Philosophers on the fringe: Albert Schweitzer, Liberty Hyde Bailey, Aldo Leopold, and the wrongful polarization of environmentalist history

This thesis includes three articles (chapters) intending to encourage clarification of an area of environmental history that has not received adequate attention since the publication of Roderick Nash’s Wilderness and the American Mind. Since its publication in 1967, little research has been dedicated to understanding the scholarly or philosophical influence Albert Schweitzer and Liberty Hyde Bailey had on Aldo Leopold. Since my undertaking of this topic, I have established two primary goals. First, I want to provide clarification to environmentalists, academics, and the populace at large that environmentalism does not have to be bound by rules and convention, but can instead be shaped on a personal basis. Said another way, you do not need to be the same kind of environmentalist as everyone else for it to “count.” Second, I want to inspire readers of to think beyond what they know about the people and things they love, and realize that those people who influence their lives the most (such as Aldo Leopold) also had great influences of their own

Deriving the dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH) score in women from seven pregnancy cohorts from the European alphabet consortium

The ALPHABET consortium aims to examine the interplays between maternal diet quality, epigenetics and offspring health in seven pregnancy/birth cohorts from five European countries. We aimed to use the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) score to assess diet quality, but different versions have been published. To derive a single DASH score allowing cross-country, cross-cohort and cross-period comparison and limiting data heterogeneity within the ALPHABET consortium, we harmonised food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) data collected before and during pregnancy in ≥26,500 women. Although FFQs differed strongly in length and content, we derived a consortium DASH score composed of eight food components by combining the prescriptive original DASH and the DASH described by Fung et al. Statistical issues tied to the nature of the FFQs led us to re-classify two food groups (grains and dairy products). Most DASH food components exhibited pronounced between-cohort variability, including non-full-fat dairy products (median intake ranging from 0.1 to 2.2 servings/day), sugar-sweetened beverages/sweets/added sugars (0.3–1.7 servings/day), fruits (1.1–3.1 servings/day), and vegetables (1.5–3.6 servings/day). We successfully developed a harmonized DASH score adapted to all cohorts being part of the ALPHABET consortium. This methodological work may benefit other research teams in adapting the DASH to their study’s specificities

The Putative LEF-1 Proteins From Two Distinct Choristoneura fumiferana Multiple Nucleopolyhedroviruses Share Domain Homology to Eukaryotic Primases

peer reviewedWe have identified the lef-1 genes from two multiple nucleopolyhedroviruses that infect natural populations of Choristoneura fumiferana. The lef-I genes in both viruses are directly upstream and in the opposite orientation of their respective ecdysteroid UDP-glucosyltransferase (egt) genes. This gene organization pattern is similar to that found in the genomes of AcMNPV and of OpMNPV. As well, the coding regions and putative protein sequences share a high degree of similarity. Alignment of the predicted amino acid sequences of all known baculovirus lef-1 genes suggests that the LEF-1 proteins have a relatively high degree of conservation, particularly at four identified and distinct domains. Moreover, LEF-I proteins bear clear similarity to some eukaryotic primases, predominately at three of the four domains where certain amino acids are absolutely conserved

Associação entre depressão, ansiedade e qualidade de vida após infarto do miocárdio

Este trabalho investigou a freqüência da depressão em indivíduos cardiopatas, com e sem diagnóstico de infarto agudo do miocárdio (IAM), e indivíduos sem diagnóstico de cardiopatia. Trata-se de estudo prospectivo com 168 pacientes divididos em três grupos: 60 internados (diagnóstico de IAM), 49 ambulatoriais (diagnóstico de doença cardiovascular sem infarto) e 59 da população em geral (sem diagnóstico de doença cardiovascular), de ambos os sexos, entre 35 a 65 anos, investigados por meio do Inventário de Depressão de Beck (BDI), do Inventário de Ansiedade de Beck (BAI) e do Teste de Qualidade de Vida (WHOQOL). A prevalência de depressão no grupo IAM foi 48,3%. As variáveis significativas associadas à depressão foram: história familiar (RC=2,82 - IC95%=1,12;7,08 - p=0,028), domínio psicológico do WHOQOL (RC=0,93 - IC95%=0,89;0,98 - p=0,006) e escore de ansiedade (RC=1,08 - IC95%=1,02;1,14 - p=0,012). Os resultados sugerem que os transtornos de depressão não são desencadeados pelo IAM, mas que estão presentes antes da admissão hospitalar, destacando a importância do rastreamento dos pacientes portadores de doença coronariana crônica