Full-Day Kindergarten: The Families Perspective

The purpose of this study is to investigate why parents choose full-day kindergarten programs over half-day kindergarten programs. Five parents of full-day kindergartners elected to participate in this study. Interviews were conducted with each of the five parents in either their home or a local establishment in the spring of 2006. Interviews with their children were also conducted during the child\u27s school day. Parents stated two major factors in deciding which kindergarten program to enroll their child in: daycare and academics. The purpose of this study is to investigate why parents choose full-day kindergarten programs over half-day kindergarten programs. Five parents of full-day kindergartners elected to participate in this study. Interviews were conducted with each of the five parents in either their home or a local establishment in the spring of 2006. Interviews with their children were also conducted during the child\u27s school day. Parents stated two major factors in deciding which kindergarten program to enroll their child in: daycare and academics. Parents felt that having their child in one location all day, would be a better alternative than bussing them to daycare for the other half of the day. While daycare was a concern for the parents, they also cited concerns about giving their child an extra advantage going into first grade. The parents concluded that building the child\u27s self-confidence early in education would help foster life long learning

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Pyrosequencing reveals regional differences in fruit-associated fungal communities

We know relatively little of the distribution of microbial communities generally. Significant work has examined a range of bacterial communities, but the distribution of microbial eukaryotes is less well characterized. Humans have an ancient association with grape vines (Vitis vinifera) and have been making wine since the dawn of civilization, and fungi drive this natural process. While the molecular biology of certain fungi naturally associated with vines and wines is well characterized, complementary investigations into the ecology of fungi associated with fruiting plants is largely lacking. DNA sequencing technologies allow the direct estimation of microbial diversity from a given sample, avoiding culture-based biases. Here, we use deep community pyrosequencing approaches, targeted at the 26S rRNA gene, to examine the richness and composition of fungal communities associated with grapevines and test for geographical community structure among four major regions in New Zealand (NZ). We find over 200 taxa using this approach, which is 10-fold more than previously recovered using culture-based methods. Our analyses allow us to reject the null hypothesis of homogeneity in fungal species richness and community composition across NZ and reveal significant differences between major areas. © 2014 The Authors

Concurrent administration of amiodarone and atenolol in the treatment of coronary artery disease complicated with arrhythmia, and its effect on serum levels of CD40L, TNF-α and IL-6

Purpose: To investigate the efficacy of the combination of amiodarone and atenolol in the treatment of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) complicated with arrhythmia, and its effect on serum levels of CD-40L, TNF-α and IL-6.Methods: One hundred and twenty CAD patients with arrhythmia on admission in The First People'sHospital of Shuangliu District Chengdu, China were assigned to groups A and B, each having 60 patients. Amiodarone was administered to all the patients, while atenolol was additionally given to patients in group A. Levels of heart function indicators, inflammatory factors, blood pressure, heart rate, adverse reaction rate (ARR) and overall efficacy were evaluated for the two groups.Results: There were significantly improved levels of heart function indicators, and lower levels of CD40L, TNF-α and IL-6 in group A, when compared with group B (p < 0.001). Moreover, treatment effectiveness was higher in group A than in group B (p < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in ARR between groups A and B.Conclusion: The combined use of amiodarone and atenolol improves heart function indicators in patients with CAD and arrhythmia, reduces the levels of inflammatory factors, normalizes blood pressure and heart rate, and lowers ARR. However, further clinical trials on this combined therapy are required prior to its use in clinical practice

Yeast strains and methods of use thereof

The present invention relates to yeast strains and, in particular, to yeast stains for use in fermentation processes. The invention also relates to methods of fermentation using the yeast strains of the invention either alone or in combination with other yeast strains. The invention thither relates to methods for the selection of yeast strains suitable for fermentation cultures by screening for various metabolic products and the use of specific nutrient sources

Co-evolution as Tool for Diversifying Flavor and Aroma Profiles of Wines

The products of microbial metabolism form an integral part of human industry and have been shaped by evolutionary processes, accidentally and deliberately, for thousands of years. In the production of wine, a great many flavour and aroma compounds are produced by yeast species and are the targets of research for commercial breeding programs. Here we demonstrate how co-evolution with multiple species can generate novel interactions through serial co-culture in grape juice. We find that after 65 generations, co-evolved strains and strains evolved independently show significantly different growth aspects and exhibit significantly different metabolite profiles. We show significant impact of co-evolution of Candida glabrata and Pichia kudriavzevii on the production of metabolites that affect the flavour and aroma of experimental wines. While co-evolved strains do exhibit novel interactions that affect the reproductive success of interacting species, we found no evidence of cross-feeding behaviour. Our findings yield promising avenues for developing commercial yeast strains by using co-evolution to diversify the metabolic output of target species without relying on genetic modification or breeding technologies. Such approaches open up exciting new possibilities for harnessing microbial co-evolution in areas of agriculture and food related research generally

