Adolescent Personality Moderates the Testosterone-Externalizing Association

In considering moderating factors of the complex association between testosterone, a steroid hormone, and externalizing behavior, previous research has mainly focused on environmental influences, including interpersonal relationships. I tested the hypothesis that self-regulatory personality, an individual-level variable that is relevant for other hormone-behavior associations, moderates the testosterone-externalizing behavior association in adolescence. I examined evidence for this moderation across age and subfactors of externalizing behavior (aggression and rule-breaking). Parents reported on their child’s personality and psychopathology for a sample of 106 adolescents (56 % female) aged 13-18 (M = 16.01 years, SD = 1.29 years). Adolescent testosterone levels were measured via passive drool samples. As hypothesized, both trait Agreeableness and Conscientiousness moderated the testosterone-externalizing problem relationships. Specifically, high testosterone predicted higher levels of Externalizing Behaviors, but only for adolescents low in Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. In addition, self-regulatory personality acted as both a risk and a resiliency factor, with high levels of Conscientiousness—in combination with high testosterone—predicting lower than average levels of rule-breaking. These findings are similar to previously reported results regarding interpersonal relationships, which raises the question of how environmental and endogenous factors might jointly interact with high testosterone. Additionally, this work highlights the relevance of including personality moderators in future research on hormone-behavior associations.Psychology, Department o

Spirituality and 21st Century School Leadership

The current status of educational reform issues related to general education and special education provides the opportunity for the creation of a system that encompasses the goals of both groups in a cohesive manner. Previously, these issues have been addressed separately; however, recent research identifies a progression of change in the focus of ideas in both general education and special education. The first two phases of school reform focused initially on raising standards and then on teacher empowerment and site-based management. The current phase of school reform focuses on the instructional needs of the individual student and rejects the premise that instructional needs warrant a dual system of education. Rather, current efforts are characterized by general education and special education sharing responsibility for the learning of all students as evidenced by the Response to Intervention initiative (Allington, 2009). These emerging insights pave the way for collaborative efforts when addressing the learning needs of increasingly diverse students

Increasing prevalence of epizootic shell disease in American lobster from the nearshore Gulf of Maine

Epizootic shell disease (ESD) is a significant concern to the southern New England lobster fishery. Although ESD has been reported in the southern Gulf of Maine off Massachusetts, there are few reports from Maine waters. We report on the occurrence and distribution of ESD in American lobsters from nearshore Gulf of Maine from the Maine Commercial Lobster Sea Sampling Program. Overall, average prevalence levels of ESD by trip were very low (\u3c0.16%) through 2010, then increased from 2011 to the present, reaching 1.2% in 2013. As with previous studies, recent prevalence levels in legal and sublegal (\u3c127 mm CL) animals were higher (6%–7%) in egg-bearing females than in males and non-ovigerous females. This pattern was amplified in oversized (\u3e127 mm CL) lobsters, regardless of sex and reproductive state, with much higher prevalence levels (up to 22%). Spatially, prevalence levels of ESD were significantly higher in western regions of the Gulf of Maine than off eastern Maine. Using histology and microbiome analyses, the etiology of the disease was investigated and common signs of lobsters with ESD were described. Aquimarina homari, a bacterium associated with ESD, was significantly more prevalent on lobsters with lesions and abundance was correlated with severity of ESD. Our report indicates that ESD is present on lobsters throughout the nearshore waters of the Gulf of Maine. Given the effect of the disease on lobsters from southern New England and its increasing prevalence over time, further monitoring of ESD in the Gulf of Maine is warranted

Application of Dual Task Performance in Pediatrics and Adults with Traumatic Brain Injury: A Systematic Review

Purpose: The aim of this systematic review of the literature is to investigate the application of cognitive and motor dual task paradigms in the physical therapy management of moderate to severe TBI population across the lifespan in physical therapy practice.https://jdc.jefferson.edu/dptcapstones/1001/thumbnail.jp

Landings, vol. 30, no. 1

Landings content emphasizes science, history, resource sustainability, economic development, and human interest stories related to Maine\u27s lobster industry. The newsletter emphasizes lobstering as a traditional, majority-European American lifeway with an economic and social heritage unique to the coast of Maine. The publication focuses how ongoing research to engage in sustainable, non-harmful, and non-wasteful commercial fishing practices benefit both the fishery and Maine\u27s coastal legacy. For more information, please visit the Maine Lobstermen’s Community Alliance (MLCA) website

Agricultural climate change mitigation : Carbon calculators as a guide for decision making

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability on 9 November 2017, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2017.1398628. Under embargo. Embargo end date: 9 November 2018.The dairy industry is receiving considerable attention in relation to both its significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and it’s potential for reducing those emissions, contributing towards meeting national targets and driving the industry towards sustainable intensification. However, the extent to which improvements can be made is dependent on the decision making processes of individual producers, so there has been a proliferation of carbon accounting tools seeking to influence those processes. This paper evaluates the suitability of such tools for driving environmental change by influencing on-farm management decisions. Seven tools suitable for the European dairy industry were identified, their characteristics evaluated, and used to process data relating to six scenario farms, emulating process undertaken in real farm management situations. As a result of the range of approaches taken by the tools, there was limited agreement between them as to GHG emissions magnitude, and no consistent pattern as to which tools resulted in the highest/lowest results. Despite this it is argued, that as there was agreement as to the farm activities responsible for the greatest emissions, the more complex tools were still capable of performing a ‘decision support’ role, and guiding management decisions, whilst others could merely focus attention on key issues.Peer reviewe

Improving marine disease surveillance through sea temperature monitoring, outlooks and projections

