TAX INCENTIVES: AN EFFECTIVE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FOR RURAL COMMUNITIES?

As national and local economies become more globalized, many rural areas are going to find it more difficult to compete for private capital investments. A traditional tool, modifications to tax policy, of state and local governments will not be as effective (for many communities it has never been effective) in the future. These communities will need to seek other avenues of growth. However, for many rural communities even alternative avenues will not lead to enhanced economic opportunity.agglomeration, rural development, tax policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, R51, R58, O21, O23, R11, R38,

The Lethal Effects of Herbicides and Herbicide Residues on the Agriculturally Important Wolf Spider Pardosa milvina

Herbicides are applied to commercial crops with increasing frequency and diversity yet are rarely tested for acute or chronic toxicity effects on beneficial non target species such as spiders We measured the lethal effects of chronic exposure to field relevant doses of herbicide treated soil on an agriculturally abundant wolf spider, Pardosa milvina. We tested six herbicides including atrazine, S-metolachlor, mesotrione, glyphosate, 2,4-D, and dicamba. We also tested a mixture of all six herbicides and a distilled water control. Spiders were housed individually in containers with topsoil previously sprayed with a recommended herbicide dosage or water control group To test for herbicide residue effects, we reared spiders under herbicides exposed to three aging treatments freshly applied herbicides, herbicides aged for 69 days under room temperature laboratory conditions (indoor aged) or aged for 69 days in a greenhouse with variable temperature, humidity, light exposure, and evaporative cycling (outdoor aged) (N=960; n= 40 spiders across 24 treatments) Spiders were maintained on these treated substrates for 48 days and fed crickets (Gryllodes sigillatus). We recorded daily mortality across all spider treatments during the testing period Mesotrione and combined herbicide treated spiders showed very high mortality within two weeks of exposure among both freshly applied and indoor aged soil treatments while mortality was modest across outdoor aged herbicide treatments. Our results indicate that some herbicides are arachnicides but require chronic and prolonged exposure to produce lethal effects. Further, soil bacterial communities alone were insufficient to break down herbicides or reduce their toxicity while photodegradation, bacterial action, temperature variation and evaporation cycles were sufficient to dramatically reduce toxicity during chronic exposure

Development of Athletes Conceptions of Sport Officials Authority

This study examined baseball players\u27 conceptions of umpires\u27 authority. Eighty male players, ages 6-22 years, completed an abbreviated Inventory of Piaget\u27s Developmental Tasks (Furth, 1970), which was used to measure cognitive development. They then heard recorded scenarios describing conflicts with an umpire and a parent. Players indicated if they would argue with the authorities, why they obey the authorities (obedience), and why the authorities get to make decisions (legitimacy). Obedience and legitimacy responses were categorized into Damon\u27s (1977) three levels. Measures of arguing, obedience, and legitimacy were analyzed for four age levels and three levels of cognitive development. Older and more cognitively developed players were more likely to argue with authorities. Conceptions of obedience and legitimacy were positively associated with age, though they were not related to scores of cognitive development. The positive relationship between age and authority conceptions and the absence of a relationship between cognitive development and authority conceptions are both consistent with Damon\u27s position

DDK dependent regulation of TOP2A at centromeres revealed by a chemical genetics approach

In eukaryotic cells the CDC7/DBF4 kinase, also known as DBF4-dependent kinase (DDK), is required for the firing of DNA replication origins. CDC7 is also involved in replication stress responses and its depletion sensitises cells to drugs that affect fork progression, including Topoisomerase 2 poisons. Although CDC7 is an important regulator of cell division, relatively few substrates and bona-fide CDC7 phosphorylation sites have been identified to date in human cells. In this study, we have generated an active recombinant CDC7/DBF4 kinase that can utilize bulky ATP analogues. By performing in vitro kinase assays using benzyl-thio-ATP, we have identified TOP2A as a primary CDC7 substrate in nuclear extracts, and serine 1213 and serine 1525 as in vitro phosphorylation sites. We show that CDC7/DBF4 and TOP2A interact in cells, that this interaction mainly occurs early in S-phase, and that it is compromised after treatment with CDC7 inhibitors. We further provide evidence that human DBF4 localises at centromeres, to which TOP2A is progressively recruited during S-phase. Importantly, we found that CDC7/DBF4 down-regulation, as well S1213A/S1525A TOP2A mutations can advance the timing of centromeric TOP2A recruitment in S-phase. Our results indicate that TOP2A is a novel DDK target and have important implications for centromere biology

