JOINT INDUSTRY PROJECT ON EFFICIENT CONSUMER RESPONSE (ECR)

Consumer/Household Economics,

Studies on transition metal octacyano-complexes and related species

Imperial Users onl

Narrative Identity in English Language Learning-Towards a Research Agenda-

Articledepartmental bulletin pape

Exploring Motivation through Narratives of Identity Interview and Facebook

Articledepartmental bulletin pape

Models of conversation and narrative : towards a pedagogical description

This is the first of three modules concerned with narrative and identity in English language teaching in Japan. This module makes the case for developing a pedagogical model of spoken discourse, particularly spoken narrative, to aid the teaching of English in foreign language contexts such as Japan. It is proposed that this model should take account of the learners L1, in this case Japanese. Rather than teaching the model, however, it is suggested that the model would ideally be applied using a task-based approach.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Clinicopathological evaluation of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in players of American football

IMPORTANCE: Players of American football may be at increased risk of long-term neurological conditions, particularly chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). OBJECTIVE: To determine the neuropathological and clinical features of deceased football players with CTE. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Case series of 202 football players whose brains were donated for research. Neuropathological evaluations and retrospective telephone clinical assessments (including head trauma history) with informants were performed blinded. Online questionnaires ascertained athletic and military history. EXPOSURES: Participation in American football at any level of play. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Neuropathological diagnoses of neurodegenerative diseases, including CTE, based on defined diagnostic criteria; CTE neuropathological severity (stages I to IV or dichotomized into mild [stages I and II] and severe [stages III and IV]); informant-reported athletic history and, for players who died in 2014 or later, clinical presentation, including behavior, mood, and cognitive symptoms and dementia. RESULTS: Among 202 deceased former football players (median age at death, 66 years [interquartile range, 47-76 years]), CTE was neuropathologically diagnosed in 177 players (87%; median age at death, 67 years [interquartile range, 52-77 years]; mean years of football participation, 15.1 [SD, 5.2]), including 0 of 2 pre–high school, 3 of 14 high school (21%), 48 of 53 college (91%), 9 of 14 semiprofessional (64%), 7 of 8 Canadian Football League (88%), and 110 of 111 National Football League (99%) players. Neuropathological severity of CTE was distributed across the highest level of play, with all 3 former high school players having mild pathology and the majority of former college (27 [56%]), semiprofessional (5 [56%]), and professional (101 [86%]) players having severe pathology. Among 27 participants with mild CTE pathology, 26 (96%) had behavioral or mood symptoms or both, 23 (85%) had cognitive symptoms, and 9 (33%) had signs of dementia. Among 84 participants with severe CTE pathology, 75 (89%) had behavioral or mood symptoms or both, 80 (95%) had cognitive symptoms, and 71 (85%) had signs of dementia. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In a convenience sample of deceased football players who donated their brains for research, a high proportion had neuropathological evidence of CTE, suggesting that CTE may be related to prior participation in football.This study received support from NINDS (grants U01 NS086659, R01 NS078337, R56 NS078337, U01 NS093334, and F32 NS096803), the National Institute on Aging (grants K23 AG046377, P30AG13846 and supplement 0572063345-5, R01 AG1649), the US Department of Defense (grant W81XWH-13-2-0064), the US Department of Veterans Affairs (I01 CX001038), the Veterans Affairs Biorepository (CSP 501), the Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research and Development Traumatic Brain Injury Center of Excellence (grant B6796-C), the Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Alzheimer’s Research Program (grant 13267017), the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment, the Alzheimer’s Association (grants NIRG-15-362697 and NIRG-305779), the Concussion Legacy Foundation, the Andlinger Family Foundation, the WWE, and the NFL

In vitro characterisation of fresh and frozen sex-sorted bull spermatozoa

peer-reviewedThis study sought to compare the in vitro characteristics of fresh and frozen non-sorted (NS) and sex-sorted (SS) bull spermatozoa. Experiment 1: Holstein–Friesian ejaculates (n = 10 bulls) were split across four treatments and processed: (1) NS fresh at 3 × 106 spermatozoa, (2) X-SS frozen at 2 × 106 spermatozoa, (3) X-SS fresh at 2 × 106 spermatozoa and (4) X-SS fresh at 1 × 106 spermatozoa. NS frozen controls of 20 × 106 spermatozoa per straw were sourced from previously frozen ejaculates (n = 3 bulls). Experiment 2: Aberdeen Angus ejaculates (n = 4 bulls) were split across four treatments and processed as: (1) NS fresh 3 × 106 spermatozoa, (2) Y-SS fresh at 1 × 106 spermatozoa, (3) Y-SS fresh at 2 × 106 spermatozoa and (4) X-SS fresh at 2 × 106 spermatozoa. Controls were sourced as per Experiment 1. In vitro assessments for progressive linear motility, acrosomal status and oxidative stress were carried out on Days 1, 2 and 3 after sorting (Day 0 = day of sorting. In both experiments SS fresh treatments had higher levels of agglutination in comparison to the NS fresh (P < 0.001), NS frozen treatments had the greatest PLM (P < 0.05) and NS spermatozoa exhibited higher levels of superoxide anion production compared with SS spermatozoa (P < 0.05). Experiment 1 found both fresh and frozen SS treatments had higher levels of viable acrosome-intact spermatozoa compared with the NS frozen treatments (P < 0.01).ACCEPTEDpeer-reviewe

Hippocampal Gene Expression Analysis Highlights Ly6a/Sca-1 as Candidate Gene for Previously Mapped Novelty Induced Behaviors in Mice

In this study, we show that the covariance between behavior and gene expression in the brain can help further unravel the determinants of neurobehavioral traits. Previously, a QTL for novelty induced motor activity levels was identified on murine chromosome 15 using consomic strains. With the goal of narrowing down the linked region and possibly identifying the gene underlying the quantitative trait, gene expression data from this F2-population was collected and used for expression QTL analysis. While genetic variation in these mice was limited to chromosome 15, eQTL analysis of gene expression showed strong cis-effects as well as trans-effects elsewhere in the genome. Using weighted gene co-expression network analysis, we were able to identify modules of co-expressed genes related to novelty induced motor activity levels. In eQTL analyses, the expression of Ly6a (a.k.a. Sca-1) was found to be cis-regulated by chromosome 15. Ly6a also surfaced in a group of genes resulting from the network analysis that was correlated with behavior. Behavioral analysis of Ly6a knock-out mice revealed reduced novelty induced motor activity levels when compared to wild type controls, confirming functional importance of Ly6a in this behavior, possibly through regulating other genes in a pathway. This study shows that gene expression profiling can be used to narrow down a previously identified behavioral QTL in mice, providing support for Ly6a as a candidate gene for functional involvement in novelty responsiveness