Positional Candidate Research Articles

Sex differences in susceptibility to influenza A virus infection depend on host genotype.

Infection with the respiratory pathogen influenza A virus (IAV) causes significant morbidity and mortality each year. While host genotype is thought to contribute to severity of disease, naturally occurring genetic determinants remain mostly unknown. Moreover, more severe disease is seen in women compared with men, but genetic mechanisms underlying this sex difference remain obscure. Here, using IAV infection in a mouse model of naturally selected genetic diversity, namely C57BL6/J (B6) mice carrying chromosomes (Chr) derived from the wild-derived and genetically divergent PWD/PhJ (PWD) mouse strain (B6.ChrPWD consomic mice), we examined the effects of genotype and sex on severity of IAV-induced disease. Compared with B6, parental PWD mice were completely protected from IAV-induced disease, a phenotype that was fully recapitulated in the B6.Chr16PWD strain carrying the PWD-derived allele of Mx1. In contrast, several other consomic strains, including B6.Chr3PWD and B6.Chr5PWD, demonstrated greatly increased susceptibility. Notably, B6.Chr5PWD and B6.ChrX.3PWD strains, the latter carrying the distal one-third of ChrX from PWD, exhibited increased morbidity and mortality specifically in male but not female mice. Follow up analyses focused on B6 and B6.ChrX.3PWD strains demonstrated moderately elevated viral load in B6.ChrX3PWD male, but not female mice. Transcriptional profiling demonstrated genotype- and sex-specific gene expression profiles in the infected lung, with male B6.ChrX.3 mice exhibiting the most significant changes, including upregulation of a proinflammatory gene expression program associated with myeloid cells, and altered sex-biased expression of several X-linked genes that represent positional candidates, including Tlr13 and Slc25a53. Taken together, our results identify novel loci on autosomes and the X chromosome regulating IAV susceptibility and demonstrate that sex differences in IAV susceptibility are genotype-dependent, suggesting that future genetic association studies need to consider sex as a covariate.

QTL mapping and identification of candidate genes using a genome-wide association study for heat tolerance at anthesis in rice (Oryza sativa L.).

Heat tolerance (HT) of rice at anthesis is a key trait that ensures high and stable yields under heat stress. Finding the quantitative trait loci (QTLs) and gene loci controlling HT is crucial. We used relative spikelet fertility (RSF) as a measure of HT. The phenotypic values of RSF in 173 rice accessions were investigated in two environments and showed abundant variations. We performed a genome-wide association study on RSF using 1.2 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Five QTLs were significantly associated with RSF were identified, four were found in previously reported QTLs/genes, and one was novel. The novel QTL qRSF9.2 was mapped into the 22,059,984-22,259,984 bp region, which had 38 positional candidate genes. By combining the linkage disequilibrium analysis, the QTL region was narrowed to 22,110,508–22,187,677 bp, which contained 16 candidate genes. Among them, only gene LOC_Os09g38500 contained nonsynonymous SNPs that were significantly associated with RSF. In addition, accessions with large and small RSF values had corresponding respective high and low gene expression levels. Furthermore, the RSF of the CC allele was significantly higher than that of the TT allele. Hap 2 and Hap 3 can increase heat tolerance by 7.9 and 11.3%, respectively. Our results provide useful information that recommends further cloning of qRSF9.2 and breeding heat-tolerant rice varieties by marker-assisted selection.

Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Professional Organizations: Lessons From the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine

Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Professional Organizations: Lessons From the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine

