Exploring within-ecodistrict lake organic matter variability and identifying possible environmental contaminant biomarkers using sedimentomics.

Sedimentomics methods offer insight into the physiological parameters that influence freshwater sediment organic matter (sedOM). To date, most sedimentomics studies characterized variations across large spatial and environmental gradients; here we examine whether sedimentomics methods capture subtle sedOM variations within a relatively homogeneous study area in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. Additionally, we explore the lake sedimentome for candidate biomarkers related to ongoing carnivorous animal farming in the region. Sediment cores were recovered from seven lakes across a trophic (oligo- to eu- trophic) and anthropogenic land use gradient (carnivorous animal farming in catchment, downstream of farming, no farming nearby). Subsamples that dated prior to 1910 (pre-carnivorous animal farming) and later than 2010 (during carnivorous animal farming) were analyzed using UHPLC-HRMS in both negative (ESI-) and positive (ESI+) electrospray ionization modes. Cluster analysis (k-means) showed replicate samples from a given lake clustered distinctly from one another in both ESI modes, indicating sedOM captured subtle variations between lake systems. PCA combined with multiple linear regression indicated carnivorous animal farming and OM source explained most of the observed variation in lake sedOM. Principal component analysis (PCA) and Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) of ESI- and ESI+ data sets identified 103 unique candidate biomarkers. Ten strong candidate biomarkers were identified using graphical methods; more research is required for biomarker verification and molecular characterization. Our results indicate sedimentomics could be used in environmentally homogeneous areas, offering insight into the controls of sedOM cycling. Additionally, we identified prospective biomarkers related to carnivorous animal farming that could be used to understand relative contributions of farming to ongoing eutrophication issues in southwestern Nova Scotia.

Influence of endurance and sprinting exercise on plasma adiponectin, leptin and irisin concentrations in racing Greyhounds and sled dogs.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess the effects of both short-term anaerobic exercise and long-term aerobic exercise on leptin, adiponectin and irisin concentrations in both sprint and endurance canine athletes. DESIGN: Prospective field trial repeated measures. The 25 racing Greyhounds were run over 400 m, with blood samples collected prior to exercise and at 10 min and 120 min after exercise. The 16 sled dogs were run an average of 3.5-5 h/day on 5 out of 8 days of stage stop racing competition, with assessment on days 0, 2 and 8. RESULTS: Baseline leptin concentrations were found to be lower than previously recorded values of domestic dogs, possibly because of a lower body fat content in athletes, with concentrations in sled dogs being slightly higher than those in Greyhounds. Baseline adiponectin concentrations in both groups of dogs, on average, were lower than most previously recorded values in domestic dogs; although unexpected, these findings may be attributed to differences in body fat content of the study population. CONCLUSION: Endurance exercise in sled dogs resulted in a persistent decrease in leptin that appears to be independent of race-associated weight loss, with no appreciable changes in adiponectin or irisin concentrations. The anaerobic exercise of Greyhounds produced no detectable changes in leptin and adiponectin concentrations; however, a significant rise in irisin 10 min post-exercise may be a compensatory mechanism for restoration of ATP homeostasis in skeletal muscle.

The 2014 liver ultrasound tracking benchmark.

The Challenge on Liver Ultrasound Tracking (CLUST) was held in conjunction with the MICCAI 2014 conference to enable direct comparison of tracking methods for this application. This paper reports the outcome of this challenge, including setup, methods, results and experiences. The database included 54 2D and 3D sequences of the liver of healthy volunteers and tumor patients under free breathing. Participants had to provide the tracking results of 90% of the data (test set) for pre-defined point-landmarks (healthy volunteers) or for tumor segmentations (patient data). In this paper we compare the best six methods which participated in the challenge. Quantitative evaluation was performed by the organizers with respect to manual annotations. Results of all methods showed a mean tracking error ranging between 1.4 mm and 2.1 mm for 2D points, and between 2.6 mm and 4.6 mm for 3D points. Fusing all automatic results by considering the median tracking results, improved the mean error to 1.2 mm (2D) and 2.5 mm (3D). For all methods, the performance is still not comparable to human inter-rater variability, with a mean tracking error of 0.5-0.6 mm (2D) and 1.2-1.8 mm (3D). The segmentation task was fulfilled only by one participant, resulting in a Dice coefficient ranging from 76.7% to 92.3%. The CLUST database continues to be available and the online leader-board will be updated as an ongoing challenge.

