A review of the importance of the Caribbean region in Oligo-Miocene low latitude planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy and the implications for modern biogeochronological schemes

Planktonic foraminifera are widely used in marine biostratigraphy thanks to their small size, limited stratigraphic range and abundance in oceanic sediments. The utility of planktonic foraminifera in biostratigraphy was first fully recognised within the Caribbean region during the middle of the 20th century. The area was critical for the subsequent development of the low latitude biostratigraphic schemes and remains fundamental for modern day biogeochronologies. This study presents a historical review of the Oligo-Miocene component of these biostratigraphic schemes, including the first proposed scheme of Cushman and Stainforth (1945) and the subsequent development. The work of Hans Bolli and Walter Blow is particularly highlighted due to their heavy influence on modern day biostratigraphy, including these authors initially recognising the biostratigraphic utility of a number of bioevents still applied today. These Caribbean-centric schemes are correlated to the modern-day low latitude biogeochronology of Wade et al. (2011), with this synthesis highlighting that a number of bioevents (e.g. Top Paragloborotalia kugleri and Top Catapsydrax dissimilis) have been applied consistently since their initial recognition. This in turn allows the recognisability of these bioevents to be deduced based on how consistently applied each datum has been. In addition, the range charts of six studies focusing heavily on the Caribbean have been reassessed to determine whether there is potential to apply a given bioevent, and the original author merely did not recognise the biostratigraphic utility of the species or favoured another bioevent. In considering this historical review, a number of amendments to Wade et al. (2011) and future priorities to planktonic foraminifera biogeochronologies are suggested. Most notably, the re-introduction of Base Globigerinatella insueta as a primary bioevent due to the historical biostratigraphic importance of this species. This event now defines early Miocene Subzone M3b (Gt. insueta/Ct. dissimilis PRZ) dividing Zone M3 into an upper Subzone M3b (Base Gt. insueta) and lower Subzone M3a (Base Globigerinatella sp.). Finally, the Miocene to Recent timescale of Wade et al. (2011) has been recalibrated following more recent updates to the magnetostratigraphy (Kochhann et al., 2016; Ogg et al., 2016; Drury et al., 2017; Beddow et al., 2018) and cyclostratigraphy (Wilkens et al., 2017). The overall effect on the planktonic foraminifera biogeochronology is minor but our results become the suggested biostratigraphic framework for the low latitudes

Are recovery stories helpful for women with eating disorders? A pilot study and commentary on future research

Background: Anecdotally it is well known that eating disorder memoirs are popular with people with anorexia nervosa and recovery stories are readily available online. However, no research to date has empirically explored whether such stories are helpful for current sufferers. The aim of the current pilot study was to explore the efficacy of recovery narratives as a means of improving motivation and self-efficacy and to qualitatively explore patient perspectives of such stories. Method: Fifty-seven women with anorexia nervosa and subclinical anorexia nervosa participated in this online study. Participants were randomised to either receive recovery stories or to a wait-list control group. After completing baseline measures, participants read five stories about recovery, and completed post-intervention measures two weeks later. Results: The quantitative results indicated that reading stories of recovery had no effect on motivation and self-efficacy over a two-week period. In contrast, the qualitative results showed that the stories generated thoughts about the possibility of recovery and the majority indicated they would recommend them to others. Conclusions: This study adds to a growing body of research exploring the integration of voices of lived experience into treatment approaches. Future research should focus on 1) identifying for whom and at which stage of illness recovery stories might be helpful; 2) the mechanism via which they might operate; and 3) the most helpful way of presenting such stories

Quantifying the profile and progression of impairments, activity, participation, and quality of life in people with Parkinson disease : protocol for a prospective cohort study

Background Despite the finding that Parkinson disease (PD) occurs in more than one in every 1000 people older than 60 years, there have been few attempts to quantify how deficits in impairments, activity, participation, and quality of life progress in this debilitating condition. It is unclear which tools are most appropriate for measuring change over time in PD. Methods and design This protocol describes a prospective analysis of changes in impairments, activity, participation, and quality of life over a 12 month period together with an economic analysis of costs associated with PD. One-hundred participants will be included, provided they have idiopathic PD rated I-IV on the modified Hoehn & Yahr (1967) scale and fulfil the inclusion criteria. The study aims to determine which clinical and economic measures best quantify the natural history and progression of PD in a sample of people receiving services from the Victorian Comprehensive Parkinson\u27s Program, Australia. When the data become available, the results will be expressed as baseline scores and changes over 3 months and 12 months for impairment, activity, participation, and quality of life together with a cost analysis. Discussion This study has the potential to identify baseline characteristics of PD for different Hoehn & Yahr stages, to determine the influence of disease duration on performance, and to calculate the costs associated with idiopathic PD. Valid clinical and economic measures for quantifying the natural history and progression of PD will also be identified

