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Human Behavior

New Molecular Pathway Underlies Impaired Social Behavior and Anxiety in Neuropsychiatric Disorders – Cornell Chronicle

A calcium-dependent molecular mechanism discovered in the brain cells of mice by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators may underlie the impaired social interactions and anxiety found in neuropsychiatric disorders including schizophrenia and autism.

The study, published June 6 in Molecular Psychiatry, reports that reduced function of a calcium channel at synapses, the site of contact essential for communication between neurons, impairs social behavior and heightens anxiety. The findings also illuminate how this occurs: over-activation of a molecule within protrusions in neurons, called spines, which receive communicating signals from adjacent neurons. Blocking the action of this molecule in adult mice repaired the abnormal social interactions and elevated anxiety, a finding that may lead to the development of new treatments for patients with certain neuropsychiatric and anxiety disorders.

Our study suggests that if we can repair malfunctioning synapses in humans, we can reverse behavioral abnormalities and potentially treat specific symptoms, such as social impairment and anxiety, in patients with these neuropsychiatric disorders, said senior study author Dr. Anjali Rajadhyaksha, an associate professor of neuroscience in pediatrics and of neuroscience in the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, and director of the Weill Cornell Autism Research Program at Weill Cornell Medicine. We believe that targeting this molecule and its pathway may provide us with a molecular framework for future exploration of treatment of patients.

The top image shows the movement of a mouse in a behavioral test that measures social interaction. The blue to green color represents least to most time spent interacting with another mouse. The bottom set of images measures anxiety-like behavior exhibited by a mouse. The amount of filling in the vertical bars represents levels of anxiety. Dr. Anjali Rajadhyaksha and her team utilized rodent tests that are commonly used to study human disease symptoms, demonstrating that mice that were missing the CACNA1C gene in the brain showed less preference for interactions with another mouse and developed high anxiety. Treatment with the small molecule ISRIB corrected these symptoms. Photo credit: Dr. Zeeba Kabir

Dr. Rajadhyaksha and her colleagues focused on a calcium channel gene called CACNA1C that has emerged as a significant risk gene across major forms of neuropsychiatric disorders: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, autism spectrum disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Impaired social behavior and elevated anxiety are common symptoms observed in patients with these disorders.

Studies using mice lacking CACNA1C production in neurons in a part of the brain, called the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for cognition, personality and decision-making, made mice less social and more anxious. This finding seemingly confirms those of human studies, which suggests that defects in protein production may underlie the symptoms of patients with neuropsychiatric disorders and autism.

The investigators then identified the culprit for the social impairments and elevated anxiety: increased activity of a molecule called eIF2alpha that has been linked to cognitive deficits in neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimers disease.

Dr. Zeeba Kabir, the studys first author and a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Rajadhyakshas lab, tested a small molecule called ISRIB, which had previously been shown to block the action of eIF2alpha and improve learning and memory in mice, in rodents missing the CACNA1C gene. ISRIB reversed the aberrant behavior found in these mice, improving their social interactions and reducing anxiety.

Dr. Anjali Rajadhyaksha. Photo by John Abbott

Some studies have revealed that ISRIB has side effects that may be harmful to human cells, Dr. Rajadhyaksha said, but research shows that there are two alternative small molecule inhibitors of eIF2alpha that may be safer for use in humans. A next step is to study these ISRIB alternatives in mice to determine whether they have a similar effect.

Neuropsychiatric disorders are complex and treatments remain suboptimal, Dr. Rajadhyaksha said. To be able to treat specific symptoms that are common across multiple disorders is an exciting possibility. We would also like to determine whether alterations in the eIF2alpha pathway are held in common among other rodent models displaying social deficits and anxiety that result from risk genes other than CACNA1C. If so, molecules like ISRIB could be widely applicable for treating these symptoms, in general.

The research team also included Weill Cornell Medicine researchers Dr. Natalia DeMarco Garcia, an assistant professor of neuroscience, and Dr. Michael Glass, an associate professor of research in neuroscience, both in the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute.

Original post:
New Molecular Pathway Underlies Impaired Social Behavior and Anxiety in Neuropsychiatric Disorders - Cornell Chronicle

Genetics

Scientists Find Genetic Mutation That Could Increase the Male Lifespan – Gizmodo

Jiroemon Kimura, the oldest man ever (Image: YouTube/Screenshot)

Professor S. Jay Olshansky once told Gizmodo, In the world of aging sciences, if you want to live a long life, choose long-lived parents. So genetic markers linked to longevity are interesting as hell. But if youve got the wrong genes, then the wrong moves might do you in.

