Some Thoughts on Systematic Reading Readiness Instruction

Of the many reading readiness factors, some are known to be immune to, or at least not easily impacted by, the effects of schoolilng. These include students\u27 socioeconomic and backgrounds of experience, their mental age and IQ, and their basic motivation and achievement orientations. Other readiness factors are recognized as being amenable to training--in other words, as being teachable and learnable. Happly, these include four of the most significant ones; auditory discrimination, auditory comprehension, visual discrimination, and visual memory. In the remarks that follow, an attempt is made to review selected instructional procedures in each of these areas

Pre-treatment effects on coral skeletal delta\u3csup\u3e13\u3c/sup\u3eC and delta\u3csup\u3e18\u3c/sup\u3eO

Pre-treatments are often used to remove organic “contaminant” material prior to isotopic analyses of coral skeletal samples. Here we conducted three experiments to test the pre-treatment effect of water, 30% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and household bleach [5.25% sodium hypochlorite (NaClO3) and 0.15% sodium hydroxide (NaOH)], on the stable isotopic composition of coral skeletal samples. First, using a mass balance approach we calculated the expected change in skeletal delta13C due to the removal of all organic carbon. The model showed that (1) the removal of organic carbon (which has a low delta13C value relative to skeletal delta13C) from the skeletal sample should theoretically result in a higher delta13C value of the remaining organic-carbon-free carbonate, and that (2) only at the highest concentrations of skeletal organic carbon within the tissue layer of corals is the contribution of the organic carbon to the overall delta13C skeletal value potentially large enough to be detectable by mass spectrometry. We then conducted two sets of experiments to test the model where we pre-treated a large number of skeletal samples from five species of corals with water, H2O2, bleach, or no pre-treatment for 24 h. Skeletal delta13C generally decreased significantly with water, bleach, and H2O2 pre-treatments which is contrary to the model-predicted increase in delta13C following such pre-treatments. Thus, organic carbon within the skeleton is not a net source of contamination to delta13C analyses. Skeletal delta18O decreased the most with water and bleach pre-treatments. In addition, the effect of H2O2 or bleach pre-treatments on either delta13C or delta18O was not consistent among species or locations. The direction of change in delta13C and delta18O with pre-treatments was no different for skeletal samples taken within or below the tissue layer. Based on our results, we suggest that pre-treatment is not necessary and recommend that pre-treatment not be performed on coral skeletal samples prior to stable isotope analysis to avoid any pre-treatment-induced variability that could significantly compromise inter-colony and inter-species comparisons

Obesity-related cardiovascular risk factors after weight loss: a clinical trial comparing gastric bypass surgery and intensive lifestyle intervention

Objective: Weight reduction improves several obesity-related health conditions. We aimed to compare the effect of bariatric surgery and comprehensive lifestyle intervention on type 2 diabetes and obesityrelated cardiovascular risk factors. Design: One-year controlled clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00273104). Methods: Morbidly obese subjects (19–66 years, mean (S.D.) body mass index 45.1 kg/m2 (5.6), 103 women) were treated with either Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery (nZ80) or intensive lifestyle intervention at a rehabilitation centre (nZ66). The dropout rate within both groups was 5%. Results: Among the 76 completers in the surgery group and the 63 completers in the lifestyle group, mean (S.D.) 1-year weight loss was 30% (8) and 8% (9) respectively. Beneficial effects on glucose metabolism, blood pressure, lipids and low-grade inflammation were observed in both groups. Remission rates of type 2 diabetes and hypertension were significantly higher in the surgery group than the lifestyle intervention group; 70 vs 33%, PZ0.027, and 49 vs 23%, PZ0.016. The improvements in glycaemic control and blood pressure were mediated by weight reduction. The surgery group experienced a significantly greater reduction in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome, albuminuria and electrocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy than the lifestyle group. Gastrointestinal symptoms and symptomatic postprandial hypoglycaemia developed more frequently after gastric bypass surgery than after lifestyle intervention. There were no deaths. Conclusions: Type 2 diabetes and obesity-related cardiovascular risk factors were improved after both treatment strategies. However, the improvements were greatest in those patients treated with gastric bypass surgery

