Showing papers by "University of North Carolina at Greensboro published in 2011"
TL;DR: Evaluation of rapamycin's effects on mice is likely to help delineate the role of the mammalian target ofRapamycin complexes in the regulation of aging rate and age-dependent diseases and may help to guide a search for drugs that retard some or all of the diseases of aging.
Abstract: Rapamycin was administered in food to genetically heterogeneous mice from the age of 9 months and produced significant increases in life span, including maximum life span, at each of three test sites. Median survival was extended by an average of 10% in males and 18% in females. Rapamycin attenuated age-associated decline in spontaneous activity in males but not in females. Causes of death were similar in control and rapamycin-treated mice. Resveratrol (at 300 and 1200 ppm food) and simvastatin (12 and 120 ppm) did not have significant effects on survival in male or female mice. Further evaluation of rapamycin's effects on mice is likely to help delineate the role of the mammalian target of rapamycin complexes in the regulation of aging rate and age-dependent diseases and may help to guide a search for drugs that retard some or all of the diseases of aging.
805 citations
TL;DR: The authors found that fluid and executive cognition is central to creative thought, and that divergent thinking is more convergent than modern creativity theories presume, which is consistent with the findings in this paper.
493 citations
TL;DR: It is found that most bee species lack phylotypes that are the same or similar to those typical of A. mellifera, rejecting the hypothesis that this dietary transition was symbiont‐dependent and potentially key to the maintenance of a more consistent gut microbiota.
Abstract: Specialized relationships with bacteria often allow animals to exploit a new diet by providing a novel set of metabolic capabilities. Bees are a monophyletic group of Hymenoptera that transitioned to a completely herbivorous diet from the carnivorous diet of their wasp ancestors. Recent culture-independent studies suggest that a set of distinctive bacterial species inhabits the gut of the honey bee, Apis mellifera. Here we survey the gut microbiotae of diverse bee and wasp species to test whether acquisition of these bacteria was associated with the transition to herbivory in bees generally. We found that most bee species lack phylotypes that are the same or similar to those typical of A. mellifera, rejecting the hypothesis that this dietary transition was symbiont-dependent. The most common bacteria in solitary bee species are a widespread phylotype of Burkholderia and the pervasive insect associate, Wolbachia. In contrast, several social representatives of corbiculate bees do possess distinctive bacterial phylotypes. Samples of A. mellifera harboured the same microbiota as in previous surveys, and closely related bacterial phylotypes were identified in two Asian honey bees (Apis andreniformis and Apis dorsata) and several bumble bee (Bombus) species. Potentially, the sociality of Apis and Bombus species facilitates symbiont transmission and thus is key to the maintenance of a more consistent gut microbiota. Phylogenetic analyses provide a more refined taxonomic placement of the A. mellifera symbionts.
463 citations
TL;DR: In contrast to the much-feted "borderless world" of the early 1990s, the trend during the past decade has been to consider the exercise of state sovereignty at great distances from the border line itself as "bordering".
462 citations
TL;DR: It is argued that humans directly control plants but relatively few animals and microbes—the remaining biological community is determined by this plant “template” upon which natural ecological and evolutionary processes act, and conserving or reconstructing natural habitats defined by vegetation within urban areas is no guarantee that other components of the biological community will follow suit.
Abstract: The patterns of biodiversity changes in cities are now fairly well established, although diversity changes in temperate cities are much better studied than cities in other climate zones. Generally, plant species richness often increases in cities due to importation of exotic species, whereas animal species richness declines. Abundances of some groups, especially birds and arthropods, often increase in urban areas despite declines in species richness. Although several models have been proposed for biodiversity change, the processes underlying the patterns of biodiversity in cities are poorly understood. We argue that humans directly control plants but relatively few animals and microbes—the remaining biological community is determined by this plant “template” upon which natural ecological and evolutionary processes act. As a result, conserving or reconstructing natural habitats defined by vegetation within urban areas is no guarantee that other components of the biological community will follow suit. Understanding the human-controlled and natural processes that alter biodiversity is essential for conserving urban biodiversity. This urban biodiversity will comprise a growing fraction of the world's repository of biodiversity in the future.
