Tonic Activation of GluN2C/GluN2D-Containing NMDA Receptors by Ambient Glutamate Facilitates Cortical Interneuron Maturation

Developing cortical GABAergic interneurons rely on genetic programs, neuronal activity, and environmental cuesto construct inhibitory circuits during early postnatal development. Disruption of these events can cause long-term changes in cortical inhibition and may be involved in neurological disorders associated with inhibitory circuit dysfunction. We hypothesized that tonic glutamate signaling in the neonatal cortex contributesto, and is necessary for,the maturation of cortical interneurons. Totestthis hypothesis, we used mice of both sexes to quantify extracellular glutamate concentrations in the cortex during development, measure ambient glutamate-mediated activation of developing cortical interneurons, and manipulatetonic glutamate signaling using subtype-specific NMDA receptor antagonists in vitro and in vivo. We report that ambient glutamate levels are high (100 nM) in the neonatal cortex and decrease (to 50 nM) during the first weeks of life, coincident with increases in astrocytic glutamate uptake. Consistent with elevated ambient glutamate, putative parvalbumin-positive interneurons in the cortex (identified using G42:GAD1-eGFP reporter mice) exhibit a transient, tonic NMDA current at the end of the first postnatal week. GluN2C/GluN2D-containing NMDA receptors mediate the majority of this current and contribute to the resting membrane potential and intrinsic properties of developing putative parvalbumin interneurons. Pharmacological blockade of GluN2C/GluN2D-containing NMDA receptors in vivo during the period of tonic interneuron activation, but not later, leads to lasting decreases in interneuron morphological complexity and causes deficits in cortical inhibition later in life. These results demonstrate that dynamic ambient glutamate signaling contributes to cortical interneuron maturation via tonic activation of GluN2C/ GluN2D-containing NMDA receptor

Effect of food concentration and type of diet on Acartia survival and naupliar development

We have performed life table experiments to investigate the effects of different food types and concentrations on the larval development and survival up to adulthood of Acartia tonsa. The food species offered comprised a wide taxonomic spectrum: the pigmented flagellates Isochrysis galbana, Emiliania huxleyi, Rhodomonas sp., Prorocentrum minimum, the diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii, grown on medium offering enriched macronutrient concentrations and the ciliate Euplotes sp. initially cultured on Rhodomonas. For the ciliate species, also the functional response was studied. In order to avoid limitation by mineral nutrients, food algae have been taken from the exponential growth phase of the nutrient replete cultures. The suitability of Rhodomonas as a food source throughout the entire life cycle was not a surprise. However, in contrast to much of the recent literature about the inadequacy or even toxicity of diatoms, we found that also Thalassiosira could support Acartia-development through the entire life cycle. On the other hand, Acartia could not complete its life cycle when fed with the other food items, Prorocentrum having adverse effects even when mixed with Rhodomonas and Thalassiosira. Isochrysis well supported naupliar survival and development, but was insufficient to support further development until reproduction. With Emiliania and Euplotes, nauplii died off before most of them could reach the first copepodite stages. Acartia-nauplii showed a behavioral preference for Euplotes-feeding over diatom feeding, but nevertheless Euplotes was an insufficient diet to complete development beyond the naupliar stages

Menstruation and the cycle of poverty: a cluster quasi-randomised control trial of sanitary pad and puberty education provision in Uganda

BACKGROUND: Poor menstrual knowledge and access to sanitary products have been proposed as barriers to menstrual health and school attendance. In response, interventions targeting these needs have seen increasing implementation in public and private sectors. However, there has been limited assessment of their effectiveness. // OBJECTIVES: Assess the impact of providing reusable sanitary pads and puberty education on girls’ school attendance and psychosocial wellbeing outcomes. // METHODS: A cluster quasi-randomised controlled trial was conducted across 8 schools, including 1124 girls, in rural Uganda. Schools were allocated to one of four conditions: the provision of puberty education alone; reusable sanitary pads alone; puberty education and reusable sanitary pads; and a control (no intervention). The primary outcome was school attendance. Secondary outcomes reflected psychosocial wellbeing. // RESULTS: At follow-up, school attendance had worsened for girls across all conditions. Per-protocol analysis revealed that this decline was significantly greater for those in the control condition d = 0.52 (95%CI 0.26–0.77), with those in control schools having a 17.1% (95%CI: 8.7–25.5) greater drop in attendance than those in any intervention school. There were no differences between the intervention conditions. High rates of school drop-out and transfer meant the trial suffered from substantial participant drop-out. Intention-to-treat analyses using two different imputation strategies were consistent with the main results, with mean differences of 5.2% attendance in best-case and 24.5% in worst-case imputations. Results were robust to adjustments for clustering. There was no impact of the interventions on girls’ self-reported shame or insecurity during menstruation. // CONCLUSION: Results of the trial support the hypothesised positive impact of providing sanitary pads or puberty education for girls’ school attendance in a developing country context. Findings must be interpreted with caution in light of poor participant retention, intervention fidelity, and the attendance measures used

