Second generation anticoagulant rodenticide residues in barn owls 2018

The current report is the fourth in a series of annual reports that describe the monitoring of second generation anticoagulant rodenticide (SGAR) liver residues in barn owls Tyto alba in Britain. This work is an element of an overarching monitoring programme undertaken to track the outcomes of stewardship activities associated with the use of anticoagulant rodenticides. The barn owl is used for exposure monitoring as it is considered a sentinel for species that are generalist predators of small mammals in rural areas. The specific work reported here is the measurement of liver SGAR residues in 100 barn owls that died in 2018 in locations across Britain. The residue data are compared with those from 395 barn owls that died between 2006 and 2012 (hereafter termed baseline years), prior to changes in anticoagulant rodenticide (AR) authorisations and onset of stewardship. As in the baseline years, the compounds detected most frequently in barn owls that died in 2018 were bromadiolone, difenacoum and brodifacoum. Overall, 87% of the owls had detectable liver residues of one or more SGAR. The metrics to be used for stewardship monitoring are reported below in terms of differences between owls that died in 2018 and in baseline years. Numbers of barn owls containing detectable residues of flocoumafen and difethialone. There was no significant difference in the proportion of barn owls with detectable liver residues of flocoumafen between the baseline years and 2018. There was a significantly higher proportion of barn owls with detectable liver residues of difethialone in 2018 compared to baseline years (8% vs 0.3% ). The ratio of birds with ”low” (100 ng/g wet wt.) concentrations for any single SGAR or for ∑SGARs. There was no significant difference between barn owls from baseline years and from 2018 for any individual compound or for summed SGARs (∑SGARs), although a decrease in the proportion of birds with “high” difenacoum residues approached significance. Average concentrations of brodifacoum, difenacoum, bromadiolone and ∑SGARs in the cohort of owls with “low” residues (100 ng/g ww). There was no significant difference between barn owls from baseline years and from 2018 in the concentrations of either “low” or “high” residues for bromadiolone, difenacoum (data tested statistically only for “low residues”), all residues summed (∑SGARs), or “high” brodifacoum residues. The median concentration of “low” brodifacoum residues was higher in birds from 2018 than in baseline years. Overall, there were few differences in liver SGAR accumulation between barn owls that died in baseline years and in 2018. The lack of significant reductions in SGAR residues in barn owls in 2018 suggests that full implementation of stewardship since 2016 has yet to result in a reduction in exposure of barn owls to SGARs

Behavioral and neuroanatomical consequences of cell-type specific loss of dopamine D2 receptors in the mouse cerebral cortex

Developmental dysregulation of dopamine D2 receptors (D2Rs) alters neuronal migration, differentiation, and behavior and contributes to the psychopathology of neurological and psychiatric disorders. The current study is aimed at identifying how cell-specific loss of D2Rs in the cerebral cortex may impact neurobehavioral and cellular development, in order to better understand the roles of this receptor in cortical circuit formation and brain disorders. We deleted D2R from developing cortical GABAergic interneurons (Nkx2.1-Cre) or from developing telencephalic glutamatergic neurons (Emx1-Cre). Conditional knockouts (cKO) from both lines, Drd2fl/fl, Nkx2.1-Cre+ (referred to as GABA-D2R-cKO mice) or Drd2fl/fl, Emx1-Cre+ (referred to as Glu-D2R-cKO mice), exhibited no differences in simple tests of anxiety-related or depression-related behaviors, or spatial or nonspatial working memory. Both GABA-D2R-cKO and Glu-D2R-cKO mice also had normal basal locomotor activity, but GABA-D2R-cKO mice expressed blunted locomotor responses to the psychotomimetic drug MK-801. GABA-D2R-cKO mice exhibited improved motor coordination on a rotarod whereas Glu-D2R-cKO mice were normal. GABA-D2R-cKO mice also exhibited spatial learning deficits without changes in reversal learning on a Barnes maze. At the cellular level, we observed an increase in PV+ cells in the frontal cortex of GABA-D2R-cKO mice and no noticeable changes in Glu-D2R-cKO mice. These data point toward unique and distinct roles for D2Rs within excitatory and inhibitory neurons in the regulation of behavior and interneuron development, and suggest that location-biased D2R pharmacology may be clinically advantageous to achieve higher efficacy and help avoid unwanted effects.Fil: Lee, Gloria S.. Florida State University; Estados UnidosFil: Graham, Devon L.. Florida State University; Estados UnidosFil: Noble, Brenda L.. Florida State University; Estados UnidosFil: Trammell, Taylor S.. Florida State University; Estados UnidosFil: McCarthy, Deirdre M.. Florida State University; Estados UnidosFil: Anderson, Lisa R.. Florida State University; Estados UnidosFil: Rubinstein, Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; ArgentinaFil: Bhide, Pradeep G.. Florida State University; Estados UnidosFil: Stanwood, Gregg D.. Florida State University; Estados Unido