Evaluation of cholinergic deficiency in preclinical Alzheimer\u27s disease using pupillometry

Cortical cholinergic deficiency is prominent in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and published findings of diminished pupil flash response in AD suggest that this deficiency may extend to the visual cortical areas and anterior eye. Pupillometry is a low-cost, noninvasive technique that may be useful for monitoring cholinergic deficits which generally lead to memory and cognitive disorders. The aim of the study was to evaluate pupillometry for early detection of AD by comparing the pupil flash response (PFR) in AD (N=14) and cognitively normal healthy control (HC, N=115) participants, with the HC group stratified according to high (N=38) and low (N=77) neocortical amyloid burden (NAB). Constriction phase PFR parameters were significantly reduced in AD compared to HC (maximum acceleration p \u3c 0.05, maximum velocity p \u3c 0.0005, average velocity p \u3c 0.005, and constriction amplitude p \u3c 0.00005). The high-NAB HC subgroup had reduced PFR response cross-sectionally, and also a greater decline longitudinally, compared to the low-NAB subgroup, suggesting changes to pupil response in preclinical AD. The results suggest that PFR changes may occur in the preclinical phase of AD. Hence, pupillometry has a potential as an adjunct for noninvasive, cost-effective screening for preclinical AD

Prospectus, March 25, 1987

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_1987/1009/thumbnail.jp

Personality characteristics are independently associated with prospective memory in the laboratory, and in daily life, among older adults

Prospective memory (PM) can deteriorate with age and adversely influence health behaviours. Research suggests that personality is related to PM in healthy young adults, but we know little about the role of personality in the PM amongst older adults. Community-dwelling older adults (N = 152) completed the NEO Five-Factor Inventory-3 and PM measures. After adjusting for demographics and general cognition, higher neuroticism and lower levels of openness were independently associated with lower objectively-measured time- and event-based PM. Lower conscientiousness was the only personality predictor of self-reported everyday PM failures. Findings indicate that personality plays a role in PM functioning in the laboratory and daily life

The impact of exercise on blood-based biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease in cognitively unimpaired older adults

Physical activity is a promising preventative strategy for Alzheimer’s disease: it is associated with lower dementia risk, better cognition, greater brain volume and lower brain beta-amyloid. Blood-based biomarkers have emerged as a low-cost, non-invasive strategy for detecting preclinical Alzheimer’s disease, however, there is limited literature examining the effect of exercise (a structured form of physical activity) on blood-based biomarkers. The current study investigated the influence of a 6-month exercise intervention on levels of plasma beta-amyloid (A 42, A 40, A 42/40), phosphorylated tau (p-tau181), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and neurofilament light (NfL) chain in cognitively unimpaired older adults, and as a secondary aim, whether blood-based biomarkers related to cognition. Ninety-nine community-dwelling older adults (69.1 ± 5.2) were allocated to an inactive control, or to moderate or high intensity exercise groups where they cycled twice weekly for six months. At baseline and six months (post-intervention), fasted blood was collected and analysed using single molecule array (SIMOA) assays, and cognition was assessed. Results demonstrated no change in levels of any plasma biomarker from pre- to post-intervention. At baseline, higher NfL was associated with poorer cognition ( = -0.33, SE = 0.13, adjusted p =.042). Exploratory analyses indicated higher cardiorespiratory fitness was associated with higher NfL and GFAP levels in apolipoprotein E (APOE) 4 non-carriers compared to 4 carriers (NfL, = -0.43, SE = 0.19, p =.029; GFAP, = -0.41, SE = 0.20, p =.044), though this association was mediated by body mass index (BMI). These results highlight the importance of considering BMI in analysis of blood-based biomarkers, especially when investigating differences between APOE ε4 carriers and non-carriers. Our results also indicate that longer follow-up periods may be required to observe exercise-induced change in blood-based biomarkers