Rapid heat hardening in embryos of the lizard .

Adaptive thermal tolerance plasticity can dampen the negative effects of warming. However, our knowledge of tolerance plasticity is lacking for embryonic stages that are relatively immobile and may benefit the most from an adaptive plastic response. We tested for heat hardening capacity (a rapid increase in thermal tolerance that manifests in minutes to hours) in embryos of the lizard .

Maternal hematopoietic TNF, via milk chemokines, programs hippocampal development and memory.

Tumor necrosis factor α (TNF) is a proinflammatory cytokine with established roles in host defense and immune system organogenesis. We studied TNF function and found a previously unidentified physiological function that extends its effect beyond the host into the developing offspring. A partial or complete maternal TNF deficit, specifically in hematopoietic cells, resulted in reduced milk levels of the chemokines IP-10, MCP-1, MCP-3, MCP-5 and MIP-1β, which in turn augmented offspring postnatal hippocampal proliferation, leading to improved adult spatial memory in mice.

Differential gene body methylation and reduced expression of cell adhesion and neurotransmitter receptor genes in adverse maternal environment.

Early life adversity, including adverse gestational and postpartum maternal environment, is a contributing factor in the development of autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety and depression but little is known about the underlying molecular mechanism. In a model of gestational maternal adversity that leads to innate anxiety, increased stress reactivity and impaired vocal communication in the offspring, we asked if a specific DNA methylation signature is associated with the emergence of the behavioral phenotype. Genome-wide DNA methylation analyses identified 2.

Effectiveness of fortified flour for enhancement of vitamin and mineral intakes and nutrition status in northwest Chinese villages.

Background: Fortification of flour is one of the approaches for the control and prevention of vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

Objective: To assess the effect of fortification of flour with seven vitamins and minerals on a population of Chinese women.

Methods: Farmers who offered their land for reforestation in 25 northwest provinces of China received compensation in the form of wheat flour; the amount of flour given depended on the amount of land that was given up for reforestation.

Maternal genetic mutations as gestational and early life influences in producing psychiatric disease-like phenotypes in mice.

Risk factors for psychiatric disorders have traditionally been classified as genetic or environmental. Risk (candidate) genes, although typically possessing small effects, represent a clear starting point to elucidate downstream cellular/molecular pathways of disease. Environmental effects, especially during development, can also lead to altered behavior and increased risk for disease.

The effectiveness of fortified flour on micro-nutrient status in rural female adults in China.

This research was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of fortified flour on micronutrient status in poor rural adult women. A total of 4,700 farmers as the intervention group were supplied with multi-nutrient fortified wheat flour for three years, while 2750 farmers as the control group were supplied with unfortified wheat flour. Wheat flour was fortified with vitamins A, B-1, B-2, niacin, folic acid, iron and zinc in mg/kg at 2, 3.

The serotonin1A receptor gene as a genetic and prenatal maternal environmental factor in anxiety.

Low serotonin(1A) receptor (5-HT(1A)R) binding is a risk factor for anxiety and depression, and deletion of the 5-HT(1A)R results in anxiety-like behavior in mice. Here we show that anxiety-like behavior in mice also can be caused, independently of the offspring's own 5-HT(1A)R genotype, by a receptor deficit in the mother: a nongenetic transmission of a genetic defect. Some of the nongenetically transmitted anxiety manifestations were acquired prenatally and linked to a delay in dentate gyrus maturation in the ventral hippocampus of the offspring.

Validation and use of a computer-assisted counting procedure to quantify BrdU-labeled proliferating cells in the early postnatal mouse hippocampus.

The dentate gyrus is one of the few brain regions that show proliferation of neuronal precursors postnatally and in adult life. Proliferation in the dentate gyrus has been shown to be influenced by exercise, stress and drugs such as antidepressants. Traditionally, proliferation studies rely on the time consuming and subjective manual count of labeled cells.

Anemia prevention and control in four central Asian republics and Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan and the central Asian republics of Uzbekistan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan have developed anemia prevention and control (APC) policies based on multiple interventions, including education and promotion, oral supplementation of high risk groups and fortification of wheat flour with iron and other micronutrients. These national strategies are aimed at reducing the prevalence of anemia and iron deficiency among young children and women of child-bearing age. Strategy development has been assisted by funding and technical assistance from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) with additional technical support from the International Nutrition Foundation, the United Nations University and various national institutions.

Perception of forbidden colors in retinally stabilized equiluminant images: an indication of softwired cortical color opponency?

In color theory and perceptual practice, two color naming combinations are forbidden-reddish greens and bluish yellows-however, when multicolored images are stabilized on the retina, their borders fade and filling-in mechanisms can create forbidden colors. The sole report of such events found that only some observers saw forbidden colors, while others saw illusory multicolored patterns. We found that when colors were equiluminant, subjects saw reddish greens, bluish yellows, or a multistable spatial color exchange (an entirely novel perceptual phenomena); when the colors were nonequiluminant, subjects saw spurious pattern formation.

Spatial aspects of vertical phoria adaptation.

Vergence adaptation to vertical disparity spreads to unadapted directions of gaze. The spatial spread function for prism adaptation was estimated from aftereffects of a vertical disparity presented at a single position. Constraints limiting the spatial spread of adaptation were investigated with two stimuli of opposite disparity (hyper and hypo), presented at two different eye positions with a separation that varied from 6 to 18 deg in either the horizontal or vertical meridian.

Directionally selective short-term nonconjugate adaptation of vertical pursuits.

We investigated the contribution of fixation phoria and dynamic processes to short term (1 hr) nonconjugate adaptation of vertical pursuits. Unequal aftereffects were observed in vertical phoria measured during stationary gaze and during pursuits (static fixation and pursuit phorias) demonstrating direction-specific aftereffects of pursuit phoria that were not evident in measures of fixation phoria. A linear model describes the combination of fixation phoria and three dynamic direction-specific components which include a gain component that determines nonconjugate velocity, a phase component that determines the relative position of binocular pursuits, and a small position specific pursuit phoria adjustment process.

Interactions between short-term vertical phoria adaptation and nonconjugate adaptation of vertical pursuits.

We have demonstrated that short-term vertical position-specific phoria adaptation contributes to nonconjugate adaptation of vertical pursuits, but not to nonconjugate adaptation of vertical saccades. Binocular adaptation to multiple stationary vertical disparities resulted in both nonconjugate pursuits and phoria aftereffects but had little effect on the early step component of vertical saccades. Similarly, binocular nonconjugate adaptation of vertical pursuits produced both nonconjugate pursuits and fixation phoria aftereffects.

A hospital energy audit project.

The project was carried out under the auspices of the Research Sub-Committee of the Victorian Branch of the Australian College of Health Service Administrators. It illustrates the way in which remedial action based on a thorough, systematic audit of energy losses can yield savings which are conservatively estimated to be worth tens of thousands of dollars per annum. While many of the energy saving functions proposed can be implemented at little or no cost, it is concluded that energy audits must be thoroughly and competently undertaken and the use of consultants is considered to have been well justified in this case.

Indomethacin enhancement of TPA tumor promotion in mice.

Skin tumor promotion in mice by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) is characterized by hyperplasia and inflammation. Based on the inhibitory effect of the steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, non-steroidal agents, such as indomethacin, were also expected to show some degree of inhibition; however, repeated tumor experiments demonstrate that indomethacin enhances TPA promotion in a dose-response manner. A time-of-application effect was evident such that indomethacin given 2 h prior to TPA resulted in the greatest enhancement.