Atypicalities in Perceptual Adaptation in Autism Do Not Extend to Perceptual Causality

A recent study showed that adaptation to causal events (collisions) in adults caused subsequent events to be less likely perceived as causal. In this study, we examined if a similar negative adaptation effect for perceptual causality occurs in children, both typically developing and with autism. Previous studies have reported diminished adaptation for face identity, facial configuration and gaze direction in children with autism. To test whether diminished adaptive coding extends beyond high-level social stimuli (such as faces) and could be a general property of autistic perception, we developed a child-friendly paradigm for adaptation of perceptual causality. We compared the performance of 22 children with autism with 22 typically developing children, individually matched on age and ability (IQ scores). We found significant and equally robust adaptation aftereffects for perceptual causality in both groups. There were also no differences between the two groups in their attention, as revealed by reaction times and accuracy in a change-detection task. These findings suggest that adaptation to perceptual causality in autism is largely similar to typical development and, further, that diminished adaptive coding might not be a general characteristic of autism at low levels of the perceptual hierarchy, constraining existing theories of adaptation in autism.16 page(s

The KiVa antibullying program in primary schools in Chile, with and without the digital game component: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Bullying is a major problem worldwide and Chile is no exception. Bullying is defined as a systematic aggressive behavior against a victim who cannot defend him or herself. Victims suffer social isolation and psychological maladjustment, while bullies have a higher risk for conduct problems and substance use disorders. These problems appear to last over time. The KiVa antibullying program has been evaluated in Finland and other European countries, showing preventive effects on victimization and self-reported bullying. The aims of this study are (1) to develop a culturally appropriate version of the KiVa material and (2) to test the effectiveness of the KiVa program, with and without the online game, on reducing experiences of victimization and bullying behavior among vulnerable primary schools in Santiago (Chile), using a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) design with three arms: (1) full KiVa program group, (2) partial KiVa (without online game) program group and (3) control group. METHODS AND DESIGN: This is a three-arm, single-blind, cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) with a target enrolment of 1495 4th and 5th graders attending 13 vulnerable schools per arm. Students in the full and partial KiVa groups will receive universal actions: ten 2-h lessons delivered by trained teachers during 1 year; they will be exposed to posters encouraging them to support victims and behave constructively when witnessing bullying; and a person designated by the school authorities will be present in all school breaks and lunchtimes using a visible KiVa vest to remind everybody that they are in a KiVa school. KiVa schools also will have indicated actions, which consist of a set of discussion groups with the victims and with the bullies, with proper follow-up. Only full KiVa schools will also receive an online game which has the aim to raise awareness of the role of the group in bullying, increase empathy and promote strategies to support victimized peers. Self-reported victimization, bullying others and peer-reported bullying actions, psychological and academic functioning, and sense of school membership will be measured at baseline and 12 months after randomization. DISCUSSION: This is the first cluster RCT of the KiVa antibullying program in Latin America. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, Identifier: NCT02898324 . Registered on 8 September 2016

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

The novel use of metabolomics as a hypothesis generating technique for analysis of medicinal plants : Ligusticum canbyi Coult. & Rose and Artemisia tridentata Nutt.

In response to the environment, plants produce a phytochemical arsenal to communicate and to withstand abiotic and biotic pressures. The average plant tissue contains upwards of 30,000 phytochemicals. The vast majority of approaches used to study plant chemistry are reductionist and only target specific classes of compounds which can be easily isolated or detected. Metabolomics is the qualitative and quantitative analysis of all metabolites present in a biological sample. By providing researchers with a phytochemical snapshot of all existing metabolites present in a sample, metabolomics has allowed researchers to study plant primary and secondary metabolism in ways that were never done before. The first objective of this thesis is to identify candidate species for studying plant neurochemicals. Statistical analysis using residual, bayesian and binomial analysis was applied to the University of Michigan’s Native American Ethnobotany Database and revealed that the genera Artemisa and Ligusticum are used most frequently during ceremony and ritual. Plant melatonin, serotonin, γ-aminobutyric acid, and acetylcholine were quantified in Artemisia tridentata Nutt. and Ligusticum canbyi Coult. & Rose. Significant variability was observed between tissue types, germplasm line and species. Manipulation of cholinergic signalling in A. tridentata led to changes in auxin, melatonin and serotonin levels, and suggests cross-talk between cholinergic and indoleamine pathways could be occurring in plants. The second objective of this thesis is to develop novel statistical and biochemical tools for analyzing metabolomic datasets and hypothesis generation. Datasets were generated using ultra performance reverse phase chromatography with time of flight mass spectrometry detection. Between 16,000 and 40, 000 metabolites were detected in L. canbyi and A. tridentata root and leaf tissues respectively. Principal component analysis, synthetic biotransformation, significant ion generation, putative identification and logical algorithms were applied in order to develop hypotheses and research approaches for pthalide biosynthesis, plant responses to stress, and the biological activity of smoke. Metabolomics, as a field of study, is still in its infancy. Thus approaches to effectively mine datasets are still needed, and provide researchers with new ways to examine the processes which regulate the production of primary and secondary metabolites in vivo.Arts and Sciences, Irving K. Barber School of (Okanagan)Biology, Department of (Okanagan)Graduat