Climate change effects on phytoplankton depend on cell size and food web structure

We investigated the effects of warming on a natural phytoplankton community from the Baltic Sea, based on six mesocosm experiments conducted 2005–2009. We focused on differences in the dynamics of three phytoplankton size groups which are grazed to a variable extent by different zooplankton groups. While small-sized algae were mostly grazer-controlled, light and nutrient availability largely determined the growth of medium- and large-sized algae. Thus, the latter groups dominated at increased light levels. Warming increased mesozooplankton grazing on medium-sized algae, reducing their biomass. The biomass of small-sized algae was not affected by temperature, probably due to an interplay between indirect effects spreading through the food web. Thus, under the higher temperature and lower light levels anticipated for the next decades in the southern Baltic Sea, a higher share of smaller phytoplankton is expected. We conclude that considering the size structure of the phytoplankton community strongly improves the reliability of projections of climate change effects

Menstrual hygiene management among women and adolescent girls in the aftermath of the earthquake in Nepal.

BACKGROUND: Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) is an essential aspect of hygiene for women and adolescent girls between menarche and menopause. Despite being an important issue concerning women and girls in the menstruating age group MHM is often overlooked in post-disaster responses. Further, there is limited evidence of menstrual hygiene management in humanitarian settings. This study aims to describe the experiences and perceptions of women and adolescent girls on menstrual hygiene management in post-earthquake Nepal. METHODS: A mixed methods study was carried out among the earthquake affected women and adolescent girls in three villages of Sindhupalchowk district of Nepal. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire that captured experiences and perceptions of respondents on menstrual hygiene management in the aftermath of the Nepal earthquake. Quantitative data were triangulated with in-depth interview regarding respondent's personal experiences of menstrual hygiene management. RESULTS: Menstrual hygiene was rated as the sixth highest overall need and perceived as an immediate need by 18.8% of the respondents. There were 42.8% women & girls who menstruated within first week of the earthquake. Reusable sanitary cloth were used by about 66.7% of the respondents before the earthquake and remained a popular method (76.1%) post-earthquake. None of the respondents reported receiving menstrual adsorbents as relief materials in the first month following the earthquake. Disposable pads (77.8%) were preferred by respondents as they were perceived to be clean and convenient to use. Most respondents (73.5%) felt that reusable sanitary pads were a sustainable choice. Women who were in the age group of 15-34 years (OR = 3.14; CI = (1.07-9.20), did not go to school (OR = 9.68; CI = 2.16-43.33), married (OR = 2.99; CI = 1.22-7.31) and previously used reusable sanitary cloth (OR = 5.82; CI = 2.33-14.55) were more likely to use the reusable sanitary cloth. CONCLUSIONS: In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, women and girls completely depended on the use of locally available resources as adsorbents during menstruation. Immediate relief activities by humanitarian agencies, lacked MHM activities. Understanding the previous practice and using local resources, the reusable sanitary cloth is a way to address the menstrual hygiene needs in the post-disaster situations in Nepal

Ophthalmic Complications of Bariatric Surgery

Obesity is increasing vastly in the world, and the number of bariatric surgeries being performed is also increasing. Patients being submitted to bariatric surgeries, especially malabsorptive procedures, have an increased risk of developing nutrient deficiencies, which can culminate in symptomatic hypovitaminosis, if supplementation is not done correctly. The eye and the optic system need an adequate level of several vitamins and minerals to perform properly, especially vitamin A, and this article wants to cover the main nutrients involved, the possible ophthalmic complications that can arise by their deficiency, and the management of those complications

Integração Tecnológica na educação básica pública brasileira: uma análise sobre a evolução temporal e a interdisciplinaridade do tema.