384 citations
Vanderbilt University1, Shizuoka University2, Arizona State University3, University of Oxford4, University of Gothenburg5, Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University6, Imperial College London7, McMaster University8, Institute of Science and Technology Austria9, University of Groningen10, Aarhus University11, University of Maryland, College Park12, University of Colorado Boulder13, University of California, Irvine14, University of Exeter15, University of Lausanne16, University of New Mexico17, University of Cambridge18, Australian National University19, University of Houston20, University of Edinburgh21, University of California, Santa Barbara22, Princeton University23, University of Chicago24, Montana State University25, Simon Fraser University26, Villanova University27, Queen's University28, Cornell University29, University of Louisville30, United States Department of Agriculture31, École Normale Supérieure32, University of Sussex33, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich34, University of Kentucky35, Flinders University36, Michigan State University37, Georgia Institute of Technology38, University of California, Davis39, Pennsylvania State University40, University of Toronto41, University of Sheffield42, University of Regensburg43, University of Helsinki44, University of Vermont45, VU University Amsterdam46, University of Osnabrück47, Harvard University48, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology49, University of Copenhagen50, Royal Holloway, University of London51, University of California, Santa Cruz52, University of Arizona53, University of Oklahoma54, University of Texas at Austin55, University of Strasbourg56, University of Bristol57, University of Liverpool58, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill59, Rice University60, University of Zurich61, University College London62, Newcastle University63, James Cook University64, University of Montpellier65, University of North Carolina at Greensboro66, University of California, Riverside67, ETH Zurich68, University of St Andrews69, William Paterson University70, University of Michigan71, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign72, University of Bern73, University of Western Ontario74, University of California, Berkeley75, University of the Ryukyus76, University of Florence77, University of Tennessee78, North Carolina State University79, Humboldt University of Berlin80, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven81, Smithsonian Institution82, University of Nevada, Reno83, San Francisco State University84
TL;DR: It is argued that inclusive fitness theory has been of little value in explained the natural world, and that it has led to negligible progress in explaining the evolution of eusociality, but these arguments are based upon a misunderstanding of evolutionary theory and a misrepresentation of the empirical literature.
Abstract: Arising from M. A. Nowak, C. E. Tarnita & E. O. Wilson 466, 1057-1062 (2010); Nowak et al. reply. Nowak et al. argue that inclusive fitness theory has been of little value in explaining the natural world, and that it has led to negligible progress in explaining the evolution of eusociality. However, we believe that their arguments are based upon a misunderstanding of evolutionary theory and a misrepresentation of the empirical literature. We will focus our comments on three general issues.
383 citations
TL;DR: A developmental psychopathology framework is used to describe a risk model that traces the potential developmental markers of this internalizing pathways and to consider the relation between the internalizing pathway and the more widely researched externalizing pathway.
Abstract: Research emanating from the field of developmental science indicates that initial risk factors for substance use disorder can be evident in early childhood. One dominant developmental pathway connecting these initial risk factors with subsequent substance use disorders focuses on the central role of disinhibited or externalizing behaviors. In the current paper, we delineate a second pathway that focuses on problems with emotion regulation associated with internalizing symptomatology. Several studies indicate that internalizing symptoms in early and middle childhood predict substance involvement in adolescents and young adulthood. We describe a risk model that traces the potential developmental markers of this internalizing pathway to substance use disorders and that identifies a population potentially vulnerable to this risk process, namely children of alcoholic parents. We consider the relation between the internalizing pathway and the more widely researched externalizing pathway. We then conclude with a discussion of the implications of this model for prevention efforts. In this manner, we strive for a translational goal, linking our existing understanding of internalizing processes and substance use disorders with our efforts to develop effective prevention programs.
325 citations
TL;DR: This work shows that metabolomic profiling approach is a promising screening tool for the diagnosis and stratification of HCC patients with alpha fetoprotein values lower than 20 ng/ml with an accuracy of 100% using a panel of metabolite markers.
309 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined direct and indirect effects of retail environmental characteristics on impulse buying behavior and found that three characteristics (i.e. ambient, design, and social) of the retail environment influenced consumers' positive emotional responses which, in turn, affected impulse buying behaviour.
Abstract: The study examined direct and indirect effects of retail environmental characteristics on impulse buying behavior. Guided by the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model and impulse buying literature, the study investigated whether and how three characteristics (i.e. ambient, design, and social) of the retail environment influenced consumers' positive emotional responses which, in turn, affected impulse buying behavior. Whether and how individual factors (i.e. hedonic motivation) moderated the relationship between these characteristics and consumers' positive emotional responses were also examined. Survey data were collected using a store intercept method from 212 consumers of a retail store offering outdoor merchandise. The study found direct effects of (a) ambient/design characteristics of the retail environment on consumers' positive emotional responses to the retail environment and (b) consumers' positive emotional responses to the retail environment on impulse buying behavior. Hedonic motivation mode...
