CHARACTERISTICS OF MANGROVE DIAMONDBACK TERRAPINS (MALACLEMYS TERRAPIN RHIZOPHORARUM) INHABITING ALTERED AND NATURAL MANGROVE ISLANDS

The Mangrove Diamondback Terrapin, (Malaclemys terrapin rhizophorarum) is dependent on a very broad array of the services provided by the mangrove ecosystem. We sought to evaluate both the turtles and their habitat by an integrated assessment of physical, chemical, and physiological parameters. Extreme site fidelity of the turtles to mangrove habitat was evident along with a strong female biased sex ratio. We provide blood serum values and microbial cultures as baselines from these turtles in the wild. Salmonella sp., a potentially zoonotic pathogen, was isolated from one female. Ultimately, the health of these turtle populations may be reflective of the integrity of the mangrove system on which they depend

Validation of the BodyMedia SenseWear Pro Armband to Estimate Energy Expenditure in Severely Overweight Children During Various Modes of Activity

Developing valid and reliable portable devices to assess energy expenditure (EE) has been and still remains a challenge to researchers. The SenseWear Pro Armband„¥ (SWA) is a device that utilizes a combination of measurement techniques in an attempt to increase the accuracy of predicting EE. Current research has produced conflicting results when validating this device in children and no research has focused on the validity of this device in severely overweight children. PURPOSE: The primary aim of this investigation was to examine the validity of the SWA to assess EE during various modes of activity in severely overweight children. METHODS: Twenty severely overweight children (10 boys, 10 girls) between 9-12 years of age participated in validation trials for three modes of exercise that included treadmill walking, a walk video, and Dance, Dance Revolution (DDR). During each exercise protocol, EE was measured simultaneously by indirect calorimetry (IC) and the SWA. RESULTS: There were significant differences between IC (70.84+29.65) and the armband (96.18+36.33) for assessing EE for the walk video (p=0.002). There were trends towards significance between EE from IC (78.26+29.65) and the SWA (88.99+31.18) for treadmill walking (p=0.097) and between IC (62.30+15.53) and the armband (75.60+31.67) for DDR (p=0.054). For all exercise modes, EE estimated from the armband was greater than EE measured by IC. There was a significant correlation between these two devices when assessing EE during treadmill walking (r=0.591, p=0.006), the walk video (r=0.849, p<0.001), and DDR (r=0.654, p=0.008). Results also demonstrated that there was no significant effect of gender on the validity of the armband to estimate EE compared to IC. CONCLUSION: The SWA overestimated EE for all modes of activity. The accuracy of the armband does not appear to vary by gender for these activities in severely overweight children. These findings demonstrate the need to increase the accuracy of this device in estimating EE in severely overweight children during these modes of activity. Future studies should be conducted to confirm the findings of this investigation and to expand on the research related to refinement of the SWA technology and algorithms to estimate EE in severely overweight children

Comparative hazard assessment for protected species in a fire-prone landscape

We conducted a comparative hazard assessment for 325,000 ha in a fire-prone area of southwest Oregon, USA. The landscape contains a variety of land ownerships, fire regimes, and management strategies. Our comparative hazard assessment evaluated the effects of two management strategies on crown fire potential and northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) conservation: (1) no action, and (2) active manipulation of hazardous fuels. Model simulations indicated that active management of sites with high fire hazard was more favorable to spotted owl conservation over the long term (75 years) than no management, given our modeling assumptions. Early in the model simulation, young seral stages were mostly responsible for high fire hazard, and active management in young stands tended to perpetuate that hazard. Later in the simulation, older seral stages accounted for most of the high fire hazard and active management could be used to ameliorate that hazard. At any given time period, ⩽8% of the landscape was identified for treatment. Fire hazard fluctuated over time depending on vegetation regeneration, maturation, and response to treatments. Active management resulted in greater numbers of potential spotted owl territories in lower fire hazard conditions, particularly during later years of our simulation. Our results support the contention that short term risks to protected species from active management can be less than longer term risk of no management in fire-prone landscapes. Thus, a short term, risk averse strategy for protected species in fire-prone landscapes may not be the best long term alternative for conservation. We caution that this finding warrants landscape-level field evaluation and structured adaptive management and monitoring prior to broad scale adoption as environmental policy.Keywords: Comparative hazard assessment, Risk analysis, Spotted owls, Fire, Hazardous fuels management, OregonKeywords: Comparative hazard assessment, Risk analysis, Spotted owls, Fire, Hazardous fuels management, Orego

Lack of association of ABCB4 insertion mutation with gallbladder mucoceles in dogs

The etiology of canine gallbladder mucocele (GBM) has not yet been identified. However, several studies have linked GBM in dogs to particular breeds (Shetland Sheepdogs are commonly implicated), concurrent endocrine disease (hyperadrenocorticism and/or hypothyroidism), and a mutation in the canine ABCB4 gene (ABCB4 1583_1584G), particularly in Shetland Sheepdogs. The current study assessed ABCB4 1583_1584G, in a wider sample of dogs with GBM compared with age and breed-matched controls. ABCB4 1583_1584G was identified in 4 of 8 Shetland Sheepdogs and 13 of 28 other breeds with GBM. ABCB4 1583_1584G was also detected in 9 of 12 Shetland Sheepdogs and 23 of 37 other breeds that did not have GBM. No statistically significant association existed between ABCB4 1583_1584G and the presence of GBM for all dogs combined or for Shetland Sheepdogs alone. In contrast to previously reported findings, the current study did not identify a strong association between ABCB4 1583_1584G and GBM in Shetland Sheepdogs or other breeds.This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by the author(s) and published by Sage Publications. The published article can be found at: http://vdi.sagepub.com/.Keywords: Canine, Mucocele, Gall bladder, ABCB4 gen