A team of researchers from universities in the United States wanted to figure out the role of genetics in human lifespan, specifically relating to growth hormone. The researchers work shows two main things: first, that a mutation in mens DNA relating to growth hormone might lead to a longer lifespan. And secondly, that treating older people with growth hormone might be dangerous if they dont have the variation.

Gil Atzmon, the studys principal investigator from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the University of Haifa in Israel, was most excited by how a slight change in DNA could have such a big impact. Delete a few base pairs, and you still have a functional protein that now makes people live longer, he said. I think this is phenomenal.

This is complex, so Im going to take it slow and possibly oversimplify things. Basically, theres one system in question, the IGF-1/GH axis. Each of these are genes that code for different molecules in your body.

Researchers have already had a hunch that IGF-1 can regulate height at the expense of longevity, like the case in dogs. More IGF-1 means taller but shorter lifespan and less IGF-1 means shorter but longer lifespan. This should make senseits akin to the way big dogs live shorter lives than small dogs.

The researchers studied 800 men and women from across four populations and found something surprising. Indeed, the IGF-1 levels were lower in the centenarians, but many of the men were also taller. The data showed the researchers that theres more than just IGF-1 at play.

Centenarian males were often missing a specific snippet of DNA in their GHR gene. These people seem to be more sensitive to growth hormone and grow taller. So, even though their IGF-1 levels were lower (they lived longer), they still grew taller from their special GH gene. The people with this mutation seemed to live ten years longer, on average.

And the study really was huge. The replication across the four different populations makes our result more accurate and globally translated.

Atzmon himself admitted that all this is pretty complex. But its definitely new, important evidence pointing to the role that this IGF-1/GH axis plays in simultaneously determining your height and your lifespan, explained Andrzej Bartke, Professor of Physiology and Internal Medicine at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, in a conversation with Gizmodo.

But were not at some level of life-hacking clarity. Clearly more research is needed to understand exactly why this type of GH receptor favors extreme longevity, why the effect was seen only in men and why the results in people studied by these investigators differ from some of the previous findings in different groups of human subjects with the same type of receptors, said Bartke.

Theres a catch to all this. Their results seemed to show that folks who dont have the GH variation might actually be sensitive to growth hormone therapy. This is a stark reminder that administering growth hormone as an intervention to slow agingwhich is still being done in the anti-aging medicine industry is not warranted by the scientific literature, Olshansky told Gizmodo. In fact, could actually be harmful.

So, youre still going to die one day. But as to when, that answer probably doesnt reside in what you eat (or in young blood) nearly as much as it does in what your DNA looks like.

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Scientists Find Genetic Mutation That Could Increase the Male Lifespan - Gizmodo

Genetics

Episode 87: Virtual Reality, and the Politics of Genetics – The New Yorker

As scientists learn more about how genes affect everything from hair color to sexual orientation and mental health, were faced with moral and political questions about how we allow science to intervene in the genetic code. In this episode, Siddhartha Mukherjee, the author of the book The Gene: An Intimate History , talks with David Remnick about the intimate and global implications of modern genetic science, and speaks frankly about his own family history of mental illness. Plus, we visit the studio of a leading sound-effects artist, and a virtual-reality team struggles to make a V.R. experience that lives up to the hype. This episode originally aired on May 13, 2016.

Welcome to the thoughtsphere. Whats a thoughtsphere?

The physician and Pulitzer Prize-winning author examines the intimate and global implications of genetic science.

Virtual reality used to be the technology of the future. Now its here. How will artists use the young medium to tell stories?

Three weird things you need to check out: a random-film-clip generator, an Internet graveyard, and the Turkish Star Wars.

The sound of a guy getting beaten with a bat in Goodfellas was engineered by an ex-magician with a hideout in Jersey.

Two mothers meet on the playground, and things get weird.

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Episode 87: Virtual Reality, and the Politics of Genetics - The New Yorker

Embryology

Viral vectors travel longer distances than previously thought – Phys.org – Phys.Org

June 16, 2017 Where viral vectors "travel" and which types of neural cells they infect, can be visualized by fluorescent Proteins being transmitted. Credit: Kirsti Witter/Vetmeduni Vienna

Gene transfer is seen as a hopeful therapy for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's patients. The approach involves using harmless laboratory-produced viruses to introduce important genes into the brain cells. In a study on mice, a team of researchers from Vetmeduni Vienna for the first time investigated how far these viruses spread in the brain and which cells they infect. Some of the artificial viruses travelled from the injection site in the brain as far as the olfactory bulb or the cerebellum and infected not only neurons but also other cells. The results, which were published in the journal Histochemistry and Cell Biology, could help to improve the selection of suitable viral "gene transporters" for custom therapies using gene transfer.

