Functional neuroanatomy of interoceptive processing in children and adolescents: a pilot study

In adults, interoception – the sense of the physiological condition of the body - appears to influence emotion processing, cognition, behavior and various somatic and mental health disorders. Adults demonstrate frontal-insula-parietal-anterior cingulate cortex activation during the heartbeat detection task, a common interoceptive measure. Little, however, is known about the functional neuroanatomy underlying interoception in children. The current pilot study examined interoceptive processing in children and adolescents with fMRI while using the heartbeat detection task. Our main findings demonstrate that children as young as the age of six activate the left insula, cuneus, inferior parietal lobule and prefrontal regions. These findings are similar to those in adults when comparing heartbeat and tone detection conditions. Age was associated with increased activation within the dACC, orbital frontal cortex and the mid-inferior frontal gyri. Thus, our pilot study may provide important information about the neurodevelopment of interoceptive processing abilities in children and a task for future interoception neuroimaging studies in children

Sustainable Forest Management Preferences of Interest Groups in Three Regions with Different Levels of Industrial Forestry: An Exploratory Attribute-Based Choice Experiment

The challenge of sustainable forest management is to integrate diverse and sometimes conflicting management objectives. In order to achieve this goal, we need a better understanding of the aspects influencing the preferences of diverse groups and how these groups make trade-offs between different attributes of SFM. We compare the SFM preferences of interest groups in regions with different forest use histories based on the reasoning that the condition of the forest reflects the forest use history of the area. The condition of the forest also shapes an individual’s forest values and attitudes. These held values and attitudes are thought to influence SFM preferences. We tested whether the SFM preferences vary amongst the different interest groups within and across regions. We collected data from 252 persons using a choice experiment approach, where participants chose multiple times among different options described by a combination of attributes that are assigned different levels. The novelty of our approach was the use of choice experiments in the assessment of regional preference differences. Given the complexity of interregional comparison and the small sample size, this was an exploratory study based on a purposive rather than random sample. Nevertheless, our results suggest that the aggregation of preferences of all individuals within a region does not reveal all information necessary for forest management planning since opposing viewpoints could cancel each other out and lead to an interpretation that does not reflect possibly polarised views. Although based on a small\ud sample size, the preferences of interest groups within a region are generally statistically significantly different from each other; however preferences of interest groups across regions are also significantly different. This illustrates the potential importance of assessing heterogeneity by region and by group

Are community forestry principles at work in Ontario’s County, Municipal, and Conservation Authority forests?

Ontario’s County, Municipal and Conservation Authority forests have received little attention within the academic literature on community forestry in Canada. These “Agreement Forests”, as they were once called, are a product of the early 20th century and have been under local government management since the 1990s. Most are situated in Southern Ontario. In this article we investigate the extent to which community forestry principles are at work in these forests. Three principles—participatory governance, local benefits and multiple forest use—are analyzed using a composite score approach derived from survey data collected from nearly all of these forest organizations (response rate = 80%). Results indicate that most of these organizations do display attributes associated with community forestry principles, including a local governance process, public participation activities, local employment and multiple-use management. Traditional forestry employment is less strong than in similar studies of Crown land community forests; however, there is an important emphasis on non-timber activities. The article concludes that the County, Municipal and Conservation Authority forests represents a unique approach, which reflects the specific geographic and socio-economic context in which it resides. / Les forêts cantonales, municipales et des offices de conservation de l’Ontario n’ont reçu qu’une faible couverture dans la littérature scientifique sur la foresterie communautaire au Canada. Ces « forêts d’entente (Agreement Forests) », comme on les appelait avant, ont été créées au début du XXe siècle et gérées par les autorités locales depuis les années 1990. La majeure partie de ces forêts sont situées dans le sud de l’Ontario. Dans cet article, nous cherchons à voir jusqu’à quel point les principes de foresterie communautaire sont mis en application dans ces forêts. L’étude porte sur trois principes – la gouvernance participative, les bénéfices locaux et l’utilisation polyvalente de la forêt – qui furent analysés avec l’approche de résultats combinés utilisant les données d’un sondage effectué auprès de presque toutes ces organisations forestières (taux de réponse = 80 %). Les résultats indiquent que la plupart de ces organisations présentent effectivement certains attributs rappelant les principes de la foresterie communautaire, incluant un processus de gouvernance locale, des activités de participation du public, l’embauche locale et l’aménagement à des fins d’utilisation polyvalente. Les emplois forestiers traditionnels ont moins d’importance que dans les études similaires des forêts communautaires établies sur des terres publiques; par contre, on accorde beaucoup d’importance aux activités sans prélèvement de bois. L’article conclut que les forêts cantonales, municipales et des offices de conservation constituent une approche unique qui reflète bien le contexte géographique et socio-économique spécifique dans lequel elles sont établies.Financial support from the Fonds québécois de la recherché sur la société et la culture and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.http://pubs.cif-ifc.org/doi/10.5558/tfc2012-13

A hypomorphic Cbx3 allele causes prenatal growth restriction and perinatal energy homeostasis defects

