Effects of transitive stimulus generalization on within -sets generalization and between -sets generalization

The purpose of the study was to examine whether or not within-sets generalization (WSG) and between-sets generalization (BSG) are dependent on transitive stimulus generalization (TSG). A match-to-sample training procedure was used to train four typically developing five-year-old children to select stimuli from set A (fractions in ratio form) in the presence of stimuli from either set B or set C (fractions in picture form). The emergence of TSG, WSG, and BSG then was examined through presentations of stimuli involved in training and stimuli not involved in training.;Participants then were trained on the certain combinations of stimuli that were used to check for demonstrations of TSG. Demonstrations of TSG, WSG, and BSG then were examined after the TSG training in order to determine whether TSG training affected demonstrations of WSG or BSG. Participants then were trained on the certain combinations of stimuli that were used to check for demonstrations of WSG. Demonstrations of TSG, WSG, and BSG then were examined after the WSG training in order to determine whether WSG training affected demonstrations of BSG.;The data patterns of three of the four participants suggested that increased TSG training affected an increase in WSG responding, and the data pattern of only one of the four participants offered limited support that increased TSG training affected an increase in BSG responding. The data pattern of one of the four participants suggested that the addition of WSG training to TSG training affected an increase in BSG responding

Seksuaalisuuden ja sukupuolen moninaisuus alakoulun seksuaalikasvatuksessa ja oppimateriaaleissa

Tiivistelmä. Seksuaalikasvatus on tärkeä ja moniulotteinen osa kaikkea kasvatusta. Se pitää sisällään muun muassa tunne- ja turvataitoja sekä ikätasoista tietoa seksuaalisuudesta, seksistä ja sukupuolesta. Seksuaalikasvatuksen moninaisuus tarkoittaa sitä, että kaikenlaiset ihmiset, identiteetit ja tilanteet otetaan huomioon kasvatuksessa niin, että jokainen lapsi ja nuori saa laadukasta, tasa-arvoista ja riittävää kasvatusta sukupuoli-identiteetistä tai seksuaalisesta suuntautumisesta riippumatta. Tämän tutkielman tarkoituksena on tuoda esiin moninaisuuden huomioonottamista alakoulun seksuaalikasvatuksessa ja asenneilmapiirissä, purkaa vähemmistöjen ja enemmistön välistä me-he-asetelmaa sekä analysoida sitä, millaista representaatiota, kielenkäyttöä ja asenteellisuutta löytyy alakoulun oppimateriaalista seksuaalikasvatuksen teemoista. Tutkimuskysymyksenämme on ”Miten seksuaalisuuden ja sukupuolen moninaisuus esitetään alakoulun seksuaalikasvatuksessa ja sen oppimateriaaleissa?”. Tutkielman aineistona on käytetty useita alakoulun oppikirjoja, seksuaalikasvatuksen ammattilaisten teoksia, kasvattajille tarkoitettuja seksuaalikasvatuksen oppaita sekä kvalitatiivisia tutkimuksia sekä Suomesta että ulkomailta. Materiaalien pohjalta tehdyissä havainnoissa korostui seksuaalikasvatuksen hyvinvointia lisäävä merkitys, vähemmistöjen kokema syrjintä tai representaation puute sekä sukupuolinormien ahtaus. Tarkastelussa oli alakoulun oppikirjoja 2000-luvun alusta tähän päivään, ja niissä esille nousi vanhentunut kielenkäyttö sekä heteronormatiivisuus, joka varjostaa seksuaalikasvatusta yleisesti. Johtopäätöksinä voidaan todeta, että alakoulun seksuaalikasvatuksen sisällöissä on hyvä kehityssuunta, mutta edelleen paljon puutteita representaatiossa ja kielenkäytössä. Opetussuunnitelma linjaa seksuaalikasvatuksen löyhästi, ja vastuu jää liikaa yksittäisten opettajien harteille. Jotta laadukas ja moninaisuuden huomioiva seksuaalikasvatus voi toteutua, tarvitaan järjestelmällistä koulutusta, osaamista sekä motivaatiota näiden teemojen sisällyttämiseksi osaksi koulun arkea ja toimintakulttuuria

A common genetic variant of a mitochondrial RNA processing enzyme predisposes to insulin resistance

Mitochondrial energy metabolism plays an important role in the pathophysiology of insulin resistance. Recently, a missense N437S variant was identified in the MRPP3 gene, which encodes a mitochondrial RNA processing enzyme within the RNase P complex, with predicted impact on metabolism. We used CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing to introduce this variant into the mouse Mrpp3 gene and show that the variant causes insulin resistance on a high-fat diet. The variant did not influence mitochondrial gene expression markedly, but instead, it reduced mitochondrial calcium that lowered insulin release from the pancreatic islet β cells of the Mrpp3 variant mice. Reduced insulin secretion resulted in lower insulin levels that contributed to imbalanced metabolism and liver steatosis in the Mrpp3 variant mice on a high-fat diet. Our findings reveal that the MRPP3 variant may be a predisposing factor to insulin resistance and metabolic disease in the human population

Root trenching: a useful tool to estimate autotrophic soil respiration? A case study in an Austrian mountain forest