Household chaos moderates the link between maternal attribution bias and parenting: Parenting: Science and Practice.

OBJECTIVE: Parents who attribute child misbehavior to children's intentions and dismiss situational factors tend to show more hostility and less warmth in their parenting behavior, and are at greater risk for maltreatment. We extended this literature by investigating the role of household chaos as a moderator of the link between maternal attribution biases and parenting behaviors. DESIGN: The current sample included 160 mothers of 3- to7-year-old children. Mothers provided reports on their attribution biases and household chaos levels. Maternal negativity and positivity were measured using self-reports and observers' ratings. RESULTS: The links between attribution bias and parenting behavior were stronger in more chaotic environments, with the moderating effect of chaos being particularly strong for internal attribution bias. CONCLUSIONS: The findings point to the importance of social cognitive biases in the etiology of maternal behavior in family contexts that lack order and predictability.

Variation of telencephalon morphology of the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) in relation to inferred ecology.

We tested the hypothesis that increased telencephalon size has evolved in threespine stickleback fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus) from structurally complex habitats using field-caught samples from one sea-run (ancestral) and 18 ecologically diverse freshwater (descendant) populations. Freshwater habitats ranged from shallow, structurally complex lakes with benthic-foraging stickleback (benthics), to deeper, structurally simple lakes in which stickleback depend more heavily on plankton for prey (generalists). Contrary to our expectations, benthics had smaller telencephala than generalists, but the shape of the telencephalon of the sea-run and benthic populations were more convex laterally. Convex telencephalon shape may indicate enlargement of the dorsolateral region, which is homologous with the tetrapod hippocampus. Telencephalon morphology is also sexually dimorphic, with larger, less convex telencephala in males. Freshwater stickleback from structurally complex habitats have retained the ancestral telencephalon morphology, but populations that feed more in open habitats on plankton have evolved larger, laterally concave telencephala.

Implications of a fossil stickleback assemblage for Darwinian gradualism.

Darwin postulated that a complete fossil record would contain numerous gradual transitions between ancestral and descendant species, but 150 years after publication of The Origin of Species, few such transitions have materialized. The fossil stickleback Gasterosteus doryssus and the deposit in which it occurs provide excellent conditions to detect such transitions. Abundant, well-preserved fossils occur in a stratigraphic setting with fine temporal resolution. The paleoecology of G. doryssus resembles the ecology of modern lakes that harbour the phenotypically similar three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus. Gasterosteus aculeatus are primitively highly armoured, but G. doryssus comprised two contemporaneous biological species with relatively weak armour, including a near-shore, benthic feeder (benthic) and an offshore planktivore (limnetic). The benthic species expanded its range into the limnetic zone of the lake, where it apparently switched to planktivory and evolved reduced armour within c. 5000 years in response to directional selection. Although gradual evolution of mean phenotypes occurred, a single major gene caused much of evolutionary change of the pelvic skeleton. Thus, Darwin's expectation that transitions between species in the fossil record would be gradual was met at a fine time scale, but for pelvic structure, a well-studied trait, his expectation that gradual change would depend entirely on numerous, small, heritable differences among individuals was incorrect.

Depresión psicótica: la utilización del algoritmo aumenta las probabilidades de remisión / Psychotic depression: state-of-the-art algorithm improves odds for remision

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The analogue of thymidine triphosphate containing a methylene group in place of the 5' oxygen can serve as a substrate for reverse transcriptase.