Purposefully infecting brain cells with viruses may seem somewhat odd. But for patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's, this type of therapy could be a glimmer of hope. The viruses used in this approach do not trigger any disease themselves. They serve as harmless transporters for genes specifically intended to treat these disorders. The therapy, called gene transfer, uses the ability of viruses to insert their genes into the genome of a host cell. This method could therefore be used to purposefully introduce helpful genetic information into neurons.

Viral vectors don't stay put

Viruses suitable for gene transfer are injected into the brain. Previously, however, there had been no studies of how far the viral transporters can spread from the injection site. Earlier studies had usually only investigated the immediate area around the injection canal. A new study with mice has now shown for the first time that some of the tested viruses can travel long distances into different areas of the brain. "In our study, we injected the viral vectors into key areas of the cerebrum responsible, among other things, for the coordinationof body movement ," explains Kirsti Witter from the Institute for Anatomy, Histology and Embryology at Vetmeduni Vienna. From there, some of the viruses spread into distant areas such as the cerebellum or the olfactory bulb.

"This information is important because, depending on the type of neurodegenerative disease, it may be desirable to have as broad a distribution of the virus as possible or to infect a specific, strictly delimited area," says first author Juraj Hlavaty. "This study also shows that all tested viruses can infect the neurons and the surrounding glial cells as expected. Depending on the type of virus, however, there were differences in the number and ratio of the infected cell types."

Inflammation could influence which brain cells are infected

Depending on the virus strain used, the injection triggered a mild or more pronounced reaction of the nerve tissue in the treated mice. The stronger the immune response, the more glial cells were infected. "The fact that individual viruses infected these cells better than the neurons must, however, still be confirmed in future experiments," says Hlavaty.

The results of the work, achieved in collaboration with the University of West Bohemia, Pilsen, Czech Republic, and the Paul-Ehrlich-Institute, Langen, Germany, should contribute to improve the selection of viral transporters. "The goal is to create a toolbox of possible viruses in order to choose exactly the right transporter for the custom treatment of a neurodegenerative disease," says Witter.

Artificial copies of viruses as hopeful therapy

Copies of lentiviruses are especially well-suited for gene transfer therapy. "The genome of laboratory-produced lentiviruses consists only of areas that are necessary for the infection and incorporation into the genome. This represents a fundamental difference between these viruses and naturally occurring pathogenic viruses," explains Hlavaty. Through the ability of the artificial viruses to enter a host, the inserted human genes are introduced into the infected cells to assume the tasks that the patients' cells no longer perform themselves.

Explore further: Smallest-reported artificial virus could help advance gene therapy

More information: Juraj Hlavat et al. Tropism, intracerebral distribution, and transduction efficiency of HIV- and SIV-based lentiviral vectors after injection into the mouse brain: a qualitative and quantitative in vivo study, Histochemistry and Cell Biology (2017). DOI: 10.1007/s00418-017-1569-1

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Researchers from the University of York and the Quadram Institute have unlocked the genetic secrets of plant cell walls, which could help improve the quality of plant-based foods.

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Viral vectors travel longer distances than previously thought - Phys.org - Phys.Org

Embryology

Greater Manchester community champions celebrated in Queen’s Birthday Honours – Manchester Evening News

A boxer-turned-firefighter and Oldham-born actress Sarah Lancashire have been recognised in the Queens Birthday Honours.

Greater Manchesters police officers and community champions have also been celebrated, as well as trailblazers in research, education, local government and grassroots sport.

Firefighter Nigel Travis, 44, came up with the knockout idea to convert an unused storage unit in Moss Side fire station yard into a boxing den for youngsters in the area.

The project has flourished since it was set up by the former boxer and two fire service colleagues in 2010.

Nigel and his pals aim to show how the discipline of boxing can have a positive impact on young peoples lives.

Nigel, from Worsley, is awarded a British Empire Medal (BEM) for services to boxing and the community.

Im just a boxing coach, said Nigel.

At first I wasnt going to accept it. I felt a bit embarrassed, as Im just doing something that I love.

The dad-of-two said one of his proudest achievements had been in training Connor Tudsbury, who became a national champion.

He turned his life around with boxing, he added.

Oldham-born actress Sarah Lancashire, 52, star of Yorkshire crime drama Happy Valley and Last Tango in Halifax, is made an OBE for her services to drama.

GMP Chf Supt John OHare has been recognised for managing many of the major events held across Greater Manchester, awarded the Queens Police Medal.

He has responsibility for policing football matches and has performed the role of European Commander since 2005 working with Manchester United and Manchester City.

John also has responsibility for security around political party conferences.

In his early career John was the youngest police diver in the country. He also led the high-profile multi-agency response to the Boxing Day floods in 2015.

He said: It is really humbling and I can only justify the nomination by accepting the award on behalf of the fantastic police officers, police staff, key partners and community activists who have supported me over the last 30 years.