Effective Antigen-Specific Immunotherapy in the Marmoset Model of Multiple Sclerosis

Mature T cells initially respond to Ag by activation and expansion, but high and repeated doses of Ag cause programmed cell death and can suppress T cell-mediated diseases in rodents. We evaluated repeated systemic Ag administration in a marmoset model of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis that closely resembles the human disease multiple sclerosis. We found that treatment with MP4, a chimeric, recombinant polypeptide containing human myelin basic protein and human proteolipid protein epitopes, prevented clinical symptoms and did not exacerbate disease. CNS lesions were also reduced as assessed in vivo by magnetic resonance imaging. Thus, specific Ag-directed therapy can be effective and nontoxic in primates. The Journal of Immunology, 2001, 166: 2116 -2121. M ultiple sclerosis (MS) 4 is a paralytic disease involving destruction of myelin sheaths surrounding axons in the CNS (1, 2). MS affects young adults, most often women residing in northern latitudes. The disease exhibits relapsing and remitting symptoms including disturbances in vision, speech, coordination, and cognition as well as weakness, spasticity, and paralysis (1, 2). Lymphocytic infiltration in the CNS white matter and immune reactions against myelin Ags indicate an autoimmune etiology for MS (1-8). Allergic encephalomyelitis was first observed as a side effect of the rabies vaccine prepared from rabbit brains by Pasteur in the 1880s (see Ref. 3). Rivers and others showed that the CNS inflammation was caused not by the rabies virus but by immune sensitization to the combination of adjuvant and brain tissue contaminating the vaccine (3, 4). Experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) models in various animal species, typically rodents, were later developed by immunization with myelin proteins in adjuvant or by the adoptive transfer of myelinreactive T cells, causing inflammatory damage to the white matter (1-6). Rodent EAE is the most widely used disease model despite important differences from MS (2). Encephalitogenic CD4 ϩ T cells are believed to initiate and perpetuate EAE and MS and thus constitute a therapeutic target (1-8). Abundant myelin protein Ags, including myelin basic protein (MBP) and proteolipid protein (PLP) as well as the less abundant Ags, myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) and myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG), are recognized by T cells in MS patients (9 -11). T cell responses against MBP and PLP may occur at an increased frequency in MS patients compared with controls (1, 2, 11, 12). Ag-specific immunotherapies directed at T cells could avoid the harmful side effects of general immunosuppressive treatments. We have investigated a potential immunotherapy for MS based on our observation that T cells undergo apoptosis both in vitro and in vivo when exposed to high or repeated doses of their cognate Ag (13, To present a broad array of potential epitopes to reactive T cells, we constructed MP4, a protein chimera of the 21.5-kDa isoform of human MBP, and a modified form of human PLP, termed PLP4, that lacks the hydrophobic domains of the protein but includes all of the known T cell epitopes (19 -21). MP4 is processed into multiple determinants and can eliminate rodent EAE by promoting tolerance to different epitopes In a few instances, EAE and Ag treatments have been studied in nonhuman primates. EAE was originally induced in rhesus macaques using CNS homogenates or purified MBP (3, 4, 30 -32). It was also found that repeated injections of MBP could arrest EAE The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact

Simulation of dilated heart failure with continuous flow circulatory support

Lumped parameter models have been employed for decades to simulate important hemodynamic couplings between a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) and the native circulation. However, these studies seldom consider the pathological descending limb of the Frank-Starling response of the overloaded ventricle. This study introduces a dilated heart failure model featuring a unimodal end systolic pressure-volume relationship (ESPVR) to address this critical shortcoming. The resulting hemodynamic response to mechanical circulatory support are illustrated through numerical simulations of a rotodynamic, continuous flow ventricular assist device (cfVAD) coupled to systemic and pulmonary circulations with baroreflex control. The model further incorporated septal interaction to capture the influence of left ventricular (LV) unloading on right ventricular function. Four heart failure conditions were simulated (LV and bi-ventricular failure with/ without pulmonary hypertension) in addition to normal baseline. Several metrics of LV function, including cardiac output and stroke work, exhibited a unimodal response whereby initial unloading improved function, and further unloading depleted preload reserve thereby reducing ventricular output. The concept of extremal loading was introduced to reflect the loading condition in which the intrinsic LV stroke work is maximized. Simulation of bi-ventricular failure with pulmonary hypertension revealed inadequacy of LV support alone. These simulations motivate the implementation of an extremum tracking feedback controller to potentially optimize ventricular recovery. © 2014 Wang et al

