Benefits and barriers among volunteer teaching faculty: comparison between those who precept and those who do not in the core pediatrics clerkship

Background: Community-based outpatient experiences are a core component of the clinical years in medical school. Central to the success of this experience is the recruitment and retention of volunteer faculty from the community. Prior studies have identified reasons why some preceptors volunteer their time however, there is a paucity of data comparing those who volunteer from those who do not. Methods: A survey was developed following a review of previous studies addressing perceptions of community-based preceptors. A non-parametric, Mann–Whitney U test was used to compare active preceptors (APs) and inactive preceptors (IPs) and all data were analyzed in SPSS 20.0. Results: There was a 28% response rate. Preceptors showed similar demographic characteristics, valued intrinsic over extrinsic benefits, and appreciated Continuing Medical Education (CME)/Maintenance of Certification (MOC) opportunities as the highest extrinsic reward. APs were more likely to also precept at the M1/M2 level and value recognition and faculty development opportunities (p<0.05). IPs denoted time as the most significant barrier and, in comparison to APs, rated financial compensation as more important (p<0.05). Conclusions: Community preceptors are motivated by intrinsic benefits of teaching. Efforts to recruit should initially focus on promoting awareness of teaching opportunities and offering CME/MOC opportunities. Increasing the pool of preceptors may require financial compensation

Vocal Learning and Auditory-Vocal Feedback

Vocal learning is usually studied in songbirds and humans, species that can form auditory templates by listening to acoustic models and then learn to vocalize to match the template. Most other species are thought to develop vocalizations without auditory feedback. However, auditory input influences the acoustic structure of vocalizations in a broad distribution of birds and mammals. Vocalizations are dened here as sounds generated by forcing air past vibrating membranes. A vocal motor program may generate vocalizations such as crying or laughter, but auditory feedback may be required for matching precise acoustic features of vocalizations. This chapter discriminates limited vocal learning, which uses auditory input to fine-tune acoustic features of an inherited auditory template, from complex vocal learning, in which novel sounds are learned by matching a learned auditory template. Two or three songbird taxa and four or ve mammalian taxa are known for complex vocal learning. A broader range of mammals converge in the acoustic structure of vocalizations when in socially interacting groups, which qualifies as limited vocal learning. All birds and mammals tested use auditory-vocal feedback to adjust their vocalizations to compensate for the effects of noise, and many species modulate their signals as the costs and benefits of communicating vary. This chapter asks whether some auditory-vocal feedback may have provided neural substrates for the evolution of vocal learning. Progress will require more precise definitions of different forms of vocal learning, broad comparative review of their presence and absence, and behavioral and neurobiological investigations into the mechanisms underlying the skills.PostprintPeer reviewe

Reappraising Social Insect Behavior through Aversive Responsiveness and Learning

Background: The success of social insects can be in part attributed to their division of labor, which has been explained by a response threshold model. This model posits that individuals differ in their response thresholds to task-associated stimuli, so that individuals with lower thresholds specialize in this task. This model is at odds with findings on honeybee behavior as nectar and pollen foragers exhibit different responsiveness to sucrose, with nectar foragers having higher response thresholds to sucrose concentration. Moreover, it has been suggested that sucrose responsiveness correlates with responsiveness to most if not all other stimuli. If this is the case, explaining task specialization and the origins of division of labor on the basis of differences in response thresholds is difficult. Methodology: To compare responsiveness to stimuli presenting clear-cut differences in hedonic value and behavioral contexts, we measured appetitive and aversive responsiveness in the same bees in the laboratory. We quantified proboscis extension responses to increasing sucrose concentrations and sting extension responses to electric shocks of increasing voltage. We analyzed the relationship between aversive responsiveness and aversive olfactory conditioning of the sting extension reflex, and determined how this relationship relates to division of labor. Principal Findings: Sucrose and shock responsiveness measured in the same bees did not correlate, thus suggesting that they correspond to independent behavioral syndromes, a foraging and a defensive one. Bees which were more responsiv

Evolution of sex-specific pace-of-life syndromes: genetic architecture and physiological mechanisms

