Predicting Child Outcomes from Parenting Styles of Spanish-Speaking Families

The purpose of this study was to evaluate observed parenting practices among first-generation Spanish-speaking Latinos living in Utah. Participants included 50 families with a child between the ages of 4 and 9. Parents and their child engaged in a behavioral observational task that was coded for parenting dimensions and styles to determine if they predict child outcomes among Latino families. Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist to assess for behavioral problems. Observations were coded using the Parenting Scale, developed specifically for this study. In general, parents received high ratings on warmth and demandingness, and lower ratings on autonomy granting. Parenting dimensions significantly predicted internalizing problems. Findings lll also suggested that autonomy granting exerted an influence on total behavioral problems. The application of parenting style categories to Latino parents was not useful. Implications for prevention and intervention methods for Latino families were discussed as well as directions for future research

PEak: A Single Source of Truth for Hardware Design and Verification

Domain-specific languages for hardware can significantly enhance designer productivity, but sometimes at the cost of ease of verification. On the other hand, ISA specification languages are too static to be used during early stage design space exploration. We present PEak, an open-source hardware design and specification language, which aims to improve both design productivity and verification capability. PEak does this by providing a single source of truth for functional models, formal specifications, and RTL. PEak has been used in several academic projects, and PEak-generated RTL has been included in three fabricated hardware accelerators. In these projects, the formal capabilities of PEak were crucial for enabling both novel design space exploration techniques and automated compiler synthesis

Behavioral changes in Rattus norvegicus experimentally infected by Toxocara canis larvae

Toxocara canis is a common canine nematode parasite and one of its possible transmission mechanisms is the predation of infected rodents by canids. Fifty Rattus norvegicus were used to study behavioral alterations in rodents infected by T. canis larvae. The rats were divided into three groups: G1, 20 rats infected with 300 T. canis eggs; G2, 20 rats infected with 2,000 T. canis eggs; and G3, 10 non-infected rats. Thirty and 60 days post-infection, rats from all the groups were submitted to an open-field apparatus for five min and subsequently, to an elevated plus-maze apparatus, again for five min. The data obtained indicated improvement in mobility (total locomotion time and rearing frequency) and exploratory behavior in infected rats, principally in G2, which provides some support for the hypothesis that behavioral alterations in rodents infected by Toxocara canis larvae enhance the transmission rate of this ascarid to dogs.Toxocara canis é um nematódeo parasita habitual do intestino delgado de cães. Um dos mecanismos conhecidos de transmissão para cães é representado pela predação de pequenos roedores que, como hospedeiros paratênicos albergam larvas de Toxocara canis em seus tecidos. Para avaliar a ocorrência de alterações de comportamento em roedores infectados por Toxocara canis 50 exemplares de Rattus norvegicus foram utilizados no experimento. Os animais foram divididos em três grupos: G1 - 20 ratos infectados com 300 ovos de Toxocara canis; G2 - 20 ratos infectados com 2.000 ovos de Toxocara canis e G3 - 10 ratos sem infecção. Trinta e 60 dias após a infecção avaliou-se a ocorrência de alterações comportamentais nos três grupos submetendo os animais, primeiramente, a uma arena de campo aberto durante cinco minutos e, a seguir, a labirinto em cruz elevado por mais cinco minutos. Os resultados obtidos indicaram aumento significativo da mobilidade (tempo total de movimentação e número de vezes em que os animais se levantaram nas patas traseiras) e comportamento exploratório nos ratos infectados, principalmente nos pertencentes ao G2, sugerindo a ocorrência de alterações comportamentais que favoreceriam a transmissão de Toxocara canis para canídeos por meio de relação presa-predador

Brain afferents to the medullary dorsal reticular nucleus: a retrograde and anterograde tracing study in the rat

The medullary dorsal reticular nucleus (DRt) was recently shown to belong to the supraspinal pain control system; neurons within this nucleus give origin to a descending projection that increases spinal nociceptive transmission and facilitates pain perception [Almeida et al. (1999), Eur. J. Neurosci., 11, 110-122]. In the present study, the areas of the brain that may modulate the activity of DRt neurons were investigated by using of tract-tracing techniques. Injection of a retrograde tracer into the DRt resulted in labelling in multiple areas of the brain. In the contralateral orbital, prelimbic, infralimbic, insular, motor and somatosensory cortices labelling was prominent, but a smaller ipsilateral projection from these same areas was also detected. Strong labelling was also noted in the central amygdaloid nucleus, bed nucleus of stria terminalis and substantia innominata. Labelled diencephalic areas were mainly confined to the hypothalamus, namely its lateral and posterior areas as well as the paraventricular nucleus. In the mesencephalon, the periaqueductal grey, red nucleus and deep mesencephalic nucleus were strongly labelled, whereas, in the brainstem, the parabrachial nuclei, rostroventromedial medulla, nucleus tractus solitarius, spinal trigeminal nucleus, and the parvocellular, dorsal, lateral and ventral reticular nuclei were the most densely labelled regions. All deep cerebellar nuclei were labelled bilaterally. These data suggest that the DRt integrates information from the somatosensory, antinociceptive, autonomic, limbic, pyramidal and extrapyramidal systems while triggering its descending facilitating action upon the spinal nociceptive transmission.BIOTECH project n° BIO4-CT98-007676.Pain Gulbenkian Programme.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - project POCTI/NSE/38952/2001

Thiostrepton inhibits stable 70S ribosome binding and ribosome-dependent GTPase activation of elongation factor G and elongation factor 4

Thiostrepton, a macrocyclic thiopeptide antibiotic, inhibits prokaryotic translation by interfering with the function of elongation factor G (EF-G). Here, we have used 70S ribosome binding and GTP hydrolysis assays to study the effects of thiostrepton on EF-G and a newly described translation factor, elongation factor 4 (EF4). In the presence of thiostrepton, ribosome-dependent GTP hydrolysis is inhibited for both EF-G and EF4, with IC(50) values equivalent to the 70S ribosome concentration (0.15 µM). Further studies indicate the mode of thiostrepton inhibition is to abrogate the stable binding of EF-G and EF4 to the 70S ribosome. In support of this model, an EF-G truncation variant that does not possess domains IV and V was shown to possess ribosome-dependent GTP hydrolysis activity that was not affected by the presence of thiostrepton (>100 µM). Lastly, chemical footprinting was employed to examine the nature of ribosome interaction and tRNA movements associated with EF4. In the presence of non-hydrolyzable GTP, EF4 showed chemical protections similar to EF-G and stabilized a ratcheted state of the 70S ribosome. These data support the model that thiostrepton inhibits stable GTPase binding to 70S ribosomal complexes, and a model for the first step of EF4-catalyzed reverse-translocation is presented