US Accreditation as a World-Class Education Quality Indicator

On the turning point of European and world history, it is extremely important to unveil and effectively utilize the potential of effective high-quality education to make the future better for generations to come. Higher education quality management through accreditation has a long history of development in the United States, and time-proven standards, stimulating accredited institutions to continually improve academic quality. 
 The concepts, systems, principles and practices of accreditation arouse in the United States out of the need to meet the demands for quality, and evolved over decades, to form a coherent set of standards and frameworks of continuous improvement in all meaningful directions of the educational institutions’ life, striving for teaching excellence and high learning outcomes. At present, accreditation principles and processes, as exemplified by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) programmatic accreditation, are implemented in the US and numerous countries of the world, to ensure high standard and continuous improvement of business education quality, to raise the competitiveness of educational institutions in response to the expectations of public (primarily, students and their families), governments, employers, universities/colleges, academics, and broader communities. 
 This study establishes the correlation of the quality management system via ACBSP accreditation with the continuous improvement of business education quality. This study also provides statistical evidence that the application of quality management principles at institutions of higher education with accredited business programs did result in the association with enhanced student learning outcomes.
 Higher education quality management leads to higher employability of the institution’s graduates. Since the quality of education is crucial for the country’s economic growth and prosperity, the business education institutions and programs in Ukraine and other Central and Eastern European and Eurasian countries may benefit from implementing quality management through ACBSP accreditation for their undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate (doctoral) business programs, to satisfy ever-rising expectations of candidates for top managerial and leadership positions. 
 The research suggests that 51% of the institutions of higher education with business programs in the United States, and 93% of the institutions of higher education worldwide could benefit from implementing accreditation principles and processes to maintain and enhance their education quality and competitiveness in the world business education market, for the sake of highest recognition of their graduates’ diploma on the global job markets and significant increase of their employability.

A Multi-Stage Fuzzy Model for Assessing Applicants for Faculty Positions in Universities

Assessing applicants for faculty positions in universities involves many issues. Each issue may involve a judgment based on uncertain or imprecise data. The uncertainty in data may exist in the interpretation made by the evaluator. This issue might lead to improper decision making. Modeling such a system using fuzzy logic will provide a more efficient model for handling imprecision. This article presents a fuzzy system for modeling the assessment of applicants for employment at academic universities. This system will utilize a multi-stage fuzzy model for measuring and evaluating the applicants. Utilizing fuzzy logic for applicants' evaluation will help administrators in choosing the best candidates for faculty positions. The fuzzy system was developed using jFuzzyLogic Java library. The reliability of the proposed system was proved by evaluating real-world case studies to prove its effectiveness to mimic human judgment. Moreover, the developed system has been evaluated by comparing it with a traditional mathematical method to prove the credibility and fairness of the proposed fuzzy system.

Leading change and innovation in Ghana’s banking sector: the mediating role of work autonomy

PurposeIn recent times, employers are routinely advertising for position candidates with the capability to work with little or no supervision at all. This is probably because, as businesses strive to globalize operations, supervision has become both complex and expensive. While the general interest in employees with considerable levels of work autonomy may be a strategic one, particularly for banks, it is important to determine the impact of work autonomy on other critical success factors such as employee commitment to change management, innovativeness and quality supervisor-subordinate relationship. This study aims to examine the relationship between these variables by exploring the mediation effect of work autonomy on the relationship between employee innovativeness, quality of supervisor-subordination collaboration and employee commitment to change management in the banking sector of Ghana.Design/methodology/approachThe study used quantitative empirical strategies involving the distribution of questionnaires to a randomly selected sample of 400 employees of selected banks in Ghana. Data, so collected, were analysed using the PLS-SEM Software.FindingsResults of the study revealed significant relationships between the quality of supervisor-subordinate collaboration, innovativeness and commitment to change. The findings further established work autonomy as an explanatory variable between the three employee behaviours – innovativeness, quality of supervisor-subordinate connection and commitment to change.Originality/valueThe novelty of this study lies in the interplay of quality employee relations, innovative employee behaviour and commitment to change processes as refereed by work autonomy to promote effective change management activities in Ghanaian banks. The outcome of the study led to the development of a theoretical model for organizational change management.

Is There an “Ideal Remote Worker”? The Gendered Implications of the Rise of Remote Work

Scholars have previously theorized that employers believe an “ideal worker” is completely committed to work, which conflicts with widely held cultural beliefs of “mothers” as primarily devoted to caregiving. These theories assume employers utilize traditional work arrangements, including an in-person setting. But the rapid expansion of remote work, often assumed to be a more flexible work arrangement, raises the question: is there an “ideal remote worker?” Using an online survey experiment, we explore evaluators’ gender and parental status preferences when assessing candidates for in-person or remote positions. We find that the effect of parental status on certain hiring outcomes is negative and similar in magnitude for women and men candidates for in-person positions. However, among candidates for remote positions, the effect of parental status is more negative for women than for men. The difference in parental status penalties across remote versus in-person positions is explained by participants’ consistent beliefs that mothers are less committed to work than nonmothers, combined with increased concern with invisible productivity in remote work. We conclude that while the rise of remote work may have appealing features for parents, business leaders will need to ensure that these benefits are equally accessible to women and men.