We conducted a trenching experiment in a mountain forest in order to assess the contribution of theautotrophic respiration to total soil respiration and evaluate trenching as a technique to achieve it. We hypothesised that the trenching experiment would alter both microbial biomass and microbial community structure and that Wne roots (less than 2 mm diameter) would be decomposed within one growing season. Soil CO2 eZux was measured roughlybiweekly over two growing seasons. Root presence and morphology parameters, as well as the soil microbial community were measured prior to trenching, 5 and 15 months after trenching. The trenched plots emitted about 20 and 30% less CO2 than the control plots in the Wrst and secondgrowing season, respectively. Roots died in trenched plots, but root decay was slow. After 5 and 15 months, Wne root biomass was decreased by 9% (not statistically diferent)and 30%, (statistically diVerent) respectively. When wecorrected for the additional trenched-plot CO2 eZux due to Wne root decomposition, the autotrophic soil respiration rose to »26% of the total soil respiration for the Wrst growing season, and to »44% for the second growing season.Soil microbial biomass and community structure was not altered by the end of the second growing season. We conclude that trenching can give accurate estimates of the autotrophic and heterotrophic components of soil respiration, ifmethodological side eVects are accounted for, only

Site fertility drives temporal turnover of vegetation at high latitudes

Experimental evidence shows that site fertility is a key modulator underlying plant community changes under climate change. Communities on fertile sites, with species having fast dynamics, have been found to react more strongly to climate change than communities on infertile sites with slow dynamics. However, it is still unclear whether this generally applies to high-latitude plant communities in natural environments at broad spatial scales. We tested a hypothesis that vegetation of fertile sites experiences greater changes over several decades and thus would be more responsive under contemporary climate change compared to infertile sites that are expected to show more resistance. We resurveyed understorey communities (vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens) of four infertile and four fertile forest sites along a latitudinal bioclimatic gradient. Sites had remained outside direct human disturbance. We analyzed the magnitude of temporal community turnover, changes in the abundances of plant morphological groups and strategy classes, and changes in species diversity. In agreement with our hypothesis, temporal turnover of communities was consistently greater on fertile sites compared to infertile sites. However, our results suggest that the larger turnover of fertile communities is not primarily related to the direct effects of climatic warming. Furthermore, community changes in both fertile and infertile sites showed remarkable variation in terms of shares of plant functional groups and strategy classes and measures of species diversity. This further emphasizes the essential role of baseline environmental conditions and nonclimatic drivers underlying vegetation changes. Our results show that site fertility is a key determinant of the overall rate of high-latitude vegetation changes but the composition of plant communities in different ecological contexts is variously impacted by nonclimatic drivers over time.Peer reviewe

Ten Years of Surveillance for Invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae during the Era of Antiretroviral Scale-Up and Cotrimoxazole Prophylaxis in Malawi

OBJECTIVE: To document trends in invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in a central hospital in Malawi during the period of national scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) and cotrimoxazole prophylaxis. METHODS: Between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2009 almost 100,000 blood cultures and 40,000 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cultures were obtained from adults and children admitted to the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi with suspected severe bacterial infection. RESULTS: 4,445 pneumococcal isolates were obtained over the 10 year period. 1,837 were from children: 885 (19.9%) from blood and 952 (21.4%) from CSF. 2,608 were from adults: 1,813 (40.8%) from blood and 795 (17.9%) from CSF. At the start of the surveillance period cotrimoxazole resistance was 73.8% and at the end was 92.6%. Multidrug resistance (MDR) was present in almost one third of isolates and was constant over time. Free ART was introduced in Malawi in 2004. From 2005 onwards there was a decline in invasive pneumococcal infections with a negative correlation between ART scale-up and the decline in IPD (Pearson's correlation r = -0.91; p<0.001). CONCLUSION: During 2004-2009, national ART scale-up in Malawi was associated with a downward trend in IPD at QECH. The introduction of cotrimoxazole prophylaxis in HIV-infected groups has not coincided with a further increase in pneumococcal cotrimoxazole or multidrug resistance. These data highlight the importance of surveillance for high disease burden infections such as IPD in the region, which will be vital for monitoring pneumococcal conjugate vaccine introduction into national immunisation programmes

International links between Streptococcus pneumoniae vaccine serotype 4 sequence type (ST) 801 in Northern European shipyard outbreaks of invasive pneumococcal disease

Background: Pneumococcal disease outbreaks of vaccine preventable serotype 4 sequence type (ST)801 in shipyards have been reported in several countries. We aimed to use genomics to establish any international links between them. Methods: Sequence data from ST801-related outbreak isolates from Norway (n = 17), Finland (n = 11) and Northern Ireland (n = 2) were combined with invasive pneumococcal disease surveillance from the respective countries, and ST801-related genomes from an international collection (n = 41 of > 40,000), totalling 106 genomes. Raw data were mapped and recombination excluded before phylogenetic dating. Results: Outbreak isolates were relatively diverse, with up to 100 SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) and a common ancestor estimated around the year 2000. However, 19 Norwegian and Finnish isolates were nearly indistinguishable (0–2 SNPs) with the common ancestor dated around 2017. Conclusion: The total diversity of ST801 within the outbreaks could not be explained by recent transmission alone, suggesting that harsh environmental and associated living conditions reported in the shipyards may facilitate invasion of colonising pneumococci. However, near identical strains in the Norwegian and Finnish outbreaks does suggest that transmission between international shipyards also contributed to those outbreaks. This indicates the need for improved preventative measures in this working population including pneumococcal vaccination