Agassiz, Garman, Albatross, and the Collection of Deep-sea Fishes

The first of Alexander Agassiz’ voyages on the U.S. Fish Commission steamer Albatross in 1891 yielded significant scientific results. This paper reviews the background of the voyage, including the career path that led Agassiz to the back deck of the Albatross. We also give a brief account of the life and work of Samuel Garman. Garman wrote up the ichthyological material from this Albatross voyage in a magnificent book on deep-sea fishes published in 1899. This book was exceptional in its coverage, anatomical detail, and recognition of phylogenetically important morphology

Advancing Human Rights Annual Review of Global Foundation Grantmaking: 2017 Key Findings

With limited resources and immense challenges, now more than ever human rights grantmakers and advocates are asking critical questions about the human rights funding landscape: Where is the money going? What are the gaps? Who is funding what? The Advancing Human Rights research tracks the evolving state of human rights philanthropy by collecting and analyzing grants data to equip funders and advocates to make more informed and effective decisions. Human Rights Funders Network (HRFN) and Candid lead the research, in partnership with Ariadne–European Funders for Social Change and Human Rights, and Prospera–International Network of Women's Funds.In 2017, the research found that 849 foundations awarded 25,229 human rights grants totaling $3.2B to 13,819 recipients around the world, 28% of which was reported as flexible general support

Advancing Human Rights Annual Review of Global Foundation Grantmaking: 2015 Key Findings

In 2015, familiar threats to human rights and human rights philanthropy continued. As conflicts persisted in countries like Syria, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic, the number of refugees fleeing violence and hunger soared. Extremist groups perpetrated mass violence from Nigeria and Egypt, to Kenya and France, including the targeted killing of staff from the French magazine Charlie Hedbo. Threats to closing civic space intensified as more countries adopted laws targeting and restricting organizations that work to hold governments accountable, including the funders that back them, often under the pretext of counterterrorism.Despite these many concerns, we saw inspiring advances for human rights around the world across a range of issues. Women in Saudi Arabia voted and stood for election for the very first time, and the governments of the Gambia and Nigeria outlawed female genital mutilation. The Supreme Court in the United States legalized same sex marriage, while the Irish people did so through a historic popular vote. Cuba and the U.S. restored diplomatic ties after more than five decades, and Iran signed a deal to curb its nuclear program. At the end of the year, nearly 200 countries reached the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change to mitigate global warming.Against this backdrop, in 2015 foundations allocated a total of $2.4 billion in support of human rights

Advancing Human Rights: 2016 Key Findings

The Advancing Human Rights initiative documents the landscape of foundation funding for human rights and track changes in its scale and priorities. This annual report uses grants data to map philanthropic support for specific human rights issues, funding strategies, and populations and regions served in 2016. In this year, 785 funders made over 23,000 grants totalling $2.8 billion for human rights

Placental Cells and Tissues: The Transformative Rise in Advanced Wound Care

The fetal environment has a remarkable capacity for facilitating and guiding tissue development. Placental tissues including the placental disc, umbilical cord, amniotic fluid and amniotic sac are highly specialized tissues responsible for transporting nutrients and coordinating developmental cues during pregnancy and fetal development. Placental tissues are nutrient-rich, structurally complex and immunologically privileged, making them promising allograft therapies for advanced wound care. Amniotic membrane allografts in particular have been shown to be effective therapies for treatment of chronic wounds, including diabetic and venous ulcers, by modulating inflammation, reducing scar tissue formation and enhancing healing. Amniotic membrane has also demonstrated the ability to promote cell proliferation, cell migration and modulate cytokine secretion by a variety of cell types involved in wound healing, including human dermal fibroblasts, microvascular endothelial cells and stem cells. In addition, amniotic membrane allografts have been shown to stimulate stem cell activity, promote angiogenesis and modulate inflammation in vitro and in vivo. Placental tissues are complex tissues composed of extracellular matrix (ECM), cells and a broad array of cytokines that may collectively enhance wound healing by modulating wound environments and stimulating endogenous cells to progress through the normal healing stages of inflammation, proliferation and remodeling