306 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a preliminary investigation using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine neural responses to positive, negative, and neutral pictures in unmedicated major depressive disorder patients (N = 22) versus controls (n = 14).
271 citations
TL;DR: Only a small percentage of young people meet criteria for a DSM disorder at any given time, but most do by young adulthood, and cumulative prevalence estimates were derived from multiple imputed datasets.
Abstract: Objective No longitudinal studies beginning in childhood have estimated the cumulative prevalence of psychiatric illness from childhood into young adulthood. The objective of this study was to estimate the cumulative prevalence of psychiatric disorders by young adulthood and to assess how inclusion of not otherwise specified diagnoses affects cumulative prevalence estimates. Method The prospective, population-based Great Smoky Mountains Study assessed 1,420 participants up to nine times from 9 through 21 years of age from 11 counties in the southeastern United States. Common psychiatric disorders were assessed in childhood and adolescence (ages 9 to 16 years) with the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment and in young adulthood (ages 19 and 21 years) with the Young Adult Psychiatric Assessment. Cumulative prevalence estimates were derived from multiple imputed datasets. Results By 21 years of age, 61.1% of participants had met criteria for a well-specified psychiatric disorder. An additional 21.4% had met criteria for a not otherwise specified disorder only, increasing the total cumulative prevalence for any disorder to 82.5%. Male subjects had higher rates of substance and disruptive behavior disorders compared with female subjects; therefore, they were more likely to meet criteria for a well-specified disorder (67.8% vs 56.7%) or any disorder (89.1% vs 77.8%). Children with a not otherwise specified disorder only were at increased risk for a well-specified young adult disorder compared with children with no disorder in childhood. Conclusions Only a small percentage of young people meet criteria for a DSM disorder at any given time, but most do by young adulthood. As with other medical illness, psychiatric illness is a nearly universal experience.
TL;DR: This study shows extensive gut microbiota modulation of host systemic metabolism involving short-chain fatty acids, tryptophan, tyrosine metabolism, and possibly a compensatory mechanism of indole-melatonin production.
Abstract: Gut microbiota are associated with essential various biological functions in humans through a "network" of microbial-host co-metabolism to process nutrients and drugs and modulate the activities of multiple pathways in organ systems that are linked to different diseases. The microbiome impacts strongly on the metabolic phenotypes of the host, and hence, metabolic readouts can give insights into functional metagenomic activity. We applied an untargeted mass spectrometry (MS) based metabonomics approach to profile normal Wistar rats exposed to a broad spectrum β-lactam antibiotic imipenem/cilastatin sodium, at 50 mg/kg/daily for 4 days followed by a 14-day recovery period. In-depth metabolic phenotyping allowed identification of a panel of 202 urinary and 223 fecal metabolites significantly related to end points of a functional metagenome (p < 0.05 in at least one day), many of which have not been previously reported such as oligopeptides and carbohydrates. This study shows extensive gut microbiota modulation of host systemic metabolism involving short-chain fatty acids, tryptophan, tyrosine metabolism, and possibly a compensatory mechanism of indole-melatonin production. Given the integral nature of the mammalian genome and metagenome, this panel of metabolites will provide a new platform for potential therapeutic markers and mechanistic solutions to complex problems commonly encountered in pathology, toxicology, or drug metabolism studies.
TL;DR: Though in bivariate models, gender and SES were associated with PTSD, multivariate analyses suggested this risk was a function of trauma severity, and students enter college with significant trauma histories and PTSD symptoms.
Abstract: The negotiation of the freedoms and responsibilities introduced as adolescents begin college may be particularly challenging for those with a trauma history and traumatic stress sequelae (posttraumatic stress disorder; PTSD). The present study examined the prevalence of and risk for trauma and PTSD in a large sample of college students. Matriculating students (N 3,014; 1,763 female, 1,251 male) at two U.S. universities completed online and paper assessments. Sixty-six percent reported exposure to a Criterion A trauma. Nine percent met criteria for PTSD. Female gender was a risk factor for trauma exposure. Gender and socioeconomic status (SES) were associated with trauma severity. Although in bivariate models, gender and SES were associated with PTSD, multivariate analyses suggested this risk was a function of trauma severity. Thus, students enter college with significant trauma histories and PTSD symptoms. Findings highlight the potential for outreach to incoming students with trauma and point to research directions to enhance understanding of the psychological needs of entering college students.
