Growth and Residency of Juvenile Fishes Within a Surf Zone Habitat in the Gulf of Mexico

Over a 32-month study period, 154,469 fish representing 76 species were collected from the Gulf shore of Horn Island, Mississippi. Fishes collected were identified as either resident or migrant species according to length frequency data. The migrant component, dominated numerically by Anchoa lyolepis, represented the greatest number of species and individuals collected. Resident fishes constituted only six species but comprised 42.0% of all fish captured. The more abundant species residing within the Horn Island surf zone, Trachinotus carolinus, Menticirrhus littoralis, and Harengula jaguana, appeared to utilize this habitat as a nursery for approximately 3 months throughout the spring and summer period. Of these three residents, the two former species exhibited intermittent recruitment into the exposed beach habitat during the spring and early summer, whereas larval H. jaguana exhibited two distinct periods of immigration, occurring first in the late spring and again in midsummer

Maternal Life Course Adversity: The Intersection of Psychosocial and Biobehavioral Adaptive Response in Pregnancy

The link between life course adversity and adverse health outcomes is well established, particularly early life adversity (ELA). There is also evidence that the physiologic adaptations associated with stress, depression and ELA can be transmitted intergenerationally via long-term set-point changes within the maternal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA). It is unknown how the type and timing of maternal stress and adversity influences HPA regulation during pregnancy and whether maternal coping attenuates this relationship. Manuscript 1 was an integrative review of studies examining the association between maternal ELA and HPA regulation during pregnancy. In manuscripts 2 and 3 the findings of the dissertation study are presented. The purpose of this dissertation was to further examine how the type and timing of maternal adversity is linked to physiologic HPA adaptations in pregnancy and whether psychosocial processes moderate the relationship between life adversity and HPA regulation. From a qualitative perspective, this study examined how situational factors in women’s lives influence their goals, motivations, and notions of health in pregnancy. The sample (N = 72) included women in the 2nd trimester of a singleton, uncomplicated pregnancy. The data collected included surveys, interviews, and salivary cortisol samples. Quantitative data were analyzed using correlation and general linear modeling. Lifetime stress was significantly correlated with higher cortisol during pregnancy. Childhood adversity accounted for cortisol elevations in the morning, while adult stress and depression accounted for elevated cortisol levels in the evening. Women’s willingness to seek social support significantly attenuated HPA reactivity. Neither stress nor cortisol were associated with birth outcomes. The qualitative study found that contextual and sociodemographic factors have a profound influence on the way that women prioritize life goals and health during pregnancy. Overall, women’s experience of adversity throughout the life course results in specific psychosocial and biobehavioral adaptive responses that shape the gestational environment and pregnancy experience

Trophic Relationships of Fishes Occurring Within a Surf Zone Habitat in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

We studied trophic relationships of Florida pompano (Trachinotus carolinus), gulf kingfish (Menticirrhus littoralis), scaled sardine (Harengula jaguana), striped anchovy (Anchoa hepsetus) and dusky anchovy (A. lyolepis) during their spring residency in the Horn Island, Mississippi, surf zone. Harengula jaguana, A. lyolepis and A. hepsetus were zooplanktivores, utilizing primarily calanoid copepods, mysids and various decapod larvae. Menticirrhus littoralis and T. carolinus utilized benthic prey including Donax, Emerita and polychaetes; however, small pompano also fed on zooplankton. Menticirrhus littoralis, T. carolinus, H. jaguana and A. lyolepis also showed distinct dietary changes with increasing fish size. Three species, A. lyolepis, H. jaguana and M. littoralis fed at least partially at night, while T. carolinus and A. hepsetus were primarily diurnal predators. Cluster analysis of size intervals of all species based on presence or absence of prey taxa formed groups consistent with taxonomic relationships, thus indicating considerable interspecific resource separation

Podocytic PKC-Alpha Is Regulated in Murine and Human Diabetes and Mediates Nephrin Endocytosis

Background: Microalbuminuria is an early lesion during the development of diabetic nephropathy. The loss of high molecular weight proteins in the urine is usually associated with decreased expression of slit diaphragm proteins. Nephrin, is the major component of the glomerular slit diaphragm and loss of nephrin has been well described in rodent models of experimental diabetes as well as in human diabetic nephropathy. Methodology/Principal Findings: In this manuscript we analyzed the role of PKC-alpha (PKCa) on endocytosis of nephrin in podocytes. We found that treatment of diabetic mice with a PKCa-inhibitor (GÖ6976) leads to preserved nephrin expression and reduced proteinuria. In vitro, we found that high glucose stimulation would induce PKCa protein expression in murine and human podocytes. We can demonstrate that PKCa mediates nephrin endocytosis in podocytes and that overexpression of PKCa leads to an augmented endocytosis response. After PKC-activation, we demonstrate an inducible association of PKCa, PICK1 and nephrin in podocytes. Moreover, we can demonstrate a strong induction of PKCa in podocytes of patients with diabetic nephropathy. Conclusions/Significance: We therefore conclude that activation of PKCa is a pathomechanistic key event during the development of diabetic nephropathy. PKCa is involved in reduction of nephrin surface expression and therefore PKC

Relational considerations in the use of influence tactics.

It is proposed that the existing relationship between the influencing agent and the target of influence plays a central role in the choice of using hard and soft influence tactics. In a field study, 3 key aspects of the relation between agent and target were examined. and the results generally supported our hypotheses. First, the more unfairly people felt they were treated, the more often they wielded influence, especially using harder influence tactics. Second. the better the influencing agent liked the target. the relatively less often he or she used hard tactics. Finally, the more the influencing agent felt dependent upon the target, the fewer influence tactics, both hard and soft, were used. The discussion focuses on both the practical and theoretical implications of these findings

Le Bien Commun dans la philosophie de saint Thomas

Modde André. Le Bien Commun dans la philosophie de saint Thomas. In: Revue Philosophique de Louvain. Troisième série, tome 47, n°14, 1949. pp. 221-247