Neurotrophic factor expression after CNS viral injury produces enhanced sensitivity to psychostimulants : potential mechanism for addiction vulnerability

Hypothesized risk factors for psychostimulant, amphetamine, and cocaine abuse include dopamine (DA) receptor polymorphisms, HIV infection, schizophrenia, drug-induced paranoias, and movement disorders; however, the molecular, cellular, and biochemical mechanisms that predispose to drug sensitivity or drive the development of addiction are incompletely understood. Using the Borna disease rat, an animal model of viralinduced encephalopathy wherein sensitivity to the locomotor and stereotypic behavioral effects of D-amphetamine and cocaine is enhanced (Solbrig et al., 1994, 1998), we identify a specific neurotrophin expression pattern triggered by striatal viral injury that increases tyrosine hydroxylase activity, an early step in DA synthesis, to produce a phenotype of enhanced amphetamine sensitivity. The reactive neurotrophin pattern provides a molecular framework for understanding how CNS viral injury, as well as other CNS adaptations producing similar growth factor activation profiles, may influence psychostimulant sensitivity

Internet and gaming addiction: a systematic literature review of neuroimaging studies

In the past decade, research has accumulated suggesting that excessive Internet use can lead to the development of a behavioral addiction. Internet addiction has been considered as a serious threat to mental health and the excessive use of the Internet has been linked to a variety of negative psychosocial consequences. The aim of this review is to identify all empirical studies to date that used neuroimaging techniques to shed light upon the emerging mental health problem of Internet and gaming addiction from a neuroscientific perspective. Neuroimaging studies offer an advantage over traditional survey and behavioral research because with this method, it is possible to distinguish particular brain areas that are involved in the development and maintenance of addiction. A systematic literature search was conducted, identifying 18 studies. These studies provide compelling evidence for the similarities between different types of addictions, notably substance-related addictions and Internet and gaming addiction, on a variety of levels. On the molecular level, Internet addiction is characterized by an overall reward deficiency that entails decreased dopaminergic activity. On the level of neural circuitry, Internet and gaming addiction led to neuroadaptation and structural changes that occur as a consequence of prolonged increased activity in brain areas associated with addiction. On a behavioral level, Internet and gaming addicts appear to be constricted with regards to their cognitive functioning in various domains. The paper shows that understanding the neuronal correlates associated with the development of Internet and gaming addiction will promote future research and will pave the way for the development of addiction treatment approaches

TOM40 Mediates Mitochondrial Dysfunction Induced by α-Synuclein Accumulation in Parkinson's Disease.

Alpha-synuclein (α-Syn) accumulation/aggregation and mitochondrial dysfunction play prominent roles in the pathology of Parkinson's disease. We have previously shown that postmortem human dopaminergic neurons from PD brains accumulate high levels of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) deletions. We now addressed the question, whether alterations in a component of the mitochondrial import machinery -TOM40- might contribute to the mitochondrial dysfunction and damage in PD. For this purpose, we studied levels of TOM40, mtDNA deletions, oxidative damage, energy production, and complexes of the respiratory chain in brain homogenates as well as in single neurons, using laser-capture-microdissection in transgenic mice overexpressing human wildtype α-Syn. Additionally, we used lentivirus-mediated stereotactic delivery of a component of this import machinery into mouse brain as a novel therapeutic strategy. We report here that TOM40 is significantly reduced in the brain of PD patients and in α-Syn transgenic mice. TOM40 deficits were associated with increased mtDNA deletions and oxidative DNA damage, and with decreased energy production and altered levels of complex I proteins in α-Syn transgenic mice. Lentiviral-mediated overexpression of Tom40 in α-Syn-transgenic mice brains ameliorated energy deficits as well as oxidative burden. Our results suggest that alterations in the mitochondrial protein transport machinery might contribute to mitochondrial impairment in α-Synucleinopathies