The development of thirty self-administering and self-scoring elaborative thinking exercises

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Starvation Resistance is Associated with Developmentally Specified Changes in Sleep, Feeding and Metabolic Rate

Food shortage represents a primary challenge to survival, and animals have adapted diverse developmental, physiological and behavioral strategies to survive when food becomes unavailable. Starvation resistance is strongly influenced by ecological and evolutionary history, yet the genetic basis for the evolution of starvation resistance remains poorly understood. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster provides a powerful model for leveraging experimental evolution to investigate traits associated with starvation resistance. While control populations only live a few days without food, selection for starvation resistance results in populations that can survive weeks. We have previously shown that selection for starvation resistance results in increased sleep and reduced feeding in adult flies. Here, we investigate the ontogeny of starvation resistance-associated behavioral and metabolic phenotypes in these experimentally selected flies. We found that selection for starvation resistance resulted in delayed development and a reduction in metabolic rate in larvae that persisted into adulthood, suggesting that these traits may allow for the accumulation of energy stores and an increase in body size within these selected populations. In addition, we found that larval sleep was largely unaffected by starvation selection and that feeding increased during the late larval stages, suggesting that experimental evolution for starvation resistance produces developmentally specified changes in behavioral regulation. Together, these findings reveal a critical role for development in the evolution of starvation resistance and indicate that selection can selectively influence behavior during defined developmental time points

HASSKARL'S CINCHONA BARKS 1. HISTORICAL REVIEW

The preliminary results of alkaloid analyses of Hasskaii's cinchona bark collection, made in Peru in 1852/3' is given, and the identity and historical aspects of the material discussed in respect of the role the plants played in the Javanese plantations

Sedimentology, structure and age estimate of five continental slope submarine landslides, eastern Australia

Sedimentological and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) ¹⁴C data provide estimates of the structure and age of five submarine landslides (∼0.4–3 km³) present on eastern Australia's continental slope between Noosa Heads and Yamba. Dating of the post-slide conformably deposited sediment indicates sediment accumulation rates between 0.017 m ka^–1 and 0.2 m ka^–1, which is consistent with previous estimates reported for this area. Boundary surfaces were identified in five continental slope cores at depths of 0.8 to 2.2 m below the present-day seafloor. Boundary surfaces present as a sharp colour-change across the surface, discernible but small increases in sediment stiffness, a slight increase in sediment bulk density of 0.1 g cm^–3, and distinct gaps in AMS ¹⁴C ages of at least 25 ka. Boundary surfaces are interpreted to represent a slide plane detachment surface but are not necessarily the only ones or even the major ones. Sub-bottom profiler records indicate that: (1) the youngest identifiable sediment reflectors upslope from three submarine landslides terminate on and are truncated by slide rupture surfaces; (2) there is no obvious evidence for a post-slide sediment layer draped over, or burying, slide ruptures or exposed slide detachment surfaces; and (3) the boundary surfaces identified within the cores are unlikely to be near-surface slide surfaces within an overall larger en masse dislocation. These findings suggest that these submarine landslides are geologically recent (<25 ka), and that the boundary surfaces are either: (a) an erosional features that developed after the landslide, in which case the boundary surface age provides a minimum age for the landslide; or (b) detachment surfaces from which slabs of near-surface sediment were removed during landsliding, in which case the age of the sediment above the boundary surface indicates the approximate age of landsliding. While an earthquake-triggering mechanism is favoured for the initiation of submarine landslides on the eastern Australian margin, further evidence is required to confirm this interpretation

The first NINDS/NIBIB consensus meeting to define neuropathological criteria for the diagnosis of chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegeneration characterized by the abnormal accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau protein within the brain. Like many other neurodegenerative conditions, at present, CTE can only be definitively diagnosed by post-mortem examination of brain tissue. As the first part of a series of consensus panels funded by the NINDS/NIBIB to define the neuropathological criteria for CTE, preliminary neuropathological criteria were used by 7 neuropathologists to blindly evaluate 25 cases of various tauopathies, including CTE, Alzheimer's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, argyrophilic grain disease, corticobasal degeneration, primary age-related tauopathy, and parkinsonism dementia complex of Guam. The results demonstrated that there was good agreement among the neuropathologists who reviewed the cases (Cohen's kappa, 0.67) and even better agreement between reviewers and the diagnosis of CTE (Cohen's kappa, 0.78). Based on these results, the panel defined the pathognomonic lesion of CTE as an accumulation of abnormal hyperphosphorylated tau (p-tau) in neurons and astroglia distributed around small blood vessels at the depths of cortical sulci and in an irregular pattern. The group also defined supportive but non-specific p-tau-immunoreactive features of CTE as: pretangles and NFTs affecting superficial layers (layers II-III) of cerebral cortex; pretangles, NFTs or extracellular tangles in CA2 and pretangles and proximal dendritic swellings in CA4 of the hippocampus; neuronal and astrocytic aggregates in subcortical nuclei; thorn-shaped astrocytes at the glial limitans of the subpial and periventricular regions; and large grain-like and dot-like structures. Supportive non-p-tau pathologies include TDP-43 immunoreactive neuronal cytoplasmic inclusions and dot-like structures in the hippocampus, anteromedial temporal cortex and amygdala. The panel also recommended a minimum blocking and staining scheme for pathological evaluation and made recommendations for future study. This study provides the first step towards the development of validated neuropathological criteria for CTE and will pave the way towards future clinical and mechanistic studies