You Look Familiar: How Malaysian Chinese Recognize Faces

East Asian and white Western observers employ different eye movement strategies for a variety of visual processing tasks, including face processing. Recent eye tracking studies on face recognition found that East Asians tend to integrate information holistically by focusing on the nose while white Westerners perceive faces featurally by moving between the eyes and mouth. The current study examines the eye movement strategy that Malaysian Chinese participants employ when recognizing East Asian, white Western, and African faces. Rather than adopting the Eastern or Western fixation pattern, Malaysian Chinese participants use a mixed strategy by focusing on the eyes and nose more than the mouth. The combination of Eastern and Western strategies proved advantageous in participants' ability to recognize East Asian and white Western faces, suggesting that individuals learn to use fixation patterns that are optimized for recognizing the faces with which they are more familiar

Periodontal treatment to improve glycaemic control in diabetic patients: study protocol of the randomized, controlled DIAPERIO trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Periodontitis is a common, chronic inflammatory disease caused by gram-negative bacteria leading to destruction of tissues supporting the teeth. Epidemiological studies have consistently shown increased frequency, extent and severity of periodontitis among diabetic adults. More recently, some controlled clinical trials have also suggested that periodontal treatment could improve glycaemic control in diabetic patients. However current evidence does not provide sufficient information on which to confidently base any clinical recommendations. The main objective of this clinical trial is to assess whether periodontal treatment could lead to a decrease in glycated haemoglobin levels in metabolically unbalanced diabetic patients suffering from chronic periodontitis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The DIAPERIO trial is an open-label, 13-week follow-up, randomized, controlled trial. The total target sample size is planned at 150 participants, with a balanced (1:1) treatment allocation (immediate treatment vs delayed treatment). Periodontal treatment will include full mouth non-surgical scaling and root planing, systemic antibiotherapy, local antiseptics (chlorhexidine 0.12%) and oral health instructions. The primary outcome will be the difference in change of HbA1c between the two groups after the 13-weeks' follow-up. Secondary outcomes will be the difference in change of fructosamine levels and quality of life between the two groups.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The DIAPERIO trial will provide insight into the question of whether periodontal treatment could lead to an improvement in glycaemic control in metabolically unbalanced diabetic patients suffering from periodontitis. The results of this trial will help to provide evidence-based recommendations for clinicians and a draft framework for designing national health policies.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN15334496</p

The Good, the Bad, and the Rare: Memory for Partners in Social Interactions

For cooperation to evolve via direct reciprocity, individuals must track their partners' behavior to avoid exploitation. With increasing size of the interaction group, however, memory becomes error prone. To decrease memory effort, people could categorize partners into types, distinguishing cooperators and cheaters. We explored two ways in which people might preferentially track one partner type: remember cheaters or remember the rare type in the population. We assigned participants to one of three interaction groups which differed in the proportion of computer partners' types (defectors rare, equal proportion, or cooperators rare). We extended research on both hypotheses in two ways. First, participants experienced their partners repeatedly by interacting in Prisoner's Dilemma games. Second, we tested categorization of partners as cooperators or defectors in memory tests after a short and long retention interval (10 min and 1 week). Participants remembered rare partner types better than they remembered common ones at both retention intervals. We propose that the flexibility of responding to the environment suggests an ecologically rational memory strategy in social interactions

Drug-induced trafficking of p-glycoprotein in human brain capillary endothelial cells as demonstrated by exposure to mitomycin C.

P-glycoprotein (Pgp; ABCB1/MDR1) is a major efflux transporter at the blood-brain barrier (BBB), restricting the penetration of various compounds. In other tissues, trafficking of Pgp from subcellular stores to the cell surface has been demonstrated and may constitute a rapid way of the cell to respond to toxic compounds by functional membrane insertion of the transporter. It is not known whether drug-induced Pgp trafficking also occurs in brain capillary endothelial cells that form the BBB. In this study, trafficking of Pgp was investigated in human brain capillary endothelial cells (hCMEC/D3) that were stably transfected with a doxycycline-inducible MDR1-EGFP fusion plasmid. In the presence of doxycycline, these cells exhibited a 15-fold increase in Pgp-EGFP fusion protein expression, which was associated with an increased efflux of the Pgp substrate rhodamine 123 (Rho123). The chemotherapeutic agent mitomycin C (MMC) was used to study drug-induced trafficking of Pgp. Confocal fluorescence microscopy of single hCMEC/D3-MDR1-EGFP cells revealed that Pgp redistribution from intracellular pools to the cell surface occurred within 2 h of MMC exposure. Pgp-EGFP exhibited a punctuate pattern at the cell surface compatible with concentrated regions of the fusion protein in membrane microdomains, i.e., lipid rafts, which was confirmed by Western blot analysis of biotinylated cell surface proteins in Lubrol-resistant membranes. MMC exposure also increased the functionality of Pgp as assessed in three functional assays with Pgp substrates (Rho123, eFluxx-ID Gold, calcein-AM). However, this increase occurred with some delay after the increased Pgp expression and coincided with the release of Pgp from the Lubrol-resistant membrane complexes. Disrupting rafts by depleting the membrane of cholesterol increased the functionality of Pgp. Our data present the first direct evidence of drug-induced Pgp trafficking at the human BBB and indicate that Pgp has to be released from lipid rafts to gain its full functionality