Suspended and Dissolved Solids Effects on Freshwater Biota: A Review

It is widely recognized that suspended and dissolved solids in lakes, rivers, streams, and reservoirs affect water quality. In this report the research needs appropriate to setting freshwater quality criteria or standards for suspeneded solids (not including bedload) and dissolveed solids are defined by determining the state of our knowledge from a critical review of the recent literature in this field. Common literature sources and computer searching routines were used as an initial source of information followed by detailed journal searches. Although some 185 journal articles, government reports, and other referecnes were cited herein (about 45 percent publicshed since 1974) and many other reports (about 300 citation) were reviewed, there is a dearth of quantitative information on the response of freshwater biota, especially at the community level, to suspended and dissolved solids. Consequently, the major research need was defined as the development and-or application of concepts of community response to suspended and dissolved solids concentrations and loads. These concepts need to be applied especially to the photosynthetic lebel and the microfauna and macrofauna levels. Fish studies are of lower priority since more and better research has been reported for these organisms. In addition, the role of suspended solids in transporting toix substances (organics, heavy metals), aesthetic evaluation of suspened solids in aquatic ecosystems and dissolved solids in drinking water, and economic aspects of dissolved solids in municipal-industrial water were defined as research needs

Social play experience in juvenile rats is indispensable for appropriate socio-sexual behavior in adulthood in males but not females

Social play is a dynamic and rewarding behavior abundantly expressed by most mammals during the juvenile period. While its exact function is debated, various rodent studies on the effects of juvenile social isolation suggest that participating in play is essential to appropriate behavior and reproductive success in adulthood. However, the vast majority of these studies were conducted in one sex only, a critical concern given the fact that there are known sex differences in play’s expression: across nearly all species that play, males play more frequently and intensely than females, and there are qualitative sex differences in play patterns. Further limiting our understanding of the importance of play is the use of total isolation to prevent interactions with other juveniles. Here, we employed a novel cage design to specifically prevent play in rats while allowing for other forms of social interaction. We find that play deprivation during the juvenile period results in enduring sex-specific effects on later-life behavior, primarily in males. Males prevented from playing as juveniles exhibited decreased sexual behavior, hypersociability, and increased aggressiveness in adulthood, with no effects on these measures in females. Importantly, play deprivation had no effect on anxiety-like behavior, object memory, sex preference, or social recognition in either sex, showing the specificity of the identified impairments, though there were overall sex differences in many of these measures. Additionally, acute play deprivation impaired performance on a test of prosocial behavior in both sexes, indicating a difference in the motivation and/or ability to acquire this empathy-driven task. Together, these findings provide novel insight into the importance and function of juvenile social play and how this differs in males and females

Educating Future Nursing Scientists: Recommendations for Integrating Omics Content in PhD Programs

Preparing the next generation of nursing scientists to conduct high-impact, competitive, sustainable, innovative, and interdisciplinary programs of research requires that the curricula for PhD programs keep pace with emerging areas of knowledge and health care/biomedical science. A field of inquiry that holds great potential to influence our understanding of the underlying biology and mechanisms of health and disease is omics. For the purpose of this article, omics refers to genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, epigenomics, exposomics, microbiomics, and metabolomics. Traditionally, most PhD programs in schools of nursing do not incorporate this content into their core curricula. As part of the Council for the Advancement of Nursing Science\u27s Idea Festival for Nursing Science Education, a work group charged with addressing omics preparation for the next generation of nursing scientists was convened. The purpose of this article is to describe key findings and recommendations from the work group that unanimously and enthusiastically support the incorporation of omics content into the curricula of PhD programs in nursing. The work group also calls to action faculty in schools of nursing to develop strategies to enable students needing immersion in omics science and methods to execute their research goals

Transparency of Regulatory Data across the European Medicines Agency, Health Canada, and US Food and Drug Administration

Based on an analysis of relevant laws and policies, regulator data portals, and information requests, we find that clinical data, including clinical study reports, submitted to the European Medicines Agency and Health Canada to support approval of medicines are routinely made publicly available

Factors influencing referral to and uptake and attendance of pulmonary rehabilitation for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a qualitative evidence synthesis of the experiences of service users, their families, and healthcare providers (Protocol)

This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Qualitative). The object ives are as follows: • To identify factors that influence referral to pulmonary rehab ilitation for COPD from the perspective of service users, thei r family/carers, and healthcare providers. • To identify factors that influence uptake of pulmonary rehabil itation for COPD (i.e. at least one attendance of an assessment or first programme session) from the perspective of service users , their family/carers, and healthcare providers. • To identify factors that influence attendance at pulmonary reha bilitation programmes for COPD from the perspective of servi ce users, their family/carers, and healthcare providers. • To develop an inductive explanatory framework for how these f actors may interact to contribute to better or poorer uptake or completion of pulmonary rehabilitation in order to guide acti ons of healthcare decision-makers to improve opportunities fo r people with COPD to benefit from pulmonary rehabilitation

