Are sequential sample designs useful for examining post-traumatic changes in character strengths?

Previous research on differences in character strengths as a result of traumatic cultural events has relied on non-overlapping samples of individuals who completed online questionnaires before and after the event. This study expands on these previous studies by examining differences in self-reports of character strengths before, between, and after two terror attacks on Paris, France, in 2015, and further comparing these differences to contemporaneous differences in two other countries. Completers of the inventory during the same periods from the United States (N = 528,912) and Australia (N = 174,591) served as the comparison groups. After controlling for age and gender, six strengths in the French sample, nine strengths in the Australian sample and seven in the US sample remained significant. A clear discernable pattern did not emerge. Effect sizes were consistently miniscule, which when combined with very large samples may account for finding significance even though within-nation differences are unreliable

Brain energy rescue:an emerging therapeutic concept for neurodegenerative disorders of ageing

The brain requires a continuous supply of energy in the form of ATP, most of which is produced from glucose by oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria, complemented by aerobic glycolysis in the cytoplasm. When glucose levels are limited, ketone bodies generated in the liver and lactate derived from exercising skeletal muscle can also become important energy substrates for the brain. In neurodegenerative disorders of ageing, brain glucose metabolism deteriorates in a progressive, region-specific and disease-specific manner — a problem that is best characterized in Alzheimer disease, where it begins presymptomatically. This Review discusses the status and prospects of therapeutic strategies for countering neurodegenerative disorders of ageing by improving, preserving or rescuing brain energetics. The approaches described include restoring oxidative phosphorylation and glycolysis, increasing insulin sensitivity, correcting mitochondrial dysfunction, ketone-based interventions, acting via hormones that modulate cerebral energetics, RNA therapeutics and complementary multimodal lifestyle changes

Glucocortiocoid Treatment of MCMV Infected Newborn Mice Attenuates CNS Inflammation and Limits Deficits in Cerebellar Development

Infection of the developing fetus with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a major cause of central nervous system disease in infants and children; however, mechanism(s) of disease associated with this intrauterine infection remain poorly understood. Utilizing a mouse model of HCMV infection of the developing CNS, we have shown that peripheral inoculation of newborn mice with murine CMV (MCMV) results in CNS infection and developmental abnormalities that recapitulate key features of the human infection. In this model, animals exhibit decreased granule neuron precursor cell (GNPC) proliferation and altered morphogenesis of the cerebellar cortex. Deficits in cerebellar cortical development are symmetric and global even though infection of the CNS results in a non-necrotizing encephalitis characterized by widely scattered foci of virus-infected cells with mononuclear cell infiltrates. These findings suggested that inflammation induced by MCMV infection could underlie deficits in CNS development. We investigated the contribution of host inflammatory responses to abnormal cerebellar development by modulating inflammatory responses in infected mice with glucocorticoids. Treatment of infected animals with glucocorticoids decreased activation of CNS mononuclear cells and expression of inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IFN-β and IFNγ) in the CNS while minimally impacting CNS virus replication. Glucocorticoid treatment also limited morphogenic abnormalities and normalized the expression of developmentally regulated genes within the cerebellum. Importantly, GNPC proliferation deficits were normalized in MCMV infected mice following glucocorticoid treatment. Our findings argue that host inflammatory responses to MCMV infection contribute to deficits in CNS development in MCMV infected mice and suggest that similar mechanisms of disease could be responsible for the abnormal CNS development in human infants infected in-utero with HCMV

Effect of the K-N application levels on two oil palm genotypes in nursery stage.

Our work is focusing on the internal functioning of the mineral reserves of the plant, especially the absorption processes and the remobilization of some nutrients essential to oil palm as potassium, in addition with nitrogen. An experimental has been conducted in controlled conditions, with the objectives to study the effect of K-N gradient on the mineral allocation at the plant scale and to compare two progenies (G1 and G2), presenting contrasting leaf potassium content

Effect of the K-N application levels on two oil palm genotypes in nursery stage.

Recently some researchers focus on the identification of planting material presenting a better efficiency towards nutrient applications and consumptions. Our work is focusing on the internal functioning of the mineral reserves of the plant, especially the absorption processes and the remobilization of some nutrients essential to oil palm as potassium, in addition with nitrogen. An experimental has been conducted in controlled conditions, with the objectives to study the effect of K-N gradient on the mineral allocation at the plant scale and to compare two progenies (G1 and G2), presenting contrasting leaf potassium content (G1 will be characterized as K- - and G2 as K++)