The Effect of Veteran Status on Job Candidate Assessments in U.S. Local Governments

Veterans are often framed as an untapped resource for local governments to boost the public service workforce. While past recruitment efforts tend to draw a straight line from military experience to civilian careers in policing and emergency services, it remains unclear how HR professionals, more generally, weigh military experience when assessing candidate preparedness for a managerial career in public service. We examine how veteran status affects U.S. city and county HR directors’ evaluation of candidates for entry-level managerial positions in local government. Using an experimental design, we randomly assign candidate characteristics–veteran vis-à-vis non-veteran status and male vis-à-vis female–and observe HR directors’ assessment of candidate preparedness. Our findings reveal a premium of veteran status on candidate assessments relative to similar private sector experience, while results are less conclusive when the comparison is made to similar public sector experience. Additionally, we find no clear evidence of disparate assessments of candidate preparedness as a function of candidate gender

Comparison of scientometric achievements at PhD and scientific output ten years later for 4,790 academic researchers.

IntroductionPhD is the highest awarded degree offered by universities in different disciplines. Owners of a PhD can teach at universities, start independent research and receive a higher salary while further building a scientific career. We examined whether the publication output before the PhD degree has a correlation with subsequent research activities.MethodsWe downloaded publication and citation data from the Hungarian Scientific Bibliography for Hungarian researchers who obtained PhD between the ages of 24 and 45. The researchers were grouped into eleven scientific sections. We examined the number of Q1 publications published in the previous 5 years, the H-index, the total number of citations for the last complete year, and the biological age of the researcher. Each parameter was computed for the year at which the PhD was obtained and ten years later. Pre-PhD publications (and citations for these) were excluded when assessing post-PhD track records. Spearman rank correlation and Kruskal-Wallis test were computed.ResultsWe analyzed all together 4,790 researchers. We obtained a positive correlation between the number of Q1 publications before and after PhD (corr. coeff. = 0.21–0.54, p<0.01 in all sections), between the H-index before and after PhD (corr. coeff. = 0.32–0.56, p<0.01 in all sections), and between the citations received before and after PhD (corr. coeff. = 0.34–0.51, p<0.01 in all sections). All three metrics measured ten years after the PhD were negatively correlated with the age of the researcher at the time of obtaining the PhD (number of publications corr. coeff. = -0.09–0.22, p<0.05; H-index corr. coeff. = -0.09–0.29, p<0.08; number of citations corr. coeff. = -0.14–0.30, p<0.01). Among all disciplines, Philosophy and History and Engineering sciences show the strongest correlation between pre- and post-PhD output. When running multiple regression analysis for all three metrics as dependent variables and the number of articles, the H-index, the number of citations in the year of the PhD, the calendar year of PhD, and the gender of the researcher as independent variables, the number of articles and the H-index in the year of PhD reached the strongest positive correlations while gender had a negative correlation.ConclusionsWe independently evaluated pre- and post-PhD publication performance. In connection with age, the discipline-specific reference values of scientometric parameters at the time of obtaining the PhD can help to select candidates for postdoctoral grants and positions.