NIDCAP improves brain function and structure in preterm infants with severe intrauterine growth restriction

Objective: The effect of NIDCAP (Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program) was examined on the neurobehavioral, electrophysiological and neurostructural development of preterm infants with severe intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). Study Design: A total of 30 infants, 27–33 weeks gestation, were randomized to control (C; N=17) or NIDCAP/experimental (E; N=13) care. Baseline health and demographics were assessed at intake; electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 35 and 42 weeks postmenstrual age; and health, growth and neurobehavior at 42 weeks and 9 months corrected age (9 months). Results: C and E infants were comparable in health and demographics at baseline. At follow-up, E infants were healthier, showed significantly improved brain development and better neurobehavior. Neurobehavior, EEG and MRI discriminated between C and E infants. Neurobehavior at 42 weeks correlated with EEG and MRI at 42 weeks and neurobehavior at 9 months. Conclusion: NIDCAP significantly improved IUGR preterm infants' neurobehavior, electrophysiology and brain structure. Longer-term outcome assessment and larger samples are recommended

Psychopathy: what apology making tells us about moral agency

Psychopathy is often used to settle disputes about the nature of moral judgment. The “trolley problem” is a familiar scenario in which psychopathy is used as a test case. Where a convergence in response to the trolley problem is registered between psychopathic subjects and non-psychopathic (normal) subjects, it is assumed that this convergence indicates that the capacity for making moral judgments is unimpaired in psychopathy. This, in turn, is taken to have implications for the dispute between motivation internalists and motivation externalists, for instance. In what follows, we want to do two things: firstly, we set out to question the assumption that convergence is informative of the capacity for moral judgment in psychopathy. Next, we consider a distinct feature of psychopathy which we think provides strong grounds for holding that the capacity for moral judgment is seriously impaired in psychopathic subjects. The feature in question is the psychopathic subject’s inability to make sincere apologies. Our central claim will be this: convergence in response to trolley problems does not tell us very much about the psychopathic subject’s capacity to make moral judgments, but his inability to make sincere apologies does provide us with strong grounds for holding that this capacity is seriously impaired in psychopathy

Histological and ultrastructural comparison of cauterization and thrombosis stroke models in immune-deficient mice

Background: Stroke models are essential tools in experimental stroke. Although several models of stroke have been developed in a variety of animals, with the development of transgenic mice there is the need to develop a reliable and reproducible stroke model in mice, which mimics as close as possible human stroke. Methods: BALB/Ca-RAG2-/-gc-/- mice were subjected to cauterization or thrombosis stroke model and sacrificed at different time points (48hr, 1wk, 2wk and 4wk) after stroke. Mice received BrdU to estimate activation of cell proliferation in the SVZ. Brains were processed for immunohistochemical and EM. Results: In both stroke models, after inflammation the same glial scar formation process and damage evolution takes place. After stroke, necrotic tissue is progressively removed, and healthy tissue is preserved from injury through the glial scar formation. Cauterization stroke model produced unspecific damage, was less efficient and the infarct was less homogeneous compared to thrombosis infarct. Finally, thrombosis stroke model produces activation of SVZ proliferation. Conclusions: Our results provide an exhaustive analysis of the histopathological changes (inflammation, necrosis, tissue remodeling, scarring...) that occur after stroke in the ischemic boundary zone, which are of key importance for the final stroke outcome. This analysis would allow evaluating how different therapies would affect wound and regeneration. Moreover, this stroke model in RAG 2-/- gC -/- allows cell transplant from different species, even human, to be analyzed

Second generation anticoagulant rodenticide residues in barn owls 2019

The fifth in a series of annual reports describing the magnitude of second generation anticoagulant rodenticide (SGAR) liver residues in barn owls Tyto alba in Britain

