A Histological Examination of the Ovaries of Pacific Sanddab, Citharichthys sordidus, Captured at Two Oil Platforms and Two Natural Sites in the Southern California Bight

A number of the 26 offshore oil and gas platforms off California may be nearing the end of their economic lives. Decisions as to the disposition of these platforms will be based on a number of parameters, including the biological role of the structures. One issue that has arisen is the possible contamination of fishes living around platforms resulting from contaminants released during drilling and production. If significant contamination is occurring, it would be expected to impair the reproductive abilities of impacted fishes. One form of reproductive impairment is atresia, the abnormal reabsorption of oocytes that are destined to be spawned. Atresia has been widely used as an indicator of pollutant-related reproductive impairment in fishes. We examined the occurrence of atretic oocytes in Pacific sanddab, Citharichthys sordidus, collected near two offshore platforms in the Santa Barbara Channel (B and Gilda) and from two natural reference sites (off the east end of Santa Cruz Island and in mid-channel off Rincon). While pronounced atresia was observed in a few fish at one natural site and one platform, there was no evidence of widespread pronounced atresia at any of the four sites

Two-parametric PT-symmetric quartic family

We describe a parametrization of the real spectral locus of the two-parametric family of PT-symmetric quartic oscillators. For this family, we find a parameter region where all eigenvalues are real, extending the results of Dorey, Dunning, Tateo and Shin.Comment: 23 pages, 15 figure

Spatial pattern and neighbour effects on Helianthemum squamatum seedlings in a Mediterranean gypsum community

Question: Do, in a semi-arid gypsum environment, neighbours condition the spatial patterns of emergence, survival and height of Helianthemum squamatum seedlings ? Location: Vicinity of Chinchón, province of Madrid, Spain (40°11'N, 3° 35'W, 550 m a.s.l.) Methods: We evaluated the effects of neighbours on the survival and growth of naturally emerging Helianthemum seedlings in a semi-arid area during a two-year period. We followed a two-fold approach based on the use of neighbour models for seedling survival and growth and spatial point pattern analyses for seedling emergence, taking into account the germination date. Results: Seedlings appeared clumped in the vicinity of mature Helianthemum individuals. The neighbour models fitted showed that interactions with neighbours were extremely important for the survival and growth of Helianthemum seedlings. These models also suggest that the effects of neighbours on these variables vary with changes in spatial scale and in the abiotic conditions. Some species exerted negative or positive effects on Helianthemum seedlings only at certain spatial scales, and others exerted negative or positive effects at earlier stages of seedling development, but none later and vice versa. Conclusions: We suggest that the observed patterns are mainly influenced by small-scale modifications in soil conditions and microclimate created by neighbours, which change in time and space

Proteorhodopsin Phototrophy Promotes Survival of Marine Bacteria during Starvation

Mutational analysis provides direct evidence for the link between proteorhodopsin light-harvesting and enhanced survival of marine bacteria

The Novel μ-Opioid Receptor Antagonist GSK1521498 Decreases Both Alcohol Seeking and Drinking: Evidence from a New Preclinical Model of Alcohol Seeking.

