Behavior modification: Addressing the challenging behaviors within an Early Childhood Program

Addressing challenging behaviors in our Early Childhood Programs will always be a topic of concern for the teachers as well as for the students. One solution in avoiding misbehavior is to find the antecedent before the behavior can begin to be a disruption. A discussion of the consequences are also important aspects for children and adults to understand when thinking about how to control an unwanted act of aggression. “Aggressive behavior usually follows an event that the patient perceives as provocative. Types of provocation include perceptions of disrespectful treatment; unfairness/injustice; frustration/interruption; annoying traits, and irritations” (Daffern & Tonkin, 2010, para. 21). Research has found that how a child behaves can stem from cultural backgrounds, whether the child is raised in the rural or urban areas and how differences can play a role within different daycare centers. The findings within this research opened a discussion and posed the question: what can we do as teachers to prevent misbehaviors? Thinking about where the behaviors are coming from each educator will view each case on an individual level when looking for a solution or a prevention to the current problem

Toxin production by Ascochyta rabiei, the causal agent of ascochyta blight of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), and development of a transformation protocol for the fungus.

Ascochyta rabiei is the causal agent of blight of chickpea, an important food legume crop for human populations in Developing Countries. All reliably identified isolates of the fungus produce toxins in culture, known as the solanapyrones, of which solanapyrone A is the most frequently found and also the most toxic. The principal aim of the project was to determine the role of this toxin in the disease syndrome by producing toxin-minus mutants and testing them for virulence. Four transformation techniques were attempted: Restriction Enzyme Mediated Integration (REMI), electroporation, particle bombardment and Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. With the last, employing a T-DNA containing a hygromycin resistance gene, 908 transformants were obtained from germinated pycnidiospores on a selective medium containing hygromycin. Genuine transformants were tested for the production of solanapyrone A using an assay in microtitre plates. Loss of toxin production by transformants was confirmed by reversed phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography. Sixteen transformants produced significantly less solanapyrone A than the wild-type strain. Transformants were also screened for integration events by PCR, using primers specific to the hygromycin resistance gene and homologous hybridisation to a probe consisting of this gene. Among the four transformants tested, three have integrated two copies of T-DNA and one had a single insertion. In order to optimise the production of solanapyrone A so as to provide a source of the compound for screening chickpea genotypes, three types of cultures of A. rabiei were tested: still culture, shake culture and fermenter culture. The toxin was purified from culture filtrates by solvent partitioning followed by flash chromatography. The effect of two safeners on the sensitivity of chickpea shoots to solanapyrone A was tested using bioassays. Dichlormid (300 or 800 g per shoot) and fenclorim (18 g per shoot) decreased the sensitivity of chickpea shoots to solanapyrone A 1.6 and 2.5-fold, respectively

Four Dimensional Tops

Color poster with text and diagrams.String theory predicts that the universe has extra dimensions, which have the structure of Calabi-Yau varieties; the universes defined by these varieties are conjectured to occur in physically indistinguishable pairs. The mathematical field of mirror symmetry seeks to understand the geometric correspondences between paired Calabi-Yau varieties. A lattice polytope is defined to be reflexive if its polar dual is also a lattice polytope. It has already been shown that reflexive polytopes can be used to describe Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces. This study looks at reflexive polytopes to gain important insight into the nature of hidden dimensions in space. Reflexive polytopes have been classified in 3D and 4D, with 4,319 and 473,800,776 classes of equivalent polytopes respectively.University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

Profil psychopharmacologique de l'alcool et de la cholecystokinine en utilisant le paradigme du conditionnement discriminatif

Thèse de doctorat -- Université catholique de Louvain, 198

Transcriptional Analysis of Testicular Cells Contributing to Sperm Development

Proper transcriptional regulation of testicular cells is necessary for the production of spermatozoa. One key aspect of this is the control of male germ cells, which develop from spermatogonia in a tightly coordinated manner to mature into spermatozoa that will ultimately be released from the seminiferous tubule lumen and go on to form viable sperm. During germ cell development, meiosis occurs in order to ensure the proper number of chromosomes are passed on to the future sperm. We describe how one important meiotic protein, stimulated by retinoic acid gene 8 (STRA8), is actually necessary for proper spermatogonial development prior to meiotic initiation. While a focus on germ cells is clearly impactful for male fertility, equally as important are the somatic cells that provide nutrients, structural support and specialized niches, and signaling mechanisms to support germ cell development. To address the importance of somatic Sertoli cells for germ cell development, we employed single-cell and bulk RNA-sequencing to compare transcript changes throughout the cycle of the seminiferous epithelium in both germ cell-sufficient and -deficient mice. We found that in the absence of germ cells, Sertoli cells do not have normal transcriptomes, thus highlighting the importance of germ-Sertoli crosstalk during spermatogenesis. Together, we show the complexity of both germ and somatic cells necessary for proper male germ cell development, and how deficiencies in multiple cell types can have negative implications for fertility

Preference and aversion for brain stimulations estimated by the conditioned place preference.

Rats implanted with chronic electrode into the medial forebrain bundle at the level of the hypothalamus (which elicited self-stimulation behaviour) display conditioned place preference after repeated stimulations of this area; conversely rats implanted into the mesencephalic dorso-medial tegmentum (which elicited switch-off behaviour) present conditioned place aversion after such repeated stimulations. Furthermore rats implanted in these two area without exhibiting self-stimulation or switch-off behaviours also display preference or aversion for the location paired with the brain stimulations. It was thus hypothesized that the conditioned place preference procedure seemed to present a higher sensitivity than the bar pressing procedures to detect preference or aversion for brain stimulation. Moreover the activation of the medial forebrain bundle which was associated with positive affect is more effective for a long term retention of the preferred location than midbrain periventricular reticular activation which induces a negative affect

Differential-effects of Cerulein and Bombesin On the Ethanol Intake in the Rat

Male Wistar rats were allowed to drink either water or water mixed with ethyl alcohol (4%, 8% and 12%) as part of a water-deprived procedure. The decapeptide caerulein (1,3 and 6-mu-g/kg i.p.), a cholecystokinin analog, decreased the intake of ethanol while the consumption of tap water remained unchanged in a choice paradigm. The addition of quinine (a bitter substance) in drinking bottles did not significantly modify the fluid consumption while the i.p. injection of caerulein produced a significant decrease in the consumption of the saccharin containing bottle. The i.p. administration of bombesin (10 and 20-mu-g/kg) failed to modify the intake of water or ethanol solution in water-deprived animals. Interpretations are given in terms of the action of the cholecystokinin analog on differences in the taste intensity induced by the beverage or in terms of a direct consequence of the caerulein-induced decreased gastric emptying effect leading to an accumulation of ethanol in the gut