Update on a Pharmacokinetic-Centric Alternative Tier II Program for MMT—Part II: Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling and Manganese Risk Assessment

Recently, a variety of physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models have been developed for the essential element manganese. This paper reviews the development of PBPK models (e.g., adult, pregnant, lactating, and neonatal rats, nonhuman primates, and adult, pregnant, lactating, and neonatal humans) and relevant risk assessment applications. Each PBPK model incorporates critical features including dose-dependent saturable tissue capacities and asymmetrical diffusional flux of manganese into brain and other tissues. Varied influx and efflux diffusion rate and binding constants for different brain regions account for the differential increases in regional brain manganese concentrations observed experimentally. We also present novel PBPK simulations to predict manganese tissue concentrations in fetal, neonatal, pregnant, or aged individuals, as well as individuals with liver disease or chronic manganese inhalation. The results of these simulations could help guide risk assessors in the application of uncertainty factors as they establish exposure guidelines for the general public or workers

Comparison of surface and column measurements of aerosol scattering properties over the western North Atlantic Ocean at Bermuda

Light scattering by size-resolved aerosols in near-surface air at Tudor Hill, Bermuda, was measured between January and June 2009. Vertical distributions of aerosol backscattering and column-averaged aerosol optical properties were characterized in parallel with a micro-pulse lidar (MPL) and an automated sun–sky radiometer. Comparisons were made between extensive aerosol parameters in the column, such as the lidar-retrieved extinction at 400 m and the aerosol optical depth (AOD), and scattering was measured with a surface nephelometer. Comparisons were also made for intensive parameters such as the Ångström exponent and calculations using AERONET(Aerosol Robotic Network)-derived aerosol physical parameters (size distribution, index of refraction) and Mie theory, and the ratio of submicron scattering to total scattering for size-segregated nephelometer measurements. In these comparisons the <i>r</i>² was generally around 0.50. Data were also evaluated based on back trajectories. The correlation between surface scattering and lidar extinction was highest for flows when the surface scattering was dominated by smaller particles and the flow had a longer footprint over land then over the ocean. The correlation of AOD with surface scatter was similar for all flow regimes. There was also no clear dependence of the atmospheric lapse rate, as determined from a nearby radiosonde station, on flow regime. The Ångström exponent for most flow regimes was 0.9–1.0, but for the case of air originating from North America, but with significant time over the ocean, the Ångström exponent was 0.57 ± 0.18. The submicron fraction of aerosol near the surface (<i>R</i>_sub-surf) was significantly greater for the flows from land (0.66 ± 0.11) than for the flows which spent more time over the ocean (0.40 ± 0.05). When comparing <i>R</i>_sub-surf and the column-integrated submicron scattering fraction, <i>R</i>_sub-col, the correlation was similar, <i>r</i>² = 0.50, but <i>R</i>_sub-surf was generally less than <i>R</i>_sub-col, indicating more large particles contributing to light scattering at the surface, contrary to conditions over continents and for polluted continental transport over the ocean. In general, though, the marginal correlations indicate that the column optical properties are weakly correlated with the surface optical measurements. Thus, if it is desired to associate aerosol chemical/physical properties with their optical properties, it is best to use optical and chemical/physical measurements with both collected at the surface or both collected in the column

ACVIM consensus guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of myxomatous mitral valve disease in dogs

This report, issued by the ACVIM Specialty of Cardiology consensus panel, revises guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD, also known as endocardiosis and degenerative or chronic valvular heart disease) in dogs, originally published in 2009. Updates were made to diagnostic, as well as medical, surgical, and dietary treatment recommendations. The strength of these recommendations was based on both the quantity and quality of available evidence supporting diagnostic and therapeutic decisions. Management of MMVD before the onset of clinical signs of heart failure has changed substantially compared with the 2009 guidelines, and new strategies to diagnose and treat advanced heart failure and pulmonary hypertension are reviewed

European regulatory agenices should employ full time statisticians

No abstract available