Preliminary assessment of the conservation status of medicinal plant species in Canada

Natural health products in North America are a 9.6 billion US dollar industry that has seen increased demands particularly in products for immune support and anti-viral supplements in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It has been estimated that ≈40% of the plant raw materials used in natural health products are wild-harvested each year but exact data is missing for many species. Our data show that there are at least 1445 medicinal plant species harvested for commercial products in Canada and 1217 of these are native species. Medicinal plants and non-timber forest crops are also increasingly impacted by climate change as suitable growing areas migrate. In order to ensure long term species survival in the wild, it is necessary to generate accurate information about distribution of wild populations, need for conservation and sustainable method development. Our objective was to provide a preliminary assessment on the conservation status of Canadian medicinal plants by analysis of the available data resources.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Saving threatened plant species: Reintroduction of Hill's thistle (Cirsium hillii. (Canby) Fernald) to its natural habitat.

Hill's thistle (Cirsium hillii (Canby) Fernald) is a perennial plant endemic to the Great Lakes region of North America. Hill's thistle is listed as threatened in Ontario and Canada where it is found in globally rare alvar habitats. The main objective of this study was ex-situ conservation of Hill's thistle using in vitro culture techniques and reintroduction of micropropagated plants back to their natural habitat in Bruce Peninsula National Park, Ontario, Canada. Two out of twenty-nine available seeds were successfully germinated under in vitro condition. An efficient micropropagation protocol was optimized with 100% survival during acclimatization of plantlets in the greenhouse. Three hundred micropropagated plants were reintroduced to twelve different sites within Bruce Peninsula National Park in June and July 2017. Plants were monitored for survival, rosette growth, and flowering on all sites from 2017-2019. After four months of planting, 67 to 99% of the plants were alive in different sites and 90 to 99% of them survived over winter. In the following years, shoot regeneration and flowering were observed on most sites. This study further confirms the benefit of plant tissue culture techniques to ensure revival of Hill's thistle ecological biodiversity through the reintroduction of micropropagated plants. This approach consisting of the components of conservation, propagation, and reintroduction (CPR) may potentially serve as a model for saving and enriching other species at risk

Selection and Micropropagation of an Elite Melatonin Rich Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum L.) Germplasm Line

Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum L.) is a sacred plant of medicinal and spiritual significance in many cultures. Medicinal properties of Tulsi are ascribed to its phytochemicals with antioxidant capabilities. The current study was undertaken to screen a large seed population of Tulsi to select germplasm lines with high antioxidant potential and to standardize protocols for micropropagation and biomass production to produce a phytochemically consistent crop. A total of 80 germplasm lines were established under in vitro conditions and screened for their antioxidant potential determined with the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) bioassay. The micropropagation of a selected line, named Vrinda, was established using nodal cultures grown on Murashige and Skoog medium containing benzylaminopurine (1.1 µM), gibberellic acid (0.3 µM), and activated charcoal (0.6%). The antioxidant phytohormones melatonin and serotonin were quantified in the field and greenhouse grown tissues of Vrinda and melatonin levels were found to be consistent in both conditions with higher serotonin levels under field conditions. This integrated approach combining the in vitro selection and propagation offers potential applications in the development of safe, effective, and novel natural health products of Tulsi, and many other medicinal plant species.Science, Irving K. Barber Faculty of (Okanagan)Non UBCReviewedFacultyResearche

Metabolomics for Phytochemical Discovery: Development of Statistical Approaches Using a Cranberry Model System

Metabolomics is the qualitative and quantitative analysis of all of the small molecules in a biological sample at a specific time and influence. Technologies for metabolomics analysis have developed rapidly as new analytical tools for chemical separations, mass spectrometry, and NMR spectroscopy have emerged. Plants have one of the largest metabolomes, and it is estimated that the average plant leaf can contain upward of 30 000 phytochemicals. In the past decade, over 1200 papers on plant metabolomics have been published. A standard metabolomics data set contains vast amounts of information and can either investigate or generate hypotheses. The key factors in using plant metabolomics data most effectively are the experimental design, authentic standard availability, extract standardization, and statistical analysis. Using cranberry (<i>Vaccinium macrocarpon</i>) as a model system, this review will discuss and demonstrate strategies and tools for analysis and interpretation of metabolomics data sets including eliminating false discoveries and determining significance, metabolite clustering, and logical algorithms for discovery of new metabolites and pathways. Together these metabolomics tools represent an entirely new pipeline for phytochemical discovery