Non-human Primates in Veterinary Science

Most veterinarians are reluctant to restrain, examine, and treat primates that are kept as pets and would feel inadequate if called upon as a consultant to advise a commercial laboratory on veterinary care of their primate colony. This reluctance stems from ignorance and fear rather than a lack of interest

Training Programs for Veterinarians in Laboratory Animal Medicine

For over a hundred years animal shave been used for research in America. Until the 1920\u27s little attention was given to the maintenance, husbandry, nutrition and diseases of experimental animals. Biological research workers have always realized the importance of maintaining high standards of quality in their research and in recent years these high standards have been extended to their experimental animals

How Short Term Mindfulness Training Affects Emotion Regulation on College Students

Emotion regulation (ER) is the experience and expression of emotions which aids in the balancing of positive emotions and emotional processing (Gross, 2001; Hölzel, 2011). An important advancement in the field of psychology is greater understanding of how treatments can positively influence ER. One promising intervention to improve emotion regulation is mindfulness training—the practice of being aware of one’s current internal state and thoughts to provide a greater attentiveness and acknowledgement to one’s current environment (Hoffman et. al., 2010; Langer 2000). The current study examined the effect of brief mindfulness training on emotion regulation after a sad mood induction via film, as compared to students who received no emotion regulation training. A sample of undergraduate students (n=110, 57% female) were recruited to participate. Subjects were excluded for pre-existing depression, cognitive impairment, and psychiatric medication usage. Participants were randomly assigned to two conditions (e.g., mindfulness vs. no training). Those in the mindfulness training condition were instructed to acknowledge their thoughts and let them pass by like clouds in the sky, while those in the no instruction condition were directed to wait for the next task to begin. All participants then watched two film clips designed to induce negative mood. The results showed significant changes from VAS1 to VAS3 within each emotion. However, there was no significant difference between participants in the mindfulness condition and the no instruction

Finding dex-1 Phenotype Suppressing Components

Caenorhabditis elegans is a species of microscopic round worm that has been used as a genetic model for over forty years. When in an adverse environment, C. elegans larvae cease reproductive development and enter the stress-resistant dauer stage. dex-1 mutants of C. elegans are deficient in this protein, resulting in shortened dendrites and a sensitivity to sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). SDS will kill any non-dauer C. elegans, but wild type dauers will survive well past the standard concentration of 1% SDS. Thus, treatment with SDS is commonly how labs isolate dauers. By contrast, dex-1 dauers (Fig.3) will die when exposed to 1% SDS, but can potentially survive when exposed to less. The focus of this lab is to characterize the genetic pathways that facilitate morphological changes that occur during the dauer stage by finding potential interactors of dex-1 during dauer when conducting a suppressor screen

A microfabricated sensor for thin dielectric layers

We describe a sensor for the measurement of thin dielectric layers capable of operation in a variety of environments. The sensor is obtained by microfabricating a capacitor with interleaved aluminum fingers, exposed to the dielectric to be measured. In particular, the device can measure thin layers of solid frozen from a liquid or gaseous medium. Sensitivity to single atomic layers is achievable in many configurations and, by utilizing fast, high sensitivity capacitance read out in a feedback system onto environmental parameters, coatings of few layers can be dynamically maintained. We discuss the design, read out and calibration of several versions of the device optimized in different ways. We specifically dwell on the case in which atomically thin solid xenon layers are grown and stabilized, in cryogenic conditions, from a liquid xenon bath

Recruitment and baseline characteristics of the Community of Voices choir study to promote the health and well-being of diverse older adults.