Regional microbial signatures positively correlate with differential wine phenotypes: evidence for a microbial aspect to terroir

Many crops display differential geographic phenotypes and sensorial signatures, encapsulated by the concept of terroir. The drivers behind these differences remain elusive, and the potential contribution of microbes has been ignored until recently. Significant genetic differentiation between microbial communities and populations from different geographic locations has been demonstrated, but crucially it has not been shown whether this correlates with differential agricultural phenotypes or not. Using wine as a model system, we utilize the regionally genetically differentiated population of Saccharomyces cerevisiae in New Zealand and objectively demonstrate that these populations differentially affect wine phenotype, which is driven by a complex mix of chemicals. These findings reveal the importance of microbial populations for the regional identity of wine, and potentially extend to other important agricultural commodities. Moreover, this suggests that long-term implementation of methods maintaining differential biodiversity may have tangible economic imperatives as well as being desirable in terms of employing agricultural practices that increase responsible environmental stewardship

Quantifying variation in the ability of yeasts to attract Drosophila melanogaster

Yeasts that invade and colonise fruit significantly enhance the volatile chemical diversity of this ecosystem. These modified bouquets are thought to be more attractive to Drosophila flies than the fruit alone, but the variance of attraction in natural yeast populations is uncharacterised. Here we investigate how a range of yeast isolates affect the attraction of female D. melanogaster to fruit in a simple two choice assay comparing yeast to sterile fruit. Of the 43 yeast isolates examined, 33 were attractive and seven repellent to the flies. The results of isolate-versus-isolate comparisons provided the same relative rankings. Attractiveness varied significantly by yeast, with the strongly fermenting Saccharomyces species generally being more attractive than the mostly respiring non-Saccharomyces species (P = 0.0035). Overall the habitat (fruit or other) from which the isolates were directly sampled did not explain attraction (P = 0.2352). However, yeasts isolated from fruit associated niches were more attractive than those from non-fruit associated niches (P = 0.0188) regardless of taxonomic positioning. These data suggest that while attractiveness is primarily correlated with phylogenetic status, the ability to attract Drosophila is a labile trait among yeasts that is potentially associated with those inhabiting fruit ecosystems. Preliminary analysis of the volatiles emitted by four yeast isolates in grape juice show the presence/absence of ethanol and acetic acid were not likely explanations for the observed variation in attraction. These data demonstrate variation among yeasts for their ability to attract Drosophila in a pattern that is consistent with the hypothesis that certain yeasts are manipulating fruit odours to mediate interactions with their Drosophila dispersal agent. © 2013 Palanca et al

Non-conventional yeast species for lowering ethanol content of wines

Rising sugar content in grape must, and the concomitant increase in alcohol levels in wine, are some of the main challenges affecting the winemaking industry nowadays. Among the several alternative solutions currently under study, the use of nonconventional yeasts during fermentation holds good promise for contributing to relieve this problem. Non-Saccharomyces wine yeast species comprise a high number or species, so encompassing a wider physiological diversity than Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Indeed, the current oenological interest of these microorganisms was initially triggered by their potential positive contribution to the sensorial complexity of quality wines, through the production of aroma and other sensory-active compounds. This diversity also involves ethanol yield on sugar, one of the most invariant metabolic traits of S. cerevisiae. This review gathers recent research on non-Saccharomyces yeasts, aiming to produce wines with lower alcohol content than those from pure Saccharomyces starters. Critical aspects discussed include the selection of suitable yeast strains (considering there is a noticeable intra-species diversity for ethanol yield, as shown for other fermentation traits), identification of key environmental parameters influencing ethanol yields (including the use of controlled oxygenation conditions), and managing mixed fermentations, by either the sequential or simultaneous inoculation of S. cerevisiae and non-Saccharomyces starter cultures. The feasibility, at the industrial level, of using non-Saccharomyces yeasts for reducing alcohol levels in wine will require an improved understanding of the metabolism of these alternative yeast species, as well as of the interactions between different yeast starters during the fermentation of grape must.Experimental work by researchers from ICVV is supported by the Spanish Government trough MINECO and FEDER funds: MINECO AGL2012-32064 and AGL2015-63629-R grants, INIA RM2012-00007-00-00 grant, MINECO RTC-2014-2186-2 grant, MINECO training contract for AR, MINECO Formación Postdoctoral contract for JC. Experimental work by the authors from Polytechnic University of Marche is supported by Ricerca Scientifica di Ateneo RSA2015.Peer Reviewe