TL;DR: Romidepsin (Istodax), a selective inhibitor of histone deacetylases (HDACs), was approved for the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma in November 2009 by the US Food and Drug Administration and analogs are sought to create synthetically accessible alternatives.
Abstract: Romidepsin (Istodax), a selective inhibitor of histone deacetylases (HDACs), was approved for the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma in November 2009 by the US Food and Drug Administration. This unique natural product was discovered from cultures of Chromobacterium violaceum, a Gram-negative bacterium isolated from a Japanese soil sample. This bicyclic compound acts as a prodrug, its disulfide bridge being reduced by glutathione on uptake into the cell, allowing the free thiol groups to interact with Zn ions in the active site of class I and II HDAC enzymes. Due to the synthetic complexity of the compound, as well as the low yield from the producing organism, analogs are sought to create synthetically accessible alternatives. As a T-cell lymphoma drug, romidepsin offers a valuable new treatment for diseases with few effective therapies.
TL;DR: Findings lent support to the notion that deficits in the self-regulation of emotion are evident in a substantial number of children with AD/HD and that these deficits play an important role in determining functional impairment and comorbidity outcomes.
Abstract: Children with AD/HD are at increased risk for experiencing serious, lifelong impairments in multiple domains of daily functioning (Barkley, 2006). Such impairments are intensified in the presence of comorbid conditions, which occur in up to 60% of clinic-referred children with AD/HD (August, Realmuto, MacDonald, & Nugent, 1996). Oppositional-defiant disorder (ODD) is a particularly common comorbid condition, which, left unchecked, can lead to more serious behavioral complications, most notably conduct disorder (CD; Angold, Costello, & Erkanli, 1999; Cunningham & Boyle, 2002; Jensen, Martin, & Cantwell, 1997).
In addition to being predisposed to co-occurring externalizing difficulties, children with AD/HD are at increased risk for displaying comorbid internalizing problems. For example, in both epidemiological and clinical studies, children with AD/HD have been shown to be at 20% to 30% increased risk for developing depression (Biederman, Mick, & Faraone, 1998). Similar findings have been reported for anxiety disorders, with up to 25% of the child AD/HD population displaying one or more anxiety conditions (Tannock, 2000). Meta-analytic studies lend further support to these findings, suggesting that the odds of having AD/HD and comorbid depression range from 3.5 to 8.4, with an overall median odds ratio of 5.5 (Angold et al., 1999). Elevated but slightly lower odds ratios have also been reported for AD/HD and anxiety disorders, ranging from 2.1 to 4.3, with a median of 3.0 (Angold et al., 1999).
Although the association between AD/HD and internalizing disorders is well established, the processes or mechanisms by which this association occurs have yet to be identified. One commonly held assumption is that having AD/HD places a child at risk for repeated experiences of failure and frustration across the home, school, and social domains, thereby setting the stage for internalizing disorders to occur (Patterson & Capaldi, 1990). Unfortunately, research addressing this possible developmental pathway from primary AD/HD symptoms—inattention, impulsivity, hyperactivity—to secondary internalizing psychopathology has been lacking. Thus, questions remain as to how comorbid depression, anxiety, and other internalizing disorders arise.
Another possible explanation for this clinical phenomenon stems from a consideration of what actually constitutes the core features of AD/HD. Inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity have long been recognized as primary symptoms of this disorder. Along with these cognitive and behavioral manifestations, it is possible that difficulties regulating emotions are another central feature of AD/HD and that being emotionally labile confers increased risk for experiencing functional impairment and comorbid internalizing problems. Clinical accounts of children with AD/HD are certainly compatible with this possibility. In particular, parents, teachers, and clinicians commonly describe such children as having higher emotional highs and lower emotional lows. Moreover, such children seem more prone to react emotionally to everyday situations and to have greater difficulty regulating their emotions as they are occurring.
In support of these clinical descriptions are recent theoretical accounts that ascribe a more central role to the self-regulation of emotion in the presentation of AD/HD (Barkley, 2006; Nigg, 2001). In Barkley’s (2006) model, for example, self-regulation of affect is defined as the process by which an individual’s capacity for inhibition allows them to delay responding to events that elicit emotional responses, especially those of a negative nature (e.g., anger). The greater the capacity for delay, the more likely it is that an individual can gather information necessary for understanding an emotionally charged event. This in turn affords an individual greater opportunity for modifying or moderating an emotional response earlier to its public display.