A long-serving care home worker has been recognised for services to the disabled in the Queens Birthday Honours.

Daniel Savage, 58, has worked at Brookvale Care Home in Prestwich, Bury, for 20 years and been the chairman there for a decade.

He said he was delighted to receive the British Empire Medal for Services to Disabled People.

My role is to ensure the buildings and are members are being looked after, he said.

The award has been a surprise and in my mind a token of thanks for both the management teams I work with, who have allowed me to serve the community.

The 58-year-old, who works for a computer hardware supplier, is also president of Manchester Reform Synagogue on Jacksons Row in Manchester.

Mr Savage works with 500 Jewish families over Greater Manchester, keeping people together and ensuring elderly members have access to social events.

He said he has recently been working on Gary Nevilles development project which will see the Jacksons Row building demolished for development: Ive spent over ten years working on that project.

Hopefully we would like to think we will break ground next year. This will give the synagogue a new lease of life. It will continue to be the only synagogue in Manchester.

This work over the last 20 years is something Ive been able to give my time to and is something I enjoy, he said.

A superhead who has helped turn around a number of struggling Greater Manchester primary schools has been recognised for services to education.

Simon Bramwell, headteacher of 25 years and leader of 10 primary schools in Manchester, Salford and Bolton, is awarded an OBE in the Queens Birthday Honours.

Mr Bramwell, chief executive of SS Simon and Jude Academy Trust in Great Lever, is credited with helping a number of schools in difficulties quickly improve.

The 57-year-old said: Im really grateful to have been nominated for this honour.

I hope it is seen as a reflection of the dedication and commitment of the large team of dedicated professionals who have helped to improve life chances for young people across the region.

It is an absolute privilege to have done, and continue to do, the job I love. To receive recognition in this way is hugely rewarding and affirming both to myself and other colleagues who work with the same purpose.

I could not have done the work I have without the support and understanding of my family and I know that they too are, as I am, very proud to accept this award.

The policeman killed after confronting the Westminster attacker outside Parliament, Julie Walters and David Walliams are among those honoured by the Queen.

Her Birthday Honours list is described as the most diverse yet, with names ranging from Oscar-winner Olivia de Havilland, turning 101 next month the oldest woman to become a dame, to Ed Sheeran and Judy Murray.

Meanwhile comedian Billy Connolly was given a knighthood and Julie Walters made a Dame.

Yorkshire-born founder of Iceland supermarket Malcolm Walker is knighted for services to retailing, entrepreneurship and charity, while brothers Brian and Alan Stannah, of family-run stairlift company Stannah Lifts, are given MBEs for services to British manufacturing.

In a break with tradition, the Queens Civilian Gallantry List has been released at the same time as the monarchs birthday honours.

PC Keith Palmer, who was sadly stabbed to death by attacker Khalid Masood in March on the forecourt of the Palace of Westminister, is to be posthumously awarded the George Medal for confronting an armed terrorist to protect others and Parliament.

Briton Dominic Troulan, an ex-soldier who was working as a civilian in Kenya when terrorists attacked a shopping mall in 2013, is awarded the George Cross for saving lives during the massacre.

Bernard Kenny, who was stabbed in the abdomen as he tried to stop neo-Nazi Thomas Mair attacking Mrs Cox outside her constituency surgery in Yorkshire, receives the George Medal one year on from the murder.

Two West Yorkshire Police officers, Pc Craig Nicholls and Pc Jonathan Wright, who arrested Mair are awarded the Queens Gallantry Medal.

There are a total of 1,109 people on the Queens Birthday Honours list, of whom 438 are awarded an MBE, 221 an OBE and 303 a BEM.

ORDER OF THE BATH

COMPANION - CB

Janice Lindsay Hartley, from Bowdon. Implementation and Delivery director, Universal Credit, Department for Work and Pensions. For services to the Development of Universal Credit.

ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE

CBE

Sally Kaye Cheshire, Stockport. Chair, Human Fertilisation and Embryology Chair, Health Education England (North). For services to the NHS and Infertility Patients.

OBE

MBE

BRITISH EMPIRE MEDAL - BEM

QUEENS POLICE MEDAL - QPM

Excerpt from:
Greater Manchester community champions celebrated in Queen's Birthday Honours - Manchester Evening News

Anatomy

The Anatomy of Jedd Gyorko’s streaky 2017 – Viva El Birdos

Jedd Gyorko has had a weird season so far. If you read this blog often, youre probably a Cardinals fan, which means youre well aware of that. If not, this graph says it all:

This is a rolling 15-game average of Jedds wRC+ throughout his career, provided by the goodnfolks at Fangraphs.com. wRC+ aggregates all of a hitters contributions at the plate into and spits out a park and league adjusted single number to describe how good or bad a hitter was overall.

