Innovative Movement Strategies for Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Review of Dance and Exergaming Interventions

Background: Given the types of symptoms present in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), interventions should address deficits in motor control, social interactions, and emotional intelligence. Alternative interventions, such as exercise video gaming (exergaming) and dance movement therapy, may address these deficits in an engaging, age-appropriate manner, thus meeting the unique needs of adolescents with ASD. Objectives: The purpose of this paper was first, to review the current literature on ASD for innovative movement strategies feasible to address emotional, social, cognitive, and physical outcomes for adolescents ages 11-18; and second, to determine the effectiveness of these interventions. Methods: The databases used were: Pubmed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, EMBASE, CINAHL, Psycinfo, REHABDATA, Human Kinetics Journal, and PEDro. Search terms included: autism or autism spectrum disorder; and dance, dancing or dance therapy, or exergaming, exergame, video gaming or video game. Selected articles were published in the last 10 years, written in English, and included subjects with ASD who participated in dance or exergaming interventions. After the initial screening of articles with relevant titles and abstracts, we included studies with evidence levels of 1-4. Results: Five dance therapy intervention studies showed moderate effectiveness for social and emotional outcomes such as empathy skills, emotional regulation, and negative symptoms of ASD. Four exergaming studies had moderate effectiveness for motor and physical outcomes, such as energy expenditure and perceived object control. Implications: Based on the review of dance and exergaming intervention studies, the authors recommend providing the interventions to selected clients depending on individual circumstances. Both dance and exergaming may be cost-effective and feasible in school settings. Future studies should include larger and more diverse samples with rigorous randomization procedures

Enhanced sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 2 expression underlies female CNS autoimmunity susceptibility

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease of the CNS that is characterized by BBB dysfunction and has a much higher incidence in females. Compared with other strains of mice, EAE in the SJL mouse strain models multiple features of MS, including an enhanced sensitivity of female mice to disease; however, the molecular mechanisms that underlie the sex- and strain-dependent differences in disease susceptibility have not been described. We identified sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor 2 (S1PR2) as a sex- and strain-specific, disease-modifying molecule that regulates BBB permeability by destabilizing adherens junctions. S1PR2 expression was increased in disease-susceptible regions of the CNS of both female SJL EAE mice and female patients with MS compared with their male counterparts. Pharmacological blockade or lack of S1PR2 signaling decreased EAE disease severity as the result of enhanced endothelial barrier function. Enhanced S1PR2 signaling in an in vitro BBB model altered adherens junction formation via activation of Rho/ROCK, CDC42, and caveolin endocytosis-dependent pathways, resulting in loss of apicobasal polarity and relocation of abluminal CXCL12 to vessel lumina. Furthermore, S1PR2-dependent BBB disruption and CXCL12 relocation were observed in vivo. These results identify a link between S1PR2 signaling and BBB polarity and implicate S1PR2 in sex-specific patterns of disease during CNS autoimmunity

Plasma levels of sphingosine 1-phosphate are strongly correlated with haematocrit, but variably restored by red blood cell transfusions

Anaemia and RBC (red blood cell) transfusion may be associated with worse clinical outcomes, especially with longer blood storage duration prior to transfusion. The mechanisms underlying these harmful effects are unknown. RBCs have been proposed to buffer plasma S1P (sphingosine 1-phosphate), a lysophospholipid essential for the maintenance of endothelial integrity and important in the regulation of haematopoietic cell trafficking. The present study examined the effect of anaemia, RBC transfusion and RBC storage duration on plasma S1P levels. Plasma S1P from 30 individuals demonstrated a linear correlation with Hct (haematocrit; R2=0.51, P<0.001) with no evidence for a plateau at Hct values as low as 19%. RBC transfusion in 23 anaemic patients with baseline mean Hct of 22.2±0.34% (value is the mean±S.D.) increased Hct to 28.3±0.6% at 72 h. Despite an Hct increase, RBC transfusion failed to elevate plasma S1P consistently. A trend towards an inverse correlation was observed between RBC storage duration and the post-transfusion increase in plasma S1P. After 30 days of storage, RBC S1P decreased to 19% of that observed in fresh (3–7-day-old) RBC segments. RBC membranes contain low levels of both S1P phosphatase and S1P lyase activities that may account for the decline in S1P levels with storage. Our results support a role for RBCs in buffering plasma S1P and identify a disturbance in the capacity after transfusion. Changes in S1P content may contribute to an RBC storage lesion. Further studies should investigate the clinical significance of alterations in circulating S1P levels and the potential value of enriching stored RBCs with S1P

Prioritizing Land and Sea Conservation Investments to Protect Coral Reefs

Background: Coral reefs have exceptional biodiversity, support the livelihoods of millions of people, and are threatened by multiple human activities on land (e.g. farming) and in the sea (e.g. overfishing). Most conservation efforts occur at local scales and, when effective, can increase the resilience of coral reefs to global threats such as climate change (e.g. warming water and ocean acidification). Limited resources for conservation require that we efficiently prioritize where and how to best sustain coral reef ecosystems

The Chromatin Remodeling Factor SMARCB1 Forms a Complex with Human Cytomegalovirus Proteins UL114 and UL44