Genome-wide association and genotype by environment interactions for growth traits in U.S. Red Angus cattle

BackgroundGenotypic information produced from single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays has routinely been used to identify genomic regions associated with complex traits in beef and dairy cattle. Herein, we assembled a dataset consisting of 15,815 Red Angus beef cattle distributed across the continental U.S. and a union set of 836,118 imputed SNPs to conduct genome-wide association analyses (GWAA) for growth traits using univariate linear mixed models (LMM); including birth weight, weaning weight, and yearling weight. Genomic relationship matrix heritability estimates were produced for all growth traits, and genotype-by-environment (GxE) interactions were investigated.ResultsModerate to high heritabilities with small standard errors were estimated for birth weight (0.51 ± 0.01), weaning weight (0.25 ± 0.01), and yearling weight (0.42 ± 0.01). GWAA revealed 12 pleiotropic QTL (BTA6, BTA14, BTA20) influencing Red Angus birth weight, weaning weight, and yearling weight which met a nominal significance threshold (P ≤ 1e-05) for polygenic traits using 836K imputed SNPs. Moreover, positional candidate genes associated with Red Angus growth traits in this study (i.e., LCORL, LOC782905, NCAPG, HERC6, FAM184B, SLIT2, MMRN1, KCNIP4, CCSER1, GRID2, ARRDC3, PLAG1, IMPAD1, NSMAF, PENK, LOC112449660, MOS, SH3PXD2B, STC2, CPEB4) were also previously associated with feed efficiency, growth, and carcass traits in beef cattle. Collectively, 14 significant GxE interactions were also detected, but were less consistent among the investigated traits at a nominal significance threshold (P ≤ 1e-05); with one pleiotropic GxE interaction detected on BTA28 (24 Mb) for Red Angus weaning weight and yearling weight.ConclusionsSixteen well-supported QTL regions detected from the GWAA and GxE GWAA for growth traits (birth weight, weaning weight, yearling weight) in U.S. Red Angus cattle were found to be pleiotropic. Twelve of these pleiotropic QTL were also identified in previous studies focusing on feed efficiency and growth traits in multiple beef breeds and/or their composites. In agreement with other beef cattle GxE studies our results implicate the role of vasodilation, metabolism, and the nervous system in the genetic sensitivity to environmental stress.

Copy number variation of bovine S100A7 as a positional candidate affected body measurements

Beef production is closely related to the national economy and the attention has been paid to the improvement of beef cattle by molecular markers associated. Copy number variations (CNVs) recently have been gained many researches and recognized as an important source of genetic variation. Extensive studies have indicated that CNVs have effects on a large range of economic traits by a wide range of gene copy number alteration. S100A7 is a member of S100 family which is a famous family of Ca2+-binding proteins. S100A7 plays a crucial role in many important phenotypes (progress) including inflammatory diseases, psoriasis, obesity, etc. The aim of our study was to explore the phenotypic effects of CNV located in the S100A7 gene of bovine chromosome 3. We detected S100A7 CNV by qPCR in different cattle breeds, including Qinchuan cattle, Yunling cattle, Xianan cattle and a crossbred group Pinan. The copy number was identified as gain, normal and loss type, our results showed that the gain type was the main type in three types of S100A7 CNV of the whole tested breeds. After CNV detection, association analysis between S100A7 CNV and growth traits was carried out in four cattle breeds. We found significant effects of the CNV on cattle growth traits with differently preferred CNV types such as gain type with better chest depth (p = 0.043) in QC, loss type with better body length (p = 0.008) and rump width (p = 0.014) in YL, normal with better chest girth (p = 0.001), gain with better waist width (p = 0.001) and rump width (p = 0.044) in PN. These results suggested that the S100A7 CNV could affect the phenotypic traits and be used as a promising genetic marker for cattle molecular breeding.

COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN EDUCATION AND BUSINESS INSTITUTIONS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATIVE DIGITAL PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Annotation. Current challenges necessitate a faster response of the higher education system to new problems, the demands of the economy and the labor market, and therefore they need innovative forms of communication between their participants. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the criteria for creating digital services for the selection of educational products, which are based on modern technologies for disseminating knowledge, forms of communication between education and business, and also take into account national and global challenges for the development of higher education in Ukraine. The article uses methods of the theoretical and empirical level of research: analysis, synthesis, abstraction, induction, deduction. A review of modern online platforms for the development of individual, corporate and blended learning has been carried out. The main challenges that have arisen in the system of higher education under conditions of martial law in Ukraine and the post-pandemic period in the world are reflected. The hypothesis about the expediency of creating innovative digital services based on communication links between the HEIs, government and business institutions is substantiated, criteria for creating such services are formulated. The proposed communication platform is based on the idea of integrating open and other types of data using Big Data technologies and should serve as a digital service for choosing educational products and their forms for individual users, finding the best candidates for vacant positions - for employers, developing various forms of cooperation between HEIs and business to ensure the competitiveness of higher education. The practical significance of the research results lies in the recommendations that can be used to develop digital services focused on the current needs and capabilities of digital communication platforms for participants in the educational services market and the labor market. Keywords: higher education, labor market, communications, educational online platforms, digital service, educational product, Ukraine.

