San Diego State University

About: San Diego State University is a education organization based out in San Diego, California, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 12418 authors who have published 27950 publications receiving 1192375 citations. The organization is also known as: SDSU & San Diego State College.

Reducing risk factors for eating disorders: comparison of an Internet- and a classroom-delivered psychoeducational program.

Abstract: This controlled trial compared Internet- (Student Bodies [SB]) and classroom-delivered (Body Traps [BT]) psychoeducational interventions for the reduction of body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviors/attitudes with a control condition. Participants were 76 women at a private university who were randomly assigned to SB, BT, or a wait-list control (WLC) condition. Measures of body image and eating attitudes and behaviors were measured at baseline, posttreatment, and 4-month follow-up. At posttreatment, participants in SB had significant reductions in weight/shape concerns and disordered eating attitudes compared with those in the WLC condition. At follow-up, disordered behaviors were also reduced. No significant effects were found between the BT and WLC conditions. An Internet-delivered intervention had a significant impact on reducing risk factors for eating disorders.

Transient nature of CO 2 fertilization in Arctic tundra

Abstract: THERE has been much debate about the effect of increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations on plant net primary production1,3 and on net ecosystem CO2 flux3–10. Apparently conflicting experimental findings could be the result of differences in genetic potential11–15 and resource availability16–20, different experimental conditions21–24 and the fact that many studies have focused on individual components of the system2,21,25–27 rather than the whole ecosystem. Here we present results of an in situ experiment on the response of an intact native ecosystem to elevated CO2. An undisturbed patch of tussock tundra at Toolik Lake, Alaska, was enclosed in greenhouses in which the CO2 level, moisture and temperature could be controlled28, and was subjected to ambient (340 p.p.m.) and elevated (680 p.p.m.) levels of CO2 and temperature (+4 °C). Air humidity, precipitation and soil water table were maintained at ambient control levels. For a doubled CO2 level alone, complete homeostasis of the CO2 flux was re-established within three years, whereas the regions exposed to a combination of higher temperatures and doubled CO2 showed persistent fertilization effect on net ecosystem carbon sequestration over this time. This difference may be due to enhanced sink activity from the direct effects of higher temperatures on growth16,29–33 and to indirect effects from enhanced nutrient supply caused by increased mineralization10,11,19,27,34. These results indicate that the responses of native ecosystems to elevated CO2 may not always be positive, and are unlikely to be straightforward. Clearly, CO2 fertilization effects must always be considered in the context of genetic limitation, resource availability and other such factors.

Integrated analyses resolve conflicts over squamate reptile phylogeny and reveal unexpected placements for fossil taxa.

Abstract: Squamate reptiles (lizards and snakes) are a pivotal group whose relationships have become increasingly controversial. Squamates include >9000 species, making them the second largest group of terrestrial vertebrates. They are important medicinally and as model systems for ecological and evolutionary research. However, studies of squamate biology are hindered by uncertainty over their relationships, and some consider squamate phylogeny unresolved, given recent conflicts between molecular and morphological results. To resolve these conflicts, we expand existing morphological and molecular datasets for squamates (691 morphological characters and 46 genes, for 161 living and 49 fossil taxa, including a new set of 81 morphological characters and adding two genes from published studies) and perform integrated analyses. Our results resolve higher-level relationships as indicated by molecular analyses, and reveal hidden morphological support for the molecular hypothesis (but not vice-versa). Furthermore, we find that integrating molecular, morphological, and paleontological data leads to surprising placements for two major fossil clades (Mosasauria and Polyglyphanodontia). These results further demonstrate the importance of combining fossil and molecular information, and the potential problems of estimating the placement of fossil taxa from morphological data alone. Thus, our results caution against estimating fossil relationships without considering relevant molecular data, and against placing fossils into molecular trees (e.g. for dating analyses) without considering the possible impact of molecular data on their placement.