Jedd started out the year red hot, and just kept hitting better and better. This eventually culminated in holding a 184 wRC+ for the season on May 6th, 86 plate appearances into the season. That means he was 84% better than league average at the plate over that time frame. If he could have somehow kept that up the whole year, it likely would have resulted in an MVP award. Since then its been all downhill, recording a 76 wRC+ in the next 132 plate appearances. That means hes been 24% worse than league average since that point.

Thats averages out to a 118 wRC+ going into Fridays contest, which is solidly above-average. If he can hold that the rest of the year, it would represent a career high for him, so that sounds great. There is worry among fans though, that hes in a bit of a free fall. Some think hes getting exposed in a full-time role. Lets see what the numbers say.

First off, lets look at Gyorkos strike out and walk numbers throughout the year.

Pitchers mostly have control over strikeouts and walks. They can influence contact quality, but to nowhere near the same level, and its hard to be sure without a really large sample. If pitchers figured something out, youd expect to see it in Gyorkos strikeouts or walks. That doesnt seem to be the case though. Continuing with May 6th as the arbitrary dividing line, heres his K% and BB%:

Nearly identical in walks and strikeouts. Non-contact wOBA is also shown, and that did change. Non-contact wOBA is the non-contact portion of wOBA, which is strikeouts, unintentional walks, and hit-by-pitches. For context, league average is .200. Gyorko is below average over both stretches, but he was .017 points worse over his slump period. However, thats actually only because Gyorko was hit by a pitch during his hot streak, but wasnt during his slump.

So no, Gyorkos struggles havent come in non-contact situations. His slump is due entirely to worse results on-contact. Lets look at a 15-game rolling average of his BABIP (Batting Average on Balls In Play) and ISO (isolated slugging, or slugging percentage minus batting average, to get a measure of extra base hit ability):

Both peaked around the same time that his wRC+ did, and have plummeted since. The BABIP was always going to regress. No one in the history of the game has a true BABIP ability of .400, let alone .500. And if they could, it wouldnt be someone like Jedd, who is slower than average and tries to hit as many fly balls as he can, which have the worst chance of being an in-play hit.

Thats OK, because hitting for power can make up for that, and thats the game Gyorko plays. The ISO has plummeted as well though. On its own, that doesnt spell doom. While its not as noisy as BABIP, ISO varies a lot over the course of a season. Baseball is a game of inches, and the difference between a homer and a fly out to the warning track is just fractions of an inch in terms of where the ball makes contact with the bat.

So lets dig into Gyorkos contact quality. Heres his radial chart for the 2017 season, provided by the statcast data hosted at BaseballSavant.com.

If you havent seen this image before, the protractor-shaped image above is used to represent any batted ball by Exit Velocity and Launch Angle. The six shaded regions represent the six qualities of contact, and each dot represents one of Gyorkos batted balls in 2017. If thats confusing to you, dont worry, I was too at first. Check out this post for a full breakdown of the six types of contact quality.

While this is a great visual, it lacks context. We want to know how Gyorkos quality compares to league average, and it would also be nice to know how productive each category is. For this situation, it would also be helpful to see a split between what his hot streak looked like compared to his current slump. Heres what all that looks like:

When Gyorko was hot, he was hitting a well above average amount of barrels, the best type of batted ball. He was getting very little solid contact though, which is basically a border surrounding barrels. You have to wonder if that was the first part of the regression. When one player has a lot of barrels or solid contact, but not that much of the other, it seems likely that the two would be more even going forward. Despite barrels representing much more area on the radial chart than solid contact, theyre very comparable in terms of the average likelihood of one occurring.

Also notice the weak category, which is any batted ball under 60 MPH, regardless of angle. Those batted balls actually perform at an above-average rate, likely because the defense usually isnt positioned in preparation for batted balls under 60 MPH.

Regardless, its hard to believe its a good sign for a hitter. Like the connection between barrels and solid contact, it seems believable that if a hitter has a lot of weak contact, going forward some of that will turn into under or topped batted balls, which are the two below-average performing batted balls. That looks like the case with Gyorko, who saw a big reduction in weak contact, and a big increase in getting under the ball.

Next up, well look at Gyorkos xwOBA. xwOBA is also brought to you by BaseballSavant.com, and replaces the on-contact portion of wOBA with what it should have been, based on the average performance of each of the players batted balls. This doesnt take into account foot speed or how often a player is shifted against, but nevertheless Craig found that xwOBA was more predictive of future wOBA than wOBA itself. Heres how Gyorko grades out during both streaks:

During his hot streak, Gyorko out-performed his contact quality by .060 points of wOBA. For context, thats the 32nd biggest negative difference of 317 players with at least 40 at bats over that time frame, just outside the top 10%. Still, .399 is an impressive xwOBA, 29th over that time frame, or among the top 9% of the league. Gyorkos hot streak wasnt just luck, he was also just plain tearing the cover off the ball.