Mammals have three HP1 protein isotypes HP1β (CBX1), HP1γ (CBX3) and HP1α (CBX5) that are encoded by the corresponding genes Cbx1, Cbx3 and Cbx5. Recent work has shown that reduction of CBX3 protein in homozygotes for a hypomorphic allele (Cbx3 hypo) causes a severe postnatal mortality with around 99% of the homozygotes dying before weaning. It is not known what the causes of the postnatal mortality are. Here we show that Cbx3 hypo/hypo conceptuses are significantly reduced in size and the placentas exhibit a haplo-insufficiency. Late gestation Cbx3 hypo/hypo placentas have reduced mRNA transcripts for genes involved in growth regulation, amino acid and glucose transport. Blood vessels within the Cbx3 hypo/hypo placental labyrinth are narrower than wild-type. Newborn Cbx3 hypo/hypo pups are hypoglycemic, the livers are depleted of glycogen reserves and there is almost complete loss of stored lipid in brown adipose tissue (BAT). There is a 10-fold reduction in expression of the BAT-specific Ucp1 gene, whose product is responsible for non-shivering themogenesis. We suggest that it is the small size of the Cbx3 hypo/hypo neonates, a likely consequence of placental growth and transport defects, combined with a possible inability to thermoregulate that causes the severe postnatal mortality

Are identities oral? Understanding ethnobotanical knowledge after Irish independence (1937-1939)

BACKGROUND: The Schools' Folklore Scheme (1937-1939) was implemented at a pivotal time in Irelands' political history. It resulted in a body of ethnological information that is unique in terms of when, why and how it was collected. This material consists of over 700,000 pages of information, including ethnomedicinal and ethnobotanical traditions, reflecting an oral identity that spans generations and that in many cases was not documented in writing until the 1930s. The intention of this study is to highlight the importance of the Schools' Folklore Scheme and to demonstrate an ethnographic approach based on recollections of original participants of the scheme, to further understand the material in the collection and the impact it had on the participants. METHODS: This study involves an analysis of both oral and archival data. Eleven semi-structured interviews with original participants of the scheme were carried out between April and September 2016. Their corresponding schools' archival contributions to the scheme were located, and ethnomedicinal information was analysed and compared with the participants' recollections. RESULTS: The majority of participants' stated the scheme had a positive impact on them. Five participants' recalled collecting ethnomedicinal information, and there was a direct correlation between three of the participants' ethnomedicinal recollections and their entries in the archives. One third of all the ethnomedicinal entries analysed included the use of a plant. There were 191 plant mentions and 64 plant species named. CONCLUSIONS: Contacting the original participants offers a novel approach of analysing this archival material. It provides a unique first-hand account of this historical initiative, an insight into how the scheme was implemented and how it impacted upon the children. The ethnomedicinal and ethnobotanical information provides an understanding of the medicinal practices in Ireland during the 1930s. The plant species that were both orally recalled by participants and documented in the archives are in keeping with key ethnomedicinal systems throughout the world

Data for: Oxytocin and the Warm Outer Glow: Thermoregulatory Deficits Cause Huddling Abnormalities in Oxytocin-Deficient Mouse Pups

This dataset is for the three experiments described in manuscript, "Oxytocin and the Warm Outer Glow: Thermoregulatory Deficits Cause Huddling Abnormalities in Oxytocin-Deficient Mouse Pups." Raw data, including thermographs, are available upon request

Data for: Oxytocin and the Warm Outer Glow: Thermoregulatory Deficits Cause Huddling Abnormalities in Oxytocin-Deficient Mouse Pups

This dataset is for the three experiments described in manuscript, "Oxytocin and the Warm Outer Glow: Thermoregulatory Deficits Cause Huddling Abnormalities in Oxytocin-Deficient Mouse Pups." Raw data, including thermographs, are available upon request

Data for: Oxytocin and the Warm Outer Glow: Thermoregulatory Deficits Cause Huddling Abnormalities in Oxytocin-Deficient Mouse Pups

This dataset is for the three experiments described in manuscript, "Oxytocin and the Warm Outer Glow: Thermoregulatory Deficits Cause Huddling Abnormalities in Oxytocin-Deficient Mouse Pups." Raw data, including thermographs, are available upon request.THIS DATASET IS ARCHIVED AT DANS/EASY, BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE HERE. TO VIEW A LIST OF FILES AND ACCESS THE FILES IN THIS DATASET CLICK ON THE DOI-LINK ABOV

Data for: Oxytocin and the Warm Outer Glow: Thermoregulatory Deficits Cause Huddling Abnormalities in Oxytocin-Deficient Mouse Pups

This dataset is for the three experiments described in manuscript, "Oxytocin and the Warm Outer Glow: Thermoregulatory Deficits Cause Huddling Abnormalities in Oxytocin-Deficient Mouse Pups." Raw data, including thermographs, are available upon request.THIS DATASET IS ARCHIVED AT DANS/EASY, BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE HERE. TO VIEW A LIST OF FILES AND ACCESS THE FILES IN THIS DATASET CLICK ON THE DOI-LINK ABOV