Visual and Electrosensory Circuits of the Diencephalon in Mormyrids

Mormyrids are one of two groups of teleost fishes known to have evolved electroreception, and the concomitant neuroanatomical changes have confounded the interpretation of many of their brain areas in a comparative context, e.g., the diencephalon, where different sensory systems are processed and relayed. Recently, cerebellar and retinal connections of the diencephalon in mormyrids were reported. The present study reports on the telencephalic and tectal connections, specifically in Gnathonemus petersii, as these data are critical for an accurate interpretation of diencephalic nuclei in teleosts. Injections of horseradish peroxidase into the telencephalon retrogradely labeled neurons ipsilaterally in various thalamic, preglomerular, and tuberal nuclei, the nucleus of the locus coeruleus (also contralaterally), the superior raphe, and portions of the nucleus lateralis valvulae. Telencephalic injections anterogradely labeled the dorsal preglomerular and the dorsal tegmental nuclei bilaterally. Injections into the optic tectum retrogradely labeled neurons bilaterally in the central zone of area dorsalis telencephali and ipsilaterally in the torus longitudinalis, various thalamic, pretectal, and tegmental nuclei, some nuclei in the torus semicircularis, the nucleus of the locus coeruleus, the nucleus isthmi and the superior reticular formation, basal cells in the ipsilateral valvula cerebelli, and eurydendroid cells in the contralateral lobe C4 of the corpus cerebelli. Weaker contralateral projections were also observed to arise from the ventromedial thalamus and various pretectal and tegmental nuclei, and from the locus coeruleus and superior reticular formation. Tectal injections anterogradely labeled various pretectal nuclei bilaterally, as well as ipsilaterally the dorsal preglomerular and dorsal posterior thalamic nuclei, some nuclei in the torus semicircularis, the dorsal tegmental nucleus, nucleus isthmi, and, again bilaterally, the superior reticular formation. A comparison of retinal, cerebellar, tectal, and telencephalic connections in Gnathonemus with those in nonelectrosensory teleosts reveals several points: (1 the visual area of the diencephalon is highly reduced in Gnathonemus, (2) the interconnections between the preglomerular area and telencephalon in Gnathonemus are unusually well developed compared to those in other teleosts, and (3) two of the three corpopetal diencephalic nuclei are homologues of the central and dorsal periventricular pretectum in other teleosts. The third is a subdivision of the preglomerular area, rather than an accessory optic or pretectal nucleus, and is related to electroreception. The preglomerulo-cerebellar connections in Gnathonemus are therefore interpreted as uniquely derived characters for mormyrids

Scheduling Recess Before Lunch: Perceptions of Washington State Public Elementary School Professionals

Recess Before Lunch (RBL) is a wellness strategy with a purpose of improving the overall health and behavior of school-aged children. While some studies have reported a variety of benefits and challenges by simply scheduling recess prior to the specified lunchtime, few have examined adequate strategies for successful implementation. This mixed-methods study asked elementary school principals and school food service directors within each K-5th grade public school throughout the state of Washington to participate in an online survey assessing their school’s experience using RBL. Schools were placed into three groups based on participants’ stage of RBL adoption: (1) currently using RBL, (2) previously used RBL, or (3) have never implemented RBL. Basic demographic information from each school was collected and matched to the survey responses. Participants from the online survey were asked to provide contact information of a school professional closely involved with the lunch services in their school to complete a semi-structured follow-up interview. Eighteen individuals, six in each of the three stages of RBL adoption, participated in a 10-15-minute phone interview to further investigate perceptions related to RBL. Roughly 75.8% of schools reported having some experience with RBL (N = 74). Benefits most often reported were associated with Nutrition & Food Waste, Behavior & Disruption and Scheduling, respectively; whereas the barriers included Scheduling & Staffing, Logistics, Nutrition & Food Waste and Behavior & Disruption, respectively. However, whether a school reported any benefits had no effect on its history of scheduling the program. A significant correlation was found between student enrollment and a school’s experience with RBL. Schools that never implemented RBL had smaller student enrollments (p \u3c 0.01) and were significantly more likely to report any barriers (p \u3c 0.01), whereas schools currently utilizing the program that had a higher student enrollment (p \u3c 0.05) when compared to all other schools. Telephone interviewees reported the significance of gaining support from all involved parties and encouraged finding solutions to challenges prior to implementing the program

Green tea improves metabolic biomarkers, not weight or body composition: a pilot study in overweight breast cancer survivors

Abstract Background: Overweight status after breast cancer treatment may increase a woman's risk for recurrent disease and/or early onset cardiovascular disease. Green tea has been proposed to promote weight loss and favourably modify glucose, insulin and blood lipids. This pilot study tested the effect of daily decaffeinated green tea consumption for 6 months on weight and body composition, select metabolic parameters and lipid profiles in overweight breast cancer survivors. Methods: The effect of daily decaffeinated green tea intake on weight, body composition and changes in resting metabolic rate, energy intake, glucose, insulin, homeostasis model assessment -insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and lipids was evaluated in overweight breast cancer survivors. Participants had a mean weight of 80.2 kg; body mass index (BMI) 30.1 kg m )2 ; and body fat 46.4%. Participants (n = 54) were randomised to 960 mL of decaffeinated green or placebo tea daily for 6 months. Results: Mean (SD) tea intake among study completers (n = 39) was 5952 (1176) mL week )1 and was associated with a significant reduction in energy intake (P = 0.02). Change in body weight of )1.2 kg (green tea) versus +0.2 kg (placebo) suggests a weight change effect, although this was not statistically significant. Decaffeinated green tea intake was associated with elevated high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels (P = 0.003) and nonsignificant improvements in the HDL/LDL ratio and HOMA-IR ()1.1 ± 5.9: green tea; +3.2 ± 7.2: herbal). Conclusions: Intake of decaffeinated green tea for 6 months was associated with a slight reduction in body weight and improved HDL and glucose homeostasis in overweight breast cancer survivors

