Effect of unexpected stressor duration on the expression of stress response habituation

While habituation develops to repeated predicable psychological stress, manipulating certain parameters of the stress experience may lead to disruption of a stressor\u27s predictability and subsequent dishabituation of the stress response. In this experiment, we investigated whether behavioral, endocrine, and neural responses (indicators of activity of the Limbic-Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal-, or LHPA-, axis) to psychological stress (restraint) differ when the duration of stress given on test day violates expectations based on prior stress experience. Rats experienced daily restraint on Days 1-4 followed by either the same duration or a longer duration of restraint on Day 5. In conclusion, habituation of the endocrine and behavioral stress responses occurred when the duration of the stressor matches previous experience, while dishabituation occurred (with remarkable temporal precision) following an unpredicted increase in stress duration

Non-Syndromic Multi Focal Non-Ossifying Fibroma: A Diagnostic Challenge of Giant-Cell Rich Lesions

Background: Diagnosing GCL can be extremely difficult due to the rarity of these lesions. Histologically many benign GCL mimic each other and can further be mistaken for a malignant GCL. Additionally confusing the diagnosis, many benign GCL have significant morphological overlap. However, it is of utmost importance to arrive at an accurate diagnosis as treatment varies significantly based on the pathology. Our patient presentation highlights that differentiating GCLs can be a diagnostic challenge as illustrated. Our review of the literature found scarce reports of multifocal non-ossifying fibroma. In this case report, we describe a non-syndromic multifocal non-ossifying fibroma successfully treated with biopsy curettage and grafting. This patient was informed that her case would be submitted for publication and she agreed. Case: A 14 year-old-girl complained of left knee pain for 3 months and radiographic imaging showed a destructive bone lesion at her distal femoral metaphysis, the tibial tubercle, and proximal fibula. The patient had no history of trauma and reported no infectious, inflammatory, or syndromic symptoms. Core biopsy of the left thigh lesion showed findings most consistent with giant cell tumor. Bone scintigraphy revealed new lesions at the distal femur and proximal tibia on the contralateral (right) side. Patient was treated with biopsy curettage and grafting. Intra-operative frozen section permanent reads showed giant-cell rich non-ossifying fibroma. Due to discrepancy in core biopsy and intra-operative biopsy a independent pathology consult was requested on surgical specimens. Histologically, the differential diagnosis included non-ossifying fibroma, giant cell tumor of bone, and ossifying fibroma. Radiographic imaging combined with histology gave a final pathological diagnosis most consistent with non-ossifying fibroma. Conclusion: Differentiating non-syndromic multifocal non-ossifying fibroma from other giant cell rich lesions can be a diagnostic challenge. A combined approach using histology, clinical presentation, and radiology is imperative in reaching the correct diagnosis

Net Zero requires ambitious greenhouse gas emission reductions on beef and sheep farms coordinated with afforestation and other land use change measures

CONTEXT: The UK Climate Change Committee has recommended a 64% reduction in greenhouse gas emissionsfrom the agriculture and land-use sector to meet the 2050 Net Zero target in the UK. However, it is unclear howthis reduction can be achieved at a farm level.OBJECTIVE: Using detailed real farm data and novel modelling approaches, we investigated the managementinterventions and afforestation that would be required to deliver Net Zero within the farm boundary.METHODS: Baseline carbon footprints were calculated for twenty Welsh beef and sheep farms using the Agrecalccarbon calculator, whilst carbon sequestration was estimated using Bangor University’s Carbon FootprintingTool. Scenarios were created to determine the emissions reductions achievable on each farm through implementationof cost-effective mitigation measures. Mitigation measures and their abatement potentials weresourced from the most recent UK Marginal Abatement Cost Curve, which allow emissions to be reduced mostlythrough improvements in efficiency thus maintaining the production of the system. Area footprints werecalculated for production, with and without offset (afforested) areas needed to achieve Net Zero

A systematic review of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of peer education and peer support in prisons.

BACKGROUND: Prisoners experience significantly worse health than the general population. This review examines the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of peer interventions in prison settings. METHODS: A mixed methods systematic review of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness studies, including qualitative and quantitative synthesis was conducted. In addition to grey literature identified and searches of websites, nineteen electronic databases were searched from 1985 to 2012. Study selection criteria were: Population: Prisoners resident in adult prisons and children resident in Young Offender Institutions (YOIs). INTERVENTION: Peer-based interventions Comparators: Review questions 3 and 4 compared peer and professionally led approaches. OUTCOMES: Prisoner health or determinants of health; organisational/ process outcomes; views of prison populations. STUDY DESIGNS: Quantitative, qualitative and mixed method evaluations. RESULTS: Fifty-seven studies were included in the effectiveness review and one study in the cost-effectiveness review; most were of poor methodological quality. Evidence suggested that peer education interventions are effective at reducing risky behaviours, and that peer support services are acceptable within the prison environment and have a positive effect on recipients, practically or emotionally. Consistent evidence from many, predominantly qualitative, studies, suggested that being a peer deliverer was associated with positive effects. There was little evidence on cost-effectiveness of peer-based interventions. CONCLUSIONS: There is consistent evidence from a large number of studies that being a peer worker is associated with positive health; peer support services are also an acceptable source of help within the prison environment and can have a positive effect on recipients. Research into cost-effectiveness is sparse. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO ref: CRD42012002349

