450 research outputs found
Examining the reversibility of long-term behavioral disruptions in progeny of maternal SSRI exposure
Serotonergic dysregulation is implicated in numerous psychiatric disorders. Serotonin plays widespread trophic roles during neurodevelopment; thus perturbations to this system during development may increase risk for neurodevelopmental disorders. Epidemiological studies have examined association between selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) treatment during pregnancy and increased autism spectrum disorder (ASD) risk in offspring. It is unclear from these studies whether ASD susceptibility is purely related to maternal psychiatric diagnosis, or if treatment poses additional risk. We sought to determine whether maternal SSRI treatment alone or in combination with genetically vulnerable background was sufficient to induce offspring behavior disruptions relevant to ASD. We exposed C57BL/6J or Celf6(+/-) mouse dams to fluoxetine (FLX) during different periods of gestation and lactation and characterized offspring on tasks assessing social communicative interaction and repetitive behavior patterns including sensory sensitivities. We demonstrate robust reductions in pup ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) and alterations in social hierarchy behaviors, as well as perseverative behaviors and tactile hypersensitivity. Celf6 mutant mice demonstrate social communicative deficits and perseverative behaviors, without further interaction with FLX. FLX re-exposure in adulthood ameliorates the tactile hypersensitivity yet exacerbates the dominance phenotype. This suggests acute deficiencies in serotonin levels likely underlie the abnormal responses to sensory stimuli, while the social alterations are instead due to altered development of social circuits. These findings indicate maternal FLX treatment, independent of maternal stress, can induce behavioral disruptions in mammalian offspring, thus contributing to our understanding of the developmental role of the serotonin system and the possible risks to offspring of SSRI treatment during pregnancy
Tuberculosis Transmission Attributable to Close Contacts and HIV Status, Malawi
In this population, ≈90% of M. tuberculosis infections were transmitted by casual contact, and nearly half from HIV-positive patients
Groundwater discharge to the western Antarctic coastal ocean
Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) measurements have been limited along the Antarctic coast, although groundwater discharge is becoming recognized as an important process in the Antarctic. Quantifying this meltwater path-way is important for hydrologic budgets, ice mass balances and solute delivery to the coastal ocean. Here, we estimate the combined discharge of subglacial and submarine groundwater to the Antarctic coastal ocean. SGD, including subglacial and submarine groundwater, is quantified along the WAP at the Marr Glacier terminus using the activities of naturally occurring radium isotopes (223Ra, 224Ra). Estimated SGD fluxes from a 224Ra mass balance ranged from (0.41 ± 0.14)×104 and (8.2 ± 2.3)×104m3 d−1. Using a salinity mass balance, we estimate SGD contributes up to 32% of the total freshwater to the coastal environment near Palmer Station. This study suggests that a large portion of the melting glacier may be infiltrating into the bedrock and being discharged to coastal waters along the WAP. Meltwater infiltrating as groundwater at glacier termini is an import-ant solute delivery mechanism to the nearshore environment that can influence biological productivity. More importantly, quantifying this meltwater pathway may be worthy of attention when predicting future impacts of climate change on retreat of tidewater glaciers
Development of a Standardized Screening Rule for Tuberculosis in People Living with HIV in Resource-Constrained Settings: Individual Participant Data Meta-analysis of Observational Studies
Haileyesus Getahun and colleagues report the development of a simple, standardized tuberculosis (TB) screening rule for resource-constrained settings, to identify people living with HIV who need further investigation for TB disease
Perceptual and technical barriers in sharing and formatting metadata accompanying omics studies
Metadata, often termed "data about data," is crucial for organizing,
understanding, and managing vast omics datasets. It aids in efficient data
discovery, integration, and interpretation, enabling users to access,
comprehend, and utilize data effectively. Its significance spans the domains of
scientific research, facilitating data reproducibility, reusability, and
secondary analysis. However, numerous perceptual and technical barriers hinder
the sharing of metadata among researchers. These barriers compromise the
reliability of research results and hinder integrative meta-analyses of omics
studies . This study highlights the key barriers to metadata sharing, including
the lack of uniform standards, privacy and legal concerns, limitations in study
design, limited incentives, inadequate infrastructure, and the dearth of
well-trained personnel for metadata management and reuse. Proposed solutions
include emphasizing the promotion of standardization, educational efforts, the
role of journals and funding agencies, incentives and rewards, and the
improvement of infrastructure. More accurate, reliable, and impactful research
outcomes are achievable if the scientific community addresses these barriers,
facilitating more accurate, reliable, and impactful research outcomes
Towards an Intelligent Tutor for Mathematical Proofs
Computer-supported learning is an increasingly important form of study since
it allows for independent learning and individualized instruction. In this
paper, we discuss a novel approach to developing an intelligent tutoring system
for teaching textbook-style mathematical proofs. We characterize the
particularities of the domain and discuss common ITS design models. Our
approach is motivated by phenomena found in a corpus of tutorial dialogs that
were collected in a Wizard-of-Oz experiment. We show how an intelligent tutor
for textbook-style mathematical proofs can be built on top of an adapted
assertion-level proof assistant by reusing representations and proof search
strategies originally developed for automated and interactive theorem proving.
The resulting prototype was successfully evaluated on a corpus of tutorial
dialogs and yields good results.Comment: In Proceedings THedu'11, arXiv:1202.453
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