Salinity Effects on the Development and Larval Tolerance of Five Species of Echinoderms.

Salinity effects on the developmental rates, larval tolerances and various metabolic processes of five species of echinoderms were investigated. Development of Lytechinus variegatus (Lamarck), Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis (O. F. Muller, 1776), Strongylocentrotus purpuratus (Stimpson, 1857), Strongylocentrotus pallidus (G. O. Sars, 1871), and Pisaster ochraceus (Brandt, 1835) larvae were observed. Developmental rates and larval survival to metamorphosis of S. droebachiensis and S. pallidus varied directly with salinity and were well within the observed salinity tolerance and distributional limits for the adults. For each species, embryos and larvae at lower salinities (20, 22.5, and 25\sp{o}\!/\!\sb{oo}) tended to develop more slowly than those at higher salinities. P. ochraceus and S. droebachiensis survived all salinity treatments throughout the experimental period. F\sb1 hybrid larvae exhibited salinity tolerances and developmental rates intermediate between values reported for the more stenohaline larvae of S. pallidus and those for the more euryhaline larvae of S. droebachiensis. S. purpuratus larvae were stenohaline and tolerated salinities as low as 27.5\sp{o}\!/\!\sb{oo}{\rm S.}. Gonadal ninhydrin positive substances were significantly lower at 17.5\sp{o}\!/\!\sb{oo}{\rm S} and coelomic cavity lactic acid values were significantly higher at 20\sp{o}\!/\!\sb{oo}{\rm S} for S. droebachiensis and S. pallidus, although, histological examination revealed no observable differences in gonadal structure between adults acclimated to high and low salinity. Temperature and salinity effects on the development, metabolic rates, and larval tolerance of Lytechinus variegatus (Lamarck) were also examined. Developmental rates and survival to metamorphosis of larval L. variegatus varied directly with salinity. Respiration rates of L. variegatus plutei varied directly with salinity and temperature; whereas, excretion rates varied directly with temperature and indirectly with salinity. O:N ratios suggest increased reliance on protein catabolism thus indicative of physiological stress at 27.5\sp{o}\!/\!\sb{oo}{\rm S.} The back transfer of juvenile L. variegatus to low salinities correlates well with 28 day LC\sb{50} data of adults indicating 18\sp{o}\!/\!\sb{oo} to be the low salinity tolerance limit of adult urchins. Data obtained from this study indicate that the larval tolerances of echinoderms may limit adult distributions along salinity gradients

A New Test for Normality

This paper presents a new test for normality which is based on a complete characterization of the normal distribution. Motivation for the test is given in terms of a proof of this characterization. The test is derived and evaluated by computer-simulated sampling from alternative distributions. The empirical powers of the test generated from such samplings are tabled and compared to nine commonly used tests. Evaluation of the proposed test is discussed and further avenues of investigation are suggested

Community Pharmacy Recruitment for Practice-Based Research: Challenges and Lessons Learned

To support the successful integration of community pharmacies into value-based care models, research on the feasibility and effectiveness of novel pharmacist-provided patient care services is needed. The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, supported by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Foundation, designed the Community-based Valued-driven Care Initiative (CVCI) to (1) identify effective value-based patient care interventions that could be provided by community pharmacists, (2) implement and evaluate the feasibility of the selected patient care interventions, and (3) develop resources and create collaborative sustainability opportunities. The purpose of this manuscript is to describe recruitment strategies for CVCI and share lessons learned. The project team identified pharmacies for recruitment through a mixed data analysis followed by a “fit” evaluation. A total of 42 pharmacy organizations were identified for recruitment, 24 were successfully contacted, and 9 signed on to the project. During recruitment, pharmacies cited concerns regarding the financial sustainability of implementing and delivering the patient care services, challenges with staffing and infrastructure, and pharmacists’ comfort level. To foster participation, it was vital to have leadership buy-in, clear benefits from implementation, and assured sustainability beyond the research period

Социальное предпринимательство и преобразующие инвестиции: проблемы и пути развития в Российской Федерации

К сожалению, на сегодняшний день, климат, в котором вынуждены работать социальные предприятия нельзя назвать благоприятным. Существующая ситуации развития социального предпринимательства в России определила проблемы исследования: правовые, финансово-экономические, административные, доступа к рынку, организационно-кадровые, инфраструктурные, а также отсутствие стандартизированных оценочных инструментов, необходимых для подтверждения социальных результатов. Цель работы – разработка рекомендаций по решению существующих проблем развития социального предпринимательства в России. Объект исследования -социальное предпринимательство и преобразующие инвестиции. Предмет исследования - проблемы и пути развития социального предпринимательства в России.Unfortunately, today, the climate in which social enterprises are forced to work cannot be called favorable. The current situation of social entrepreneurship development in Russia has determined the problems of research: legal, financial, economic, administrative, market access, organizational, personnel, infrastructure, as well as the lack of standardized assessment tools needed to confirm social results. The aim of the work is to develop recommendations for solving the existing problems of social entrepreneurship development in Russia. The object of the research is social entrepreneurship and transforming investments. The subject of the research is the problems and ways of development of social entrepreneurship in Russia

