domestica (the laboratory opossum) is a marsupial native to South America. At birth, these animals are developmentally equivalent to human embryos at approximately 5 weeks of gestation, which, when coupled with other characteristics including the size of the animals, the development of a robust immune system during juvenile development, and the relative ease of experimental manipulation, have made M. domestica a valuable model in many areas of biomedical research. However, their suitability as models for infectious diseases, especially neurotropic viruses such as Zika virus (ZIKV), is currently unknown. Here, we describe the replicative effects of ZIKV using a fetal intra-cerebral model of inoculation. Using immunohistology and in situ hybridization, we found that opossum embryos and fetuses are susceptible to infection by ZIKV administered intra-cerebrally, that the infection persists, and that viral replication results in neural pathology and may occasionally result in global growth restriction. These results demonstrate the utility of M. domestica as a new animal model for investigating ZIKV infection in vivo and facilitate further inquiry into viral pathogenesis, particularly for those viruses that are neurotropic, that require a host with the ability to sustain sustained viremia, and/or that may require intra-cerebral inoculations of large numbers of embryos or fetuses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SAMD9 and SAMD9L (SAMD9/9L) are antiviral factors and tumor suppressors, playing a critical role in innate immune defense against poxviruses and the development of myeloid tumors. SAMD9/9L mutations with a gain-of-function (GoF) in inhibiting cell growth cause multisystem developmental disorders including many pediatric myelodysplastic syndromes. Predicted to be multidomain proteins with an architecture like that of the NOD-like receptors, SAMD9/9L molecular functions and domain structures are largely unknown. Here, we identified a SAMD9/9L effector domain that functions by binding to double-stranded nucleic acids (dsNA) and determined the crystal structure of the domain in complex with DNA. Aided with precise mutations that differentially perturb dsNA binding, we demonstrated that the antiviral and antiproliferative functions of the wild-type and GoF SAMD9/9L variants rely on dsNA binding by the effector domain. Furthermore, we showed that GoF variants inhibit global protein synthesis, reduce translation elongation, and induce proteotoxic stress response, which all require dsNA binding by the effector domain. The identification of the structure and function of a SAMD9/9L effector domain provides a therapeutic target for SAMD9/9Lassociated human diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nuala NíChonchúir is an award-winning and talented poetry and fiction writer with a wide-ranging literary production. She has explored all literary genres and has addressed a great variety of themes, most of them connected with gender issues, male and female troubled relationships, sex, the body, the visual arts, the family and the mother-son/daughter bond, among others. Born in Dublin, in 1970, she holds a BA in Irish from Trinity College Dublin and an MA in Translation Studies (Irish/English) from Dublin City University. She now lives in Co. Galway, where she writes full time and teaches creative writing courses. Nuala NíChonchúir has published one novel, You (2010). Her second, The Closet of Savage Mementos, is due in spring 2014 and her third one, Miss Emily, has just been accepted for publication by Penguin USA and Penguin Canada. NíChonchúir has also authored four short story collections, The Wind Across the Grass (2004), To The World of Men, Welcome (2005), Nude (2009) and Mother America (2012), and has recently published a chapbook of flash fiction, entitled Of Dublin and Other Fictions (2013). Her poetic production includes the titles Molly's Daughter (2003), Tattoo: Tatú (2007), Portrait of the Artist With a Red Car (2009) and The Juno Charm (2011). She has also cowritten a play, Departures, with three other writers and she is now guest editor of the spring 2014 edition of The Stinging Fly. NíChonchúir has been awarded several prizes, among which we could mention the Cúirt New Writing Prize, the RTÉ radios Francis MacManus Award in 2002, for her short story "The Wind Across the Grass", and the 2013 Thresholds International Short Story Feature Writing Competition, for her essay "A Trio of Irish Short Stories". Her third short story collection, Nude, was shortlisted in 2010, followed by her fourth, Mother America, which was also long listed for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize in 2013. I had the pleasure to meet Nuala NíChonchúir in Cáceres last May 2013 during the celebration of the XIII Conference of AEDEI, to which she had been invited as a guest writer, sponsored by the Embassy of Ireland in Madrid. She read from her work and additionally gave an insightful plenary lecture entitled "Choosing YOU - the second-person voice in two Irish novels". The following interview took place in the course of the conference and has been updated in the last months through personal meetings and correspondence on the matter of her subsequent publications and literary success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black pepper oleoresin was encapsulated by spray drying using gum arabic (GA) and whey protein concentrate (WPC) as wall materials. The physical surface features were examined using low-temperature adsorption of nitrogen at 77 K. Clustering function and spreading pressure were evaluated to predict optimal storage conditions of the microcapsules, through analyzing the data from the water adsorption isotherms determined using a gravimetric method at 25, 35, and 45 °C. Kinetic studies of the color changes and loss of piperine of the microcapsules stored at different water activities at 35 °C were carried out. It was found that the GAB, BET and Condon models adequately describe the sorption characteristics. The monolayers calculated with the clustering function and minimum change in spreading pressure (MCSP) were close to those obtained by the adsorption models. The isotherms local from the Condon model coincided with the levels of stability of the microcapsules. Two local isotherms were found for GA microcapsules, which exhibited two regions of chemical stability during storage. One region with high stability in the range of 0.108–0.515 a w , and the other with poor stability of 0.515–0.821 a w. Conversely, WPC microcapsules showed one isotherm local, which had high stability in the entire water activity range studied. For both microcapsules, the lowest values of color changes were of 1.5–4, while the degradation rate constants were −0.017 day−1 and -0.002 day−1 for GA and WPC, respectively. The water activities where occurred the optimal stability fall within of the MCSP zone. • The spray drying process can encapsulate black pepper oleoresin using biopolymers. • Wall material influences the stability of encapsulated black pepper oleoresin. • The clustering function permits calculating the monolayer from the water isotherm. • Minimum spreading pressure shows the optimum storage conditions for dehydrated food. • The chi plot of the water adsorption identifies possible levels of food stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on human SAMD9 is an anticodon nucleases (ACNase) that specifically divides phenylalanine tRNA (tRNAPhe). Topics discussed include properties of sterile alpha motif domain–containing 9 (SAMD9) ACNase which is a normally latent in cells which can be activated by poxvirus infection, discussed various diseased caused by mutation of SAMD9 including inherited bone marrow failure and others; and discussed different immune defense strategy targeting tRNAs.

