Seahorse predation by octopuses in the Caribbean and the West Pacific

There is much documentation about seahorses (Hippocampus spp.) being threatened by habitat degradation and overfishing, but relatively few published studies mention their natural predators. The present study documents three cases in which seahorses are being caught by octopuses. In one case, the seahorse was partly consumed. These observations made at Bonaire (Caribbean Netherlands) and New South Wales (Australia) suggest that predation on seahorses by octopuses may be more widespread and common than previously thought

Book Reviews

Reviews of the following books: Joe Scott, The Woodsman-Songmaker by Edward D. Ives; Legacy of a Lifetime: The Story of Baxter State Park by John W. Hakola; General William King: Merchant, Shipbuilder, and Maine\u27s First Governor by Marion Jaques Smith; Picture History of New England Passenger Vessels by W. Bartlett Cram; Colonial Massachusetts: A History by Benjamin Labaree

Nocturnal predation of christmas tree worms by a batwing coral crab at Bonaire (Southern Caribbean)

Christmas tree worms (Serpulidae: Spirobranchus) occur in shallow parts of coral reefs, where they live as associates of a large number of stony coral species [...

The MK2 cascade mediates transient alteration in mGluRLTD and spatial learning in a murine model of Alzheimer’s disease

A key aim of Alzheimer disease research is to develop efficient therapies to prevent and/or delay the irreversible progression of cognitive impairments. Early deficits in long-term potentiation (LTP) are associated with the accumulation of amyloid beta in rodent models of the disease, however, less is known about how mGluR-mediated long-term depression (mGluR-LTD) is affected. In this study, we have found that mGluR-LTD is enhanced in the APPswe/PS1dE9 mouse at 7 but returns to wild-type levels at 13 months of age. This transient over-activation of mGluR signalling is coupled with impaired LTP and shifts the dynamic range of synapses towards depression. These alterations in synaptic plasticity are associated with an inability to utilise cues in a spatial learning task. The transient dysregulation of plasticity can be prevented by genetic deletion of the MAP kinase-activated protein kinase 2 (MK2), a substrate of p38 MAPK, demonstrating that manipulating the mGluR-p38 MAPK-MK2 cascade at 7 months can prevent the shift in synapse dynamic range. Our work reveals the MK2 cascade as a potential pharmacological target to correct the over-activation of mGluR signalling

The Lantern Vol. 7, No. 1, December 1938

• The Greatest Gift of All • Peace • Two Bums • October Paints the Valleys • Have the Notes Died? • America\u27s Defeatism Complex • Tahiti Jacques • When We Take Heed of Life • From The Sky Image • Still Moments • Noel • Foreign Hills • Just Beforehttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/lantern/1012/thumbnail.jp

Mediators of Obesity Do Not Influence SARS-CoV-2 Infection or Activation of Primary Human Lung Microvascular Endothelial Cells In Vitro

Clinical observations have shown that obesity is associated with the severe outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infection hallmarked by microvascular dysfunction in the lungs and other organs. Excess visceral fat and high systemic levels of adipose tissue (AT) derived mediators such as leptin and other adipokines have also been linked to endothelial dysfunction. Consequently, we hypothesized that AT-derived mediators may exacerbate microvascular dysfunction during of SARS-CoV-2 infection and tested this in a primary human lung microvascular endothelial (HLMVEC) cell model. Our results indicate that HLMVEC are not susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection since no expression of viral proteins and no newly produced virus was detected. In addition, exposure to the virus did not induce endothelial activation as evidenced by a lack of adhesion molecule, E-selectin, VCAM-1, ICAM-1, and inflammatory cytokine IL-6 induction. Incubation of endothelial cells with the pro-inflammatory AT-derived mediator, leptin, prior to virus inoculation, did not alter the expression of endothelial SARS-CoV-2 entry receptors and did not alter their susceptibility to infection. Furthermore, it did not induce inflammatory activation of endothelial cells. To verify if the lack of activated phenotype in the presence of adipokines was not leptin-specific, we exposed endothelial cells to plasma obtained from critically ill obese COVID-19 patients. Plasma exposure did not result in E-selectin, VCAM-1, ICAM-1, or IL-6 induction. Together our results strongly suggest that aberrant inflammatory endothelial responses are not mounted by direct SARS-CoV-2 infection of endothelial cells, even in the presence of leptin and other mediators of obesity. Instead, endothelial activation associated with COVID-19 is likely a result of inflammatory responses initiated by other cells. Further studies are required to investigate the mechanisms regulating endothelial behavior in COVID-19 and the mechanisms driving severe disease in obese individuals