CRF-Like Diuretic Hormone Negatively Affects Both Feeding and Reproduction in the Desert Locust, Schistocerca gregaria

Diuretic hormones (DH) related to the vertebrate Corticotropin Releasing Factor (CRF) have been identified in diverse insect species. In the migratory locust, Locusta migratoria, the CRF-like DH (CRF/DH) is localized in the same neurosecretory cells as the Ovary Maturating Parsin (OMP), a neurohormone that stimulates oocyte growth, vitellogenesis and hemolymph ecdysteroid levels in adult female locusts. In this study, we investigated whether CRF-like DH can influence feeding and reproduction in the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria. We identified two highly similar S. gregaria CRF-like DH precursor cDNAs, each of which also encodes an OMP isoform. Alignment with other insect CRF-like DH precursors shows relatively high conservation of the CRF/DH sequence while the precursor region corresponding to OMP is not well conserved. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR revealed that the precursor transcripts mainly occur in the central nervous system and their highest expression level was observed in the brain. Injection of locust CRF/DH caused a significantly reduced food intake, while RNAi knockdown stimulated food intake. Therefore, our data indicate that CRF-like DH induces satiety. Furthermore, injection of CRF/DH in adult females retarded oocyte growth and caused lower ecdysteroid titers in hemolymph and ovaries, while RNAi knockdown resulted in opposite effects. The observed effects of CRF/DH may be part of a wider repertoire of neurohormonal activities, constituting an integrating control system that affects food intake and excretion, as well as anabolic processes like oocyte growth and ecdysteroidogenesis, following a meal. Our discussion about the functional relationship between CRF/DH and OMP led to the hypothesis that OMP may possibly act as a monitoring peptide that can elicit negative feedback effects

Gustatory Perception and Fat Body Energy Metabolism Are Jointly Affected by Vitellogenin and Juvenile Hormone in Honey Bees

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) provide a system for studying social and food-related behavior. A caste of workers performs age-related tasks: young bees (nurses) usually feed the brood and other adult bees inside the nest, while older bees (foragers) forage outside for pollen, a protein/lipid source, or nectar, a carbohydrate source. The workers' transition from nursing to foraging and their foraging preferences correlate with differences in gustatory perception, metabolic gene expression, and endocrine physiology including the endocrine factors vitellogenin (Vg) and juvenile hormone (JH). However, the understanding of connections among social behavior, energy metabolism, and endocrine factors is incomplete. We used RNA interference (RNAi) to perturb the gene network of Vg and JH to learn more about these connections through effects on gustation, gene transcripts, and physiology. The RNAi perturbation was achieved by single and double knockdown of the genes ultraspiracle (usp) and vg, which encode a putative JH receptor and Vg, respectively. The double knockdown enhanced gustatory perception and elevated hemolymph glucose, trehalose, and JH. We also observed transcriptional responses in insulin like peptide 1 (ilp1), the adipokinetic hormone receptor (AKHR), and cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG, or “foraging gene” Amfor). Our study demonstrates that the Vg–JH regulatory module controls changes in carbohydrate metabolism, but not lipid metabolism, when worker bees shift from nursing to foraging. The module is also placed upstream of ilp1, AKHR, and PKG for the first time. As insulin, adipokinetic hormone (AKH), and PKG pathways influence metabolism and gustation in many animals, we propose that honey bees have conserved pathways in carbohydrate metabolism and conserved connections between energy metabolism and gustatory perception. Thus, perhaps the bee can make general contributions to the understanding of food-related behavior and metabolic disorders

Laser spectroscopy for breath analysis : towards clinical implementation

Detection and analysis of volatile compounds in exhaled breath represents an attractive tool for monitoring the metabolic status of a patient and disease diagnosis, since it is non-invasive and fast. Numerous studies have already demonstrated the benefit of breath analysis in clinical settings/applications and encouraged multidisciplinary research to reveal new insights regarding the origins, pathways, and pathophysiological roles of breath components. Many breath analysis methods are currently available to help explore these directions, ranging from mass spectrometry to laser-based spectroscopy and sensor arrays. This review presents an update of the current status of optical methods, using near and mid-infrared sources, for clinical breath gas analysis over the last decade and describes recent technological developments and their applications. The review includes: tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy, cavity ring-down spectroscopy, integrated cavity output spectroscopy, cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy, photoacoustic spectroscopy, quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy, and optical frequency comb spectroscopy. A SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) is presented that describes the laser-based techniques within the clinical framework of breath research and their appealing features for clinical use.Peer reviewe

Unsupervised compositionality prediction of nominal compounds

Nominal compounds such as red wine and nut case display a continuum of compositionality, with varying contributions from the components of the compound to its semantics. This article proposes a framework for compound compositionality prediction using distributional semantic models, evaluating to what extent they capture idiomaticity compared to human judgments. For evaluation, we introduce data sets containing human judgments in three languages: English, French, and Portuguese. The results obtained reveal a high agreement between the models and human predictions, suggesting that they are able to incorporate information about idiomaticity. We also present an in-depth evaluation of various factors that can affect prediction, such as model and corpus parameters and compositionality operations. General crosslingual analyses reveal the impact of morphological variation and corpus size in the ability of the model to predict compositionality, and of a uniform combination of the components for best results