As a defense strategy against viruses or competitors, some microbes use anticodon nucleases (ACNases) to deplete essential tRNAs, effectively halting global protein synthesis. However, this mechanism has not been observed in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we report that human SAMD9 is an ACNase that specifically cleaves phenylalanine tRNA (tRNA Phe ), resulting in codon-specific ribosomal pausing and stress signaling. While SAMD9 ACNase activity is normally latent in cells, it can be activated by poxvirus infection or rendered constitutively active by SAMD9 mutations associated with various human disorders, revealing tRNA Phe depletion as an antiviral mechanism and a pathogenic condition in SAMD9 disorders. We identified the N-terminal effector domain of SAMD9 as the ACNase, with substrate specificity primarily determined by a eukaryotic tRNA Phe -specific 2'- O -methylation at the wobble position, making virtually all eukaryotic tRNA Phe susceptible to SAMD9 cleavage. Notably, the structure and substrate specificity of SAMD9 ACNase differ from known microbial ACNases, suggesting convergent evolution of a common immune defense strategy targeting tRNAs.

SAMD9 and SAMD9L (SAMD9/9L) are antiviral factors and tumor suppressors, playing a critical role in innate immune defense against poxviruses and the development of myeloid tumors. SAMD9/9L mutations with a gain-of-function (GoF) in inhibiting cell growth cause multisystem developmental disorders including many pediatric myelodysplastic syndromes. Predicted to be multidomain proteins with an architecture like that of the NOD-like receptors, SAMD9/9L molecular functions and domain structures are largely unknown. Here, we identified a SAMD9/9L effector domain that functions by binding to double-stranded nucleic acids (dsNA) and determined the crystal structure of the domain in complex with DNA. Aided with precise mutations that differentially perturb dsNA binding, we demonstrated that the antiviral and antiproliferative functions of the wild-type and GoF SAMD9/9L variants rely on dsNA binding by the effector domain. Furthermore, we showed that GoF variants inhibit global protein synthesis, reduce translation elongation, and induce proteotoxic stress response, which all require dsNA binding by the effector domain. The identification of the structure and function of a SAMD9/9L effector domain provides a therapeutic target for SAMD9/9L-associated human diseases., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interest., (Copyright © 2022 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.)

Here we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to reach a consensus on whether infected and uninfected mosquitoes respond differently to repellents. After screening 2,316 published studies, theses, and conference abstracts, we identified 18 studies that tested whether infection status modulated the effectiveness of repellents. Thirteen of these studies had outcomes available for meta-analysis, and overall, seven repellents were tested (typically DEET with 62% of outcomes), six mosquito species had repellence behaviors measured (typically Aedes aegypti (L.) (Diptera: Culicidae) mosquitoes with 71% of outcomes), and a broad diversity of infections were tested including Sindbis virus (Togaviridae: Alphavirus) (33% of outcomes), Dengue (Flaviviridae: Flavivirus) (31%), malaria (Plasmodium berghei Vincke & Lips (Haemospororida: Plasmodiidae) or P. falciparum Welch (Haemospororida: Plasmodiidae); 25%), Zika (Flaviviridae: Flavivirus) (7%), and microsporidia (4%). Pooling all outcomes with meta-analysis, we found that repellents were less effective against infected mosquitoes-marking an average 62% reduction in protective efficacy relative to uninfected mosquitoes (pooled odds ratio = 0.38, 95% confidence interval = 0.22-0.66; k = 96). Older infected mosquitoes were also more likely to show altered responses and loss of sensitivity to repellents, emphasizing the challenge of distinguishing between age or incubation period effects. Plasmodium- or Dengue-infected mosquitoes also did not show altered responses to repellents; however, Dengue-mosquito systems used inoculation practices that can introduce variability in repellency responses. Given our findings that repellents offer less protection against infected mosquitoes and that these vectors are the most dangerous in terms of disease transmission, then trials on repellent effectiveness should incorporate infected mosquitoes to improve predictability in blocking vector-human contact., (© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)