Status of Coral Reefs in the US Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico: Florida, Texas, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands and Navassa

The following report on the status of US Caribbean coral reef ecosystems has been summarised from more extensive reports submitted to the US Coral Reef Task Force (USCRTF) working group that implemented in 2000 ‘A National Program to Assess, Inventory, and Monitor US Coral Reef Ecosystems’. The more-lengthy reports are also the basis for the biennial-issued document, ‘Status and Trends of US Coral Reef Ecosystems’. Each author is a recognised technical expert with responsibility for monitoring and/or managing aspects of their respective coral reef ecosystems

Oleic acid is an endogenous ligand of TLX/NR2E1 that triggers hippocampal neurogenesis

Altres ajuts: Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), Core Facility Support Award (CPRIT-RP180672, R1313, 1R01GM138781-01); NIH (CA125123, RR024574); Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development of the NIH (P50HD103555); BCM start-up funds; Albert and Margaret Alkek Foundation; McNair Medical Institute; Robert and Janice McNair Foundation; BCM Seed Funding (1P20CA221731-01A1); National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R01 GM120033); Cynthia and Antony Petrello Endowment; Mark A. Wallace Endowment; McKnight Foundation; Dana Foundation; BCM Computational and Integrative Biomedical Research Center seed grant.Neural stem cells, the source of newborn neurons in the adult hippocampus, are intimately involved in learning and memory, mood, and stress response. Despite considerable progress in understanding the biology of neural stem cells and neurogenesis, regulating the neural stem cell population precisely has remained elusive because we have lacked the specific targets to stimulate their proliferation and neurogenesis. The orphan nuclear receptor TLX/NR2E1 governs neural stem and progenitor cell self-renewal and proliferation, but the precise mechanism by which it accomplishes this is not well understood because its endogenous ligand is not known. Here, we identify oleic acid (18:1ω9 monounsaturated fatty acid) as such a ligand. We first show that oleic acid is critical for neural stem cell survival. Next, we demonstrate that it binds to TLX to convert it from a transcriptional repressor to a transcriptional activator of cell-cycle and neurogenesis genes, which in turn increases neural stem cell mitotic activity and drives hippocampal neurogenesis in mice. Interestingly, oleic acid-activated TLX strongly up-regulates cell cycle genes while only modestly up-regulating neurogenic genes. We propose a model in which sufficient quantities of this endogenous ligand must bind to TLX to trigger the switch to proliferation and drive the progeny toward neuronal lineage. Oleic acid thus serves as a metabolic regulator of TLX activity that can be used to selectively target neural stem cells, paving the way for future therapeutic manipulations to counteract pathogenic impairments of neurogenesis

The State of Coral Reef Ecosystems of the United States and Pacific Freely Associated States: 2002

Called for by the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force’s (USCRTF) National Action Plan to Conserve Coral Reefs, this is the first biennial report on the condition of coral reefs. It is the scientific baseline for subsequent reports on the health of U.S. coral reef ecosystems that are to be used by NOAA and others to evaluate the efficacy of coral reef conservation and management practices. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Ocean Service led the development of this report. It was authored by 38 experts and supported by 79 contributors from government agencies and non-governmental organizations across the nation and internationally. Over 100 Task Force members and other notable scientists have reviewed this document

Rare coding variants in ten genes confer substantial risk for schizophrenia

Rare coding variation has historically provided the most direct connections between gene function and disease pathogenesis. By meta-analysing the whole exomes of 24,248 schizophrenia cases and 97,322 controls, we implicate ultra-rare coding variants (URVs) in 10 genes as conferring substantial risk for schizophrenia (odds ratios of 3-50, PPeer reviewe

Rosamond Gilder and the Theatre

212 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1974.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD

Neuronal correlates of ketamine and walking induced gamma oscillations in the medial prefrontal cortex and mediodorsal thalamus