Distinct environmental and conditioned stimuli influencing ethanol-associated appetitive and consummatory behaviors may jointly contribute to alcohol addiction. To develop an effective translational animal model that illuminates this interaction, daily seeking responses, maintained by alcohol-associated conditioned stimuli (CSs), need to be dissociated from alcohol drinking behavior. For this, we established a procedure whereby alcohol seeking maintained by alcohol-associated CSs is followed by a period during which rats have the opportunity to drink alcohol. This cue-controlled alcohol-seeking procedure was used to compare the effects of naltrexone and GSK1521498, a novel selective μ-opioid receptor antagonist, on both voluntary alcohol-intake and alcohol-seeking behaviors. Rederived alcohol-preferring, alcohol-nonpreferring, and high-alcohol-drinking replicate 1 line of rats (Indiana University) first received 18 sessions of 24 h home cage access to 10% alcohol and water under a 2-bottle choice procedure. They were trained subsequently to respond instrumentally for access to 15% alcohol under a second-order schedule of reinforcement, in which a prolonged period of alcohol-seeking behavior was maintained by contingent presentations of an alcohol-associated CS acting as a conditioned reinforcer. This seeking period was terminated by 20 min of free alcohol drinking access that achieved significant blood alcohol concentrations. The influence of pretreatment with either naltrexone (0.1-1-3 mg/kg) or GSK1521498 (0.1-1-3 mg/kg) before instrumental sessions was measured on both seeking and drinking behaviors, as well as on drinking in the 2-bottle choice procedure. Naltrexone and GSK1521498 dose-dependently reduced both cue-controlled alcohol seeking and alcohol intake in the instrumental context as well as alcohol intake in the choice procedure. However, GSK1521498 showed significantly greater effectiveness than naltrexone, supporting its potential use for promoting abstinence and preventing relapse in alcohol addiction.The present study was funded by Medical Research Council Programme Grant (no. G1002231) and by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), which has a commercial interest in GSK1521498. Charles R. Goodlett was funded by a grant from the IUPUI International Development Fund, which supported his sabbatical leave at the University of Cambridge. Maria Pilar Garcia-Pardo was funded by Val+id para investigadores en formación (Conselleria de educacion, Generalitat Valenciana), which also supported her stay at the University of Cambridge (January-April 2014) as a Visiting Student.This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available from NPG at http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npp.2015.15

Unworking Milton: Steps to a Georgics of the Mind

Traditionally read as a poem about laboring subjects who gain power through abstract and abstracting forms of bodily discipline, John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667, 1674) more compellingly foregrounds the erotics of the Garden as a space where humans and nonhumans intra-act materially and sexually. Following Christopher Hill, who long ago pointed to not one but two revolutions in the history of seventeenth-century English radicalism—the first, ‘the one which succeeded[,] . . . the protestant ethic’; and the second, ‘the revolution which never happened,’ which sought ‘communal property, a far wider democracy[,] and rejected the protestant ethic’—I show how Milton’s Paradise Lost gives substance to ‘the revolution which never happened’ by imagining a commons, indeed a communism, in which human beings are not at the center of things, but rather constitute one part of the greater ecology of mind within Milton’s poem. In the space created by this ecological reimagining, plants assume a new agency. I call this reimagining ‘ecology to come.

The DARE study of relapse prevention in depression: design for a phase 1/2 translational randomised controlled trial involving mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and supported self monitoring

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Depression is a common condition that typically has a relapsing course. Effective interventions targeting relapse have the potential to dramatically reduce the point prevalence of the condition. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is a group-based intervention that has shown efficacy in reducing depressive relapse. While trials of MBCT to date have met the core requirements of phase 1 translational research, there is a need now to move to phase 2 translational research - the application of MBCT within real-world settings with a view to informing policy and clinical practice. The aim of this trial is to examine the clinical impact and health economics of MBCT under real-world conditions and where efforts have been made to assess for and prevent resentful demoralization among the control group. Secondary aims of the project involve extending the phase 1 agenda to an examination of the effects of co-morbidity and mechanisms of action.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>This study is designed as a prospective, multi-site, single-blind, randomised controlled trial using a group comparison design between involving the intervention, MBCT, and a self-monitoring comparison condition, Depression Relapse Active Monitoring (DRAM). Follow-up is over 2 years. The design of the study indicates recruitment from primary and secondary care of 204 participants who have a history of 3 or more episodes of Major Depression but who are currently well. Measures assessing depressive relapse/recurrence, time to first clinical intervention, treatment expectancy and a range of secondary outcomes and process variables are included. A health economics evaluation will be undertaken to assess the incremental cost of MBCT.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The results of this trial, including an examination of clinical, functional and health economic outcomes, will be used to assess the role that this treatment approach may have in recommendations for treatment of depression in Australia and elsewhere. If the findings are positive, we expect that this research will consolidate the evidence base to guide the decision to fund MBCT and to seek to promote its availability to those who have experienced at least 3 episodes of depression.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: <a href="http://www.anzctr.org.au/ACTRN12607000166471.aspx">ACTRN12607000166471</a></p

Enter Mercury, Sleeping: Delivering Prayers on the Early Modern Stage

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from CUP via the DOI in this recor