Sex differences in life history, physiology, and behavior are nearly ubiquitous across taxa, owing to sex-specific selection that arises from different reproductive strategies of the sexes. The pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) hypothesis predicts that most variation in such traits among individuals, populations, and species falls along a slow-fast pace-of-life continuum. As a result of their different reproductive roles and environment, the sexes also commonly differ in pace-of-life, with important consequences for the evolution of POLS. Here, we outline mechanisms for how males and females can evolve differences in POLS traits and in how such traits can covary differently despite constraints resulting from a shared genome. We review the current knowledge of the genetic basis of POLS traits and suggest candidate genes and pathways for future studies. Pleiotropic effects may govern many of the genetic correlations, but little is still known about the mechanisms involved in trade-offs between current and future reproduction and their integration with behavioral variation. We highlight the importance of metabolic and hormonal pathways in mediating sex differences in POLS traits; however, there is still a shortage of studies that test for sex specificity in molecular effects and their evolutionary causes. Considering whether and how sexual dimorphism evolves in POLS traits provides a more holistic framework to understand how behavioral variation is integrated with life histories and physiology, and we call for studies that focus on examining the sex-specific genetic architecture of this integration

HISTÓRIA DA FORMAÇÃO AVANÇADA EM MUSEOLOGIA E PATRIMÔNIO NO BRASIL: PIONEIRISMO PROMISSOR DA COOPERAÇÃO ENTRE A UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO ESTADO DO RIO DE JANEIRO E O MUSEU DE ASTRONOMIA E CIÊNCIAS AFINS

Entrevista realizada com a Coordenadora do Doutorado em Museologia e Patrimônio do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Museologia e Patrimônio da Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro e do Museu de Astronomia e Ciências Afins, Brasil, Professora Doutora Teresa Cristina Moletta Scheiner, em diálogo sobre as origens e práticas de ensino e investigação do primeiro programa de pós-graduação brasileiro dedicado às áreas da Museologia e do Patrimônio com o único doutorado em Museologia reconhecido no país, bem como na América do Sul. Através da entrevista são levantados os desafios e as perspectivas nacionais e internacionais deste pioneiro e promissor programa de pós-graduação no pensar e fazer entre as relações sobre Museologia, Patrimônio e Sociedade, no âmbito da área Comunicação e Informação da Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior do Ministério da Educação do Brasil

HISTÓRIA DA FORMAÇÃO AVANÇADA EM MUSEOLOGIA E PATRIMÔNIO NO BRASIL: pioneirismo promissor da cooperação entre a Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro e o Museu de Astronomia e Ciências Afins

Entrevista realizada com a Coordenadora do Doutorado em Museologia e Patrimônio do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Museologia e Patrimônio da Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro e do Museu de Astronomia e Ciências Afins, Brasil, Professora Doutora Teresa Cristina Moletta Scheiner, em diálogo sobre as origens e práticas de ensino e investigação do primeiro programa de pós-graduação brasileiro dedicado às áreas da Museologia e do Patrimônio com o único doutorado em Museologia reconhecido no país, bem como na América do Sul. Através da entrevista são levantados os desafios e as perspectivas nacionais e internacionais deste pioneiro e promissor programa de pós-graduação no pensar e fazer entre as relações sobre Museologia, Patrimônio e Sociedade, no âmbito da área Comunicação e Informação da Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior do Ministério da Educação do Brasil

Detecção da proteína p53 em células leucêmicas por citometria de fluxo e Western blot

Introdução: A proteína p53 desempenha uma função crucial no controle do ciclo celular, reparo do DNA e na indução de apoptose em células geneticamente instáveis. O Western blot (WB) é o método preconizado para detecção dessa proteína, no entanto é técnica demorada e trabalhosa. Atualmente, a citometria de fluxo (CF) também tem sido empregada na detecção da proteína p53 tendo a vantagem da praticidade. Objetivos e Metodologia: Comparar os resultados obtidos pela CF e WB na detecção da proteína p53 em células leucêmicas. Empregamos amostras de 3 pacientes com leucemia linfóide aguda (LLA), 5 com leucemia mielóide aguda (LMA), 6 com leucemia mielóide crônica (LMC) e 8 com leucemia linfóide crônica (LLC). Os controles positivos (5) e negativos (4), para os dois métodos, foram linhagens de células leucêmicas. Juntamente com o controle de marcação negativa, na técnica de CF, utilizamos linfócitos de 40 doadores de sangue. A análise pela CF foi realizada após a marcação com anticorpo monoclonal anti-p53 e o WB por técnica convencional. Resultados e Conclusões: Observamos concordância nos resultados em 82% das amostras leucêmicas e em 100% nas linhagens celulares. CF+/WB+ foram observados em pacientes com evolução desfavorável tais como na LLC / Síndrome de Richter, LMC em crise blástica e na maioria das LMA. Apesar do WB ser considerado um método padrão para a detecção da p53, nossos resultados indicam que a CF pode ser empregada satisfatoriamente na detecção dessa proteína em amostras leucêmicas

Earthworm and belowground competition effects on plant productivity in a plant diversity gradient