Although limited in number, studies have found evidence of an association between AD/HD and deficits in the self-regulation of affect or emotion. One of the earliest articles addressing this matter was reported by Douglas (1988), who observed that children with AD/HD became overly aroused and excited in response to rewards and more frustrated when rewards were withdrawn and less available. Subsequent research has also shown that children with AD/HD display higher rates of negative affect (e.g., anger, sadness), greater emotional reactivity, and lower levels of empathy relative to normal controls (Braaten & Rosen, 2000; Cole, Zahn-Waxler, & Smith, 1994; Hinshaw & Melnick, 1995; Jensen & Rosen, 2004; Maedgen & Carlson, 2000; Martel, 2009; Melnick & Hinshaw, 2000; Walcott & Landau, 2004). Together, such findings lend support to the notion that deficits in the self-regulation of emotion exist among children with AD/HD (Skirrow, McLoughlin, Kuntsi, & Asherson, 2009).
Remaining less clear, however, is the clinical significance of these emotional findings and how specific they are to AD/HD. For example, it has not yet been established whether deficits in the self-regulation of emotion are evident in all children with AD/HD or perhaps only in a subgroup of children with this disorder. Also unclear is whether deficits in the self-regulation of emotion increase the risk for functional impairment or for comorbid conditions, especially those of an emotional nature. Finally, in light of findings suggesting that a small percentage of children with AD/HD may display comorbid bipolar disorder (BD; Biederman et al., 1996), it is also necessary to consider the possibility that comorbid BD, rather than AD/HD, accounts for these emotion regulation difficulties.
The current study examined these issues in the context of a larger-scale investigation of AD/HD among 5- to 12-year-old probands and their siblings. Consistent with the fact that children with AD/HD display different combinations and intensities of inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity (e.g., AD/HD subtypes), our expectation was that a substantial number of probands and siblings with AD/HD, but not all, would display evidence of a deficit in the self-regulation of emotion and that these deficits would exist independent of the presence of BD. It was also predicted that, for those children affected by AD/HD, deficits in the self-regulation of emotion would moderate outcomes and be associated with greater functional impairment, as well as with increased levels of comorbid features. Given the heterogeneity of the population, AD/HD subtyping was also expected to play a role, with higher levels of impairment and comorbid features anticipated among those with the combined (C) subtype versus those with either the predominantly inattentive (I) or predominantly hyperactive-impulsive (HI) subtypes. As further evidence of this increased risk for impairment and comorbidity, we expected increased rates of treatment service utilization among those with an impaired capacity for regulating emotions.
TL;DR: Collins et al. as mentioned in this paper study the identity processes of women of color in science-based fields and find ways to support similar women, and study the dynamics of inequity, within and beyond science.
Abstract: The study of the identity processes of women of color in science-based fields helps us (a) find ways to support similar women, and (b) study the dynamics of inequity, within and beyond science. Participants in this study (a Black woman, a Latina, and an American Indian woman) survived inadequate high schools and discouraging college science departments to win formal recognition (fellowships, publications). Using multiracial feminist theory, including intersectionality, and practice theory, we conceptualize authoring of identity as an ongoing process. Qualitative methods were designed around Black feminist precepts of caring and personal accountability, the use of concrete experience and of dialogue (Collins, 2000a). Participants' opportunities to author legitimate science identities were constrained by their location in the matrix of oppression. They reported conflicts between their identities as women of color and as credible science students, and having racist, sexist identities ascribed to them. All became more adept at fending off negative ascription and all found settings with less identity conflict; their ability to read a situation and quickly adjust, la facultad (Anzaldua, 1999) helped them survive. But the fact that they have needed to do this is unjust.
TL;DR: Consumption of polyphenol-rich grape products may reduce obesity-mediated chronic inflammation by multiple mechanisms, thereby preventing metabolic diseases.
Abstract: Obesity and metabolic disease–related health problems (e.g., type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, and hypertension) are the most prevalent nutrition-related issues in the United States. An emerging feature of obesity and type 2 diabetes is their linkage with chronic inflammation that begins in white adipose tissue and eventually becomes systemic. One potential strategy to reduce inflammation and insulin resistance is consumption of polyphenol-rich foods like grapes or their by-products, which have anti-inflammatory properties. Polyphenols commonly found in grape products have been reported to reduce inflammation by (a) acting as an antioxidant or increasing antioxidant gene or protein expression, (b) attenuating endoplasmic reticulum stress signaling, (c) blocking proinflammatory cytokines or endotoxin-mediated kinases and transcription factors involved in metabolic disease, (d ) suppressing inflammatory- or inducing metabolic-gene expression via increasing histone deacetylase activity, or (e) activating transcription factors that antagonize chronic inflammation. Thus, polyphenol-rich grape products may reduce obesity-mediated chronic inflammation by multiple mechanisms, thereby preventing metabolic diseases.