International audienceTo forecast marine disease outbreaks as oceans warm requires new environmental surveillance tools. We describe an iterative process for developing these tools that combines research, development and deployment for suitable systems. The first step is to identify candidate host–pathogen systems. The 24 candidate systems we identified include sponges, corals, oysters, crustaceans, sea stars, fishes and sea grasses (among others). To illustrate the other steps, we present a case study of epizootic shell disease (ESD) in the American lobster. Increasing prevalence of ESD is a contributing factor to lobster fishery collapse in southern New England (SNE), raising concerns that disease prevalence will increase in the northern Gulf of Maine under climate change. The lowest maximum bottom temperature associated with ESD prevalence in SNE is 128C. Our seasonal outlook for 2015 and long-term projections show bottom temperatures greater than or equal to 128C may occur in this and coming years in the coastal bays of Maine. The tools presented will allow managers to target efforts to monitor the effects of ESD on fishery sustainability and will be iteratively refined. The approach and case example highlight that temperature-based surveillance tools can inform research, monitoring and management of emerging and continuing marine disease threats

Antigen presentation deficiency, mesenchymal differentiation, and resistance to immunotherapy in the murine syngeneic CT2A tumor model

BackgroundThe GL261 and CT2A syngeneic tumor lines are frequently used as immunocompetent orthotopic mouse models of human glioblastoma (huGBM) but demonstrate distinct differences in their responses to immunotherapy.MethodsTo decipher the cell-intrinsic mechanisms that drive immunotherapy resistance in CT2A-luc and to define the aspects of human cancer biology that these lines can best model, we systematically compared their characteristics using whole exome and transcriptome sequencing, and protein analysis through immunohistochemistry, Western blot, flow cytometry, immunopeptidomics, and phosphopeptidomics.ResultsThe transcriptional profiles of GL261-luc2 and CT2A-luc tumors resembled those of some huGBMs, despite neither line sharing the essential genetic or histologic features of huGBM. Both models exhibited striking hypermutation, with clonal hotspot mutations in RAS genes (Kras p.G12C in GL261-luc2 and Nras p.Q61L in CT2A-luc). CT2A-luc distinctly displayed mesenchymal differentiation, upregulated angiogenesis, and multiple defects in antigen presentation machinery (e.g. Tap1 p.Y488C and Psmb8 p.A275P mutations) and interferon response pathways (e.g. copy number losses of loci including IFN genes and reduced phosphorylation of JAK/STAT pathway members). The defect in MHC class I expression could be overcome in CT2A-luc by interferon-γ treatment, which may underlie the modest efficacy of some immunotherapy combinations. Additionally, CT2A-luc demonstrated substantial baseline secretion of the CCL-2, CCL-5, and CCL-22 chemokines, which play important roles as myeloid chemoattractants.ConclusionAlthough the clinical contexts that can be modeled by GL261 and CT2A for huGBM are limited, CT2A may be an informative model of immunotherapy resistance due to its deficits in antigen presentation machinery and interferon response pathways

Development, Assessment, and Management of a Potential Directed Fishery for Jonah Crab, (\u3cem\u3eCancer borealis\u3c/em\u3e), in the Near Shore Gulf of Maine

In the nearshore Gulf of Maine, Jonah crab, Cancer borealis, has been an incidental catch of the lobster industry for nearly a century. Recent increases in the landings and apparent abundance of Jonah crab initiated new interest in a potential fishery. Little information is known about the life history of the Jonah crab and neither state nor federal management directly regulate the Jonah crab. My research, driven by fishermen interest and the Maine DMR’s concern about insufficient knowledge for the barely regulated Jonah crab, begins to delve into the basics of developing an effective fisheries independent crab survey, the present characteristics of fishing mortality, and the crab fishery potential. I assisted in the development of a video survey targeting crab in Spring 2004 and evaluated the effectiveness of the approach. Despite the small sample size, I conclude that in the early spring, crabs likely associate with complex habitat and shallow water and are strongly influenced by temperature. I estimate key life history parameters using a length frequency analysis method, develop biological reference points, and then compare them with current fishing mortality estimates to determine the population status. I conclude that the present fishing level is unlikely to be overfishing the stock, but there is a high level of uncertainty associated with the assessment. The experimental Jonah crab trap project explores the potential of a directed Jonah crab trap and fishery. In the duration of the project, interest and participation by fishermen greatly diminished along with the landings of crab coast wide, but my observer trips and analysis of the participant logbook reports provide evidence that the experimental trap reduces bycatch of regulated species and could be used for commercial harvest of crabs. A socio-economic survey sent to active and non-active participants to determine fishermen’s motivations found most fishermen acquired a permit to take advantage of a new opportunity to diversify their catch if crab became a directed, but limited, fishery. The fishermen saw the potential of a new fishery if the market value improved. The future use of the Jonah crab specific trap has a number of obstacles including the continued effort and potential of the full lobster industry and the protected resource issues of minimizing whale entanglements with fixed gear by reducing that gear in high risk areas. My research takes the first crucial steps to approach Jonah crab from the biological, social, and fisheries perspective needed to begin to evaluate prospective management, but the scope of knowledge in Jonah crab biology and its role in the Gulf of Maine ecosystem needs to be increased. I found the lack of a market and limited access to crab has prevented reckless and unsustainable harvest of Jonah crab in the nearshore Gulf of Maine, but under other conditions, the effort could increase. Managers from all the states that report Jonah crab landings must work together to better characterize the scale of effort inshore and offshore on the stock and determine the risks and potential increase of effort on the Jonah crab