The Blurred Line between Physical Ageing and Mental Health in Older Adults: Implications for the Measurement of Depression

Objectives: Depression in older adults is assessed using measures validated in the general adult population. However, such measures may be inappropriate in the elderly due to the similarities between ageing and the symptoms of depression. This article discusses whether these measures are fit for the purpose and the implications of using inappropriate tools. Methods: A commentary on measuring depression in older adults. Results: Depression symptoms may be mistaken for signs of ageing. Several measures of depression include items that may have a physical cause and thus generate measurement error. Those studies that have assessed the psychometric properties of depression measures in older adults have failed to conduct appropriate assessments of discriminant validity. Discussion: Research is needed to determine whether the conceptual similarity between some symptoms of depression and the effects of ageing translate to factorial similarity. If so, there may be a need for a specific depression measure for older adults that prioritises psychological symptoms

A follow-up study of the graduates of a diploma hospital school of nursing

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit

Thalamic contributions to mechanisms underlying genesis of sensitivity to contour length in the visual system

Sensitivity to visual stimulus length was first described by Hubei and Wiesel for cells at the end of the proposed hierarchical sequence in the visual cortex, the so called "hypercomplex cells". However, it has subsequently become clear that length sensitivity is seen in a significant proportion of cells at the first level of processing in the visual cortex, and in lateral geniculate cells relaying retinal input to the visual cortex. This project is concerned with synaptic processes generating length preference at the level of the geniculate, and their significance for the cortical representation of stimulus length. Utilising single unit recording techniques, length response curves were obtained from cells recorded in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) and the perigeniculate nucleus (PGN). The majority of dLGN cells exhibited a degree of length tuning equivalent to that seen in tightly tuned cortical hypercomplex cells. Additionally, an apparently distinct sub-population of poorly tuned Y cells was identified. Most PGN cells also exhibited poorly tuned fields. These results are discussed in terms of possible synaptic circuitry generating length sensitivity at sub- cortical and cortical levels. It is suggested that the results have bearing on the modelling of synaptic processes contributing to cortical cell length tuning profiles. The corticofugal system provides the largest single input to the dLGN and has previously been shown to contribute to the generation of length tuning in the dLGN. Knowledge of the mode of synaptic action of the corticofugal system is therefore critical to an understanding of mechanisms generating length tuning. Koch suggested that corticofugal fibres mediate their effects by modulating NMDA receptor responses. While some studies suggest that the retinal neurotransmitter acts on NMDA and non- NMDA receptors, others suggest that it acts only on non-NMDA receptors. In the mammalian dLGN there is no clear evidence as to the identity of the optic nerve transmitter. As a preliminary attempt to address this issue, an iontophoretic technique was utilised to examine the effects and pharmacology of two putative optic nerve transmitters thought to act on NMDA receptors. The effects of selective NMDA and non-NMDA receptor antagonists were examined on the responses to these and to visual stimuli

Your students have excellent knowledge and skills but they don’t think about them...:a reflective learning project

This paper describes two phases of a project set up to encourage students to be more reflective about their studies and their career goals. it takes as its starting point a discussion with employers about the Jack of reflection that they observed in otherwise highly skilled management graduates. The project.examin!ld.a number of processes, including mentoring, logbooks and learning style questionnaires to gauge which was the most effective in inspiring students to be reflective. Having identified the best methods the project entered a second phase which involved rolling out the findings to large numbers of students. The challenges of doing this are analysed in the paper

Always returning: feedback and sensory processing in visual cortex and thalamus

[Abstract] Feedback projections are an integral part of the mammalian visual system. Although it is tempting to relegate them to a subsidiary role in visual processing, because their supposed latency and lag might appear to be unfavourable for an involvement in fast processing, this is a dangerous simplification. Certainly for the world in motion, feedback from higher motion areas can influence the transfer of ascending input when, or even before, the input arrives. Here, we consider the circuit formed by layer 6 feedback cells in the visual cortex and how this straddles the retinothalamic and thalamocortical transfer of visual input. We discuss its links to feedback from the cortical motion area MT (V5), and suggest that motion perception involves a dynamic interplay between MT, V1 and the thalamus. This review is part of the TINS special issue on The Neural Substrates of Cognition

Immediate replacement of fishing with dairying by the earliest farmers of the NE Atlantic archipelagos

