181 research outputs found
Alien Registration- Dora, Oliver (Farmington, Franklin County)
https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/19884/thumbnail.jp
Maternal Consumption of Seafood in Pregnancy and Child Neuropsychological Development: A Longitudinal Study Based on a Population With High Consumption Levels
Seafood consumption during pregnancy is thought to be beneficial for child neuropsychological development, but to our knowledge no large cohort studies with high fatty fish consumption have analyzed the association by seafood subtype. We evaluated 1,892 and 1,589 mother-child pairs at the ages of 14 months and 5 years, respectively, in a population-based Spanish birth cohort established during 2004-2008. Bayley and McCarthy scales and the Childhood Asperger Syndrome Test were used to assess neuropsychological development. Results from multivariate linear regression models were adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics and further adjusted for umbilical cord blood mercury or long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid concentrations. Overall, consumption of seafood above the recommended limit of 340 g/week was associated with 10-g/week increments in neuropsychological scores. By subtype, in addition to lean fish, consumption of large fatty fish showed a positive association; offspring of persons within the highest quantile (>238 g/week) had an adjusted increase of 2.29 points in McCarthy general cognitive score (95% confidence interval: 0.42, 4.16). Similar findings were observed for the Childhood Asperger Syndrome Test. Beta coefficients diminished 15%-30% after adjustment for mercury or long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid concentrations. Consumption of large fatty fish during pregnancy presents moderate child neuropsychological benefits, including improvements in cognitive functioning and some protection from autism-spectrum traits
Asamblea de madres y padres: construyendo una escuela intercultural inclusiva
La construcción de una escuela intercultura inclusiva implica una transformación de la cultura y la organización de los centros educativos. Este proceso pasa por una serie de etapas que requieren forzosamente del análisis y autoevaluación de la realidad escolar y del tratamiento de la diversidad para, seguidamente, llevar a cabo propuestas y acciones de mejora consensudas por parte de toda la comunidad educativa.
La experiencia que estamos llevando a cabo en un centro de infantil y primaria de la provincia de Castellón está inmersa en este proceso de cambio hacia una escuela intercultural inclusiva, para ello, se ha diseñado una herramienta de análisis y planificado una serie de fases que permiten enmarcar dicha construcción compartida: Sensibilización de la comunidad, Proceso de exploración y reflexión de la realidad, Priorización de las propuestas de mejora, Implementación y seguimiento de los cambios y Reflexión y valoración del proyecto. El objetivo de este trabajo es relatar nuestra experiencia durante el proceso de sensibilización de las familias y concretamente, contar como a través de una asamblea de padres y madres se consiguió involucrar, compartir y hacer partícipes a este sector tan crucial de la comunidad educativa del sueño de la transformación de la escuel
Multimodal Representation Learning for Place Recognition Using Deep Hebbian Predictive Coding
Recognising familiar places is a competence required in many engineering applications that interact with the real world such as robot navigation. Combining information from different sensory sources promotes robustness and accuracy of place recognition. However, mismatch in data registration, dimensionality, and timing between modalities remain challenging problems in multisensory place recognition. Spurious data generated by sensor drop-out in multisensory environments is particularly problematic and often resolved through adhoc and brittle solutions. An effective approach to these problems is demonstrated by animals as they gracefully move through the world. Therefore, we take a neuro-ethological approach by adopting self-supervised representation learning based on a neuroscientific model of visual cortex known as predictive coding. We demonstrate how this parsimonious network algorithm which is trained using a local learning rule can be extended to combine visual and tactile sensory cues from a biomimetic robot as it naturally explores a visually aliased environment. The place recognition performance obtained using joint latent representations generated by the network is significantly better than contemporary representation learning techniques. Further, we see evidence of improved robustness at place recognition in face of unimodal sensor drop-out. The proposed multimodal deep predictive coding algorithm presented is also linearly extensible to accommodate more than two sensory modalities, thereby providing an intriguing example of the value of neuro-biologically plausible representation learning for multimodal navigation