The complexity inherent to technological integration in the context of basic education in the current reality of the students and the digital culture that permeates society today features a transformation in the dynamics of knowledge construction. It is difficult to connect students, fully involving them in this process when using traditional teaching and learning methods. This new context requires interdisciplinary research for better understanding, involving experts in the field of sciences and more technical areas such as engineering and computer science. To answer the question of how to handle the evolution of interdisciplinary theoretical and empirical studies related to the subject, it was developed a survey in order to understand the evolution, interdisciplinarity and the theoretical and empirical variables related to the integration of technologies in the Brazilian basic education. This article presents the results of the exploratory survey of systematic review procedures of literature in electronic databases, then bibliometric and descriptive analyzes. Among the obtained results, were identified as strategies for the integration of technologies in Brazilian public basic education: Remote Experimentation for Physics, Mobile Learning and Software teaching for practices in Mathematics classes. The studies are divided into six large areas of knowledge: Social Sciences, Decision Science, Computer Science, Engineering, Business and Mathematics, demonstrating the interdisciplinarity of the theme.La complejidad inherente al contexto de integración tecnológica en la educación básica – en la realidad actual de los estudiantes y en la cultura digital que domina la sociedad actual – caracteriza una transformación en la dinámica de la construcción del conocimiento, del cual los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje, utilizando métodos de enseñanza tradicional, presentan dificultades para conectarse al alumno e involucrarlo de forma plena en ese proceso. Ese nuevo contexto pasa a exigir investigaciones interdisciplinares para su mejor comprensión, involucrando especialistas en el área de ciencias sociales y áreas más técnicas como ingenierías y ciencia de la computación. Para responder la cuestión de cómo se procesa la evolución de los estudios teóricos y empíricos interdisciplinares relacionados al tema fue realizada una investigación con el objetivo de comprender la evolución, la interdisciplinaridad y las variables teórico-empíricas relacionadas a la integración de tecnologías en la educación básica brasileña. Este artículo presenta los resultados de la investigación exploratoria realizada con procedimientos de revisión sistemática de la literatura en bases de datos electrónicas seguida de análisis bibliométrico y descriptivo. Entre los resultados obtenidos, fueron identificadas como estrategias para la integración de tecnologías en la educación básica pública brasileña; Experimentación Remota para enseñanza de Física, Mobile Learning y software para prácticas en las clases de Matemáticas. El estudio aun demostró la interdisciplinaridad del tema, identificando 6 (seis) grandes áreas del conocimiento; Ciencias Sociales, Ciencia de la Decisión, Ciencia de la Computación, Ingenierías, Negocios/Administración y Matemáticas, demostrando la interdisciplinaridad del tema.A complexidade inerente ao contexto de integração tecnológica na educação básica – na realidade atual dos estudantes e na cultura digital que permeia a sociedade atual – caracteriza uma transformação na dinâmica da construção do conhecimento, do qual os processos de ensino e aprendizagem, utilizando métodos do ensino tradicional, apresentam dificuldades para conectar-se ao aluno e envolve-lo de forma plena nesse processo. Esse novo contexto passa a exigir pesquisas interdisciplinares para sua melhor compreensão, envolvendo especialistas na área de ciências sociais e áreas mais técnicas como engenharias e ciência da computação. Para responder a questão de como se processa a evolução dos estudos teóricos e empíricos interdisciplinares relacionados ao tema foi realizada uma pesquisa com o objetivo de compreender a evolução, a interdisciplinaridade e as variáveis teórico-empíricas relacionadas à integração de tecnologias na educação básica brasileira. Este artigo apresenta os resultados da pesquisa exploratória realizada com procedimentos de revisão sistemática da literatura em bases de dados eletrônicas seguida de análises bibliométrica e descritiva. Entre os resultados obtidos, foram identificadas como estratégias para a integração de tecnologias na educação básica pública brasileira; Experimentação Remota para ensino de Física, Mobile Learning e Softwares para práticas nas aulas de Matemática. O estudo demonstrou a interdisciplinaridade do tema identificando seis grandes áreas do conhecimento: Matemática, Ciências Sociais, Ciência da Decisão, Ciência da Computação, Engenharias e Negócios/Administração

Functional diversification of the nematode mbd2/3 gene between Pristionchus pacificus and Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract Background Several members of the Methyl-Binding Domain protein family link DNA methylation with chromatin remodeling complexes in vertebrates. Amongst the four classes of MBD proteins, MBD2/3 is the most highly conserved and widespread in metazoans. We have previously reported that an mbd2/3 like gene (mbd-2) is encoded in the genomes of the nematodes Pristionchus pacificus, Caenorhabditis elegans and Caenorhabditis briggsae. RNAi knock-down of mbd-2 in the two Caenorhabditis species results in varying percentages of lethality. Results Here, we report that a general feature of nematode MBD2/3 proteins seems to be the lack of a bona fide methyl-binding domain. We isolated a null allele of mbd-2 in P. pacificus and show that Ppa-mbd-2 mutants are viable, fertile and display a fully penetrant egg laying defect. This egg laying defect is partially rescued by treatment with acetylcholine or nicotine suggesting a specific function of this protein in vulval neurons. Using Yeast-two-hybrid screens, Ppa-MBD-2 was found to associate with microtubule interacting and vesicle transfer proteins. Conclusion These results imply that MBD2/3 proteins in nematodes are more variable than their relatives in insects and vertebrates both in structure and function. Moreover, nematode MBD2/3 proteins assume functions independent of DNA methylation ranging from the indispensable to the non-essential.</p

The response of temperate aquatic ecosystems to global warming: novel insights from a multidisciplinary project

This article serves as an introduction to this special issue of Marine Biology, but also as a review of the key findings of the AQUASHIFT research program which is the source of the articles published in this issue. AQUASHIFT is an interdisciplinary research program targeted to analyze the response of temperate zone aquatic ecosystems (both marine and freshwater) to global warming. The main conclusions of AQUASHIFT relate to (a) shifts in geographic distribution, (b) shifts in seasonality, (c) temporal mismatch in food chains, (d) biomass responses to warming, (e) responses of body size, (f) harmful bloom intensity, (f), changes of biodiversity, and (g) the dependence of shifts to temperature changes during critical seasonal windows