Body Composition and Metabolic Changes in a Lyon Hypertensive Congenic Rat and Identification of Ercc6l2 as a Positional Candidate Gene.

Central obesity is genetically complex, and its exponential increase in the last decades have made it a critical public health issue. The Lyon Hypertensive (LH) rat is a well-characterized hypertensive model that also exhibits spontaneous and profound differences in body weight and adiposity, relative to its metabolically healthy control, the Lyon Normotensive (LN) rat. The mechanisms underlying the body weight differences between these strains are not well-understood, thus a congenic model (LH17LNa) was developed where a portion of the proximal arm of LN chromosome 17 is introgressed on the LH genomic background to assess the contribution of LN alleles on obesity features. Male and female LH17LNa rats were studied, but male congenics did not significantly differ from LH in this study. Female LH17LNa rats exhibited decreases in total body growth, as well as major alterations to their body composition and adiposity. The LH17LNa female rats also showed decreases in metabolic rate, and a reduction in food intake. The increased adiposity in the female LH17LNa rats was specific to abdominal white adipose tissue, and this phenomenon was further explained by significant hypertrophy in those adipocytes, with no evidence of adipocyte hyperplasia. Sequencing of the parental strains identified a novel frameshift mutation in the candidate gene Ercc6l2, which is involved in transcription-coupled DNA repair, and is implicated in premature aging. The discovery of the significance of Ercc6l2 in the context of female-specific adipocyte biology could represent a novel role of DNA repair failure syndromes in obesity pathogenesis.

The Often-Overlooked Applicant: The Medical Technologist as a Qualified Candidate for Novice Infection Prevention Positions

BackgroundThe current shortage of healthcare workers (HCW) across the country has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the role of infection preventionist (IP) is no exception. As a result, a shift to broaden the scope of HCWs entering IP has gained attention. This study sought to compare competency expectations between medical technologists (MT) and IPs to better understand the bridge between the two professions, with the intent of highlighting MTs as qualified candidates for novice IP positions.MethodsThis study evaluated available competency guidelines for MTs and compared them to the 2019 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) competency model for the IP. The primary source used for this study was the Competency Guidelines for Laboratory Professionals resource made available through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Supplemental competency data was drawn from a research article focused on MTs with 3-5 years of experience. Domains within the CDC's model were determined to either be completely, partially, or not addressed within APIC's model. The 6 primary domains and 32 subdomains of the APIC model were then compared to the CDC model, both with and without the supplemental article data, and results evaluated.ResultsResults showed a 74% complete and partial match between the APIC 2019 competency model and domains within the CDC MT competency model, or 28 of 38 domains. When supplemental competency data was included for MTs with 3-5 years of experience with additional education, there was an 82% complete and partial match between sources, or 31 of 38 domains.ConclusionsThis study demonstrates that MTs, particularly with 3-5 years of experience with additional education, possess a strong foundational knowledge set for novice IP positions. Hiring managers should strongly consider MT applicants for open IP positions moving forward.