Functional Connectivity and Brain Networks in Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia has often been conceived as a disorder of connectivity between components of large-scale brain networks. We tested this hypothesis by measuring aspects of both functional connectivity and functional network topology derived from resting state fMRI time series acquired at 72 cerebral regions over 17 minutes from 15 healthy volunteers (14 male, 1 female) and 12 people diagnosed with schizophrenia (10 male, 2 female). We investigated between-group differences in strength and diversity of functional connectivity in the 0.06–0.125 Hz frequency interval, and some topological properties of undirected graphs constructed from thresholded inter-regional correlation matrices. In people with schizophrenia, strength of functional connectivity was significantly decreased; whereas diversity of functional connections was increased. Topologically, functional brain networks had reduced clustering and small-worldness, reduced probability of high degree hubs and increased robustness in the schizophrenic group. Reduced degree and clustering were locally significant in medial parietal, premotor and cingulate, and right orbitofrontal cortical nodes of functional networks in schizophrenia. Functional connectivity and topological metrics were correlated with each other and with behavioural performance on a verbal fluency task. We conclude that people with schizophrenia tend to have a less strongly integrated, more diverse profile of brain functional connectivity, associated with a less hub-dominated configuration of complex brain functional networks. Alongside these behaviourally disadvantageous differences, however, brain networks in the schizophrenic group also showed a greater robustness to random attack, pointing to a possible benefit of the schizophrenia connectome, if less extremely expressed

The MK2 cascade mediates transient alteration in mGluR-LTD and spatial learning in a murine model of Alzheimer's disease

YesA key aim of Alzheimer disease research is to develop efficient therapies to prevent and/or delay the irreversible progression of cognitive impairments. Early deficits in long-term potentiation (LTP) are associated with the accumulation of amyloid beta in rodent models of the disease; however, less is known about how mGluR-mediated long-term depression (mGluR-LTD) is affected. In this study, we have found that mGluR-LTD is enhanced in the APPswe /PS1dE9 mouse at 7 but returns to wild-type levels at 13 months of age. This transient over-activation of mGluR signalling is coupled with impaired LTP and shifts the dynamic range of synapses towards depression. These alterations in synaptic plasticity are associated with an inability to utilize cues in a spatial learning task. The transient dysregulation of plasticity can be prevented by genetic deletion of the MAP kinase-activated protein kinase 2 (MK2), a substrate of p38 MAPK, demonstrating that manipulating the mGluR-p38 MAPK-MK2 cascade at 7 months can prevent the shift in synapse dynamic range. Our work reveals the MK2 cascade as a potential pharmacological target to correct the over-activation of mGluR signalling.Wellcome Trust, Grant/Award Number: 200646/Z/16/

Factors Affecting European Farmers’Participation in Biodiversity Policies

This article reports the major findings from an interdisciplinary research project that synthesises key insights into farmers’ willingness and ability to co-operate with biodiversity policies. The results of the study are based on an assessment of about 160 publications and research reports from six EU member states and from international comparative research.We developed a conceptual framework to systematically review the existent literature relevant for our purposes. This framework provides a common structure for analysing farmers’ perspectives regarding the introduction into farming practices of measures relevant to biodiversity. The analysis is coupled and contrasted with a survey of experts. The results presented above suggest that it is important to view support for practices oriented towards biodiversity protection not in a static sense – as a situation determined by one or several influencing factors – but rather as a process marked by interaction. Financial compensation and incentives function as a necessary, though clearly not sufficient condition in this process