Novel Alkaloids from Marine Actinobacteria: Discovery and Characterization

The marine environment is an excellent resource for natural products with therapeutic potential. Its microbial inhabitants, often associated with other marine organisms, are specialized in the synthesis of bioactive secondary metabolites. Similar to their terrestrial counterparts, marine Actinobacteria are a prevalent source of these natural products. Here, we discuss 77 newly discovered alkaloids produced by such marine Actinobacteria between 2017 and mid-2021, as well as the strategies employed in their elucidation. While 12 different classes of alkaloids were unraveled, indoles, diketopiperazines, glutarimides, indolizidines, and pyrroles were most dominant. Discoveries were mainly based on experimental approaches where microbial extracts were analyzed in relation to novel compounds. Although such experimental procedures have proven useful in the past, the methodologies need adaptations to limit the chance of compound rediscovery. On the other hand, genome mining provides a different angle for natural product discovery. While the technology is still relatively young compared to experimental screening, significant improvement has been made in recent years. Together with synthetic biology tools, both genome mining and extract screening provide excellent opportunities for continued drug discovery from marine Actinobacteria.

Sonic identity and audio branding elements in Spanish radio advertising

The emotional potential of sound is an excellent resource for companies and institutions seeking to test new ways of communicating with their stakeholders through the senses. However, there are still few organizations that include sound as a conveyer of their corporate identity. Audio branding aims to expand the contact points with audiences by incorporating sound elements that facilitate the recognition of the brand's values. This research attempts to understand the use that corporations make of sound as a communication tool and to evaluate its presence, but above all it wants to find out if this use is due to a strategic approach or if it is a specific decision marked by the temporality of advertising campaigns. For this reason, in this paper we have taken the radio as an advertising media. On the one hand, because it is the sound media par excellence. On the other hand, because it is where we can find the most well-known modes of audio branding such as the brand song, the jingle or the sonotype. The sample, composed of 239 inserts from the 3 generalist radio channels with the highest audiences in Spain, reveals that only 21% of items contain an element of audio branding, indicating that this is a field yet to be explored by organizations.

The public and private life of Sol Plaatje

There has been an upswing in attention to South African biography in the past few decades, with a welcome trend towards remaking or revising the canon of important figures from the South African past. This has included edited collections of the works of prominent individuals, and notable among these have been early-twentieth century black African politicians and writers. Historical Publications Southern Africa (renamed from its previous moniker, the Van Riebeeck Society) has published four edited collections of the writings of such individuals since 2008, including Isaac Williams Wauchope, Richard Victor Solope Thema, and A.B. Xuma. A Life in Letters, a collection of Solomon T. Plaatje's correspondence, is the fourth such volume in just over a decade. There are 260 letters, written from 1896 to 1932, included in the book. Most are in English, but some are in Setswana, Dutch/Afrikaans, and a few are in German. Although a number of the letters are from the collections of the Cullen Library at the University of the Witwatersrand, the reviewer counted twenty-seven different collections across three continents. The book is thus an excellent resource not only for historians, but also for students and the general public who now have access to a wide range of Plaatje's thoughts, opinions, and emotions that are evident in his letters.

Melody As An Educational Instrument To Create A Better Environment In Elt Classroom

Young children are learning a second language benefit extensively from songs. The usage of songs in English Language Teaching schools throughout the world is a witness to this. The concept of this study is to scrutinize why pieces may be helpful to teaching aids. It will examine how songs may be used to teach vocabulary and sentence structures and how they can assist learners in improving their listening skills and pronunciation. Integrating English songs into ELT is one pedagogical option. Song, which combines music and lyrics, has many inherent qualities, including a kaleidoscope of culture, expressiveness, reliability, and therapeutic effects, all of which make it an excellent resource for language instruction. This study presents both theoretical and practical justifications for utilizing English songs in ELT.

Revelations About Aging and Disease from Unconventional Vertebrate Model Organisms

Aging is a major risk factor for multiple diseases. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of aging would help to delay and prevent age-associated diseases. Short-lived model organisms have been extensively used to study the mechanisms of aging. However, these short-lived species may be missing the longevity mechanisms that are needed to extend the lifespan of an already long-lived species such as humans. Unconventional long-lived animal species are an excellent resource to uncover novel mechanisms of longevity and disease resistance. Here, we review mechanisms that evolved in nonmodel vertebrate species to counteract age-associated diseases. Some antiaging mechanisms are conserved across species; however, various nonmodel species also evolved unique mechanisms to delay aging and prevent disease. This variety of antiaging mechanisms has evolved due to the remarkably diverse habitats and behaviors of these species. We propose that exploring a wider range of unconventional vertebrates will provide important resources to study antiaging mechanisms that are potentially applicable to humans. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Genetics, Volume 55 is November 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Triton, a new species-level database of Cenozoic planktonic foraminiferal occurrences