A Connection between Colony Biomass and Death in Caribbean Reef-Building Corals

Increased sea-surface temperatures linked to warming climate threaten coral reef ecosystems globally. To better understand how corals and their endosymbiotic dinoflagellates (Symbiodinium spp.) respond to environmental change, tissue biomass and Symbiodinium density of seven coral species were measured on various reefs approximately every four months for up to thirteen years in the Upper Florida Keys, United States (1994–2007), eleven years in the Exuma Cays, Bahamas (1995–2006), and four years in Puerto Morelos, Mexico (2003–2007). For six out of seven coral species, tissue biomass correlated with Symbiodinium density. Within a particular coral species, tissue biomasses and Symbiodinium densities varied regionally according to the following trends: Mexico≥Florida Keys≥Bahamas. Average tissue biomasses and symbiont cell densities were generally higher in shallow habitats (1–4 m) compared to deeper-dwelling conspecifics (12–15 m). Most colonies that were sampled displayed seasonal fluctuations in biomass and endosymbiont density related to annual temperature variations. During the bleaching episodes of 1998 and 2005, five out of seven species that were exposed to unusually high temperatures exhibited significant decreases in symbiotic algae that, in certain cases, preceded further decreases in tissue biomass. Following bleaching, Montastraea spp. colonies with low relative biomass levels died, whereas colonies with higher biomass levels survived. Bleaching- or disease-associated mortality was also observed in Acropora cervicornis colonies; compared to A. palmata, all A. cervicornis colonies experienced low biomass values. Such patterns suggest that Montastraea spp. and possibly other coral species with relatively low biomass experience increased susceptibility to death following bleaching or other stressors than do conspecifics with higher tissue biomass levels

Effects of Light, Food Availability and Temperature Stress on the Function of Photosystem II and Photosystem I of Coral Symbionts

Background: Reef corals are heterotrophic coelenterates that achieve high productivity through their photosynthetic dinoflagellate symbionts. Excessive seawater temperature destabilises this symbiosis and causes corals to "bleach," lowering their photosynthetic capacity. Bleaching poses a serious threat to the persistence of coral reefs on a global scale. Despite expanding research on the causes of bleaching, the mechanisms remain a subject of debate.\ud \ud Methodology/Principal Findings: This study determined how light and food availability modulate the effects of temperature stress on photosynthesis in two reef coral species. We quantified the activities of Photosystem II, Photosystem I and whole chain electron transport under combinations of normal and stressful growth temperatures, moderate and high light levels and the presence or absence of feeding of the coral hosts. Our results show that PS1 function is comparatively robust against temperature stress in both species, whereas PS2 and whole chain electron transport are susceptible to temperature stress. In the symbiotic dinoflagellates of Stylophora pistillata the contents of chlorophyll and major photosynthetic complexes were primarily affected by food availability. In Turbinaria reniformis growth temperature was the dominant influence on the contents of the photosynthetic complexes. In both species feeding the host significantly protected photosynthetic function from high temperature stress.\ud \ud Conclusions/Significance: Our findings support the photoinhibition model of coral bleaching and demonstrate that PS1 is not a major site for thermal damage during bleaching events. Feeding mitigates bleaching in two scleractinian corals, so that reef responses to temperature stresses will likely be influenced by the coinciding availabilities of prey for the host

A horizon scan of global biological conservation issues for 2024

We present the results of our 15th horizon scan of novel issues that could influence biological conservation in the future. From an initial list of 96 issues, our international panel of scientists and practitioners identified 15 that we consider important for societies worldwide to track and potentially respond to. Issues are novel within conservation or represent a substantial positive or negative step-change with global or regional extents. For example, new sources of hydrogen fuel and changes in deep-sea currents may have profound impacts on marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Technological advances that may be positive include benchtop DNA printers and the industrialisation of approaches that can create high-protein food from air, potentially reducing the pressure on land for food production