Resolving the neural circuits of anxiety

Although anxiety disorders represent a major societal problem demanding new therapeutic targets, these efforts have languished in the absence of a mechanistic understanding of this subjective emotional state. While it is impossible to know with certainty the subjective experience of a rodent, rodent models hold promise in dissecting well-conserved limbic circuits. The application of modern approaches in neuroscience has already begun to unmask the neural circuit intricacies underlying anxiety by allowing direct examination of hypotheses drawn from existing psychological concepts. This information points toward an updated conceptual model for what neural circuit perturbations could give rise to pathological anxiety and thereby provides a roadmap for future therapeutic development.National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (U.S.) (NIH Director’s New Innovator Award DP2-DK-102256-01)National Institute of Mental Health (U.S.) (NIH) R01-MH102441-01)JPB Foundatio

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure

The use of allozyme electrophoresis to assess genetic heterogeneity among previously subspeciated isolates of Fusobacterium nucleatum

Fusobacterium nucleatum has been implicated in the pathogenesis of periodontal diseases. Five subspecies have previously been proposed. The validity of these subdivisions was investigated using allozyme electrophoresis for 21 enzyme mobilities. The 18 F. nucleatum isolates tested had previously been subspeciated and included type strains as well as isolates from both oral and extraoral sites. The results showed 2 distinct genetic groups with fixed differences at 82.5% of the test loci, indicative of a species complex with a number of subspecies within each of the 2 groups. There was also evidence of a correlation between the 2 major groups of isolates and the site from which they were taken. It was concluded that there is a high degree of genetic heterogeneity within the species F. nucleatum and that its current subspeciation is of questionable validity.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/860425

A randomized trial to consider the effect of Romanian deadlift exercise on the development of lumbar extension strength

Objective To consider the efficacy of 10 weeks of Romanian deadlift (DL) training in increasing lumbar extension strength compared to isolated lumbar extension (LUMX) training. Design Comparison of pre- and post-test data for Romanian deadlift 1RM, and lumbar extension torque between and within groups. Participants Male trained subjects (n = 36; 24.9 ± 6.5 years; 178.5 ± 5.2 cm; 81.6 ± 10.0 kg). Main outcome measures Pre- and post-testing included a Romanian deadlift 1RM and isometric strength tests every 12° through full range of motion on the MedX lumbar extension machine (MedX, Ocala, FL). Results Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Bonferroni adjustments revealed that 1RM Romanian deadlift significantly increased from pre- to post-test in the DL group (p < 0.008; 143.3 ± 23.4 kg to 166.3 ± 21.9 kg) and the LUMX group (p < 0.008; 135.8 ± 23.1 kg to 146.0 ± 25.5 kg). In contrast, tested functional torque (TFT) significantly increased at 6 out of 7 joint angles (p < 0.008) for the LUMX group only. The control group showed no significant differences pre- to post-test. Conclusions These data suggest that the Romanian deadlift does not enhance lumbar extension torque. However, performing specific isolated lumbar extension training appears to improve both lumbar extension torque and Romanian deadlift 1RM

Review and “Vote Count” Analysis of OTL-Effect Studies

In the fourth chapter an overview is given of 51 primary studies, conducted during the last twenty years. Schematic summary descriptions are put together in a large summary table. Although quantitative meta-analysis of these studies was beyond the scope of this review study, some basic summary tables were produced to provide an overall orientation on how OTL had been researched and what can be concluded about its effectiveness. It is concluded that the vote count measure of OTL, (i.e. the percentage of effect sizes that were statistically significant and positive) established in this study, and which was 44 %, is of comparable size to other effectiveness enhancing conditions like achievement orientation, learning time and parental involvement, but dramatically higher than vote count measures for variables like cooperation and educational leadership. What should be considered is that vote counting is a rather crude procedure and that comparison of quantitative effect sizes is more informative