Morphological and Taxonomic Diversity in Clade's History: The Blastoid Record and Stochastic Simulations

101-140http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/48542/2/ID396.pd

Morphology of Ordovician-Devonian Crinoids

1-39http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/48640/2/ID507.pd

Morphology of Carboniferous and Permian Crinoids

135-184http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/48646/2/ID513.pd

Effects of Environmental Cold on the Preruminant Calf

This study examined effects of sustained environmental cold on growth and health of dairy calves. Functional measures of energy metabolism, fat-soluble vitamin and mineral status, and immune competency were also evaluated. Newborn calves were assigned to warm or cold environments for 7wk. Cold environment temperature were maintained as close to 2°C as possible. Frequent wetting of the environment and calves augmented effects of the cold. The warm environment was maintained as close to 15°C as possible and humidity was not manipulated. Preventative medications or vaccinations were not administered. All calves were fed a non-medicated MR (20% CP and 20% fat fed at .45 kg/d) and non-medicated starter ad libitum. Cold environment averaged 12 o C lower than warm environment during the study period. Humidity averaged 10% higher in the cold environment. Respiratory health of the warm environment calves was moderately better than that of cold environment calves. Scour scores were unaffected by cold exposure. Growth rate was unaffected by environmental temperature; however, cold environment calves consumed more starter from wk 5 to 7. Blood glucose concentrations were lower and NEFA concentrations were higher in cold environment calves, indicative of a state of mild negative energy balance. Serum cytokine and fat-soluble vitamin concentrations, and antibody responses to vaccination were not impacted by sustained exposure to cold

Fat-Soluble Vitamin and Micromineral Concentrations in Preruminant Dairy Calves Fed to Achieve Different Growth Rates

Effects of neonatal growth rate on plasma concentrations of fat-soluble vitamins, zinc, and copper in preruminant calves were evaluated. Calves were assigned to dietary treatments designed to achieve three targeted rates of gain [No-Growth (NG) = 0.0 kg/d, Low-Growth (LG) = 0.55 kg/d, or High-Growth (HG) = 1.2 kg/d] over a 7 wk period. MR intakes needed to achieve specified growthrates were estimated using the NRC Nutrient Requirements of Dairy Cattle calf model computer program. Calves were fed a 30% CP, 20% fat, MR reconstituted to 14% DM. Because vitamin levels in the MR were based on DM intake of HG calves, NG and LG calves were supplemented with additional vitamins once weekly to compensate for reduced MR consumption. Growth rates for NG (0.11 kg/d), LG (0.58 kg/d), and HG (1.16 kg/d) calves differed throughout the study. Although vitamins A and D, and Zn concentrations were unaffected by growth rate, their concentrations increased and Zn/Cu concentrations decreased with time. Throughout the study their concentrations remained within normal ranges for the preruminant calf. Vitamin E and copper were affected by growth rate. At wk 7, HG calves had lower vitamin E concentrations than LG and NG calves. Copper concentrations were greater for HG calves than LG and NG calves from wk 4 to wk 7. Copper and vitE concentrations, however, remained within ranges considered normal for preruminant calves. These results suggest that growth rate during the neonatal period influences vitE and Cu availabilit

Randomised feasibility trial of the helping families programme-modified: an intensive parenting intervention for parents affected by severe personality difficulties.