The thymidine 5'-triphosphate analogue containing a methylene group in place of the 5' oxygen atom can be prepared using modifications of published procedures and can substitute for the natural thymidine triphosphate in chain extension reactions catalyzed by Moloney-MLV reverse transcriptase. Using rabbit beta-globin mRNA as the template together with an appropriate primer, the enzyme readily makes full-length DNA transcripts in which all thymidine 5' oxygen atoms have been replaced with methylene groups. In sequence analyses using the partial depurination procedure, the analogue DNA transcript produces electrophoretic gel patterns identical with those of the corresponding natural DNA transcript. Experiments on second strand synthesis using the four regular triphosphates show that the analogue DNA transcript, like the natural transcript, can serve as a template. The two DNA duplexes (natural/natural and analogue/natural) formed by these reactions produce similar electrophoretic cleavage patterns when treated with either of the endonucleases HaeIII and EcoRI. However, further studies on template properties indicate that, while the enzyme makes a full-length product when using the analogue substrate with a natural DNA strand as template, it appears unable to use the analogue transcript as template with the analogue triphosphate as substrate during second strand synthesis. Preliminary experiments have also been carried out with a DNA polymerase. No products are detected reactions using Taq polymerase with PCR protocols containing the analogue triphosphate as the only source of thymidine.

Surrogacy in Australia: implantation rates have implications for embryo quality and uterine receptivity.

Since the passage, in November 1995, of the ACT Substitute Parents Agreement Act, The Canberra Fertility Centre has added a true gestational carrier pregnancy programme to its established infertility and IVF services. Embryos generated are transferred as frozen-thawed embryos to the carrier in an average of 2.2 embryos per transfer. Between 1 January 1996 and 31 December 1999 the results of 49 frozen embryo transfers to 25 gestational carriers were compared with 849 frozen embryo transfers on a routine IVF programme. In the carrier group, the embryo implantation rate of 13.8% per embryo transferred is double that of an exactly comparable group of patients undergoing routine frozen-thawed embryo transfer on the same IVF programme and considerably higher than those reported in large series of frozen-thawed embryo transfers. Exclusion from the carrier pregnancy programme of patients with incipient ovarian failure results in an implantation rate of 16.7%, a clinical pregnancy rate of 29.0% and a live birth rate of 19.4% per embryo transfer procedure.

Lateral plate evolution in the threespine stickleback: getting nowhere fast.

Gasterosteus aculeatus is a small Holarctic fish with marine, anadromous, and freshwater populations. Marine and anadromous populations apparently have changed little in the past 10 million years and exhibit limited geographical variation. In contrast, freshwater isolates have been founded repeatedly by marine and anadromous populations, and post-glacial isolates have undergone extraordinary adaptive radiation. Stickleback traits that have diversified during post-glacial radiation, including the 'lateral plates' (LP), can evolve substantially within decades after colonization of fresh water or when the environment (particularly predation regime) changes. Although highly divergent freshwater isolates of G. aculeatus have existed for at least 10 million years, they have rarely experienced sustained evolutionary divergence leading to formation of widespread, phenotypically distinct species. The paradox of rapid LP evolution without sustained divergence has resulted from selective extinction of highly divergent populations, because they are specialized for conditions in small, isolated habitats that tend to dry up within limited periods. Biological species of G. aculeatus may also evolve within decades, and are also prone to extinction because they are endemic to and specialized for small, ephemeral habitats. The high rate of evolution observed in contemporary threespine stickleback populations may not be unique to this species complex and has important implications for use of post-glacial populations in comparative studies, speciation rate, and discrimination of sympatric and allopatric speciation.

Identified spouse abuse as a risk factor for child abuse.

CONTEXT: There are limited data on the extent to which spouse abuse in a family is a risk factor for child abuse. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the subsequent relative risk of child abuse in families with a report of spouse abuse compared with other families. DESIGN: Cohort study. SETTING: Analysis of a centralized US Army database PARTICIPANTS: Married couples with children with at least one spouse on active duty in the US Army during 1989-95. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The US Army Family Advocacy Program's Central Database was used to identify child and spouse abuse. The exposure was an episode of identified spouse abuse and the main outcome was a substantiated episode of subsequent child abuse. RESULTS: During the study period of an estimated 2,019,949 person years, 14,270 incident child abuse cases were substantiated. Families with an incident case of spouse abuse identified during the study period were twice as likely to have a substantiated report of child abuse compaired with other military families, rate ratio, 2.0, (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.9-2.1). Young parental age had the highest rate ratio, 4.9 (95% CI 4.5-5.3) in the subgroup analysis controlling for rank. Identified spouse abuse was associated with physical abuse of a child, rate ratio 2.4 (95% CI 2.2-2.5), and with sexual abuse of a child, rate ratio 1.5 (95% CI 1.3-1.7). Identified spouse abuse was not associated with child neglect or maltreatment, rate ratio, 1.0 95% CI 0.9-1.1) CONCLUSION: An identified episode of spouse abuse in a family appears to be associated with an increased risk of subsequent child abuse and serves as an independent risk factor. Therefore. care providers should consider the potential risk to children when dealing with spouse abuse.