TL;DR: The utility of salivary metabolome diagnostics for oral cancer is successfully demonstrated and results suggest that metabolomics approach complements the clinical detection of OSCC and stratifies the two types of lesions, leading to an improved disease diagnosis and prognosis.
Abstract: Oral cancer, one of the six most common human cancers with an overall 5-year survival rate of <50%, is often not diagnosed until it has reached an advanced stage. The aim of the current study is to explore salivary metabolomics as a disease diagnostic and stratification tool for oral cancer and leukoplakia and evaluate the potential of salivary metabolome for detection of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Saliva metabolite profiling for a group of 37 OSCC patients, 32 oral leukoplakia (OLK) patients and 34 healthy subjects was performed using ultraperformance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole/time-of-flight mass spectrometry in conjunction with multivariate statistical analysis. The OSCC, OLK and healthy control groups demonstrate characteristic salivary metabolic signatures. A panel of five salivary metabolites including γ-aminobutyric acid, phenylalanine, valine, n-eicosanoic acid and lactic acid were selected using OPLS-DA model with S-plot. The predictive power of each of the five salivary metabolites was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic curves for OSCC. Valine, lactic acid and phenylalanine in combination yielded satisfactory accuracy (0.89, 0.97), sensitivity (86.5% and 94.6%), specificity (82.4% and 84.4%) and positive predictive value (81.6% and 87.5%) in distinguishing OSCC from the controls or OLK, respectively. The utility of salivary metabolome diagnostics for oral cancer is successfully demonstrated in this study and these results suggest that metabolomics approach complements the clinical detection of OSCC and stratifies the two types of lesions, leading to an improved disease diagnosis and prognosis.
TL;DR: The authors examined what it meant to "be scientific" in two fourth-grade classes taught by teachers similarly committed to reform-based science practices in the service of equity, finding that students developed similar levels of scientific understanding and expressed positive attitudes about learning science.
Abstract: When evaluating equity, researchers often look at the “achievement gap.” Privileging knowledge and skills as primary outcomes of science education misses other, more subtle, but critical, outcomes indexing inequitable science education. In this comparative ethnography, we examined what it meant to “be scientific” in two fourth-grade classes taught by teachers similarly committed to reform-based science (RBS) practices in the service of equity. In both classrooms, students developed similar levels of scientific understanding and expressed positive attitudes about learning science. However, in one classroom, a group of African American and Latina girls expressed outright disaffiliation with promoted meanings of “smart science person” (“They are the science people. We aren't like them”), despite the fact that most of them knew the science equally well or, in one case, better than, their classmates. To make sense of these findings, we examine the normative practice of “sharing scientific ideas” in each classroom, a comparison that provided a robust account of the differently accessible meanings of scientific knowledge, scientific investigation, and scientific person in each setting. The findings illustrate that research with equity aims demands attention to culture (everyday classroom practices that promote particular meanings of “science”) and normative identities (culturally produced meanings of “science person” and the accessibility of those meanings). The study: (1) encourages researchers to question taken-for-granted assumptions and complexities of RBS and (2) demonstrates to practitioners that enacting what might look like RBS and producing students who know and can do science are but pieces of what it takes to achieve equitable science education.
TL;DR: This study aims to test the main and interactive effects of activities derived from the Need‐Driven Dementia‐Compromised Behavior model for responding to behavioral symptoms in nursing home residents.
Abstract: OBJECTIVES: To test the main and interactive effects of activities derived from the Need-Driven Dementia-Compromised Behavior model for responding to behavioral symptoms in nursing home residents.
DESIGN: Randomized double-blind clinical trial.
SETTING: Nine community-based nursing homes.
PARTICIPANTS: One hundred twenty-eight cognitively impaired residents randomly assigned to activities adjusted to functional level (FL) (n=32), personality style of interest (PSI) (n=33), functional level and personality style of interest (FL+PSI) (n=31), or active control (AC) (n=32).
INTERVENTION: Three weeks of activities provided twice daily.
MEASUREMENTS: Agitation, passivity, engagement, affect, and mood assessed from video recordings and real-time observations during baseline, intervention, random times outside of intervention, and 1 week after intervention.