Diversity is one major factor driving plant productivity in temperate grasslands. Although decomposers like earthworms are known to affect plant productivity, interacting effects of plant diversity and earthworms on plant productivity have been neglected in field studies. We investigated in the field the effects of earthworms on plant productivity, their interaction with plant species and functional group richness, and their effects on belowground plant competition. In the framework of the Jena Experiment we determined plant community productivity (in 2004 and 2007) and performance of two phytometer plant species [Centaurea jacea (herb) and Lolium perenne (grass); in 2007 and 2008] in a plant species (from one to 16) and functional group richness gradient (from one to four). We sampled earthworm subplots and subplots with decreased earthworm density and reduced aboveground competition of phytometer plants by removing the shoot biomass of the resident plant community. Earthworms increased total plant community productivity (+11%), legume shoot biomass (+35%) and shoot biomass of the phytometer C. jacea (+21%). Further, phytometer performance decreased, i.e. belowground competition increased, with increasing plant species and functional group richness. Although single plant functional groups benefited from higher earthworm numbers, the effects did not vary with plant species and functional group richness. The present study indicates that earthworms indeed affect the productivity of semi-natural grasslands irrespective of the diversity of the plant community. Belowground competition increased with increasing plant species diversity. However, belowground competition was modified by earthworms as reflected by increased productivity of the phytometer C. jacea. Moreover, particularly legumes benefited from earthworm presence. Considering also previous studies, we suggest that earthworms and legumes form a loose mutualistic relationship affecting essential ecosystem functions in temperate grasslands, in particular decomposition and plant productivity. Further, earthworms likely alter competitive interactions among plants and the structure of plant communities by beneficially affecting certain plant functional groups

Beetle (Coleoptera: Scirtidae) Facilitation of Larval Mosquito Growth in Tree Hole Habitats is Linked to Multitrophic Microbial Interactions

Container-breeding mosquitoes, such as Aedes triseriatus, ingest biofilms and filter water column microorganisms directly to obtain the bulk of their nutrition. Scirtid beetles often co-occur with A. triseriatus and may facilitate the production of mosquito adults under low-resource conditions. Using molecular genetic techniques and quantitative assays, we observed changes in the dynamics and composition of bacterial and fungal communities present on leaf detritus and in the water column when scirtid beetles co-occur with A. triseriatus. Data from terminal restriction fragment polymorphism analysis indicated scirtid presence alters the structure of fungal communities in the water column but not leaf-associated fungal communities. Similar changes in leaf and water bacterial communities occurred in response to mosquito presence. In addition, we observed increased processing of leaf detritus, higher leaf-associated enzyme activity, higher bacterial productivity, and higher leaf-associated fungal biomass when scirtid beetles were present. Such shifts suggest beetle feeding facilitates mosquito production indirectly through the microbial community rather than directly through an increase in available fine particulate organic matter

Fused Traditional and Geometric Morphometrics Demonstrate Pinniped Whisker Diversity

Vibrissae (whiskers) are important components of the mammalian tactile sensory system, and primarily function as detectors of vibrotactile information from the environment. Pinnipeds possess the largest vibrissae among mammals and their vibrissal hair shafts demonstrate a diversity of shapes. The vibrissae of most phocid seals exhibit a beaded morphology with repeating sequences of crests and troughs along their length. However, there are few detailed analyses of pinniped vibrissal morphology, and these are limited to a few species. Therefore, we comparatively characterized differences in vibrissal hair shaft morphologies among phocid species with a beaded profile, phocid species with a smooth profile, and otariids with a smooth profile using traditional and geometric morphometric methods. Traditional morphometric measurements (peak-to-peak distance, crest width, trough width and total length) were collected using digital photographs. Elliptic Fourier analysis (geometric morphometrics) was used to quantify the outlines of whole vibrissae. The traditional and geometric morphometric datasets were subsequently combined by mathematically scaling each to true rank, followed by a single eigendecomposition. Quadratic discriminant function analysis demonstrated that 79.3, 97.8 and 100% of individuals could be correctly classified to their species based on vibrissal shape variables in the traditional, geometric and combined morphometric analyses, respectively. Phocids with beaded vibrissae, phocids with smooth vibrissae, and otariids each occupied distinct morphospace in the geometric morphometric and combined data analyses. Otariids split into two groups in the geometric morphometric analysis and gray seals appeared intermediate between beaded- and smooth-whiskered species in the traditional and combined analyses. Vibrissal hair shafts modulate the transduction of environmental stimuli to the mechanoreceptors in the follicle-sinus complex (F-SC), which results in vibrotactile reception, but it is currently unclear how the diversity of shapes affects environmental signal modulation