Sex differences on a mental rotation task: variations in electroencephalogram hemispheric activation between children and college students.

The area of cognitive research that has produced the most consistent sex differences is spatial ability. In particular, men usually perform better on mental rotation tasks than women. Performance on mental rotation tasks has been associated with right parietal activation levels, both during task performance and prior to performance during baseline recordings. This study examined the relations among sex, age, electroencephalogram (EEG) hemispheric activation (at the 10.5 Hz to 13.5 Hz frequency band), and 2-D mental rotation task ability. Nineteen 8-year-olds (10 boys) and 20 college students (10 men) had EEG recorded at baseline and while performing a mental rotation task. Men had a faster reaction time on the mental rotation task than women, whereas there were no differences between boys and girls. After covarying for baseline EEG power values, men exhibited more activation (lower EEG power values) than women in the parietal and posterior temporal regions, whereas boys' and girls' power values did not differ in the parietal or posterior temporal regions. Furthermore, during the baseline condition, men generally exhibited more activation (lower EEG power values) throughout all regions of the scalp. Results support the hypothesis that a change that affects both brain activation and performance on mental rotation tasks occurs sometime between childhood and adulthood.

Analytical performance of the Genzyme LipoPro Lp(a) kit for plasma lipoprotein(a)-cholesterol assay.

The analytical performance of a new assay for plasma lipoprotein(a)-cholesterol (Lp[a]-C) was compared with that of our existing Lp(a) protein assay. The Lp(a)-C assay utilises lectin affinity chromatography to isolate intact Lp(a) particles. The effect of apo(a) isoform size on this system was assessed and found to be negligible. Plasma Lp(a) concentrations measured by both assays were in excellent accord in 24 subjects with Lp(a) protein concentrations ranging from 1-65 mg/dL (r2 = 0.916). Linearity of the Lp(a)-C assay system was excellent (r2 = 0.997) and within-run precision was 6.9% at an Lp(a)-C concentration of 0.3 mmol/L. Between-calibration precision was checked and proved to be 7.9%. The lectin-binding reagent used in the assay bound different sized apo(a) isoforms equally, and the recovery of Lp(a) from the reagent was, on average, 64%. We conclude that the Lp(a)-C assay system performs well but that further information is required on what new information, if any, the assay provides over traditional Lp(a) protein measurements by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or immunoturbidimetry.

Sex differences on a computerized mental rotation task disappear with computer familiarization.

The area of cognitive research that has produced the most consistent sex differences is spatial ability. Particularly, men consistently perform better on mental rotation tasks than do women. This study examined the effects of familiarization with a computer on performance of a computerized two-dimensional mental rotation task. Two groups of college students (N=44) performed the rotation task, with one group performing a color-matching task that allowed them to be familiarized with the computer prior to the rotation task. Among the participants who only performed the rotation task, the 11 men performed better than the 11 women. Among the participants who performed the computer familiarization task before the rotation task, how ever, there were no sex differences on the mental rotation task between the 10 men and 12 women. These data indicate that sex differences on this two-dimensional task may reflect familiarization with the computer, not the mental rotation component of the task. Further research with larger samples and increased range of task difficulty is encouraged.

Causes and consequences of recent freshwater invasions by saltwater animals.

Transitions from marine to freshwater habitats constitute dramatic shifts between 'adaptive zones' that have initiated the radiation and speciation of many taxa. As recently as 10?000 years ago, deglaciation resulted in marine fauna being trapped in freshwater lakes. In modern times, human activity has caused the acceleration of freshwater invasions from marine or brackish habitats, leading to serious environmental problems. The rapid pace of these invasions provides ideal opportunities for examining initial responses to environmental change and mechanisms involved in habitat transitions. Despite conservation implications and evolutionary applications, recent transitions to fresh water remain inadequately explored.

