Genetic Diversity, Recombination, and Divergence in Animal Associated Penicillium dipodomyis

Penicillium dipodomyis is thought to be an exclusively asexual fungus associated with Kangaroo Rats, Dipodomys species, and is unique among Penicillium species in growing at 37°C but producing no known toxins. Lack of recombination within P. dipodomyis would result in limited adaptive flexibility but possibly enhance local adaptation and host selection via maintenance of favourable genotypes. Here, analysis of DNA sequence data from five protein-coding genes shows that recombination occurs within P. dipodomyis on a small spatial scale. Furthermore, detection of mating-type alleles supports outcrossing and a sexual cycle in P. dipodomyis. P. dipodomyis was a weaker competitor in in vitro assays with other Penicillium species found in association with Kanagaroo rats. Bayesian species level analysis suggests that the P. dipodomyis lineage diverged from closely related species also found in cheek pouches of Kangaroo Rats and their stored seeds about 11 million years ago, a similar divergence time as Dipodomys from its sister rodent taxa

Academic Performance and Behavioral Patterns

Identifying the factors that influence academic performance is an essential part of educational research. Previous studies have documented the importance of personality traits, class attendance, and social network structure. Because most of these analyses were based on a single behavioral aspect and/or small sample sizes, there is currently no quantification of the interplay of these factors. Here, we study the academic performance among a cohort of 538 undergraduate students forming a single, densely connected social network. Our work is based on data collected using smartphones, which the students used as their primary phones for two years. The availability of multi-channel data from a single population allows us to directly compare the explanatory power of individual and social characteristics. We find that the most informative indicators of performance are based on social ties and that network indicators result in better model performance than individual characteristics (including both personality and class attendance). We confirm earlier findings that class attendance is the most important predictor among individual characteristics. Finally, our results suggest the presence of strong homophily and/or peer effects among university students

Dopamine and inhibitory action control: evidence from spontaneous eye blink rates

The inhibitory control of actions has been claimed to rely on dopaminergic pathways. Given that this hypothesis is mainly based on patient and drug studies, some authors have questioned its validity and suggested that beneficial effects of dopaminergic stimulants on response inhibition may be limited to cases of suboptimal inhibitory functioning. We present evidence that, in carefully selected healthy adults, spontaneous eyeblink rate, a marker of central dopaminergic functioning, reliably predicts the efficiency in inhibiting unwanted action tendencies in a stop-signal task. These findings support the assumption of a modulatory role for dopamine in inhibitory action control

Evaluation of expressive writing for postpartum health: A randomized controlled trial

Pregnancy, birth and adjusting to a new baby is a potentially stressful time that can negatively affect the health of women. There is some evidence that expressive writing can have positive effects on psychological and physical health, particularly during stressful periods. The current study aimed to evaluate whether expressive writing would improve women’s postpartum health. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with three conditions: expressive writing (n=188), a control writing task (n=213), or normal care (n=163). Measures of psychological health, physical health and quality of life were measured at baseline (6-12 weeks postpartum), 1 month and 6 months later. Ratings of stress were taken before and after the expressive writing task. Intent-to-treat analyses showed no significant differences between women in the expressive writing, control writing and normal care groups on measures of physical health, anxiety, depression, mood or quality of life at 1 and 6 months. Uptake and adherence to the writing tasks was low. However, women in the expressive writing group rated their stress as significantly reduced after completing the task. Cost analysis suggest women who did expressive writing had the lowest costs in terms of healthcare service use and lowest cost per unit of improvement in quality of life. Results suggest expressive writing is not effective as a universal intervention for all women 6-12 weeks postpartum. Future research should examine expressive writing as a targeted intervention for women in high-risk groups, such as those with mild or moderate depression, and further examine cost-effectiveness

Feasibility and acceptability of expressive writing with postpartum women: a randomised controlled trial

Abstract Background: Pregnancy, birth and adjusting to a new baby is a potentially stressful time that can negatively affect women’s mental and physical health. Expressive writing, where people write about a stressful event for at least 15 minutes on three consecutive days, has been associated with improved health in some groups but it is not clear whether it is feasible and acceptable for use with postpartum women. This study therefore examined the feasibility and acceptability of expressive writing for postpartum women as part of a randomised controlled trial (RCT). Methods: The Health After Birth Trial (HABiT) was an RCT evaluating expressive writing for postpartum women which included measures of feasibility and acceptability. At 6 to 12 weeks after birth 854 women were randomised to expressive writing, a control writing task or normal care, and outcome measures of health were measured at baseline, one month later and six months later. Feasibility was measured by recruitment, attrition, and adherence to the intervention. Quantitative and qualitative measures of acceptability of the materials and the task were completed six months after the intervention. Results: Recruitment was low (10.7% of those invited to participate) and the recruited sample was from a restricted sociodemographic range. Attrition was high, increased as the study progressed (35.8% at baseline, 57.5% at one month, and 68.1% at six months) and was higher in the writing groups than in the normal care group. Women complied with instructions to write expressively or not, but adherence to the instruction to write for 15 minutes per day for three days was low (Expressive writing: 29.3%; Control writing: 23.5%). Acceptability measures showed that women who wrote expressively rated the materials/task both more positively and more negatively than those in the control writing group, and qualitative comments revealed that women enjoyed the writing and/or found it helpful even when it was upsetting. Conclusions: The feasibility of offering expressive writing as a universal self-help intervention to all postpartum women 6 to 12 weeks after birth in the HABiT trial was low, but the expressive writing intervention was acceptable to the majority of women who completed it