RESULTS: All treatments improved outcomes during intervention except mood, which worsened under AC. During intervention the PSI group demonstrated greater engagement, alertness, and attention than the other groups; the FL+PSI group demonstrated greater pleasure. During random times, engagement returned to baseline levels except in the FL group in which it decreased. There was also less agitation and passivity in groups with a component adjusted to PSI. One week after the intervention, mood, anxiety, and passivity improved over baseline; significantly less pleasure was displayed after withdrawal of treatment.
CONCLUSION: The hypothesis that activities adjusted to FL+PSI would improve behavioral outcomes to a greater extent than partially adjusted or nonadjusted activities was partially supported. PSI is a critical component of individualized activity prescription.
TL;DR: Results indicated that acute exercise positively influenced recall and that exercise timing relative to memory task may have an impact on this effect.
Abstract: In this study, we tested the effect of acute exercise on long-term memory, specifically the timing of exercise relative to the memory challenge. We assessed memory via paragraph recall, in which participants listened to two paragraphs (exposure) and recounted them following a 35-min delay. Participants (n = 48) were randomly assigned to one of three groups: exercise prior to exposure, exercise after exposure, or no-exercise. Exercise consisted of 30 min on a cycle ergometer, including 20 min at moderate intensity. Only the exercise-prior group recalled significantly more than the control group (p < .05). Differences among the exercise groups failed to reach significance (p = .09). Results indicated that acute exercise positively influenced recall and that exercise timing relative to memory task may have an impact on this effect.
TL;DR: Fingolimod is orally active, which is unique among current first-line MS therapies, and it has the potential to be used in the treatment of organ transplants and cancer.
Abstract: Fingolimod (Gilenya; FTY720), a synthetic compound based on the fungal secondary metabolite myriocin (ISP-I), is a potent immunosuppressant that was approved (September 2010) by the U.S. FDA as a new treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS). Fingolimod was synthesized by the research group of Tetsuro Fujita at Kyoto University in 1992 while investigating structure−activity relationships of derivatives of the fungal metabolite ISP-I, isolated from Isaria sinclairii. Fingolimod becomes active in vivo following phosphorylation by sphingosine kinase 2 to form fingolimod-phosphate, which binds to extracellular G protein-coupled receptors, sphingosine 1-phosphates, and prevents the release of lymphocytes from lymphoid tissue. Fingolimod is orally active, which is unique among current first-line MS therapies, and it has the potential to be used in the treatment of organ transplants and cancer. This review highlights the discovery and development of fingolimod, from an isolated lead natural product, through syntheti...
TL;DR: Current research generally supports the potential for acute and chronic PA to mitigate ADHD symptoms, and future research exploring the potential of PA with this population is advocated.
TL;DR: It is concluded that consumption of a HF diet leads to central insulin resistance following short exposure to the diet, and as demonstrated by reductions in insulin signaling and insulin-induced hypothalamic expression of POMC mRNA.
TL;DR: In this article, a sample of 506 professional counselors who were members of the American Counseling Association completed measures of professional quality of life, career-sustaining behaviors (CSBs), and wellness.
Abstract: A sample of 506 professional counselors who were members of the American Counseling Association completed measures of professional quality of life, career-sustaining behaviors (CSBs), and wellness. Significant differences were found both within the sample based on caseload characteristics and between the participants and available norm groups. Counselors with high wellness scores engaged in more CSBs and reported higher positive professional quality of life factors (compassion satisfaction). Implications for counselors, counselor training, and research are discussed.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the effects of Supercenters on body mass index (BMI) and obesity and found that an additional Supercenter per 100,000 residents increases average BMI by 0.24 units and the obesity rate by 2.3% points.
TL;DR: How momentary assessment may fundamentally contribute to identifying environmental risk factors and symptom patterns, as well as provide new opportunities for treatment, is discussed.
Abstract: The current article discusses how momentary assessment may fundamentally contribute to identifying environmental risk factors and symptom patterns, as well as provide new opportunities for treatment. A new prototype device, the "PsyMate," was specifically developed to implement momentary assessment in clinical practice. It was shown that self-monitoring of both positive and negative psychotic symptoms (a) is feasible, (b) provides a much more detailed and fine-grained picture of symptoms, and (c) reveals patterns of behavior that may be relevant for treatment. Furthermore, the PsyMate could be instrumental for real-time and real-world delivery of psychological interventions. With PsyMate, patients can become active partners in the therapeutic process, resulting in greater patient ownership and empowerment as well as understanding of their symptoms and the environment.
TL;DR: Light is shed on a longstanding criminological debate by suggesting that any structural differences between delinquent and non-delinquent groups may be attributable to other attributes coincidental with delinquency, and drinking groups appear to provide peer contexts of greater social capital and cohesion.