The appearance of farming, from its inception in the Near East around 12 000 years ago, finally reached the northwestern extremes of Europe by the fourth millennium BC or shortly thereafter. Various models have been invoked to explain the Neolithization of northern Europe; however, resolving these different scenarios has proved problematic due to poor faunal preservation and the lack of specificity achievable for commonly applied proxies. Here, we present new multi-proxy evidence, which qualitatively and quantitatively maps subsistence change in the northeast Atlantic archipelagos from the Late Mesolithic into the Neolithic and beyond. A model involving significant retention of hunter–gatherer–fisher influences was tested against one of the dominant adoptions of farming using a novel suite of lipid biomarkers, including dihydroxy fatty acids, ω-(o-alkylphenyl)alkanoic acids and stable carbon isotope signatures of individual fatty acids preserved in cooking vessels. These new findings, together with archaeozoological and human skeletal collagen bulk stable carbon isotope proxies, unequivocally confirm rejection of marine resources by early farmers coinciding with the adoption of intensive dairy farming. This pattern of Neolithization contrasts markedly to that occurring contemporaneously in the Baltic, suggesting that geographically distinct ecological and cultural influences dictated the evolution of subsistence practices at this critical phase of European prehistory

The Effects of Evening Bright Light Exposure on Subsequent Morning Exercise Performance

We investigated the effects of evening bright light on the circadian timing of core temperature and morning exercise performance under conditions of high thermal stress. At 20:00 h, 8 males were exposed to a standardised light protocol and thereafter to either polychromatic bright light (2 500 lux at 50 cm, BL) or no light (0 lux, NL) for 30 min. The following morning, intermittent cycling exercise was undertaken followed by a 10 km time-trial in an environmental chamber set to 35°C and 60% relative humidity. Core body temperature was measured throughout. Data were analysed using a within-subjects model and presented as mean±SD. Time of the sleep-trough in core temperature occurred ~1.75 h later following BL (P=0.07). Prior to time-trial, core temperature was 0.27±0.42°C lower in BL (95%CI: −0.02 to 0.57, P=0.07). The time-trial was completed 1.43±0.63 min (0.98–1.87) faster in BL (P=0.001). Post time-trial, intestinal temperature was 38.21±0.56°C (37.84–38.57) in BL compared to 38.64±0.42°C (38.34–38.93) in NL (P=0.10). These data provide the first evidence that a 30-min exposure to bright light prior to sleep can influence exercise performance under hot conditions during the subsequent early morning

Unique transcriptomic landscapes identified in idiopathic spontaneous and infection related preterm births compared to normal term births.

Preterm birth (PTB) is leading contributor to infant death in the United States and globally, yet the underlying mechanistic causes are not well understood. Histopathological studies of preterm birth suggest advanced villous maturity may have a role in idiopathic spontaneous preterm birth (isPTB). To better understand pathological and molecular basis of isPTB, we compared placental villous transcriptomes from carefully phenotyped cohorts of PTB due to infection or isPTB between 28-36 weeks gestation and healthy term placentas. Transcriptomic analyses revealed a unique expression signature for isPTB distinct from the age-matched controls that were delivered prematurely due to infection. This signature included the upregulation of three IGF binding proteins (IGFBP1, IGFBP2, and IGFBP6), supporting a role for aberrant IGF signaling in isPTB. However, within the isPTB expression signature, we detected secondary signature of inflammatory markers including TNC, C3, CFH, and C1R, which have been associated with placental maturity. In contrast, the expression signature of the gestational age-matched infected samples included upregulation of proliferative genes along with cell cycling and mitosis pathways. Together, these data suggest an isPTB molecular signature of placental hypermaturity, likely contributing to the premature activation of inflammatory pathways associated with birth and providing a molecular basis for idiopathic spontaneous birth

The Iowa Homemaker vol.6 no.4

Table of Contents The Purnell Bill by Anna E. Richardson, page 1 Living in a Cooperative House by Helen Bascom, page 2 The Lure of a Shawl, page 3 Your Five Foot Shelf, page 4 With the Iowa State Home Economics Association by Mrs. Fred E. Ferguson, page 6 Editorial, page 7 4-H Page, page 8 Eternal Question, page 10 Pleasing the Tastes of 800 Girls by Frances Jones, page 11 Planning for Canning by Kathern Ayres, page 12 Who’s There and Where by Cleo Fitzsimmons, page 1