<div><p>Alterations in the function of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and its major thalamic source of innervation, the mediodorsal (MD) thalamus, have been hypothesized to contribute to the symptoms of schizophrenia. The NMDAR antagonist ketamine, used to model schizophrenia, elicits a brain state resembling early stage schizophrenia characterized by cognitive deficits and increases in cortical low gamma (40–70 Hz) power. Here we sought to determine how ketamine differentially affects spiking and gamma local field potential (LFP) activity in the rat mPFC and MD thalamus. Additionally, we investigated the ability of drugs targeting the dopamine D4 receptor (D4R) to modify the effects of ketamine on gamma activity as a measure of potential cognitive therapeutic efficacy. Rats were trained to walk on a treadmill to reduce confounds related to hyperactivity after ketamine administration (10 mg/kg s.c.) while recordings were obtained from electrodes chronically implanted in the mPFC and MD thalamus. Ketamine increased gamma LFP power in mPFC and MD thalamus in a similar frequency range, yet did not increase thalamocortical synchronization. Ketamine also increased firing rates and spike synchronization to gamma oscillations in the mPFC but decreased both measures in MD thalamus. Conversely, walking alone increased both firing rates and spike-gamma LFP correlations in both mPFC and MD thalamus. The D4R antagonist alone (L-745,870) had no effect on gamma LFP power during treadmill walking, although it reversed increases induced by the D4R agonist (A-412997) in both mPFC and MD thalamus. Neither drug altered ketamine-induced changes in gamma power or firing rates in the mPFC. However, in MD thalamus, the D4R agonist increased ketamine-induced gamma power and prevented ketamine’s inhibitory effect on firing rates. Results provide new evidence that ketamine differentially modulates spiking and gamma power in MD thalamus and mPFC, supporting a potential role for both areas in contributing to ketamine-induced schizophrenia-like symptoms.</p></div

Perceptions of family acceptance into the military community among U.S. LGBT service members: A mixed-methods study

Introduction: Despite calls to increase representation of diverse family structures in military family research, little is known about the experiences of the families of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) service members (SMs). Using minority stress theory and a mixed-methods design, this study considers LGBT SMs' perceptions of family acceptance within the military community. Methods: Survey data from 115 LGBT SMs who have a spouse or partner, a child or children, or both and qualitative data from 42 LGBT SMs who participated in semi-structured interviews were used. Demographic information, perceived family acceptance by the SM's unit, leadership, and duty station, and beliefs about the appropriateness of military services for LGBT families were examined. Results: Many LGBT SMs, in both quantitative and qualitative findings, felt their families were accepted, although many still perceived a lack of acceptance, particularly regarding appropriateness of military family support services. No differences in perceived family acceptance were noted across sexual and gender identity categories. LGBT SMs who reported lower acceptance were more likely to report concerns about their family's safety and the appropriateness of family support services, as well as increased physical and mental health symptoms. Discussion: These findings shed light on the experiences of LGBT military families and highlight both successes, with respect to inclusion, and areas for more scrutiny. Results raise particular concerns about supportive services that are perceived to be inappropriate for LGBT families. Evaluating LGBT families' use of supportive services, barriers to accessing services, and outcomes of these experiences should be prioritized

Effects of dopamine D4R agonist and antagonist on ketamine-induced changes in spiking activity.

<p><b>A-B,</b> Average firing rates of putative mPFC pyramidal neurons (<b>A</b>) and MD thalamus neurons (<b>B</b>) at baseline (black), 15 minutes after the pretreatment injection (solid color), and 15 minutes after the subsequent additional administration of 10 mg/kg ketamine (striped). Bars in white, in red or in blue correspond to pretreatments with either saline, antagonist 5 mg/kg L-745,870 s.c., or agonist 3 mg/kg A-412997 s.c., respectively (saline: mPFC: n = 45 neurons, MD thalamus: n = 37 neurons; L-745,870: mPFC: n = 30 neurons, MD thalamus: n = 31 neurons; A-412997: mPFC: n = 38 neurons, MD thalamus: n = 31 neurons). <b>C-D,</b> Bar graphs show spike-gamma LFP correlations (filtered from 40–70 Hz) for mPFC pyramidal neurons (<b>C</b>) and MD thalamus neurons (<b>D</b>). There were no significant differences between pretreatment groups in the effect of ketamine on firing rates or spike-LFP correlations (<i>p</i> > 0.05, one-way ANOVAs). All data collected from treadmill walking epochs. Values are reported as mean ± SEM; neurons from 6 rats. *:<i>p</i> < 0.05, **:<i>p</i> < 0.01, ***:<i>p</i> < 0.001, paired bootstrap tests compare baseline walk and the drug treatments.</p