Horse Behavior towards Familiar and Unfamiliar Humans: Implications for Equine-Assisted Services.

While human benefits of animal-assisted therapy programs have been documented, relatively little research has been conducted on behavioral factors that predict a successful equine-assisted services (EAS) horse. This study compares the behavior of experienced and non-experienced EAS horses as well as horses selected for future EAS work in a series of sociability and temperament tests. No significant differences were found between experienced and non-experienced horses in the sociability measures or for most of the temperament tests; however, significant differences were found between groups in the brushing test, with non-experienced horses showing more affiliative behaviors towards the familiar handler and unfamiliar persons. No significant differences were found between selected and non-selected horses in the temperament tests. However, non-selected horses were found to show significantly more affiliative behaviors towards a familiar person during a sociability test compared with selected horses. These findings suggest that the social behavior and temperament of EAS horses may not be significantly different from other available horses not selected for EAS work. Instead, these decisions may primarily reflect subjective impressions of fit. Interestingly, on measures where significant differences were identified, the horses not actively engaged in or selected for therapy were the ones that showed greater affiliative responses to familiar and unfamiliar humans. Reasons for why this may be, as well as future directions in EAS selection, are discussed.

3D Microfibrous Scaffolds Selectively Promotes Proliferation and Glial Differentiation of Adult Neural Stem Cells: A Platform to Tune Cellular Behavior in Neural Tissue Engineering.

Biomaterials are essential for the development of innovative biomedical and therapeutic applications. Biomaterials-based scaffolds can influence directed cell differentiation to improve cell-based strategies. Using a novel microfluidics approach, poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL), is used to fabricate microfibers with varying diameters (3-40 µm) and topographies (straight and wavy). Multipotent adult rat hippocampal stem/progenitor cells (AHPCs) are cultured on 3D aligned PCL microfibrous scaffolds to investigate their ability to differentiate into neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes. The results indicate that the PCL microfibers significantly enhance proliferation of the AHPCs compared to control, 2D planar substrates. While the AHPCs maintained their multipotent differentiation capacity when cultured on the PCL scaffolds, there is a significant and dramatic increase in immunolabeling for astrocyte and oligodendrocyte differentiation when compared with growth on planar surfaces. Our results show a 3.5-fold increase in proliferation and 23.4-fold increase in astrocyte differentiation for cells on microfibers. Transplantation of neural stem/progenitor cells within a PCL microfiber scaffold may provide important biological and topographic cues that facilitate the survival, selective differentiation, and integration of transplanted cells to improve therapeutic strategies.

A pseudopericyclic [3,5]-sigmatropic rearrangement of a coumarin trichloroacetimidate derivative.

Thermolysis of a coumarin trichloroacetimidate yields a single rearrangement product. The proposed mechanism is a pseudopericyclic allowed (Woodward-Hoffman forbidden) [3,5]-sigmatropic rearrangement to form the corresponding amide followed by a sigmatropic [1,5]-hydrogen migration. Transition state calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) level support this mechanism and suggest the selectivity is influenced by the stability of the intermediates.

Leading Equine-Assisted Mental Health Groups: An Exploratory Survey of Practitioner Characteristics, Practices, and Professional Development.

This exploratory survey was an investigation of practitioner and practice characteristics of clinicians (N = 24) involved in the provision of equine-assisted mental health (EAMH) groups. We focused on practitioner education, credentialing, clinical experience, approach, and perceived self-efficacy, as well as specific group characteristics concerning type, duration, and clinical populations served. Results, limitations, and future directions are provided, with an overall aim of contributing to the development and progression of this increasingly used group approach.

Isoform-Selective and Stereoselective Inhibition of Hypoxia Inducible Factor-2.

Hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) transcription factors reside at the center of signaling pathways used by mammalian cells to sense and respond to low oxygen levels. While essential to maintain oxygen homeostasis, misregulation of HIF protein activity correlates with tumor development and metastasis. To provide artificial routes to target misregulated HIF activity, we identified small molecule antagonists of the HIF-2 transcription factor that bind an internal cavity within the C-terminal PAS domain of the HIF-2α subunit. Here we describe a new class of chiral small molecule ligands that provide the highest affinity binding, the most effective, isoform-selective inhibition of HIF-2 in cells, and trigger the largest protein conformation changes reported to date. The current results further illuminate the molecular mechanism of HIF-2 antagonism and suggest additional routes to develop higher affinity and potency HIF-2 antagonists.