Metallothionein (MT) -I and MT-II Expression Are Induced and Cause Zinc Sequestration in the Liver after Brain Injury

Experiments with transgenic over-expressing, and null mutant mice have determined that metallothionein-I and -II (MT-I/II) are protective after brain injury. MT-I/II is primarily a zinc-binding protein and it is not known how it provides neuroprotection to the injured brain or where MT-I/II acts to have its effects. MT-I/II is often expressed in the liver under stressful conditions but to date, measurement of MT-I/II expression after brain injury has focused primarily on the injured brain itself. In the present study we measured MT-I/II expression in the liver of mice after cryolesion brain injury by quantitative reverse-transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with the UC1MT antibody. Displacement curves constructed using MT-I/II knockout (MT-I/II−/−) mouse tissues were used to validate the ELISA. Hepatic MT-I and MT-II mRNA levels were significantly increased within 24 hours of brain injury but hepatic MT-I/II protein levels were not significantly increased until 3 days post injury (DPI) and were maximal at the end of the experimental period, 7 DPI. Hepatic zinc content was measured by atomic absorption spectroscopy and was found to decrease at 1 and 3 DPI but returned to normal by 7DPI. Zinc in the livers of MT-I/II−/− mice did not show a return to normal at 7 DPI which suggests that after brain injury, MT-I/II is responsible for sequestering elevated levels of zinc to the liver. Conclusion: MT-I/II is up-regulated in the liver after brain injury and modulates the amount of zinc that is sequestered to the liver

Literature review: The Role of Inter-goal Conflict in Depressive Symptomatology: A Systematic Review. Empirical paper: The Relationship Between Intrapersonal Goal-Value Conflict and Depressive Symptomatology

LITERATURE REVIEW: The Role of Inter-goal Conflict in Depressive Symptomatology: A Systematic Review Objective: Intra-psychic conflict underpins theories of motivation; however, its mechanisms and correlates remain poorly understood. Goals represent a broad category of motivational constructs which are conceptualised hierarchically, according to their specificity (level of abstraction), from low-level, action-oriented, goal-tasks to high-level, organising values. The goals literature has investigated the links between inter-goal conflict and a broad range of outcomes, including depression, well-being and psychopathology. This review set out to synthesise existing evidence for a relationships between inter-goal conflict and depressive symptoms. Method: Studies exploring the relationship between inter-goal conflict and depression in adults were selected from multi-disciplinary and subject-specific databases, published prior to the 20th of March 2021. A systematic search yielded 122 records with 79 non-duplicated results. Screening of 28 full-text publications led to 10 eligible studies, from which data were synthesised in narrative form. Results: The evidence reviewed indicates that inter-goal conflict is positively correlated with depressive symptoms in adults, although findings were mixed and longitudinal studies did not support a causal association. Effect sizes of eligible studies ranged from small to medium, with some controlling for covariates. Studies were predominantly cross-sectional; therefore, scope for casual inference was limited. Conclusions: At present, evidence supporting the hypothesis that inter-goal conflict is associated with depressive symptoms in adults is modest. More longitudinal investigations are needed to determine the presence and direction of causality. Construct specificity, implicit motivation and rumination also require further investigation to understand their relationship to inter-goal conflict and depression. EMPIRICAL PAPER: The Relationship Between Intrapersonal Goal-Value Conflict and Depressive Symptomatology Background: Intrapsychic goal-conflict underpins classical and contemporary theories of motivation; however, its mechanisms and correlates remain poorly understood. Motivational conflict is associated with a broad range of outcomes, including depression, well-being and psychopathology. It is hypothesised that rumination mediates the link between cognitive-motivational conflict and depression. To date, research has focused on horizontal conflict between motivational constructs with similar specificity. Little is known about vertical relationships between motivational constructs with divergent specificity. Values are thought to be central to conceptions of personal identity because they serve as high-level, organising reference points for low-level action-oriented goal constructs; thus, clarifying vertical relationships may shed light on the mechanisms of depression, well-being and psychopathology. The present study investigated the relationship between goal-value conflict and depressive symptoms with rumination hypothesised as a partial mediator of the relationship. Method: This cross-sectional, correlational study recruited a non-clinical, unselected sample of 218 adult participants from the student population of Exeter University. Participants were assessed on measures of depressive symptomatology, rumination, personal strivings, values and goal-value conflict using matrix methods. Trait rumination and striving importance were entered as covariates in the mediation analysis. Results: A significant association was not found between striving-value conflict and depressive symptomatology. Depressive symptoms were positively associated with trait and striving rumination; however, striving rumination was not found to mediate a relationship between goal-value conflict and depression. On average, participants reported harmony between strivings and values. Conclusions: Striving-value conflict was not found to be a significant factor in depression or goal rumination. This could be due to values being abstract and, therefore, not action-oriented, or because unmeasured implicit motivational factors were at play. Future research should explore the role of both construct specificity and implicit cognition in goal-value relationships, rumination and depression