QTL-mapping in the obese Berlin Fat Mouse identifies additional candidate genes for obesity and fatty liver disease

The Berlin Fat Mouse Inbred line (BFMI) is a model for obesity and the metabolic syndrome. This study aimed to identify genetic variants associated with liver weight, liver triglycerides, and body weight using the obese BFMI sub-line BFMI861-S1. BFMI861-S1 mice are insulin resistant and store ectopic fat in the liver. In generation 10, 58 males and 65 females of the advanced intercross line (AIL) BFMI861-S1xB6N were phenotyped under a standard diet over 20 weeks. QTL analysis was performed after genotyping with the MiniMUGA Genotyping Array. Whole-genome sequencing and gene expression data of the parental lines was used for the prioritization of positional candidate genes. Three QTLs associated with liver weight, body weight, and subcutaneous adipose tissue (scAT) weight were identified. A highly significant QTL on chromosome (Chr) 1 (157–168 Mb) showed an association with liver weight. A QTL for body weight at 20 weeks was found on Chr 3 (34.1–40 Mb) overlapping with a QTL for scAT weight. In a multiple QTL mapping approach, an additional QTL affecting body weight at 16 weeks was identified on Chr 6 (9.5–26.1 Mb). Considering sequence variants and expression differences, Sec16b and Astn1 were prioritized as top positional candidate genes for the liver weight QTL on Chr 1; Met and Ica1 for the body weight QTL on Chr 6. Interestingly, all top candidate genes have previously been linked with metabolic traits. This study shows once more the power of an advanced intercross line for fine mapping. QTL mapping combined with a detailed prioritization approach allowed us to identify additional and plausible candidate genes linked to metabolic traits in the BFMI861-S1xB6N AIL. By reidentifying known candidate genes in a different crossing population the causal link with specific traits is underlined and additional evidence is given for further investigations.

A Preliminary Investigation into Online Recruitment in Developing Economies

The job market is particularly sensitive to the increasing pace of globalization and technological development. Against this changing backdrop, there has also been a rapid increase in the practice of online recruitment, with recruiters going on the Internet, especially social media, to seek and hire candidates for job positions. This not only allows them to accumulate a highly qualified pool of talent but it also ensures a smooth recruitment experience for the candidate. The result is a win-win situation that facilitates the swift and low-cost recruitment of candidates with the right service mindset who are ready to serve their new organizations. However, one challenge is presenting itself to the HR managers of both public and private service organizations, namely identifying the best candidates through a job application process that is inherently impersonal. Using Kuwait, a developing country, as a case study, this work examines the attitudes and perceptions of HR employees and managers concerning online recruitment. Keywords: Online recruitment, Recruitment, Human resource management, Perceptions.

Functional genomics of reproduction in pigs: Are we there yet?

Reproductive failure is the main reason for culling females in swine herds and is both a financial and sustainability issue. Because reproductive traits are complex and lowly to moderately heritable, genomic selection within populations can achieve substantial genetic gain in reproductive efficiency. A better understanding of the physiological components affecting the expression of these traits will facilitate greater understanding of the genes affecting reproductive traits and is necessary to improve and optimize management strategies to maximize reproductive success of gilts and sows. Large-scale genotyping with single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays are used for genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and have facilitated identification of positional candidate genes. Transcriptomic data can be used to weight SNP for GWAS and could lead to previously unidentified candidate genes. Resequencing and fine mapping of candidate genes are necessary to identify putative functional variants and some of these have been incorporated into new genotyping arrays. Sequence imputation and genotype by sequence are newer strategies that could reveal novel functional mutations. In this study, these approaches are discussed. Advantages and limitations are highlighted where additional research is needed.

Integration of genome-wide association study and selection signatures reveals genetic determinants for skeletal muscle production traits in an F2 chicken population

Improving the production of broiler chicken meat has been a goal of broiler breeding programs worldwide for many years. However, the genetic architectures of skeletal muscle production traits in chickens have not yet been fully elucidated. In the present study, a total of 519 F2 birds, derived from a cross of Arbor Acres broiler and Baier layer, were re-sequenced (26 F0 individuals were re-sequenced at a 10-fold depth; 519 F2 individuals were re-sequenced at a 3-fold depth) and the coupling of genome-wide association study (GWAS) and selection signatures (FST (fixation index) and θπ (nucleotide diversity)) was carried out to pinpoint the associated loci and genes that contribute to pectoral muscle weight (PMW) and thigh muscle weight (TMW). A total of 7 890 258 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) remained to be analyzed after quality control and imputation. The integration of GWAS and selection signature analyses revealed that genetic determinants responsible for skeletal muscle production traits were mainly localized on chromosomes 1 (168.95–172.43 Mb) and 4 (74.37–75.23 Mb). A total of 17 positional candidate genes (PCGs) (LRCH1, CDADC1, CAB39L, LOC112531568, LOC112531569, FAM124A, FOXO1, NBEA, GPALPP1, RUBCNL, ARL11, KPNA3, LHFP, GBA3, LOC112532426, KCNIP4, and SLIT2) were identified in these regions. In particular, KPNA3 and FOXO1 were the most promising candidates for meat production in chickens. These findings will help enhance our understanding of the genetic architecture of chicken muscle production traits, and the significant SNPs identified could be promising candidates for integration into practical breeding programs such as genome-wide selection (GS) to improve the meat yield of chickens.