On the flip side, his cold streak was entirely earned, with the wOBA matching the xwOBA. What does this mean? Again, it doesnt have to mean anything. Baseball is a game of inches, and hitting is one of the most obvious examples of that fact. Lets push forward though, and see if pitchers are attacking Gyorko any differently. First off, well look at a heatmap of where Gyorko has been pitched in 2017, provided by Baseball Savant. On the left is the hot streak, on the right is the cold streak:

The differences are very minor. Generally, Gyorko is pitched a little bit to the outside portion of the plate, but with the highest density middle-middle. That was the case during both his hot and cold streaks. But thats just part of the equation. What about pitch selection? Are pitchers throwing him a different mix of pitches? Heres a pie chart by pitch type during the hot streak, again courtesy of Baseball Savant:

And heres the same thing, but for his slump:

Again, strikingly familiar. Jedds Zone% is also almost the same over this stretch as well, so pitchers arent avoiding the zone more often.

Jedd is walking and striking out at the same pace. If he wasnt, it would be a good sign that either something was wrong or pitchers were successfully adjusting to him. While theres a .160 point difference between his wOBA in both time frames, xwOBA brings it down to a .100 difference. Thats still very significant, but at the same time, hes getting pitched virtually the same way. All that appears to be going on here is a great example of the contrast between a hitter being as locked in as he can be (and have some things goes his way) vs. something being a little off.

Its always fun to find something more concrete, but the season is just full of ups and downs is a valid answer in baseball. Hitters talk about this all the time. Sometimes the ball looks like a beach ball, other times a marble. Its just part of the game. Going forward, hell almost certainly be somewhere in-between. Baseball is a game of streaks. Lets hope Jedd is about done with this one.

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The Anatomy of Jedd Gyorko's streaky 2017 - Viva El Birdos

Anatomy

What’s New On Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, And HBO This Weekend: ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, ‘Star Trek Beyond’, ‘The … – Decider

Where to Stream

Strap in, cord-cutters, because your weekend is about to be jam-packed with the highest quality content you can get your hands on.Platforms like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO, Showtime, Starz,Sundance Now, and more are delivering more than your moneys worth on all fronts, and between original content and hit television series, the summer streaming selections just keep raising the bar every week.

Netflix has the biggest bingers covered with the latest series of Shonda Rhimes series likeScandalandGreys Anatomydropping this weekend, as well as the ridiculously hilarious original specialOh, Hello On Broadway. Hulu and Amazon Prime Video are following suit with a handful of hit TV series and blockbusters, and HBO has your laughs covered with comedy specialT.J. Miller: Meticulously Ridiculous. Laughs, thrills, and terrifying scares are in the queue for this weekend, so what are you waiting for? You could be spending this time tackling these top-notch titles!

ShondaLand lovers, rejoice the latest seasons of bothGreys AnatomyandScandaldrop on the platform on Saturday, and theyre better than ever. The thirteenth season of the wildly successful medical drama continues to follow our group of staff as they navigate the complicated waters of the hospital and their own personal traumas. With the departure of a major character impending once again (IS ANYONE SAFE?!), the stakes are higher than ever as this ongoing saga continues its reign.

[StreamGreys Anatomy: Season 13 on Netflix June 17]

The latest installment of the Chris Pine/Zachary Quinto iteration of the franchise does not disappoint as the USS Enterprises crew once again explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space and suddenly find themselves face-to-face with an unexpected, unstoppable enemy. Action-packed, suspenseful, and unexpectedly funny (largely in part to the delightfulSimon Pegg), this Justin Lin-helmed sequel will bring you just as much joy and excitement as the first two flicks and make you remember the gone-to-soon Anton Yelchin fondly.

[StreamStar Trek Beyondon Hulu and Prime Video June 17]

This 1970s-set follow-up to horror hitThe Conjuringonce again depicts the paranormal investigations of Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) as they take on their most hair-raising case yet. The Warrens travel across the pond to aid a single mother raising four children as she copes with an evil spirit infestation, and obviously, total terror ensues. This eerie thrill-ride is a rare example of a quality horror sequel, and you should bump it up to the top of your queue.

