White adipose tissue remodeling in Little Brown Myotis (Myotis lucifugus) with white-nose syndrome.

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is a fungal wildlife disease of bats that has caused precipitous declines in certain Nearctic bat species. A key driver of mortality is premature exhaustion of fat reserves, primarily white adipose tissue (WAT), that bats rely on to meet their metabolic needs during winter. However, the pathophysiological and metabolic effects of WNS have remained ill-defined.

The evolution of antimicrobial peptides in Chiroptera.

High viral tolerance coupled with an extraordinary regulation of the immune response makes bats a great model to study host-pathogen evolution. Although many immune-related gene gains and losses have been previously reported in bats, important gene families such as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) remain understudied. We built an exhaustive bioinformatic pipeline targeting the major gene families of defensins and cathelicidins to explore AMP diversity and analyze their evolution and distribution across six bat families.

Blue Waters, Green Bottoms: Benthic Filamentous Algal Blooms Are an Emerging Threat to Clear Lakes Worldwide.

Nearshore (littoral) habitats of clear lakes with high water quality are increasingly experiencing unexplained proliferations of filamentous algae that grow on submerged surfaces. These filamentous algal blooms (FABs) are sometimes associated with nutrient pollution in groundwater, but complex changes in climate, nutrient transport, lake hydrodynamics, and food web structure may also facilitate this emerging threat to clear lakes. A coordinated effort among members of the public, managers, and scientists is needed to document the occurrence of FABs, to standardize methods for measuring their severity, to adapt existing data collection networks to include nearshore habitats, and to mitigate and reverse this profound structural change in lake ecosystems.

Increasing student success through in-class resilience education.

Student performance can be affected by internal and external stressors, so we explored the effects of an experiential psychiatric/mental health nursing class designed to present methods of stress reduction. Mixed methods to assess the effects of experiential learning about self-care in a baccalaureate psychiatric nursing class were used with 113 nursing students. Students were exposed in class each week to one of 6 techniques: deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, mindfulness & exercise, aromatherapy, guided imagery, and yoga.

Birth Observation Among African American Women Prior to Pregnancy.

A focused ethnography among African American college students who had observed a live birth prior to their own pregnancy was pursued. Women described two reasons to attend births: curiosity about birth, or a desire to support the birth mother. Women attended the births of friends, family members, or saw their mother give birth to a younger sibling.

Revealing paraphyly and placement of extinct species within Epischura (Copepoda: Calanoida) using molecular data and quantitative morphometrics.

Epischura (Calanoida: Temoridae) is a Holarctic group of copepods serving important ecological roles, but it is difficult to study because of small range sizes of individual species and widespread distribution of the genus. This genus includes Tertiary relicts, some endemic to single, isolated lakes and can play major roles in unique ecosystems like Lakes Baikal and Tahoe. We present the first molecular and morphological analysis of Epischura that reveals their spatio-temporal evolutionary history.

Higher fat stores contribute to persistence of little brown bat populations with white-nose syndrome.

The persistence of populations declining from novel stressors depends, in part, on their ability to respond by trait change via evolution or plasticity. White-nose syndrome (WNS) has caused rapid declines in several North America bat species by disrupting hibernation behaviour, leading to body fat depletion and starvation. However, some populations of Myotis lucifugus now persist with WNS by unknown mechanisms.

Past and present mercury accumulation in the Lake Baikal seal: Temporal trends, effects of life history, and toxicological implications.

Despite global efforts to reduce anthropogenic mercury (Hg) emissions, the timescale and degree to which Hg concentrations in the environment and biota respond to decreased emissions remain challenging to assess or predict. In the present study we characterize long-term trends and life-history patterns in Hg accumulation and toxicological implications of Hg contamination for a freshwater seal from one of the world's largest lakes (Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia) using contemporary tissues and archival teeth. Stable isotope analysis and Hg analyses of soft tissues (muscle, liver, kidney, blood, brain, heart) and teeth from 22 contemporary seals revealed rapid changes in diet and Hg accumulation in the first year of life with a stable diet and increase in tissue Hg throughout the rest of life.

Long-Term and Ontogenetic Patterns of Heavy Metal Contamination in Lake Baikal Seals (Pusa sibirica).

Little is known about the history of heavy metal pollution of Russia's Lake Baikal, one of the world's largest lakes and a home to numerous endemic species, including the Baikal Seal, Pusa sibirica. We investigated the history of heavy metal (V, Cu, Zn, Cd, Hg, Tl, Pb, U) pollution in Lake Baikal seals over the past 8 decades. C and N stable isotope analysis (SIA) and laser-ablation ICP-MS of seal teeth were used to examine changes in feeding ecology, heavy metal levels associated with life history events and long-term variation in metal exposure.

Energy conserving thermoregulatory patterns and lower disease severity in a bat resistant to the impacts of white-nose syndrome.

The devastating bat fungal disease, white-nose syndrome (WNS), does not appear to affect all species equally. To experimentally determine susceptibility differences between species, we exposed hibernating naïve little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) and big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) to the fungus that causes WNS, Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd). After hibernating under identical conditions, Pd lesions were significantly more prevalent and more severe in little brown myotis.

Improving Primary Care Retention in Medically Underserved Areas: What's a Clinic to Do?