BACKGROUND: Specialist parenting intervention could improve coexistent parenting and child mental health difficulties of parents affected by severe personality difficulties. OBJECTIVE: Conduct a feasibility trial of Helping Families Programme-Modified (HFP-M), a specialist parenting intervention. DESIGN: Pragmatic, mixed-methods trial, 1:1 random allocation, assessing feasibility, intervention acceptability and outcome estimates. SETTINGS: Two National Health Service health trusts and local authority children's social care. PARTICIPANTS: Parents: (i) primary caregiver, (ii) 18 to 65 years, (iii) severe personality difficulties, (iv) proficient English and (v) capacity for consent. Child: (i) 3 to 11 years, (ii) living with index parent and (iii) significant emotional/behavioural difficulties. INTERVENTION: HFP-M: 16-session home-based intervention using parenting and therapeutic engagement strategies. Usual care: standard care augmented by single psychoeducational parenting session. OUTCOMES: Primary feasibility outcome: participant retention rate. SECONDARY OUTCOMES: (i) rates of recruitment, eligibility and data completion, and (ii) rates of intervention acceptance, completion and alliance (Working Alliance Inventory-Short Revised). Primary clinical outcome: child behaviour (Eyberg Child Behaviour Inventory). SECONDARY OUTCOMES: child mental health (Concerns About My Child, Child Behaviour Checklist-Internalising Scale), parenting (Arnold-O'Leary Parenting Scale, Kansas Parental Satisfaction Scale) and parent mental health (Symptom-Checklist-27). Quantitative data were collected blind to allocation. RESULTS: Findings broadly supported non-diagnostic selection criterion. Of 48 participants recruited, 32 completed post-intervention measures at mean 42 weeks later. Participant retention exceeded a priori rate (HFP-M=18; Usual care=14; 66.7%, 95% CI 51.6% to 79.6%). HFP-M was acceptable, with delivery longer than planned. Usual care had lower alliance rating. Child and parenting outcome effects detected across trial arms with potential HFP-M advantage (effect size range: 0.0 to 1.3). CONCLUSION: HFP-M is an acceptable and potentially effective specialist parenting intervention. A definitive trial is feasible, subject to consideration of recruitment and retention methods, intervention efficiency and comparator condition. Caution is required in interpretation of results due to reduced sample size. No serious adverse events reported. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN14573230

Polygenic Resilience Modulates the Penetrance of Parkinson Disease Genetic Risk Factors

peer reviewedObjective: The aim of the current study is to understand why some individuals avoid developing Parkinson disease (PD) despite being at relatively high genetic risk, using the largest datasets of individual-level genetic data available. Methods: We calculated polygenic risk score to identify controls and matched PD cases with the highest burden of genetic risk for PD in the discovery cohort (International Parkinson's Disease Genomics Consortium, 7,204 PD cases and 9,412 controls) and validation cohorts (Comprehensive Unbiased Risk Factor Assessment for Genetics and Environment in Parkinson's Disease, 8,968 cases and 7,598 controls; UK Biobank, 2,639 PD cases and 14,301 controls; Accelerating Medicines Partnership–Parkinson's Disease Initiative, 2,248 cases and 2,817 controls). A genome-wide association study meta-analysis was performed on these individuals to understand genetic variation associated with resistance to disease. We further constructed a polygenic resilience score, and performed multimarker analysis of genomic annotation (MAGMA) gene-based analyses and functional enrichment analyses. Results: A higher polygenic resilience score was associated with a lower risk for PD (β = −0.054, standard error [SE] = 0.022, p = 0.013). Although no single locus reached genome-wide significance, MAGMA gene-based analyses nominated TBCA as a putative gene. Furthermore, we estimated the narrow-sense heritability associated with resilience to PD (h2 = 0.081, SE = 0.035, p = 0.0003). Subsequent functional enrichment analysis highlighted histone methylation as a potential pathway harboring resilience alleles that could mitigate the effects of PD risk loci. Interpretation: The present study represents a novel and comprehensive assessment of heritable genetic variation contributing to PD resistance. We show that a genetic resilience score can modify the penetrance of PD genetic risk factors and therefore protect individuals carrying a high-risk genetic burden from developing PD. ANN NEUROL 202

Artificial intelligence for dementia genetics and omics

Genetics and omics studies of Alzheimer's disease and other dementia subtypes enhance our understanding of underlying mechanisms and pathways that can be targeted. We identified key remaining challenges: First, can we enhance genetic studies to address missing heritability? Can we identify reproducible omics signatures that differentiate between dementia subtypes? Can high-dimensional omics data identify improved biomarkers? How can genetics inform our understanding of causal status of dementia risk factors? And which biological processes are altered by dementia-related genetic variation? Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning approaches give us powerful new tools in helping us to tackle these challenges, and we review possible solutions and examples of best practice. However, their limitations also need to be considered, as well as the need for coordinated multidisciplinary research and diverse deeply phenotyped cohorts. Ultimately AI approaches improve our ability to interrogate genetics and omics data for precision dementia medicine

Wednesday Convocation

Program listing performers and works performe