Objective:To describe the recruitment and baseline results of the Community of Voices study that aims to examine the effect of a community choir intervention on the health and well-being of older adults from diverse racial/ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Method:Using community-based participatory research methods, we recruited adults age 60 and over from 12 Administration on Aging-supported senior centers in San Francisco into a 2-arm cluster-randomized controlled trial of the community choir intervention. Multiple outreach methods were used. We tracked outreach, screening, and recruitment metrics and collected demographics and baseline outcomes via community-based, interviewer-administered surveys and performance measures of cognition, physical function, and psychosocial variables. Results:The study contacted 819 individuals, screened 636, and enrolled 390 diverse older adults over a 42-month, phased recruitment period. The mean age was 71.2 (SD = 7.3), and the majority were women. Two-thirds of the sample are non-white, and 20% of participants reported having financial hardship. Discussion:Outreach and recruitment methods used in the Community of Voices trial facilitated enrollment of a large proportion of minority and lower-SES older adults in the final sample. Similar recruitment approaches could serve as a model for recruiting diverse racial/ethnic and socioeconomic older adults into research

Weight loss, glycemic control, and cardiovascular disease risk factors in response to differential diet composition in a weight loss program in type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled trial.

ObjectiveTo test whether a weight loss program promotes greater weight loss, glycemic control, and improved cardiovascular disease risk factors compared with control conditions and whether there is a differential response to higher versus lower carbohydrate intake.Research design and methodsThis randomized controlled trial at two university medical centers enrolled 227 overweight or obese adults with type 2 diabetes and assigned them to parallel in-person diet and exercise counseling, with prepackaged foods in a planned menu during the initial phase, or to usual care (UC; two weight loss counseling sessions and monthly contacts).ResultsRelative weight loss was 7.4% (95% CI 5.7-9.2%), 9.0% (7.1-10.9%), and 2.5% (1.3-3.8%) for the lower fat, lower carbohydrate, and UC groups (P < 0.001 intervention effect). Glycemic control markers and triglyceride levels were lower in the intervention groups compared with UC group at 1 year (fasting glucose 141 [95% CI 133-149] vs. 159 [144-174] mg/dL, P = 0.023; hemoglobin A1c 6.9% [6.6-7.1%] vs. 7.5% [7.1-7.9%] or 52 [49-54] vs. 58 [54-63] mmol/mol, P = 0.001; triglycerides 148 [134-163] vs. 204 [173-234] mg/dL, P < 0.001). The lower versus higher carbohydrate groups maintained lower hemoglobin A1c (6.6% [95% CI 6.3-6.8%] vs. 7.2% [6.8-7.5%] or 49 [45-51] vs. 55 [51-58] mmol/mol) at 1 year (P = 0.008).ConclusionsThe weight loss program resulted in greater weight loss and improved glycemic control in type 2 diabetes

Current state of scientific evidence on Internet-based interventions for the treatment of depression, anxiety, eating disorders and substance abuse: An overview of systematic reviews and meta-analyses

BACKGROUND: ICare represents a consortium of European Investigators examining the effects of online mental health care for a variety of common mental health disorders provided in a variety of settings. This article provides an overview of the evidence of effectiveness for Internet-based treatment for four common mental health disorders that are the focus of much of this work: depression, anxiety, substance abuse and eating disorders. METHODS: The overview focused primarily on systematic reviews and meta-analyses identified through PubMed (Ovid) and other databases and published in English. Given the large number of reviews specific to depression, anxiety, substance abuse and/or eating disorders, we did not focus on reviews that examined the effects of Internet-based interventions on mental health disorders in general. Each article was reviewed and summarized by one of the senior authors, and this review was then reviewed by the other senior authors. We did not address issues of prevention, cost-effectiveness, implementation or dissemination, as these are addressed in other reviews in this supplement. RESULTS: Across Internet-based intervention studies addressing depression, anxiety, substance abuse and eating disorders primarily among adults, almost all reviews and meta-analyses found that these interventions successfully reduce symptoms and are efficacious treatments. Generally, effect sizes for Internet-based interventions treating eating disorders and substance abuse are lower compared with interventions for depression and anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: Given the effectiveness of Internet-based interventions to reduce symptoms of these common mental health disorders, efforts are needed to examine issues of how they can be best disseminated and implemented in a variety of health care and other settings