[StreamThe Conjuring 2on HBO June 17]

Aquarius: Season 2 (2016) Counterpunch*Netflix Original El Chapo: Season 1 (2017) Marco Luque: Tamo Junto*Netflix Original Marvels Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Season 4 (2016) Mr. Gaga: A True Story of Love and Dance (2015) Oh, Hello On Broadway*Netflix Original Special Quantico: Season 2 (2016) The Ranch: Part 3 *Netflix Original World of Winx: Season 2 *Netflix Original

Greys Anatomy: Season 13 Scandal: Season 6 (2016) The Stanford Prison Experiment (2015)

Shooter: Season 1 (2016)

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What's New On Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, And HBO This Weekend: 'Grey's Anatomy', 'Star Trek Beyond', 'The ... - Decider

Genetics

Select Sires poised to acquire Accelerated Genetics – Eau Claire Country Today

What was more than likely an exciting time for Select Sires employees might have been a bit more of a somber occasion for Accelerated Genetics employees June 13 when it was announced that the boards of directors of the two artificial-insemination cooperatives had reached a decision to join forces.

Under the planned agreement, which will become effective on June 30 if Accelerated Genetics delegates vote in favor of the sale, Select Sires will acquire the assets of Accelerated Genetics, joining forces of the employees and independent sales representatives in each of their geographical member organizations.

Select Sires, Inc., with headquarters in Plain City, Ohio, has about 1,200 employees worldwide, while Accelerated Genetics, headquartered in Baraboo, has 250 employees plus another 180 independent contractors who work for the organization.

Shirley Kaltenbach, Select Sires director of communications, said the decision coincides with an already collaborative business relationship that began in 2001, where the two cooperatives share ownership of World Wide Sires, Ltd. World Wide Sires is the international marketing arm for both co-ops in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Oceania.

Kaltenbach said although some people knew an acquisition might be in the works,there were a lot of people who were surprised by the June 13 announcement.

Over the past few weeks Ive gotten to know quite a few of the (Accelerated Genetics) employees, and they are good people, Kaltenbach said.It was a struggle for them the day they were told what was going on. These are people who might have worked 30 or 40 years and have been totally loyal to Accelerated Genetics.

While its exciting for us (at Select Sires), we needed to take a step back and think about those people and the tough day they were going to have learning that they might be at risk of being terminated or they were going to work with somebody they have competed with for years. Theyre great people and they have a genuine love for this industry.

Angie Lindloff, Accelerated Genetics vice president of marketing and communications, said it was no secret that Accelerated had been struggling financially in recent years.

From our standpoint we needed help, she said. We needed to partner with someone in the industry to make sure our customers will have the products and services they need. Sometimes in order to move forward, you have to join forces and utilize your resources together.

Kaltenbach and Lindloff said they didnt know how many employees might be displaced by the merger.

Lindloff said she hope(s) a lot of (Accelerated Genetics) team members will be offered positions moving forward.

Theyre trying to do the best for the majority of our employees, she said, to either repurpose them or find them a position.

Kaltenbach said Select Sires has nine member organizations including East Central Select Sires in Waupun and NorthStar Cooperative in Lansing, Mich., that together serve Wisconsin and each member organization will retain the number of Accelerated Genetics employees they need to serve their customers.

Short term, everything will stay the same, and (Accelerated Genetics) will operate as they normally do, Kaltenbach said. Itll probably remain like that until we get a long-term strategy in place. It has to evolve. Right now were trying to transition everything.

I can tell you that each person is valued and important and the goal is to make sound business decisions and take on as many as we can.

Lindloff said the acquisition has been in the works for several months, but only a few employees from each of the co-ops knew of the negotiations.

Its all been very confidential, she said. You have to protect the business and employees and sales representatives from their competitors. You have to keep mergers and acquisitions very quiet to do it correctly.

Lindloff said merging the two companies will give the larger cooperative more genetic strength and a bigger sire offering for our customers.

All of our customers will have access to all the good stuff offered by both companies, including the animal product line that both co-ops sell, she said.

Accelerated Genetics delegates are scheduled to vote on the proposed sale on June 22. If the vote is favorable, the deal will close on June 30.

Accelerated Genetics was formed as Vernon County Breeders in 1941. The cooperative consolidated with Trempealeau County Breeders Cooperative in 1947 and Tri-State Breeders was formed. The name was changed to Accelerated Genetics in January 1995.

The cooperative is led by a 10-member board of directors with dairy and beef farm members in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois.

Select Sires nine member cooperatives cover the U.S. The co-op was formed in 1965 when four farmer-owned co-ops joined forces to offer a wider variety of genetic options to their members and improve efficiencies. Select Sires is the largest artificial insemination organization in North America.

Original post:
Select Sires poised to acquire Accelerated Genetics - Eau Claire Country Today

Genetics

Antonio Giraldez Named Chair of Genetics – Yale News

by Jill Max June 13, 2017

Antonio J. Giraldez, Ph.D., has been appointed chair of the Department of Genetics, effective June 1, 2017. Giraldez is professor of genetics and is affiliated with the Yale Cancer Center and the Yale Stem Cell Center. He was director of graduate studies for the Department of Genetics from 2012 to 2016.