Planktonic foraminifera are a major constituent of ocean floor sediments, and thus have one of the most complete fossil records of any organism. Expeditions to sample these sediments have produced large amounts of spatiotemporal occurrence records throughout the Cenozoic, but no single source exists to house these data. We have therefore created a comprehensive dataset that integrates numerous sources for spatiotemporal records of planktonic foraminifera. This new dataset, Triton, contains >500,000 records and is four times larger than the previous largest database, Neptune. To ensure comparability among data sources, we have cleaned all records using a unified set of taxonomic concepts and have converted age data to the GTS 2020 timescale. Where ages were not absolute (e.g. based on biostratigraphic or magnetostratigraphic zones), we have used generalised additive models to produce continuous estimates. This dataset is an excellent resource for macroecological and macroevolutionary studies, particularly for investigating how species responded to past climatic changes.

Using Omics Approaches in the Discovery of Biomarkers for Early Diagnosis of Johne’s Disease in Sheep and Goats

Johne’s disease (JD) is caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) and is an important and emerging problem in livestock; therefore, its control and prevention is a priority to reduce economic losses and health risks. Most JD research has been carried out on cattle, but interest in the pathogenesis and diagnosis of this disease in sheep and goats is greatest in developing countries. Sheep and goats are also a relevant part of livestock production in Europe and Australia, and these species provide an excellent resource to study and better understand the mechanism of survival of MAP and gain insights into possible approaches to control this disease. This review gives an overview of the literature on paratuberculosis in sheep and goats, highlighting the immunological aspects and the potential for “omics” approaches to identify effective biomarkers for the early detection of infection. As JD has a long incubation period before the disease becomes evident, early diagnosis is important to control the spread of the disease.

Loss of active neurogenesis in the adult shark retina

Neurogenesis is the process by which progenitor cells generate new neurons. As development progresses neurogenesis becomes restricted to concrete neurogenic niches, where it persists during postnatal life. The retina of teleost fishes is thought to proliferate and produce new cells throughout life. Whether this capacity may be an ancestral characteristic of jawed vertebrates, shared with chondrichthyans, which diverged from osteichthyans prior to the gnathostome radiation is completely unknown. Previous work from our group revealed that the juvenile retina of the catshark Scyliorhinus canicula shows active proliferation and neurogenesis. Here, we compared the morphology and proliferative status of the retina between catshark juveniles and adults. Histological analyses revealed an important reduction in the size of the peripheral retina (where progenitor cells are mainly located), an increase in the thickness of the plexiform layers and a decrease in the thickness of the inner nuclear layer in adults. Contrary to what has been reported in teleost fish, we did not observe active mitotic activity in the catshark retina after sexual maturation, suggesting that there is no significant proliferation and neurogenesis in adult specimens. Based on these results, we carried out RNA-Sequencing (RNA-Seq) analyses comparing the retinal transcriptome of juveniles and adults, which revealed a statistically significant decrease in the expression of many genes involved in cell proliferation and neurogenesis in adult catsharks. Our RNA-Seq data provides an excellent resource to identify new signaling pathways controlling neurogenesis in the vertebrate retina.

Benefits of introducing Picture books through ICTs in Bilingual Settings: An example with Cuadernia and Press Here by Herve Tullet.

Picture books which were implemented through Wanga Gag’s Millions of Cats have been proven to be an excellent resource because images opposed to words have a leading role. This resource also becomes a perfect ally for digital natives who are appealed to images and with the use of ICT tools turns it into a more appealing and engaging experience.The picture book titled Press Here by Herve Tullet has been used to work the 4Cs of CLIL (Content, Culture, Communication and Cognition) through non-linguistic subjects (Art, Math and Music). Cuadernia due to its flexibility and easiness it is the most suitable ICT tool to introduce a picture book through CLIL methodology at early stages. Different tasks to work Art like the result of mixing primary colors or a video to consolidate the shape of a circle help students to activate their prior knowledge in a visual way. Math was also introduced through Cuadernia with the aim to learn counting until 5 through bottle caps and associated to colors. Lastly, Music together with the shape of the circles was displayed showing finger paint. For all the previously stated ideas, it is highly recommended to use a software like Cuadernia to work any picture book through bilingual methodology because it will broaden students’ knowledge and allow them to practice in a more dynamic and attractive environment.