Physical stress testing of insulin suspensions and solutions.

Insulin pen-cartridge devices have evolved in order to increase patient compliance and convenience of use in a portable, multiple dosage device. With the advent of a portable insulin containing device, stability considerations have evolved from standard chemical indicators to include the effects of temperature and agitation on physical characteristics. To address these issues, two automated physical stress tests were developed based on market research data and input from regulatory authorities to understand the effect of thermomechanical stress on the product. First, the temperature cycling and resuspension test (TCRT) includes temperature cycling (25-37 degreesC) combined with agitation. The high temperature and extreme agitation test (HTEAT) includes continuous high temperature (37 degreesC) exposure combined with 4 h daily agitation. The total stress exposure is a function of the temperature, agitation, and time. The tests range from moderate stress (TCRT) to considerable stress (HTEAT) determined from the number of cartridge inversions and average daily temperature. Physical stress testing of both insulin suspensions and solution formulations in cartridges were performed and interpreted with respect to multiple endpoints. For suspensions, prolonged exposure to extreme stress caused the protein to form agglomerates, either in the suspension or adhered to the cartridge walls. In contrast, protein solutions subjected to the same extreme stress conditions did not exhibit any visually detectable change. Visual changes in the product under physical stress conditions can increase dose-potency result variability as well as exhibit acid-insoluble aggregates.

Hospital uses team approach to improve processes, reduce costs.

This article describes a group process and how it was used to reduce reprocessing turnover time and increase the availability of sterilized instruments. A team of staff members used the "Seven Steps to Quality" and an event-related sterility maintenance program, thereby improving patient care and reducing costs. With a defined process, the team members' expertise, and clearly defined objectives and goals, the team was able to complete its work and implement a substantial change in a short amount of time.

Youth counseled for HIV testing at school- and hospital-based clinics.

The prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in adolescents is difficult to assess as few adolescents consent to testing. This prospective study characterized urban youth requesting HIV testing at two types of health settings, inner-city school-based and hospital-based clinics. Data were obtained on 1652 inner-city youths aged 13 to 19 years who consented to individualized HIV counseling and testing from January 1993 to January 1994. Identified risks for HIV included sexual activity, sexually transmitted disease (STD) history, and substance use by self-report during a confidential structured interview. Data were analyzed using chi-squared analysis. Of the 1652 youth who were counseled, 1602 were from hospital-based clinics. A total of 827 (50%) requested HIV testing. Females accounted for the majority of youth who underwent counseling (79%) and requested HIV testing (75%). However, once counseled, males were more likely to be tested. Risk factors differed by gender; females were more likely to report STDs and marijuana use, and males more likely to report alcohol and cocaine use. These results indicate a need to identify developmentally appropriate methods to educate and counsel youth about HIV that will lead to more youth willing to be tested. School-based clinics may provide easier access than traditional health models for confidential HIV services.

Language proficiency and the prediction of spontaneous rehearsal in children who are deaf.

This study was an investigation of the role of language proficiency and automatization of language skills in the use of spontaneous rehearsal strategies by children who are deaf. Thirty-one profoundly deaf children, 7 to 13 years old, were given a serial recall task, a test of language proficiency (the Language Proficiency Profile-I), and a rapid automatized naming (RAN) task. Similar to previous studies, when the data were examined by age, an apparent developmental lag was observed in the children's spontaneous use of a cumulative rehearsal strategy. Logistic regression analyses further demonstrated that age was actually a nonsignificant predictor of rehearsal use, but that both language proficiency and the automatization of language skills were highly significant predictors. In subsequent hierarchical analyses, automatized language was a partial mediator of the language proficiency --> rehearsal use relation. These results provided support for the view that automatization of language skills is an important and perhaps necessary contribution to the relation between language proficiency and rehearsal use, but that other additional aspects of language proficiency also affect the child's use of a strategy. These findings were discussed in relation to Cummins' (1984) model of language proficiency.