Cytotoxicity of CD56bright NK Cells towards Autologous Activated CD4+ T Cells Is Mediated through NKG2D, LFA-1 and TRAIL and Dampened via CD94/NKG2A

In mouse models of chronic inflammatory diseases, Natural Killer (NK) cells can play an immunoregulatory role by eliminating chronically activated leukocytes. Indirect evidence suggests that NK cells may also be immunoregulatory in humans. Two subsets of human NK cells can be phenotypically distinguished as CD16+CD56dim and CD16dim/−CD56bright. An expansion in the CD56bright NK cell subset has been associated with clinical responses to therapy in various autoimmune diseases, suggesting an immunoregulatory role for this subset in vivo. Here we compared the regulation of activated human CD4+ T cells by CD56dim and CD56bright autologous NK cells in vitro. Both subsets efficiently killed activated, but not resting, CD4+ T cells. The activating receptor NKG2D, as well as the integrin LFA-1 and the TRAIL pathway, played important roles in this process. Degranulation by NK cells towards activated CD4+ T cells was enhanced by IL-2, IL-15, IL-12+IL-18 and IFN-α. Interestingly, IL-7 and IL-21 stimulated degranulation by CD56bright NK cells but not by CD56dim NK cells. NK cell killing of activated CD4+ T cells was suppressed by HLA-E on CD4+ T cells, as blocking the interaction between HLA-E and the inhibitory CD94/NKG2A NK cell receptor enhanced NK cell degranulation. This study provides new insight into CD56dim and CD56bright NK cell-mediated elimination of activated autologous CD4+ T cells, which potentially may provide an opportunity for therapeutic treatment of chronic inflammation

Physical training in boys with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: the protocol of the No Use is Disuse study

Contains fulltext : 89740.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: "Use it or lose it" is a well known saying which is applicable to boys with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). Besides the direct effects of the muscular dystrophy, the increasing effort to perform activities, the fear of falling and the use of personal aids indirectly impair leg and arm functions as a result of disuse. Physical training could oppose this secondary physical deterioration. The No Use is Disuse (NUD) study is the first study in human subjects with DMD that will examine whether a low-intensity physical training is beneficial in terms of preservation of muscle endurance and functional abilities. The study consists of two training intervention studies: study 1 "Dynamic leg and arm training for ambulant and recently wheelchair-dependent boys with DMD and, study 2 "Functional training with arm support for boys with DMD who have been confined to a wheelchair for several years". This paper describes the hypotheses and methods of the NUD study. METHODS: Study 1 is an explorative randomized controlled trial with multiple baseline measurements. Thirty boys with a DNA-established diagnosis of DMD will be included. The intervention consists of a six-months physical training during which boys train their legs and arms with active and/or assisted cycling training equipment. The primary study outcomes are muscle endurance and functional abilities, assessed with a Six-Minute Bicycle Test and the Motor Function Measure. Study 2 has a within-group repeated measurements design and will include ten boys with DMD who have already been confined to a wheelchair for several years. The six-months physical training program consists of 1) a computer-assisted training and 2) a functional training with an arm support. The primary study outcome is functional abilities of the upper extremity, assessed with the Action Research Arm Test. DISCUSSION: The NUD study will fill part of the gap in the current knowledge about the possible effects of training in boys with DMD and will increase insight into what type of exercise should be recommended to boys with DMD. The study will finish at the end of 2010 and results are expected in 2011. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The Netherlands National Trial Register1631

Social interaction style of children and adolescents with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder

Qualitative differences in social interaction style exist within the autism spectrum. In this study we examined whether these differences are associated with (1) the severity of autistic symptoms and comorbid disruptive behavior problems, (2) the child's psycho-social health, and (3) executive functioning and perspective taking skills. The social interaction style of 156 children and adolescents (6-19 years) with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HFASD) was determined with the Wing Subgroups Questionnaire. An active-but-odd social interaction style was positively associated with symptoms of autism, attention deficit and hyperactivity. Furthermore, an active-but-odd social interaction style was negatively associated with children's psycho-social health and positively with executive functioning problems. Social interaction style explains part of the heterogeneity among children with HFASD