Background: Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) uracil DNA glycosylase, UL114, is required for efficient viral DNA replication. Presumably, UL114 functions as a structural partner to other factors of the DNA-replication machinery and not as a DNA repair protein. UL114 binds UL44 (HCMV processivity factor) and UL54 (HCMV-DNA-polymerase). In the present study we have searched for cellular partners of UL114. Methodology/Principal Findings: In a yeast two-hybrid screen SMARCB1, a factor of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex, was found to be an interacting partner of UL114. This interaction was confirmed in vitro by coimmunoprecipitation and pull-down. Immunofluorescence microscopy revealed that SMARCB1 along with BRG-1, BAF170 and BAF155, which are the core SWI/SNF components required for efficient chromatin remodeling, were present in virus replication foci 24–48 hours post infection (hpi). Furthermore a direct interaction was also demonstrated for SMARCB1 and UL44. Conclusions/Significance: The core SWI/SNF factors required for efficient chromatin remodeling are present in the HCMV replication foci throughout infection. The proteins UL44 and UL114 interact with SMARCB1 and may participate in the recruitment of the SWI/SNF complex to the chromatinized virus DNA. Thus, the presence of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex in replication foci and its association with UL114 and with UL44 might imply its involvement i

Policy Entrepreneurship by International Bureaucracies: The Evolution of Public Information in UN Peacekeeping

The UN Secretariat’s role in the expansion of peacekeeping after the cold war is debated. Different theoretical accounts offer competing interpretations: principal–agent models and sociological institutionalism tend to emphasize the Secretariat’s risk-averse behaviour; organizational learning scholarship and international political sociology find evidence of the Secretariat’s activism; constructivism analyses instances of both. I argue that the UN Secretariat can be both enthusiastic and cautious about new tasks depending on the circumstances and the issue area. For example, UN officials have been the driving force behind the development of public information campaigns by peacekeeping missions aimed at the local population. During the cold war, it was not regarded as necessary for UN missions to communicate with the public in the area of operation: their interlocutors were parties to the conflict and the diplomatic community. With the deployment of the first multidimensional missions in the late 1980s and the early 1990s, UN staff realized the need to explain the organization’s role to the local population and provide information about UN-supported elections. In promoting this innovation, they played the role of policy entrepreneurs. The institutionalization of this innovation, however, was not an automatic process and required continuous advocacy by UN information staff

Author correction : roadmap for naming uncultivated archaea and bacteria

Correction to: Nature Microbiology https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-020-0733-x , published online 8 June 2020. In the version of this Consensus Statement originally published, Pablo Yarza was mistakenly not included in the author list. Also, in Supplementary Table 1, Alexander Jaffe was missing from the list of endorsees. These errors have now been corrected and the updated Supplementary Table 1 is available online

Roadmap for naming uncultivated Archaea and Bacteria

The assembly of single-amplified genomes (SAGs) and metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) has led to a surge in genome-based discoveries of members affiliated with Archaea and Bacteria, bringing with it a need to develop guidelines for nomenclature of uncultivated microorganisms. The International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes (ICNP) only recognizes cultures as ‘type material’, thereby preventing the naming of uncultivated organisms. In this Consensus Statement, we propose two potential paths to solve this nomenclatural conundrum. One option is the adoption of previously proposed modifications to the ICNP to recognize DNA sequences as acceptable type material; the other option creates a nomenclatural code for uncultivated Archaea and Bacteria that could eventually be merged with the ICNP in the future. Regardless of the path taken, we believe that action is needed now within the scientific community to develop consistent rules for nomenclature of uncultivated taxa in order to provide clarity and stability, and to effectively communicate microbial diversity

<scp>ReSurveyEurope</scp>: A database of resurveyed vegetation plots in Europe

AbstractAimsWe introduce ReSurveyEurope — a new data source of resurveyed vegetation plots in Europe, compiled by a collaborative network of vegetation scientists. We describe the scope of this initiative, provide an overview of currently available data, governance, data contribution rules, and accessibility. In addition, we outline further steps, including potential research questions.ResultsReSurveyEurope includes resurveyed vegetation plots from all habitats. Version 1.0 of ReSurveyEurope contains 283,135 observations (i.e., individual surveys of each plot) from 79,190 plots sampled in 449 independent resurvey projects. Of these, 62,139 (78%) are permanent plots, that is, marked in situ, or located with GPS, which allow for high spatial accuracy in resurvey. The remaining 17,051 (22%) plots are from studies in which plots from the initial survey could not be exactly relocated. Four data sets, which together account for 28,470 (36%) plots, provide only presence/absence information on plant species, while the remaining 50,720 (64%) plots contain abundance information (e.g., percentage cover or cover–abundance classes such as variants of the Braun‐Blanquet scale). The oldest plots were sampled in 1911 in the Swiss Alps, while most plots were sampled between 1950 and 2020.ConclusionsReSurveyEurope is a new resource to address a wide range of research questions on fine‐scale changes in European vegetation. The initiative is devoted to an inclusive and transparent governance and data usage approach, based on slightly adapted rules of the well‐established European Vegetation Archive (EVA). ReSurveyEurope data are ready for use, and proposals for analyses of the data set can be submitted at any time to the coordinators. Still, further data contributions are highly welcome.</jats:sec

Definitely Superior Members' Exhibition 1991

This exhibition folder on works by 16 Canadian artists includes artist's statements