Coffee and tea consumption in relation to inflammation and basal glucose metabolism in a multi-ethnic Asian population: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Higher coffee consumption has been associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes in cohort studies, but the physiological pathways through which coffee affects glucose metabolism are not fully understood. The aim of this study was to evaluate the associations between habitual coffee and tea consumption and glucose metabolism in a multi-ethnic Asian population and possible mediation by inflammation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We cross-sectionally examined the association between coffee, green tea, black tea and Oolong tea consumption and glycemic (fasting plasma glucose, HOMA-IR, HOMA-beta, plasma HbA1c) and inflammatory (plasma adiponectin and C-reactive protein) markers in a multi-ethnic Asian population (N = 4139).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After adjusting for multiple confounders, we observed inverse associations between coffee and HOMA-IR (percent difference: - 8.8% for ≥ 3 cups/day versus rarely or never; <it>P_trend</it>= 0.007), but no significant associations between coffee and inflammatory markers. Tea consumption was not associated with glycemic markers, but green tea was inversely associated with plasma C-reactive protein concentrations (percent difference: - 12.2% for ≥ 1 cup/day versus < 1 cup/week; <it>P_trend</it>= 0.042).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These data provide additional evidence for a beneficial effect of habitual caffeinated coffee consumption on insulin sensitivity, and suggest that this effect is unlikely to be mediated by anti-inflammatory mechanisms.</p

Diet or exercise, or both, for weight reduction in women after childbirth

Background: Weight retention after pregnancy may contribute to obesity. It is known that diet and exercise are recommended components of any weight loss programme in the general population. However, strategies to achieve healthy body weight among postpartum women have not been adequately evaluated. Objectives: The objectives of this review were to evaluate the effect of diet, exercise or both for weight reduction in women after childbirth, and to assess the impact of these interventions on maternal body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness, breastfeeding performance and other child and maternal outcomes.: Search methods: We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (31 January 2012) and LILACS (31 January 2012). We scanned secondary references and contacted experts in the field. We updated the search of the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register on 30 April 2013 and added the results to the awaiting classification section of the review. Selection criteria: All published and unpublished randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi‐randomised trials of diet or exercise or both, among women during the postpartum period. Data collection and analysis: Both review authors independently assessed trial quality and extracted data. Results are presented using risk ratio (RR) for categorical data and mean difference (MD) for continuous data. Data were analysed with a fixed‐effect model. A random‐effects model was used in the presence of heterogeneity. Main results: Fourteen trials were included, but only 12 trials involving 910 women contributed data to outcome analysis. Women who exercised did not lose significantly more weight than women in the usual care group (two trials; n = 53; MD ‐0.10 kg; 95% confidence interval (CI) ‐1.90 to 1.71). Women who took part in a diet (one trial; n = 45; MD ‐1.70 kg; 95% CI ‐2.08 to ‐1.32), or diet plus exercise programme (seven trials; n = 573; MD ‐1.93 kg; 95% CI ‐2.96 to ‐0.89; random‐effects, T² = 1.09, I² = 71%), lost significantly more weight than women in the usual care group. There was no difference in the magnitude of weight loss between diet alone and diet plus exercise group (one trial; n = 43; MD 0.30 kg; 95% CI ‐0.06 to 0.66). The interventions seemed not to affect breastfeeding performance adversely. Authors' conclusions: Evidence from this review suggests that both diet and exercise together and diet alone help women to lose weight after childbirth. Nevertheless, it may be preferable to lose weight through a combination of diet and exercise as this improves maternal cardiorespiratory fitness and preserves fat‐free mass, while diet alone reduces fat‐free mass. This needs confirmation in large trials of high methodological quality. For women who are breastfeeding, more evidence is required to confirm whether diet or exercise, or both, is not detrimental for either mother or baby

The phylogenetic distribution of electroreception: Evidence for convergent evolution of a primitive vertebrate sense modality

Specializations for electroreception in sense organs and brain centers are found in a wide variety of fishes and amphibians, though probably in a small minority of teleost taxa. No other group of vertebrates or invertebrates is presently suspected to have adaptations for electroreception in the definition given here. The distribution among fishes is unlike any other sense modality in that it has apparently been invented, lost completely and reinvented several times independently, using distinct receptors and central nuclei in the medulla. There are so far no clearly borderline or transitional fishes, either physiologically or anatomically. We rather expect a few new electroreceptive taxa to be found. The evoked potential method and the newly validated central anatomical criteria provide two useful tools for searching.Although Myxiniformes probably lack electroreception, it is well developed in Petromyzoniformes and in all other non-teleost fishes except Holostei. Thus Elasmobranchia, Holocephala, Dipneusti, Crossopterygii, Polypteriformes and Chondrostei have the physiological and anatomical specializations in a common form consistent with a single origin in primitive vertebrates. Amphibian ancestors probably inherited the system from a stem similar to one of these and passed it on at least to the ambystomatoid and salamandroid urodeles, apparently after losing the kinocilium of the sense cell. The suggestion of electroreception in ichthyophid apodans from skin histology has not been confirmed physiologically, behaviorally or by brain anatomy. With respect to more advanced fishes the most parsimonious interpretation is that the entire system, peripheral and central was lost in ancestors of holostean and teleostean fishes and new systems reinvented in Siluriformes, in Gymnotiformes, in Xenomystinae and in Mormyriformes. These 4 taxa must represent at least two, and probably 3 or 4 independent inventions, presumably from mechanoreceptive lateral line organs and brain centers.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/25137/1/0000573.pd