Maternal inbreeding reduces parental care in the zebra finch, <i>Taeniopygia guttata</i>

Increased embryo mortality is the most commonly cited cause of reduced fitness in inbred organisms. Reduced embryo survival may be the result of reduced parental expenditure by inbred individuals and here we tested the hypothesis that inbreeding results in impaired incubation behaviour in captive zebra finches. We compared incubation attentiveness of inbred female zebra finches (derived from full-sibling mating) with that of control females (derived from unrelated parents) and found a statistically significant inbreeding depression of 17% in incubation attentiveness. This shows that inbreeding can significantly influence parental behaviour. Despite a reduction in the amount of time inbred females spent incubating, their partners were able to compensate for the reduced incubation attentiveness. Incubation temperature also did not differ between inbred and control females. To test for the effect of incubation behaviour, we fostered eggs laid by control females to either inbred or control females at the end of laying. Eggs that were incubated by inbred females had an 8.5% lower hatching success than eggs incubated by control females and, although based on a relatively small sample and not statistically significant, the magnitude of the difference was consistent with differences in hatching success observed in the wild under relatively benign environmental conditions. Thus, under more challenging environmental conditions usually encountered in the wild, the reduced incubation attentiveness of inbred females could provide one proximate explanation for the consistent finding of decreased hatching success with increasing maternal inbreeding in birds

The texts and subjects of automediality

Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson, in their field defining work Reading Autobiography, offer an etymological cue that summarises the prevailing use and perception of autobiographical work: "in Greek, autos denotes 'self,' bios 'life,' and graphe 'writing.' Taken together in this order, the words self life writing offer a brief definition of the autobiography" (1). If "autobiography" has denoted a way to write the self from the location of the self, automediality points to the range of media forms and technologies through which people engage in digital, visual, filmic, performative, textual, and transmediated forms of documenting, constructing and presenting the self

The Cognitive Effects of the Polyphenol Resveratrol in Young, Healthy Humans: A Review of Six Balanced Crossover, Placebo Controlled, Double Blind Trials

Background: Resveratrol increases cerebral blood flow (CBF) but concomitant improvements to cognitive performance are elusive and may be due to relatively underpowered analyses. Objective: The current study combines the individual cohorts from x6 individual trials to create one larger, more powerful, sample size to assess a variety of cognitive outcomes. Design: All trials were placebo controlled, balanced crossover, double blind designs. The combined demographics resulted in a sample size of N=166 with 112 Females and 54 Males between the ages of 18-35 years. Results: Bonferroni corrected repeated measures ANCOVAs revealed no significant differences on x4 individual cognitive tasks. Paired samples t-tests also showed no effects following collapsing of sub-measures from these tasks into x5 global cognitive measures (Accuracy of attention, Speed of attention, Working memory, Speed of memory, Episodic memory) and the effect sizes were small for all outcomes. Conclusions: The results of this summary paper definitively confirms that 500 mg resveratrol does not acutely improve a wide range of cognitions in healthy, 18-35 year old humans

Exploring the transition experiences of recently qualified health visitors to understand their support needs. [Protocol]

In this study the researchers are looking at the experiences of recently qualified health visitors (RQHVs) as they transition into health visiting practice and how they are supported (i.e. what kind of support do they need, what support is required and who currently provides support and does it meet their needs?

Acute and Chronic Effects of Green Oat (Avena sativa) Extract on Cognitive Function and Mood during a Laboratory Stressor in Healthy Adults: A Randomised, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study in Healthy Humans

Green oat (Avena sativa) extracts contain several groups of potentially psychoactive phytochemicals. Previous research has demonstrated improvements in cognitive function following a single dose of these extracts, but not following chronic supplementation. Additionally, whilst green oat extracts contain phytochemicals that may improve mood or protect against stress, for instance species-specific triterpene saponins, to date this possibility has not been examined. The current study investigated the effects of a single dose and four weeks of administration of a novel, Avena sativa herbal extract (cognitaven&reg;) on cognitive function and mood, and changes in psychological state during a laboratory stressor. The study adopted a dose-ranging, double-blind, randomised, parallel groups design in which 132 healthy males and females (35 to 65 years) received either 430 mg, 860 mg, 1290 mg green oat extract or placebo for 29 days. Assessments of cognitive function, mood and changes in psychological state during a laboratory stressor (Observed Multitasking Stressor) were undertaken pre-dose and at 2 h and 4 h post-dose on the first (Day 1) and last days (Day 29) of supplementation. The results showed that both a single dose of 1290 mg and, to a greater extent, supplementation for four weeks with both 430 mg and 1290 mg green oat extract resulted in significantly improved performance on a computerised version of the Corsi Blocks working memory task and a multitasking task (verbal serial subtractions and computerised tracking) in comparison to placebo. After four weeks, the highest dose also decreased the physiological response to the stressor in terms of electrodermal activity. There were no treatment-related effects on mood. These results confirm the acute cognitive effects of Avena sativa extracts and are the first to demonstrate that chronic supplementation can benefit cognitive function and modulate the physiological response to a stressor