How Can the Health System Retain Women in HIV Treatment for a Lifetime? A Discrete Choice Experiment in Ethiopia and Mozambique

Introduction: Option B+, an approach that involves provision of antiretroviral therapy (ART) to all HIV-infected pregnant women for life, is the preferred strategy for prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV. Lifelong retention in care is essential to its success. We conducted a discrete choice experiment in Ethiopia and Mozambique to identify health system characteristics preferred by HIV-infected women to promote continuity of care. Methods: Women living with HIV and receiving care at hospitals in Oromia Region, Ethiopia and Zambézia Province, Mozambique were shown nine choice cards and asked to select one of two hypothetical health facilities, each with six varying characteristics related to the delivery of HIV services for long term treatment. Mixed logit models were used to estimate the influence of six health service attributes on choice of clinics. Results: 2,033 women participated in the study (response rate 97.8% in Ethiopia and 94.7% in Mozambique). Among the various attributes of structure and content of lifelong ART services, the most important attributes identified in both countries were respectful provider attitude and ability to obtain non-HIV health services during HIV-related visits. Availability of counseling support services was also a driver of choice. Facility type, i.e., hospital versus health center, was substantially less important. Conclusions: Efforts to enhance retention in HIV care and treatment for pregnant women should focus on promoting respectful care by providers and integrating access to non-HIV health services in the same visit, as well as continuing to strengthen counseling

109th Congress

Environmental protection concerns span a wide variety of issues, including clean air, water quality, chemical security, and environmental aspects of other major issue areas, such as energy, transportation, disaster relief and cleanup, and defense. This report provides an overview of key environmental issues receiving attention in the 109th Congress

109th Congress

Environmental protection concerns span a wide variety of issues, including clear air, water quality, chemical security, and environmental aspects of other major issue areas, such as energy, transportation, disaster relief and cleanup, and defense. This report provides an overview of key environmental issues receiving attention in the 109th Congress. A number of environmental measures have been the subject of congressional activity, some of them as part of comprehensive bills and laws on broader subjects such as energy and transportation. Appropriations for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) affect many of the programs and issues discussed in this report

The Depolarizing Action of GABA in Cultured Hippocampal Neurons Is Not Due to the Absence of Ketone Bodies

Two recent reports propose that the depolarizing action of GABA in the immature brain is an artifact of in vitro preparations in which glucose is the only energy source. The authors argue that this does not mimic the physiological environment because the suckling rats use ketone bodies and pyruvate as major sources of metabolic energy. Here, we show that availability of physiologically relevant levels of ketone bodies has no impact on the excitatory action of GABA in immature cultured hippocampal neurons. Addition of β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), the primary ketone body in the neonate rat, affected neither intracellular calcium elevation nor membrane depolarizations induced by the GABA-A receptor agonist muscimol, when assessed with calcium imaging or perforated patch-clamp recording, respectively. These results confirm that the addition of ketone bodies to the extracellular environment to mimic conditions in the neonatal brain does not reverse the chloride gradient and therefore render GABA hyperpolarizing. Our data are consistent with the existence of a genuine “developmental switch” mechanism in which GABA goes from having a predominantly excitatory role in immature cells to a predominantly inhibitory one in adults

Parent-of-origin-specific allelic associations among 106 genomic loci for age at menarche.

Age at menarche is a marker of timing of puberty in females. It varies widely between individuals, is a heritable trait and is associated with risks for obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, breast cancer and all-cause mortality. Studies of rare human disorders of puberty and animal models point to a complex hypothalamic-pituitary-hormonal regulation, but the mechanisms that determine pubertal timing and underlie its links to disease risk remain unclear. Here, using genome-wide and custom-genotyping arrays in up to 182,416 women of European descent from 57 studies, we found robust evidence (P < 5 × 10(-8)) for 123 signals at 106 genomic loci associated with age at menarche. Many loci were associated with other pubertal traits in both sexes, and there was substantial overlap with genes implicated in body mass index and various diseases, including rare disorders of puberty. Menarche signals were enriched in imprinted regions, with three loci (DLK1-WDR25, MKRN3-MAGEL2 and KCNK9) demonstrating parent-of-origin-specific associations concordant with known parental expression patterns. Pathway analyses implicated nuclear hormone receptors, particularly retinoic acid and γ-aminobutyric acid-B2 receptor signalling, among novel mechanisms that regulate pubertal timing in humans. Our findings suggest a genetic architecture involving at least hundreds of common variants in the coordinated timing of the pubertal transition