Priorities for mitigating greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions to meet UK policy targets

Agriculture is essential for providing food and maintaining food security while concurrently delivering multiple other ecosystem services. However, agricultural systems are generally a net source of greenhouse gases and ammonia. They, therefore, need to substantively contribute to climate change mitigation and net zero ambitions. It is widely acknowledged that there is a need to further reduce and mitigate emissions across sectors, including agriculture to address the climate emergency and emissions gap. This discussion paper outlines a collation of opinions from a range of experts within agricultural research and advisory roles following a greenhouse gas and ammonia emission mitigation workshop held in the UK in March 2022. The meeting identified the top mitigation priorities within the UK’s agricultural sector to achieve reductions in greenhouse gases and ammonia that are compatible with policy targets. In addition, experts provided an overview of what they believe are the key knowledge gaps, future opportunities and co-benefits to mitigation practices as well as indicating the potential barriers to uptake for mitigation scenarios discussed

Middle Neolithic pits and a burial at West Amesbury, Wiltshire

Excavations on the south-eastern slopes of King Barrow Ridge, 1.5 km east of Stonehenge, revealed five pits, a grave and other features of Middle Neolithic date. Analysis of the pit assemblages and the partial inhumation interred in the grave has provided insights into lifeways in this landscape in the late fourth millennium cal BC. Evidence suggests that the area was visited by a pastoralist, mobile community on a semi-regular basis for a significant period, in late autumn or winter. Selected remnants of craft-working and consumption were deposited in pits, before deliberate infilling. These depositions repeatedly memorialised activity on the hillside at a time of contemporary activity elsewhere on King Barrow Ridge and at the future site of Stonehenge. Middle Neolithic pits are present in significant numbers across King Barrow Ridge, and alongside pits in the Durrington area, form one of the densest concentrations of such activity in the region. Long distance mobility is suggested by the possible Irish origins of the inhumation, the first Middle Neolithic individual excavated in the environs of Stonehenge. Whilst of significance for understanding the Middle Neolithic in the WHS and the region, this research also hints at the roots of Late Neolithic monumentalisation of this landscape

Town of Ludlow Master Plan. Part I: Envisioning 2030

The Master Plan Committee for the town of Ludlow contracted with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) to prepare a new Master Plan. PVPC engaged the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning (LARP) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to assist with a portion of the Master Plan work. This work included: executing analysis and assessment of existing community conditions, conducting a weekend visioning workshop, and developing land use scenarios for the purpose of providing concrete visualization of possible futures for the Town of Ludlow in 2030

Greenhouse gas and ammonia emission mitigation priorities for UK policy targets

Publication history: Accepted - 16 March 2023; Published online - 6th May 2023.Agriculture is essential for providing food and maintaining food security while concurrently delivering multiple other ecosystem services. However, agricultural systems are generally a net source of greenhouse gases and ammonia. They, therefore, need to substantively contribute to climate change mitigation and net zero ambitions. It is widely acknowledged that there is a need to further reduce and mitigate emissions across sectors, including agriculture to address the climate emergency and emissions gap. This discussion paper outlines a collation of opinions from a range of experts within agricultural research and advisory roles following a greenhouse gas and ammonia emission mitigation workshop held in the UK in March 2022. The meeting identified the top mitigation priorities within the UK’s agricultural sector to achieve reductions in greenhouse gases and ammonia that are compatible with policy targets. In addition, experts provided an overview of what they believe are the key knowledge gaps, future opportunities and co-benefits to mitigation practices as well as indicating the potential barriers to uptake for mitigation scenarios discussed.This work was supported with funding from the Scottish Government Strategic Research Programme (2022−2027, C2-1 SRUC) and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) (BBS/E/C/000I0320 and BBS/E/C/000I0330). We also acknowledge support from UKRI-BBSRC (UK Research and Innovation-Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council) via grants BBS/E/C/000I0320 and BBS/E/C/000I0330, and Rothamsted Research Science Initiative Catalyst Award supported by BBSRC

A Multisite Preregistered Paradigmatic Test of the Ego-Depletion Effect

We conducted a preregistered multilaboratory project (k = 36; N = 3,531) to assess the size and robustness of ego-depletion effects using a novel replication method, termed the paradigmatic replication approach. Each laboratory implemented one of two procedures that was intended to manipulate self-control and tested performance on a subsequent measure of self-control. Confirmatory tests found a nonsignificant result (d = 0.06). Confirmatory Bayesian meta-analyses using an informed-prior hypothesis (δ = 0.30, SD = 0.15) found that the data were 4 times more likely under the null than the alternative hypothesis. Hence, preregistered analyses did not find evidence for a depletion effect. Exploratory analyses on the full sample (i.e., ignoring exclusion criteria) found a statistically significant effect (d = 0.08); Bayesian analyses showed that the data were about equally likely under the null and informed-prior hypotheses. Exploratory moderator tests suggested that the depletion effect was larger for participants who reported more fatigue but was not moderated by trait self-control, willpower beliefs, or action orientation.</p