Antonio is an outstanding investigator who has made major advances in our understanding of embryonic development. He is committed to continuing the outstanding academic tradition of the department, said Robert J. Alpern, M.D., dean and Ensign Professor of Medicine.

My goal is to continue our trajectory of basic science discovery and bring the research thats being done in our human genetics core closer to patients, so that we become a destination point for analyzing the genomes of thousands of patients.

Giraldezs research in developmental biology, genetics, genomics, and computational biology delves into deciphering the mechanisms by which a single-cell zygote transforms into a multicellular organism. Using zebrafish as a model system, his major contribution has been to contribute to our understanding of the maternal-to-zygote transitionwhat he terms embryonic pubertythe shift that occurs after the embryo interprets and destroys maternal instructions and activates the code contained in its own genome. He also found that the same stem cell factors that reprogram cells play a key role in activation of the genome after fertilization, a universal step in embryonic development that allows an early embryo to develop into different cell types.

Under his leadership, the Department of Genetics will continue to recruit outstanding faculty as it moves into a more quantitative approach to genetics and developmental biology and seeks to bring new understanding to the function of individual genes, as well as the organization of nuclear architecture into gene function. At the same time, Giraldez is excited about the central role genetics will play in our program in personalized medicine. He is eager to build upon Yales strengths in genomic analysis for clinical diagnosis and to leverage the knowledge gained from clinical data to propel basic science discoveries using model systems.

Last year, Giraldez was named as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Faculty Scholar, an award that recognizes basic researchers who apply innovative approaches to biological problems that are relevant to human health. In 2014, he won the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Sciences. He was named as a Pew Scholar in Biomedical Sciences in 2008 and won the John Kendrew Young Investigator Award from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in 2007. He has twice been a finalist for the Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists.

Giraldez obtained his doctoral degree in developmental genetics from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany and did postdoctoral training in developmental biology at the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine at New York University Langone Medical Center and Harvard University.

This article was submitted by John Dent Curtis on June 13, 2017.

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Antonio Giraldez Named Chair of Genetics - Yale News

Cell Biology

Pierre Coulombe, Ph.D. to lead UM Department of Cell & Developmental Biology – University of Michigan Health System News (press release)

ANN ARBOR, MI One of the oldest departments at the University of Michigan is about to get a new leader. The U-M Board of Regents today approved the appointment of Pierre A. Coulombe, Ph.D., to lead the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology in the Medical School.

Coulombe will become chair on August 1, and lead one of the nine basic science departments of Michigan Medicine, U-Ms academic medical center. The departments researchers study how structure governs function in cells and tissues throughout the body, and how complex arrays of signals are integrated to foster the proper development of tissues and organs. They also study stem cells, including embryonic stem cells, and train undergraduate, graduate and medical students in cell biology.

The department traces its roots back to 1854, soon after the founding of the Medical School, when it was known as the Department of Anatomy.

Coulombe comes to Michigan from Johns Hopkins University, where he chaired the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the Bloomberg School of Public Health for nine years, and held the E.V. McCollum professorship as well as several joint appointments in the School of Medicine. At Hopkins, Coulombe was noted for at recruiting and nurturing junior faculty members to success, and developing robust training programs for graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. He was also instrumental in addressing the departments infrastructure needs.

To me, cell and developmental biology are critically important endeavors as one seeks to translate the wealth of knowledge acquired in biochemistry and molecular biology, along with the power of imaging techniques, into a better understanding of how organs and tissues form, and operate, under normal and disease conditions, he says. This knowledge is also important for developing novel therapies for human disease. U-M already is a formidable institution, and otherwise is making a substantial investment into biomedical research. Therefore, I am absolutely thrilled about the opportunity to lead Cell & Developmental Biology, and team up with my new colleagues in the department and at U-M, to fulfill this potential.

In addition to his appointment in Cell & Developmental Biology, Coulombe will have a joint appointment in the U-M Department of Dermatology. His research focuses on understanding how keratin proteins and the nanoscale filaments they form foster an optimal architecture and function in skin and related epithelia, and how disruption of these processes result in diseases ranging from inherited conditions to cancer.

A native of Montral, Qubec, Coulombe earned his undergraduate degree from the Universit du Qubec Montral and his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Universit de Montral. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology & Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Chicago before joining Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1992. He is the author of more than 140 peer-reviewed publications and one book, holds one patent, and has received multiple awards in recognition of his research and teaching endeavors.

For more about the U-M Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, visit https://medicine.umich.edu/dept/cell-developmental-biology.

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Pierre Coulombe, Ph.D. to lead UM Department of Cell & Developmental Biology - University of Michigan Health System News (press release)