Second generation anticoagulant rodenticide residues in barn owls 2020

The current report is the sixth in a series of annual reports that describe the monitoring of second generation anticoagulant rodenticide (SGAR) liver residues in barn owls Tyto alba in Britain. This work is an element of an overarching monitoring programme undertaken to track the outcomes of stewardship activities associated with the use of anticoagulant rodenticides. The barn owl is used for exposure monitoring as it is considered a sentinel for species that are generalist predators of small mammals in rural areas. The specific work reported here is the measurement of liver SGAR residues in 100 barn owls that died in 2020 at locations across Britain. The residue data are compared with those from 395 barn owls that died between 2006 and 2012 (hereafter termed baseline years), prior to changes in anticoagulant rodenticide (AR) authorisations and onset of stewardship. As in the baseline years, the compounds detected most frequently in barn owls that died in 2020 were brodifacoum, bromadiolone, and difenacoum. Overall, 88% of the owls had detectable liver residues of one or more SGAR. Numbers of barn owls containing detectable residues of flocoumafen and difethialone. There was no significant difference in the proportion of barn owls with detectable liver residues of flocoumafen between the baseline years and 2020. There was a significantly higher proportion of barn owls with detectable liver residues of difethialone in 2020 compared to baseline years (5% vs 0.3%) but it was lower than in some of the intervening years (2016-2019). The ratio of birds with “low” (100 ng/g wet wt.) concentrations for any single SGAR or for ∑SGARs. There were significantly higher proportion of birds from 2020 with “high” concentrations of brodifacoum and summed SGARs (ƩSGARs) detected in their livers compared to baseline years. Average concentrations of brodifacoum, difenacoum, bromadiolone and ∑SGARs in the cohort of owls with “low” residues (100 ng/g wet wt.). There was no significant difference between barn owls from baseline years and from 2020 in the concentrations of either “low” or “high” residues for all residues summed (∑SGARs), bromadiolone and difenacoum, or “high” brodifacoum residues. The median concentration of “low” brodifacoum residues was higher in birds from 2020 than in baseline years. Overall, there were few differences in liver SGAR accumulation between barn owls that died in baseline years and in 2020, the eception being a potential increase brodifacoum residues. The lack of significant reductions in SGAR residues in barn owls in 2020 suggests that full implementation of stewardship since 2018 has yet to result in a statistically significant reduction in exposure of barn owls to SGARs

Importance of B4 medium in determining organomineralization potential of bacterial environmental isolates

B4 precipitation medium has been used as the preferred medium for studying mineral precipitation using bacterial strains in vitro since pioneer studies were performed by Boquet and coworkers in 1973. Using this medium, several authors have demonstrated that some environmental isolates were able to precipitate minerals, yet others did not. The main goal of the current study is to understand whether pH and buffer conditions would have a significant effect on mineral precipitation results for environmental isolates grown on B4. For this study, a total of 49 strains isolated from natural environments from Puerto Rico were grown on B4 plates, and their CaCO3 precipitation potential was investigated. Our findings revealed a strong correlation between a lack of CaCO3 precipitation and the acidification of the B4 plates by the colonies. The ability to precipitate CaCO3 could be restored by buffering the B4 medium to a pH of 8.2. Buffering capacity of the medium was proposed to be involved in CaCO3 precipitation: acid-base titrations conducted on the individual ingredients of B4 showed that yeast extract has a poor buffering capacity between pH 6.5?7.5. This pH range corresponds to the pH of B4 plates 6.87 (�±0.05)] prior to the inoculation. This might explain why B4 is such a good precipitation medium: a small variation in the H+/OH? balance during microbial growth and precipitation produces rapid changes in the pH of the medium. Finally, an amorphous matrix was distributed within 90% of the examined crystals generated on B4 medium by the environmental strains. Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Geomicrobiology Journal to view the free supplemental file.; B4 precipitation medium has been used as the preferred medium for studying mineral precipitation using bacterial strains in vitro since pioneer studies were performed by Boquet and coworkers in 1973. Using this medium, several authors have demonstrated that some environmental isolates were able to precipitate minerals, yet others did not. The main goal of the current study is to understand whether pH and buffer conditions would have a significant effect on mineral precipitation results for environmental isolates grown on B4. For this study, a total of 49 strains isolated from natural environments from Puerto Rico were grown on B4 plates, and their CaCO3 precipitation potential was investigated. Our findings revealed a strong correlation between a lack of CaCO3 precipitation and the acidification of the B4 plates by the colonies. The ability to precipitate CaCO3 could be restored by buffering the B4 medium to a pH of 8.2. Buffering capacity of the medium was proposed to be involved in CaCO3 precipitation: acid-base titrations conducted on the individual ingredients of B4 showed that yeast extract has a poor buffering capacity between pH 6.5?7.5. This pH range corresponds to the pH of B4 plates 6.87 (�±0.05)] prior to the inoculation. This might explain why B4 is such a good precipitation medium: a small variation in the H+/OH? balance during microbial growth and precipitation produces rapid changes in the pH of the medium. Finally, an amorphous matrix was distributed within 90% of the examined crystals generated on B4 medium by the environmental strains. Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Geomicrobiology Journal to view the free supplemental file