There is a lack of comprehensive lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) content in pre-licensure nursing curricula. LGBTQI+ people commonly experience mistreatment from nurses and healthcare providers due to a lack of knowledge or personal biases. To date, few instruments exist to guide LGBTQI+-specific curricular improvement. Johns Hopkins School of Nursing LGBTQI+ Health Initiative and Emory University School of Nursing developed the Tool for Assessing LGBTQI+ Health Training (TALHT) to assist in evaluating gaps and redundancies in LGBTQI+ health content within pre-licensure nursing curricula. Face and content validity were evaluated among experts in LGBTQI+ health, curricular development, nursing education, and measure development (N = 22). The TALHT was modified based on expert feedback and a pilot with pre-licensure faculty (N = 13) to evaluate utility and acceptability of the refined measure. Face and content validity evaluation of the 60-item iteration of the TALHT showed that the majority of items were consistently relevant among external expert reviewers. However, the clarity and readability of items were lacking. We triangulated the quantitative and qualitative data from experts to adapt and reduce the number of items in the TALHT to 20 items. Pilot testing of the revised 20-item measure found that utility and acceptability of the tool were rated highly among pre-licensure faculty. The validation of the TALHT comes at a time when this type of instrument is clearly needed. The Future of Nursing 2020-2030 report calls for nursing education to incorporate competencies in caring for diverse populations to promote health equity. The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education calls for a transition to operationalization of competency-based nursing education. The TALHT provides faculty and programs with a valid and reliable means to operationalize implementation of those competencies as they pertain to LGBTQI+ health.

Caveolin-1 (CAV1) is a membrane-sculpting protein that oligomerizes to generate flask-shaped invaginations of the plasma membrane known as caveolae. Mutations in CAV1 have been linked to multiple diseases in humans. Such mutations often interfere with oligomerization and the intracellular trafficking processes required for successful caveolae assembly, but the molecular mechanisms underlying these defects have not been structurally explained. Here, we investigate how a disease-associated mutation in one of the most highly conserved residues in CAV1, P132L, affects CAV1 structure and oligomerization. We show that P132 is positioned at a major site of protomer–protomer interactions within the CAV1 complex, providing a structural explanation for why the mutant protein fails to homo-oligomerize correctly. Using a combination of computational, structural, biochemical, and cell biological approaches, we find that despite its homo-oligomerization defects P132L is capable of forming mixed hetero-oligomeric complexes with WT CAV1 and that these complexes can be incorporated into caveolae. These findings provide insights into the fundamental mechanisms that control the formation of homo- and hetero-oligomers of caveolins that are essential for caveolae biogenesis, as well as how these processes are disrupted in human disease.

Nutrients consumed during the adult stage are a key factor affecting the growth, development, and reproduction of insect offspring and thus could play an important role in insect population research. However, there is absence of conclusive evidence regarding the direct effects of parental (F₀) nutritional status on offspring (F₁) fitness in insects. Carposina sasakii Matsumura is a serious, widespread fruit-boring pest that negatively impacts orchards and the agricultural economy across East Asia. In this study, life history data of F₁ directly descended from F₀ C. sasakii fed with seven different nutrients (water as control, 5 g·L⁻¹ honey solution, 10 g·L⁻¹ honey solution, 5 g·L⁻¹ sucrose solution, 10 g·L⁻¹ sucrose solution, 15 g·L⁻¹ sucrose solution, and 20 g·L⁻¹ sucrose solution) were collected under laboratory conditions. The growth and development indices, age-stage specific survival rate, age-stage specific fecundity, age-stage specific life expectancy, age-stage specific reproductive value, and population parameters of these offspring were analyzed according to the age-stage, two-sex life table theory. The results showed that the nutritional status of F₀ differentially affects the growth, development, and reproduction of F₁. The F₁ offspring of F₀ adult C. sasakii fed with 10 g·L⁻¹ sucrose had significantly higher life table parameters than those of other treatments (intrinsic rate of increase, r = 0.0615 ± 0.0076; finite rate of increase, λ = 1.0634 ± 0.0081; net reproductive rate, R₀ = 12.61 ± 3.57); thus, 10 g·L⁻¹ sucrose was more suitable for raising C. sasakii in the laboratory than other treatments. This study not only provides clear evidence for the implications of altering F₀ nutritional conditions on the fitness of F₁ in insects, but also lays the foundation for the implementation of feeding technologies within the context of a well-conceived laboratory rearing strategy for C. sasakii.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the adaptive mechanism of morphological and structural changes to habits, during the metamorphosis development of Carposina sasakii Matsumura, 1900. Traditional dissection, paraffin section, and scanning electron microscopy techniques were used to study the morphological structure and cytohistology of the digestive system in different developmental stages of C. sasakii by classical comparativemorphology study. In order to adapt to the change of feeding habits from solid in the larva stage to liquid in the adult stage, the digestive tract of C. sasakii reconstructed in the pupal stage. The crop of the foregut transformed from a spherical shape in the larval stage to an enlarged lateral, accessory, bag-like structure beyond middle of pupal stage and in the adult stage. The hindgut transformed from a columnar structure in the larval stage to a dilated rectal sac at the end of the hindgut in the adult stage. The morphological changes of the digestive tract provided the basis for theC. sasakii to adapt to the changes of food habits and environment. In addition, the present study provides a basis for better understanding of pupal reconstruction of digestive tract. It also lays the foundation for the nutritional physiology and co-evolution between C. sasakii at different stages and its host plant, while providing morphological data for the toxicological and pathological research of this significant agricultural pest.

Bovine chymosin is key for cheese production, yet its traditional sourcing is unsustainable. While microbial and plant-based alternatives exist, they often cause non-specific proteolysis, leading to bitter flavors in cheese. This study aims to develop a high-yield, methanol-independent platform for recombinant bovine chymosin production by engineering the expression system of Komagataella phaffii through multi-factorial optimization. Initially, the native bovine prochymosin gene (pcw) was codon-optimized (pcm14) and cloned, along with an mCherry-tag construct (clpcm14), into inducible vector pPIC9 for expression in Komagataella phaffii GS115. Screening identified the fusion-tagged strain clp2-91 as the highest producer. Subsequently, the inducible AOX1 promoter in the previously selected clp2-91 strain was replaced with a constitutive GAP promoter, yielding engineered strain GH1. Cultivated in a 3L fermenter, GH1 exhibited a volumetric productivity of 105.03 SU/(mL·h), twice that of inducible strain clp2-91 (53.59 SU/(mL·h)). The further optimization of fermentation conditions (pH 4.0, glucose as carbon source, fed-batch mode) boosted the enzyme activity of GH1 to 12,000 SU/mL. The recombinant chymosin exhibited enzymatic properties similar to those of the native enzyme and, importantly, demonstrated a broader pH stability (pH 2.0–6.0). This study demonstrates an efficient strategy for chymosin expression in K. phaffii, offering insights that may support the future development and optimization of heterologous protein production in this yeast.