Targeted control of pneumolysin production by a mobile genetic element in Streptococcus pneumoniae
Streptococcus pneumoniae is a major human pathogen that can cause severe invasive diseases such as pneumonia, septicaemia and meningitis. Young children are at a particularly high risk, with an estimated 3–4 million cases of severe disease and between 300 000 and 500 000 deaths attributable to pneumococcal disease each year. The haemolytic toxin pneumolysin (Ply) is a primary virulence factor for this bacterium, yet despite its key role in pathogenesis, immune evasion and transmission, the regulation of Ply production is not well defined. Using a genome-wide association approach, we identified a large number of potential affectors of Ply activity, including a gene acquired horizontally on the antibiotic resistance-conferring Integrative and Conjugative Element (ICE) ICESp23FST81. This gene encodes a novel modular protein, ZomB, which has an N-terminal UvrD-like helicase domain followed by two Cas4-like domains with potent ATP-dependent nuclease activity. We found the regulatory effect of ZomB to be specific for the ply operon, potentially mediated by its high affinity for the BOX repeats encoded therein. Using a murine model of pneumococcal colonization, we further demonstrate that a ZomB mutant strain colonizes both the upper respiratory tract and lungs at higher levels when compared to the wild-type strain. While the antibiotic resistance-conferring aspects of ICESp23FST81 are often credited with contributing to the success of the S. pneumoniae lineages that acquire it, its ability to control the expression of a major virulence factor implicated in bacterial transmission is also likely to have played an important role
Process evaluation of the health education resource Abre los Ojos for street-involved youth in Medellín
ABSTRACT: Conduct a process evaluation of a health
education resource (pamphlet)¸ Abre los Ojos, designed
for street-involved youth in Medellín. The primary foci
of the evaluation were the process of developing the resource
and youth’s subsequent perception of the resource.
Methodology: Drawing upon both qualitative and
quantitative data, a process evaluation was undertaken.
Ninety four street-involved youth between the ages of 14–24 years completed surveys about the resource. These
semi-structured interviews were key for the information
about youth perception of the resource. In addition
to individual interviews, prior to resource creation, a series
of focus groups were integral for the development of
the resource. Results: The process of consulting with the
target population through the focus groups was effective
in obtaining their ideas and feedback about what type of
content they would like to see in a health education resource,
and how they wanted that content presented. After
distribution, participants described that Abre los Ojos
contained information that was valuable and relevant
to their experiences. While not a primary focus of this
evaluation, the individual interviews were also able to
provide some preliminary insight into whether Abre los
Ojos was an effective means for participants to increase
their knowledge of content included in the resource.
Conclusion: The collaborative process of jointly developing
the resource content in partnership with the youth
proved very worthwhile. While our research team chose
to include information about HIV, through focus group
dialogue, the youth themselves determined the additional
content themes (piercings, use of solvents, and description
of life on the street). The resulting resource was
well-received by members of the street-involved population
who had not been involved in its design.RESUMEN: Evaluar el proceso de desarrollo del folleto
educativo en salud Abre los ojos, diseñado para jóvenes en
situación de calle en Medellín. Se evaluaron tanto el proceso
de su creación como su percepción posterior entre los jóvenes.
Metodología: la evaluación incluyó el análisis de datos
cuantitativos y cualitativos mediante entrevistas individuales
y grupos focales con jóvenes en situación de calle de
Medellín. De estos jóvenes, 94, con edades entre 14 y 24 años,
respondieron una encuesta de percepciones sobre el material.
Resultados: los grupos focales fueron efectivos para recoger
las ideas y sugerencias del tipo de contenido que ellos querían
para el material educativo de salud y la forma de presentarlo.
Después de distribuirlo, la respuesta general resultó positiva.
