Stream-dependent development of higher visual cortical areas

Multiple cortical areas contribute to visual processing in mice. However, the functional organization and development of higher visual areas are unclear. Here, we used intrinsic signal optical imaging and 2-photon calcium imaging to map visual responses in adult and developing mice. We found that visually driven activity was well-correlated among higher visual areas within two distinct subnetworks resembling the dorsal and ventral visual streams. Visual response magnitude in dorsal stream areas slowly increased over the first two weeks of visual experience. By contrast, ventral stream areas exhibited strong responses shortly after eye opening. Neurons in a dorsal stream area showed little change in their tuning sharpness to oriented gratings while those in a ventral stream area increased stimulus selectivity and expanded their receptive fields significantly. Together, these findings provide a functional basis for grouping subnetworks of mouse visual areas and revealed stream differences in the development of receptive field properties

Reference to index of Sir George B Cartland, 1912-2008, letters and obitiaries

Letter from Ruth Carington-Smith to Sir George Cartland about the subject of 2 paintings by her husband, Jack Carington-Smlth, and purchased by Sir George Cartland. Also a copy of Sir George Cartland's reply to Ruth Carington-Smith. - Map of Simpsons Bay, Bruny lsland, annotating the position of the subjects of the paintings. - Two obituaries on the death of Sir George Cartland in 2008. - Private Deposit C.1

Cooperation and partner choice among Agta hunter-gatherer children: An evolutionary developmental perspective

Examining development is essential for a full understanding of behaviour, including how individuals acquire traits and how adaptive evolutionary forces shape these processes. The present study explores the development of cooperative behaviour among the Agta, a Filipino hunter-gatherer population. A simple resource allocation game assessing both levels of cooperation (how much children shared) and patterns of partner choice (who they shared with) was played with 179 children between the ages of 3 and 18. Children were given five resources (candies) and for each was asked whether to keep it for themselves or share with someone else, and if so, who this was. Between-camp variation in children's cooperative behaviour was substantial, and the only strong predictor of children's cooperation was the average level of cooperation among adults in camp; that is, children were more cooperative in camps where adults were more cooperative. Neither age, sex, relatedness or parental levels of cooperation were strongly associated with the amount children shared. Children preferentially shared with close kin (especially siblings), although older children increasingly shared with less-related individuals. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for understanding cross-cultural patterns of children's cooperation, and broader links with human cooperative childcare and life history evolution

A compilation, tabulation and analysis of spelling errors made by pupils in grades four, five, and six in free writing of sentences using given stimuli words

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston Universit

The patient’s story: Integrating the patientand physician-centered approaches to interviewing

• Patients produce biopsychosocial stories that integrate material from the medical and personal aspects of their lives. Capturing the personal aspect of the story requires that a patient-centered approach to clinical interviewing complement the equally important physician-centered approach. Patient-centered interviewing actively involves the patient and ensures that his or her perceptions, needs, and concerns are articulated during the physician-patient interaction. In our article, we define patient-centered interviewing and provide a rationale for using it. We also describe how patientcentered interviewing is done, how it is integrated with the physician-centered approach, and how to understand the product of this complementary approach to clinical interviewing, the patient's biopsychosocial story. According to the biopsychosocial model (1, 2), every patient has a story that demonstrates the interaction among the biologic, psychologic, and social components of his or her life. Gestalt theory posits that people are continuously developing a story that portrays what is most important in their lives (3-6). The patient's story emerges in a meaningful, integrated, and complete way. The physician's task is to elicit and understand this story, for it provides an introduction to who the person is and why he or she is seeing the physician. The story also provides clues to diagnostic and therapeutic issues relevant to the patient's problem. The primary means for eliciting the story is clinical interviewing, the core skill of the clinician (7-9) and a skill that has long been central to the clinical method (10). Unfortunately, physicians frequently do not emerge from an interview with an understanding of the complete story because current interviewing practices often eschew the human dimension in favor of a purely biologic story (11-15). To elicit the full biopsychosocial story, physicians must complement the current physician-centered practices with patient-centered interviewing (1, 2, 11-16). Our aim in this article is to briefly describe what patient-centered interviewing is and why it is important. We then describe how to perform patient-centered interviewing and how to integrate it with presently isolated physician-centered practices

Project Passport: An Integrated Group-Centered Approach Targeting Pregnant Teens and Their Partners

Objective: To describes the development of Project Passport, a perinatal intervention designed to reduce negative outcomes among pregnant teens. Methods: A logic model guided the planning, development and evaluation plan for the intervention. It included the selection of health goals, behaviors to be targeted, determinants of the selected behaviors, and activities to impact each selected determinant. Results: The process resulted in the formulation of an intervention that incorporates CenteringPregnancy, a group model of prenatal care, Positive Youth Development components, and male involvement. The evaluation examines the effectiveness of the intervention in enhancing health, educational and psychosocial outcomes among pregnant adolescents. Conclusions: The present program was designed to address an important gap in evidence-based interventions targeting pregnant adolescents and their partners

Human Impacts Flatten Rainforest-Savanna Gradient and Reduce Adaptive Diversity in a Rainforest Bird

Ecological gradients have long been recognized as important regions for diversification and speciation. However, little attention has been paid to the evolutionary consequences or conservation implications of human activities that fundamentally change the environmental features of such gradients. Here we show that recent deforestation in West Africa has homogenized the rainforest-savanna gradient, causing a loss of adaptive phenotypic diversity in a common rainforest bird, the little greenbul (Andropadus virens). Previously, this species was shown to exhibit morphological and song divergence along this gradient in Central Africa. Using satellite-based estimates of forest cover, recent morphological data, and historical data from museum specimens collected prior to widespread deforestation, we show that the gradient has become shallower in West Africa and that A. virens populations there have lost morphological variation in traits important to fitness. In contrast, we find no loss of morphological variation in Central Africa where there has been less deforestation and gradients have remained more intact. While rainforest deforestation is a leading cause of species extinction, the potential of deforestation to flatten gradients and inhibit rainforest diversification has not been previously recognized. More deforestation will likely lead to further flattening of the gradient and loss of diversity, and may limit the ability of species to persist under future environmental conditions

Wearable activity technology and action-planning (WATAAP) to promote physical activity in cancer survivors: Randomised controlled trial protocol

Background/Objective: Colorectal and gynecologic cancer survivors are at cardiovascular risk due to comorbidities and sedentary behaviour, warranting a feasible intervention to increase physical activity. The Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) is a promising theoretical frame-work for health behaviour change, and wearable physical activity trackers offer a novel means of self-monitoring physical activity for cancer survivors. Method: Sixty-eight survivors of colorectal and gynecologic cancer will be randomised into 12- week intervention and control groups. Intervention group participants will receive: a Fitbit AltaTM to monitor physical activity, HAPA-based group sessions, booklet, and support phone-call. Participants in the control group will only receive the HAPA-based booklet. Physical activity (using accelerometers), blood pressure, BMI, and HAPA constructs will be assessed at baseline, 12-weeks (post-intervention) and 24-weeks (follow-up). Data analysis will use the Group x Time interaction from a General Linear Mixed Model analysis. Conclusions: Physical activity interventions that are acceptable and have robust theoretical underpinnings show promise for improving the health of cancer survivors