An exploration of student mental health nurses’ narratives about working with service users living with HIV

This article reviews student mental health nurses’ narratives of working with service users with mental health problems and HIV. It is an explorative study including two student narratives reviewing their experiences. This study could be replicated on a larger scale to further explore students’ experiences of working with this service user grou

Acute Resveratrol Administration Increases Neural Effort but Not Whole Body Metabolism or Cognitive Performance in Healthy, Young Participants

Research into the cognitive enhancing effects of polyphenols is small but growing. Single doses of the stilbene polyphenol resveratrol can increase cerebral blood flow (CBF) but have failed to improve cognitive performance in young, healthy cohorts. As both CBF and overall energy expenditure are closely related to neural activity, this randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover investigation, assessed the metabolic consequences of resveratrol during high cognitive demand via indirect calorimetry (ICa). Twenty-seven, self-reported healthy participants (15 male, 12 female; mean age = 22) who reported themselves free of any food intolerances and any herbal supplementation or prescription medications were recruited for the current study. Participants arrived at the testing facility at 8 a.m. on three separate occasions to complete a serial subtraction demand battery 45 min and 2 and 3 h following administration with 500 mg, 250 mg trans-resveratrol or inert placebo, while connected to an online gas analysis system. A series of within-subjects ANOVAs (with planned comparisons) revealed a significant shift towards higher carbohydrate oxidisation during cognitive demand, as indexed by a significant increase in respiratory exchange ratio (RER) at 45-min and 3-h time points, following administration of 500 mg resveratrol. Despite this, no subsequent resveratrol-related benefits to cognitive performance were observed. These results show that acute supplementation with resveratrol in young, healthy adults can modulate fuel utilization during cognitive demand, yet this does not translate into clear improvements in cognitive performance. This study adds further understanding behind the lack of cognitive effects of resveratrol in young and or healthy individuals. Future research should direct efforts towards assessing the cognitive impact of resveratrol, and other vasoactive polyphenols, in populations with age-related or dietary-induced metabolic deficits

"Not Barren of Invention": Texts, Context and Intertexts of the London Lord Mayors' Shows, 1614-1619.

This thesis analyses the printed texts of six London Lord Mayors’ Shows, of the years 1614-1619, demonstrating how the two authors – Thomas Middleton and Anthony Munday – innovated textually within this genre. Its methodology is original in two ways. Firstly, it examines the Shows as whole entities, analysing how they function as individual texts. This helps to identify the development of textual strategies across the genre, differentiating the strategies within each Show. Secondly, and most importantly, the thesis examines the Shows as texts, applying textual and literary analysis to identify authorial strategies in each work. This textual perspective allows the thesis to identify three principal strategies in the Shows examined. Firstly, it shows that writers used the Show’s ‘occasionality’ – that is, proximity to a real event – in innovative ways, utilising a variety of strategies to respond to the works’ historical and cultural context. ‘Occasionality’ is thus demonstrated to be more variable than scholars have previously assumed. So too, the thesis identifies diverse ways in which authors use strategies of intertextuality, showing that this concept, too, is unstable as used in this genre. Finally, two of the Shows are shown to challenge and complicate the relationship between the printed text and the event of performance which it supposedly commemorated – that is, the actual procession of the newly-elected Lord Mayor with Company and City dignitaries through London after signing his oath to the King on October 29th. The thesis uses close analysis of historical and textual detail to outline the nuanced and different ways in which Shows responded to their immediate context, utilised other textual sources and interrogated the then-vexed issue of print’s relationship to an event of performance. The thesis thus shows that in these three textual areas, Lord Mayors’ Shows are much more variable and complex than scholars have previously acknowledged