Manifestaron que contenía información valiosa y relevante en
relación con sus experiencias. Pese a no ser el objeto principal
de esta evaluación, las entrevistas individuales proporcionaron
resultados preliminares acerca de la posible efectividad del
material educativo para incrementar el nivel de conocimiento
de los participantes sobre los temas allí incluidos. Conclusión:
el proceso colaborativo para desarrollar el contenido del
material educativo, en asocio con los jóvenes, probó ser
muy valioso. Mientras que los investigadores seleccionaron
información sobre vih, los jóvenes seleccionaron información
de otros temas como piercing, uso de solventes y lo que
significa vivir en la calle. El material educativo resultante fue
bien recibido por representantes de los jóvenes en situación
de calle de Medellín, diferentes a los que participaron en su
diseño
Asymmetric dimethylarginine enables depolarizing spikes and vasospasm in mesenteric and coronary resistance arteries
BACKGROUND:
Increased vasoreactivity due to reduced endothelial NO bioavailability is an underlying feature of cardiovascular disease, including hypertension. In small resistance arteries, declining NO enhances vascular smooth muscle (VSM) reactivity partly by enabling rapid depolarizing Ca2+-based spikes that underlie vasospasm. The endogenous NO synthase inhibitor asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) is metabolized by DDAH1 (dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase 1) and elevated in cardiovascular disease. We hypothesized ADMA might enable VSM spikes and vasospasm by reducing NO bioavailability, which is opposed by DDAH1 activity and L-arginine.
METHODS:
Rat isolated small mesenteric arteries and myogenic rat-isolated intraseptal coronary arteries (RCA) were studied using myography, VSM intracellular recording, Ca2+ imaging, and DDAH1 immunolabeling. Exogenous ADMA was used to inhibit NO synthase and a selective DDAH1 inhibitor, NG-(2-methoxyethyl) arginine, to assess the functional impact of ADMA metabolism.
RESULTS:
ADMA enhanced rat-isolated small mesenteric arteries vasoreactivity to the α1-adrenoceptor agonist, phenylephrine by enabling T-type voltage-gated calcium channel-dependent depolarizing spikes. However, some endothelium-dependent NO-vasorelaxation remained, which was sensitive to DDAH1-inhibition with NG-(2-methoxyethyl) arginine. In myogenically active RCA, ADMA alone stimulated depolarizing Ca2+ spikes and marked vasoconstriction, while NO vasorelaxation was abolished. DDAH1 expression was greater in rat-isolated small mesenteric arteries endothelium compared with RCA, but low in VSM of both arteries. L-arginine prevented depolarizing spikes and protected NO-vasorelaxation in rat-isolated small mesenteric artery and RCA.
CONCLUSIONS:
ADMA increases VSM electrical excitability enhancing vasoreactivity. Endothelial DDAH1 reduces this effect, and low levels of DDAH1 in RCAs may render them susceptible to endothelial dysfunction contributing to vasospasm, changes opposed by L-arginine
Expanding tropical forest monitoring into Dry Forests: The DRYFLOR protocol for permanent plots
This is the final version. Available on open access from Wiley via the DOI in this recordSocietal Impact Statement
Understanding of tropical forests has been revolutionized by monitoring in permanent plots. Data from global plot networks have transformed our knowledge of forests’ diversity, function, contribution to global biogeochemical cycles, and sensitivity
to climate change. Monitoring has thus far been concentrated in rain forests. Despite
increasing appreciation of their threatened status, biodiversity, and importance to the
global carbon cycle, monitoring in tropical dry forests is still in its infancy. We provide
a protocol for permanent monitoring plots in tropical dry forests. Expanding monitoring into dry biomes is critical for overcoming the linked challenges of climate change,
land use change, and the biodiversity crisis.Newton FundNatural Environment Research Council (NERC)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São PauloCYTE
Extrinsic Rewards and Intrinsic Motives: Standard and Behavioral Approaches to Agency and Labor Markets
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