Reptilian Heart Development And The Molecular Basis Of Cardiac Chamber Evolution

The emergence of terrestrial life witnessed the need for more sophisticated circulatory systems. This has evolved in birds, mammals and crocodilians into complete septation of the heart into left and right sides, allowing separate pulmonary and systemic circulatory systems, a key requirement for the evolution of endothermy(1-3). However, the evolution of the amniote heart is poorly understood. Reptilian hearts have been the subject of debate in the context of the evolution of cardiac septation: do they possess a single ventricular chamber or two incompletely septated ventricles(4-7)? Here we examine heart development in the red-eared slider turtle, Trachemys scripta elegans (a chelonian), and the green anole, Anolis carolinensis (a squamate), focusing on gene expression in the developing ventricles. Both reptiles initially form a ventricular chamber that homogenously expresses the T-box transcription factor gene Tbx5. In contrast, in birds and mammals, Tbx5 is restricted to left ventricle precursors(8,9). In later stages, Tbx5 expression in the turtle (but not anole) heart is gradually restricted to a distinct left ventricle, forming a left-right gradient. This suggests that Tbx5 expression was refined during evolution to pattern the ventricles. In support of this hypothesis, we show that loss of Tbx5 in the mouse ventricle results in a single chamber lacking distinct identity, indicating a requirement for Tbx5 in septation. Importantly, misexpression of Tbx5 throughout the developing myocardium to mimic the reptilian expression pattern also results in a single mispatterned ventricular chamber lacking septation. Thus ventricular septation is established by a steep and correctly positioned Tbx5 gradient. Our findings provide a molecular mechanism for the evolution of the amniote ventricle, and support the concept that altered expression of developmental regulators is a key mechanism of vertebrate evolution

Protocol for a home-based integrated physical therapy program to reduce falls and improve mobility in people with Parkinson’s disease

Background The high incidence of falls associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD) increases the risk of injuries and immobility and compromises quality of life. Although falls education and strengthening programs have shown some benefit in healthy older people, the ability of physical therapy interventions in home settings to reduce falls and improve mobility in people with Parkinson’s has not been convincingly demonstrated.Methods/design 180 community living people with PD will be randomly allocated to receive either a home-based integrated rehabilitation program (progressive resistance strength training, movement strategy training and falls education) or a home-based life skills program (control intervention). Both programs comprise one hour of treatment and one hour of structured homework per week over six weeks of home therapy. Blinded assessments occurring before therapy commences, the week after completion of therapy and 12 months following intervention will establish both the immediate and long-term benefits of home-based rehabilitation. The number of falls, number of repeat falls, falls rate and time to first fall will be the primary measures used to quantify outcome. The economic costs associated with injurious falls, and the costs of running the integrated rehabilitation program from a health system perspective will be established. The effects of intervention on motor and global disability and on quality of life will also be examined. Discussion This study will provide new evidence on the outcomes and cost effectiveness of home-based movement rehabilitation programs for people living with PD

Emotional problems in preadolescents in Norway: the role of gender, ethnic minority status, and home- and school-related hassles

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>"The gender gap" refers to a lifelong higher rate of emotional problems in girls, as compared to boys, that appears during adolescence. The gender gap is a well-replicated finding among older adolescents and is assumed to be a cross-cultural phenomenon. However, these cross-cultural studies have not investigated the gender gap in ethnic minorities but sampled ethnic majority adolescents in different countries. Some studies that investigated the gender gap across ethnic groups indirectly (by presenting emotional problem scores stratified by gender and ethnic group) indicate that the gender gap is less prominent or even absent among minorities. The aims of this study were to assess whether the gender gap is found in both majority and minority preadolescents, and to investigate whether a possible (gender and ethnic) group difference can be accounted for by differences in home or school hassles.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Participants were 902 preadolescent students (aged 10 to 12) from two cities in Norway. We collected self-report measures of emotional problems and home and school hassles. Using mediated moderation analysis we tested whether the interaction effect between gender and ethnic minority background on emotional problems was mediated by home or school hassles.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The gender gap in emotional problems was restricted to ethnic majority preadolescents. School hassles but not home hassles accounted in part for this effect.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The absence of the gender gap among minority as opposed to majority preadolescents may indicate that social circumstances may postpone or hamper the emergence and magnitude of the gender gap in ethnic minority preadolescents. In this study, school hassles partly accounted for the combined gender and ethnic group differences on emotional problems. This indicates that school hassles may play a role in the higher levels of emotional problems in preadolescent minority boys and consequently the absence of a gender gap found in our minority sample.</p

3D extracellular matrix microenvironment in bioengineered tissue models of primary pediatric and adult brain tumors.

Dynamic alterations in the unique brain extracellular matrix (ECM) are involved in malignant brain tumors. Yet studies of brain ECM roles in tumor cell behavior have been difficult due to lack of access to the human brain. We present a tunable 3D bioengineered brain tissue platform by integrating microenvironmental cues of native brain-derived ECMs and live imaging to systematically evaluate patient-derived brain tumor responses. Using pediatric ependymoma and adult glioblastoma as examples, the 3D brain ECM-containing microenvironment with a balance of cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions supports distinctive phenotypes associated with tumor type-specific and ECM-dependent patterns in the tumor cells\u27 transcriptomic and release profiles. Label-free metabolic imaging of the composite model structure identifies metabolically distinct sub-populations within a tumor type and captures extracellular lipid-containing droplets with potential implications in drug response. The versatile bioengineered 3D tumor tissue system sets the stage for mechanistic studies deciphering microenvironmental role in brain tumor progression