Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a bioactive phospholipid with a diverse range of biological activities including the modulation of adipogenesis. Treatment of 3T3-L1 cells and 3T3F44A cells with LPA inhibits adipogenesis and reduces expression of PPARγ through activation of RhoGTPase and its downstream Rho associated kinase (ROCK). The mechanism of suppression of PPARγ expression by Rho/ROCK is poorly understood. By treating the differentiating 3T3-L1 cells with various combinations of LPA and ROCK inhibitors, Y-27632 and fasudil, we observed that LPA treatment resulted in attenuation of adipogenesis and a significant reduction in PPARγ mRNA as early as 3 d post-induction. LPA treatment also resulted in significant but delayed upregulation of components of the canonical Wnt signaling, namely Wnt10b mRNA, β-catenin protein, and mRNA expression of β-catenin target genes, detectable at day 7, but not day 3. Treatment of the 3T3-L1 cells with ROCK inhibitors Y-27632 and fasudil revealed a tonic activation of β-catenin/target genes by ROCK. This study identified the existence of a novel cross talk between the Rho/ROCK pathway and the Wnt-signaling pathway. The LPA/Rho/ROCK pathway inhibits expression of PPARγ and adipogenesis in part through a delayed activation of the canonical Wnt-signaling pathway based on increased Wnt10b expression and β-catenin induction.

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Abstract. Digitisation for the purposes of recording cultural heritage and its condition is conventionally associated with the task of documentation for conservation. Occasionally emergency recording will anticipate the potential imminent destruction of heritage at risk. By contrast here, although the heritage status of the site whilst proposed in the 1990s, it was never secured yet the closure and eventual dismemberment of the buildings is a plan that is already underway. The coal washeries of Onllwyn sit within a vast landscape that is now most widely recognised as a National Park. During the last century, however, it was a thriving industrial site. The assembly of buildings used to wash and sort coal prior to distribution were recorded using a terrestrial laser scanner and an aerial drone in August 2022 shortly prior to the closure of a site that had been part of a changing industrial landscape since the mid-nineteenth century. As part of a wide agreement to build a historic narrative for a once large industrial site with a planned closure a comprehensive historical review has been built. This included the acquisition of historic maps but also of numerous historical aerial and terrestrial photographs as well as the collation of films and oral histories. Here pointclouds generated from terrestrial laser scans, photogrammetry from drone imagery and photogrammetry from historical aerial images have been combined in an attempt to create a navigable digital backdrop to the decommissioning of a vast industrial landscape as it anticipates a new future. The aim of the models created is to provide a virtual spatial platform to co-locate memories of a community life that is left centred around a lost place of work.

The Microfilm™ Test System is intended for quantitative microbiology and consists of three types of Microfilms for aerobic plate count (Microfilm APC), total coliform and Escherichia coli count (Microfilm TCEc), and yeast and mold count (Microfilm YMC). This study evaluated the performance of the Microfilm Test System against International Organization for Standardization (ISO) methods on 20 food matrixes and 2 environmental surfaces. Ruggedness, robustness, and stability were also determined, while inclusivity and exclusivity studies were performed on Microfilm TCEc and YMC. An independent laboratory evaluated the performance on four food matrixes and one environmental surface. No significant differences and high correlation coefficients were observed between the Microfilm Test System and the corresponding ISO methods (ISO 4833-1:2013 for APC, ISO 4832:2006 for total coliform count, ISO 16649-2: 2001 for E. coli, and ISO 21527 Part 1 and Part 2 for YMC) in spiked food matrixes and environmental samples. These results were corroborated by the independent laboratory. Inclusivity and exclusivity studies for Microfilm TCEc showed expected results for all the E. coli strains tested (blue-violet or violet color), while the related coliforms showed the expected blue-green colonies on the Microfilm. Similarly, all 100 fungal strains tested showed typical growth on Microfilm YMC. Exclusivity testing on Microfilm TCEc and YMC showed no growth of nontarget organisms. Robustness and ruggedness studies showed no significant differences in mean difference counts at varying incubation temperatures and times. Stability studies on three lots of the Microfilm Test System showed that it is stable at 2-25°C for 12 months and at 45°C for 6 weeks.