Nostalgia for the Belief in a Female-Friendly Academic World to Come

Abstract In the academic novel of the 1980s, which Elaine Showalter dubs the feminist towers, women characters are not limited to beautiful and seductive students or faculty wives, whose husbands’ academic career appears to be also their own goal. Although the very presence of women in academia is often interpreted as a threat to the male reign over the ‘small world,’ female scholars are determined to expose and fight against gender inequity and inequality in order to be perceived and valued as fully-fledged scholars. Paradoxically, even if women are considered serious candidates for different university positions, they cannot indulge in the same intense pleasures of academic life as their male counterparts due to the overpowering feeling of being the other. An analysis of female scholar characters and their diverse attitudes towards feminism is based on two academic mystery novels written in the 1980s, Death in a Tenured Position by Amanda Cross and Graves in Academe by Susan Kenney. It is followed by an investigation of the reasons making academics feel nostalgia for the university of the 1980’s, i.e. the milieu before the emergence of the protective power of the Me Too movement and reports on sexual harassment of women in academia published by the NASEM.

In Vivo Evaluation of the Cidec R46S Polymorphism for an Obesity QTL, tabw2a

ObjectivesA quantitative trait locus (QTL), tabw2a, was linked to obesity in TALLYHO/Jng (TH) mice, a polygenic model of obesity and type 2 diabetes. In combination with fine mapping information, we used whole genome sequencing data of TH mice to search positional candidate genes for tabw2a. From this search, the cell death-inducing DFFA-like effector c (Cidec) gene, containing a SNP identified as deleterious (likely to affect protein function) by both SIFT and PROVEAN, was raised as a potential candidate for tabw2a. CIDEC is a lipid droplet protein involved in the regulation of cellular lipid droplet size and lipid storage in adipocytes. There was one nucleotide substitution in the coding sequence of Cidec in TH mice, 136 C > A, compared to C57BL/6J (B6) reference sequence, that results in an amino acid substitution R46S (Arginine to Serine). The aim of this study was to evaluate the Cidec R46S polymorphism in vivo for the tabw2a QTL.MethodsWe generated knock-in mice where the TH allele (S46) is exchanged for the B6 allele (R46) at the Cidec gene on a B6 background. Targeting, ES clone selection, blastocyst injection, and breeding of ES cell chimeras were performed by Transgenics Core facility at Pennington Biomedical Research Center (Baton Rouge, LA). We bred the chimeras to B6 mice for 10 generation and collected heterozygous mice with germline transmission of the knock-in allele of Cidec S46. We then interbred the heterozygous mice and obtained homozygous mice for the knock-in allele of Cidec S46. Male and female Cidec R46S knock-in and B6 mice were weaned onto chow and high fat (HF) diets (D12266B, Research Diets) at 4 weeks of age and maintained on the same diets. At 20 weeks of age, body composition including fat and lean mass was measured using EchoMRI-100 whole body composition analyzer (Houston, TX).ResultsOn chow, no genotype effects were shown on adiposity between knock-in and B6 mice for both sexes. However, on HF diets, for both males and females, knock-in homozygous mice had significantly larger body fat mass than B6, although their body weights were comparable.ConclusionsWe conclude that the Cidec gene is a likely candidate for the obesity effect of tabw2a, and that Cidec S46 variant contributes to the obesity susceptibility.Funding SourcesAmerican Heart Association and National Institutes of Health.