University of Virginia

About: University of Virginia is a education organization based out in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 52543 authors who have published 113268 publications receiving 5220506 citations. The organization is also known as: U of V & UVa.

Non-muscle myosin II takes centre stage in cell adhesion and migration.

Abstract: Non-muscle myosin II (NM II) is an actin-binding protein that has actin cross-linking and contractile properties and is regulated by the phosphorylation of its light and heavy chains. The three mammalian NM II isoforms have both overlapping and unique properties. Owing to its position downstream of convergent signalling pathways, NM II is central in the control of cell adhesion, cell migration and tissue architecture. Recent insight into the role of NM II in these processes has been gained from loss-of-function and mutant approaches, methods that quantitatively measure actin and adhesion dynamics and the discovery of NM II mutations that cause monogenic diseases.

Common variants at MS4A4/MS4A6E, CD2AP, CD33 and EPHA1 are associated with late-onset Alzheimer's disease.

Abstract: The Alzheimer Disease Genetics Consortium (ADGC) performed a genome-wide association study of late-onset Alzheimer disease using a three-stage design consisting of a discovery stage (stage 1) and two replication stages (stages 2 and 3). Both joint analysis and meta-analysis approaches were used. We obtained genome-wide significant results at MS4A4A (rs4938933; stages 1 and 2, meta-analysis P (P(M)) = 1.7 × 10(-9), joint analysis P (P(J)) = 1.7 × 10(-9); stages 1, 2 and 3, P(M) = 8.2 × 10(-12)), CD2AP (rs9349407; stages 1, 2 and 3, P(M) = 8.6 × 10(-9)), EPHA1 (rs11767557; stages 1, 2 and 3, P(M) = 6.0 × 10(-10)) and CD33 (rs3865444; stages 1, 2 and 3, P(M) = 1.6 × 10(-9)). We also replicated previous associations at CR1 (rs6701713; P(M) = 4.6 × 10(-10), P(J) = 5.2 × 10(-11)), CLU (rs1532278; P(M) = 8.3 × 10(-8), P(J) = 1.9 × 10(-8)), BIN1 (rs7561528; P(M) = 4.0 × 10(-14), P(J) = 5.2 × 10(-14)) and PICALM (rs561655; P(M) = 7.0 × 10(-11), P(J) = 1.0 × 10(-10)), but not at EXOC3L2, to late-onset Alzheimer's disease susceptibility.

Determinants of woody cover in African savannas

Abstract: Savannas are globally important ecosystems of great significance to human economies. In these biomes, which are characterized by the co-dominance of trees and grasses, woody cover is a chief determinant of ecosystem properties1–3. The availability of resources (water, nutrients) and disturbance regimes (fire, herbivory) are thought to be important in regulating woody cover1,2,4,5, but perceptions differ on which of these are the primary drivers of savanna structure. Here we show, using data from 854 sites across Africa, that maximum woody cover in savannas receiving a mean annual precipitation (MAP) of less than ,650mm is constrained by, and increases linearly with, MAP. These arid and semi-arid savannas may be considered ‘stable' systems in which water constrains woody cover and permits grasses to coexist, while fire, herbivory and soil properties interact to reduce woody cover below the MAP-controlled upper bound. Above a MAP of ,650mm, savannas are ‘unstable' systems in which MAP is sufficient for woody canopy closure, and disturbances (fire, herbivory) are required for the coexistence of trees and grass. These results provide insights into the nature of African savannas and suggest that future changes in precipitation6 may considerably affect their distribution and dynamics.

Measures of classroom quality in prekindergarten and children's development of academic, language, and social skills.

Abstract: This study examined development of academic, language, and social skills among 4-year-olds in publicly supported prekindergarten (pre-K) programs in relation to 3 methods of measuring pre-K quality, which are as follows: (a) adherence to 9 standards of quality related to program infrastructure and design, (b) observations of the overall quality of classroom environments, and (c) observations of teachers’ emotional and instructional interactions with children in classrooms. Participants were 2,439 children enrolled in 671 pre-K classrooms in 11 states. Adjusting for prior skill levels, child and family characteristics, program characteristics, and state, teachers’ instructional interactions predicted academic and language skills and teachers’ emotional interactions predicted teacher-reported social skills. Findings suggest that policies, program development, and professional development efforts that improve teacher–child interactions can facilitate children’s school readiness.

BEDTools: The Swiss‐Army Tool for Genome Feature Analysis

Abstract: Technological advances have enabled the use of DNA sequencing as a flexible tool to characterize genetic variation and to measure the activity of diverse cellular phenomena such as gene isoform expression and transcription factor binding Extracting biological insight from the experiments enabled by these advances demands the analysis of large, multi-dimensional datasets This unit describes the use of the BEDTools toolkit for the exploration of high-throughput genomics datasets Several protocols are presented for common genomic analyses, demonstrating how simple BEDTools operations may be combined to create bespoke pipelines addressing complex questions