Letter from C. F. Iszard, Iszard-Warren Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to J. H. Woodward, Orlando, Florida, January 25, 1910

A document from an extensive collection spanning four generations of the Woodward family that operated merchant pig iron companies in West Virginia and Alabama. The collection begins with Stimpson Harvey Woodward (S. H. Woodward), a native of Massachusetts, who moved from Pittsburgh to Wheeling, West Virginia in 1852. He had interests in an iron company as early as 1852 in West Virginia and began Alabama operations in 1869. The family business continued in Alabama until the death of S. H. Woodward's great-grandson in 1965

Ecosensitive stormwater system design for sub-division

Stormwater management is a contentious aspect of development in the 21st century. Although hydrological neutrality before and after a development is sought, it is acknowledged that any alterations to land form result in a change in the hydrological regime. Thus the goal of agencies whose responsibility it is to manage stormwater effectively is to minimise the adverse impacts of new developments on the environment. To achieve this more reasonable objective, these agencies have developed objectives and policies backed up by design criteria and requirements that developers are required to meet as part of their development proposals. The Waitakere City Council (WCC), and the Auckland Regional Council (ARC) have worked closely together to develop a number of stormwater management manuals and design standards consistent with the Resource Management Act (1991). This paper reports the outcome of an investigation into the sustainable engineering design options satisfying the above guidelines for stormwater management for a residential sub-division in Henderson, Waitakere City using a Triple Bottom Line (TBL) assessment and a Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA). Following the evaluation of various stormwater management devices such as shared common areas to minimise impermeable surfaces, restricted earthworks onsite, stormwater reuse and attenuation tanks, rain gardens, flow dispersion devices and swales, a detailed design was produced for two types of device: Those constructed as part of the initial development of the site and those constructed by the individual plot owners. This highlights the value of apportioning the responsibilities to relevant personnel at sub-division level as well as at individual property development level. It is shown that it is both feasible and practical to design and construct an eco-sensitive, sustainable, low impact stormwater management system that meets the needs of the client and the requirements of the regulatory authorities

Dioszegia antarctica sp. nov. and Dioszegia cryoxerica sp. nov., psychrophilic basidiomycetous yeasts from polar desert soils in Antarctica

International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 60During a survey of the culturable soil fungal population in samples collected in Taylor Valley, South Victoria Land, Antarctica, 13 basidiomycetous yeast strains with orange-coloured colonies were isolated. Phylogenetic analyses of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and partial LSU rRNA gene sequences showed that the strains belong to the Dioszegia clade of the Tremellales (Tremellomycetes, Agaricomycotina), but did not correspond to any of the hitherto recognized species. Two novel species, Dioszegia antarctica sp. nov. (type strain ANT-03-116T =CBS 10920T =PYCC 5970T) and Dioszegia cryoxerica sp. nov. (type strain ANT-03-071T =CBS 10919T =PYCC 5967T), are described to accommodate ten and three of these strains, respectively. Analysis of ITS sequences demonstrated intrastrain sequence heterogeneity in D. cryoxerica. The latter species is also notable for producing true hyphae with clamp connections and haustoria. However, no sexual structures were observed. The two novel species can be considered obligate psychrophiles, since they failed to grow above 20 °C and grew best between 10 and 15 °C