Abstract: Gangs and group-level processes were once central phenomena for criminological theory and research. By the mid-1970s, however, gang research primarily was displaced by studies of individual behavior using randomized self-report surveys, a shift that also removed groups from the theoretical foreground. In this project, we return to the group level to test competing theoretical claims about delinquent group structure. We use network-based clustering methods to identify 897 friendship groups in two ninth-grade cohorts of 27 Pennsylvania and Iowa schools. We then relate group-level measures of delinquency and drinking to network measures of group size, friendship reciprocity, transitivity, structural cohesion, stability, average popularity, and network centrality. We find significant negative correlations between group delinquency and all of our network measures, suggesting that delinquent groups are less solidary and less central to school networks than nondelinquent groups. Additional analyses, on the one hand, reveal that these correlations are explained primarily by other group characteristics, such as gender composition and socioeconomic status. Drinking behaviors, on the other hand, show net positive associations with most of the network measures, suggesting that drinking groups have a higher status and are more internally cohesive than nondrinking groups. Our findings shed light on a long-standing criminological debate by suggesting that any structural differences between delinquent and nondelinquent groups are likely attributable to other characteristics coincidental with delinquency. In contrast, drinking groups seem to provide peer contexts of greater social capital and cohesion.
TL;DR: It is shown that auditory memories can last at least six weeks, and 3-weeks of prenatal exposure to a specific melodic contour affects infants ‘auditory processing’ or perception, i.e., impacts the autonomic nervous system at leastSix weeks later, when infants are 1-month old.
Abstract: Background: Human hearing develops progressively during the last trimester of gestation. Near-term fetuses can discriminate acoustic features, such as frequencies and spectra, and process complex auditory streams. Fetal and neonatal studies show that they can remember frequently recurring sounds. However, existing data can only show retention intervals up to several days after birth. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here we show that auditory memories can last at least six weeks. Experimental fetuses were given precisely controlled exposure to a descending piano melody twice daily during the 35 th ,3 6 th , and 37 th weeks of gestation. Six weeks later we assessed the cardiac responses of 25 exposed infants and 25 naive control infants, while in quiet sleep, to the descending melody and to an ascending control piano melody. The melodies had precisely inverse contours, but similar spectra, identical duration, tempo and rhythm, thus, almost identical amplitude envelopes. All infants displayed a significant heart rate change. In exposed infants, the descending melody evoked a cardiac deceleration that was twice larger than the decelerations elicited by the ascending melody and by both melodies in control infants. Conclusions/Significance: Thus, 3-weeks of prenatal exposure to a specific melodic contour affects infants ‘auditory processing’ or perception, i.e., impacts the autonomic nervous system at least six weeks later, when infants are 1-month old. Our results extend the retention interval over which a prenatally acquired memory of a specific sound stream can be observed from 3–4 days to six weeks. The long-term memory for the descending melody is interpreted in terms of enduring neurophysiological tuning and its significance for the developmental psychobiology of attention and perception, including early speech perception, is discussed.
TL;DR: In this article, a synergy-directed fractionation approach was proposed to identify synergists from goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) extracts to enhance the antimicrobial activity of the alkaloid berberine against Staphylococcus aureus by inhibition of the multidrug resistance pump.
Abstract: It is often argued that the efficacy of herbal medicines is a result of the combined action of multiple constituents that work synergistically or additively. Determining the bioactive constituents in these mixtures poses a significant challenge. We have developed an approach to address this challenge, synergy-directed fractionation, which combines comprehensive mass spectrometry profiling with synergy assays and natural products isolation. The applicability of synergy-directed fractionation was demonstrated using the botanical medicine goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) as a case study. Three synergists from goldenseal were identified, sideroxylin, 8-desmethyl-sideroxylin, and 6-desmethyl-sideroxylin. These flavonoids synergistically enhance the antimicrobial activity of the alkaloid berberine (also a constituent of H. canadensis) against Staphylococcus aureus by inhibition of the NorA multidrug resistance pump. The flavonoids possess no inherent antimicrobial activity against S. aureus; therefore, they could have been missed using traditional bioactivity-directed fractionation. The flavonoid synergists are present at higher concentration in extracts from H. canadensis leaves, while the antimicrobial alkaloid berberine is present at higher levels in H. canadensis roots. Thus, it may be possible to produce an extract with optimal activity against S. aureus using a combination of goldenseal roots and leaves.