To reduce health professional shortage areas, the National Health Service Corps has attempted to increase the number of primary care providers in underserved communities through scholarships and loan repayment. Program evaluations assessed Loan Repayment Program (LRP) propensity to work in underserved communities. The National Health Service Corps LRPs were asked about preferences for particular retention strategies and which strategies were utilized by their clinical sites.

Multicultural Differences in Women's Expectations of Birth.

This review surveyed qualitative and quantitative studies to explore the expectations around birth that are held by women from different cultures. These studies are grouped according to expectations of personal control expectations of support from partner/others/family; expectations of carel behavior from providers such as nurses, doctors, and/or midwives; expectations about the health of the baby; and expectations about pain in childbirth. Discussed are the findings and the role that Western culture in medicine, power and privilege are noted in providing care to these women.

The rise and fall of plankton: long-term changes in the vertical distribution of algae and grazers in Lake Baikal, Siberia.

Both surface water temperatures and the intensity of thermal stratification have increased recently in large lakes throughout the world. Such physical changes can be accompanied by shifts in plankton community structure, including changes in relative abundances and depth distributions. Here we analyzed 45 years of data from Lake Baikal, the world's oldest, deepest, and most voluminous lake, to assess long-term trends in the depth distribution of pelagic phytoplankton and zooplankton.

Interannual Survival of (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) near the Epicenter of White-Nose Syndrome.

Reduced populations of (Little Brown Myotis) devastated by white-nose syndrome (WNS) persist in eastern North America. Between 2009 and 2013, we recaptured 113 marked individuals that survived between 1 and 6 winters in New England since the arrival of WNS. We also observed signs of reproductive success in 57 recaptured bats.

Mercury in bats from the northeastern United States.

This study examines mercury exposure in bats across the northeast U.S. from 2005 to 2009.

Hibernating little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) show variable immunological responses to white-nose syndrome.

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is an emerging infectious disease devastating hibernating North American bat populations that is caused by the psychrophilic fungus Geomyces destructans. Previous histopathological analysis demonstrated little evidence of inflammatory responses in infected bats, however few studies have compared other aspects of immune function between WNS-affected and unaffected bats. We collected bats from confirmed WNS-affected and unaffected sites during the winter of 2008-2009 and compared estimates of their circulating levels of total leukocytes, total immunoglobulins, cytokines and total antioxidants.

Specific alterations in complement protein activity of little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) hibernating in white-nose syndrome affected sites.

White-nose syndrome (WNS) is the most devastating condition ever reported for hibernating bats, causing widespread mortality in the northeastern United States. The syndrome is characterized by cutaneous lesions caused by a recently identified psychrophilic and keratinophylic fungus (Geomyces destructans), depleted fat reserves, atypical behavior, and damage to wings; however, the proximate cause of mortality is still uncertain. To assess relative levels of immunocompetence in bats hibernating in WNS-affected sites compared with levels in unaffected bats, we describe blood plasma complement protein activity in hibernating little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) based on microbicidal competence assays using Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans.

Influence of long-distance climate teleconnection on seasonality of water temperature in the world's largest lake--Lake Baikal, Siberia.

Large-scale climate change is superimposed on interacting patterns of climate variability that fluctuate on numerous temporal and spatial scales--elements of which, such as seasonal timing, may have important impacts on local and regional ecosystem forcing. Lake Baikal in Siberia is not only the world's largest and most biologically diverse lake, but it has exceptionally strong seasonal structure in ecosystem dynamics that may be dramatically affected by fluctuations in seasonal timing. We applied time-frequency analysis to a near-continuous, 58-year record of water temperature from Lake Baikal to examine how seasonality in the lake has fluctuated over the past half century and to infer underlying mechanisms.

Emerging diseases in Chiroptera: why bats?

A conference entitled '2nd International Berlin Bat Meeting: Bat Biology and Infectious Diseases' was held between the 19 and 21 of February 2010 in Berlin, Germany. Researchers from two major disciplines, bat biologists and disease specialists, met for the first time in an interdisciplinary event to share their knowledge about bat-associated diseases. The focus of the meeting was to understand why in particular bats are the hosts of so many of the most virulent diseases globally.

Social control or protection of the child? The debates on the Industrial Schools Acts 1857-1894.

Industrial schools were the first state-funded institutions for the protection of children. The debates surrounding their establishment and enlargement illuminate a unique relationship between the state, the family, and the child. From the 1850s and 1860s when the state first began to grapple with the notion of intervening in family privacy, to the 1870s and 1880s when the concept and boundaries of childhood were affirmed, the protection of children from want and neglect was the motivation behind the institutions.

Cerebral hemodynamic changes during intensive care of preterm infants.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to examine the circulatory changes experienced by the immature systemic and cerebral circulations during routine events in the critical care of preterm infants and to identify clinical factors that are associated with greater hemodynamic-oxygenation changes during these events.

Methods: We studied 82 infants who weighed <1500 g at birth and required intensive care management and continuous blood pressure monitoring from an umbilical arterial catheter. Continuous recording of cerebral and systemic hemodynamic and oxygenation changes was performed.

Positive screening for autism in ex-preterm infants: prevalence and risk factors.

Objective: The survival of very low birth weight infants has increased markedly in recent years. Unfortunately, the prevalence of significant and lifelong motor, cognitive, and behavioral dysfunction has remained a major problem confronting these children. The objective of this study was to perform screening tests for early autistic features in children with a history of very low birth weight and to identify risk factors associated with a positive screening result.

Current definitions of hypotension do not predict abnormal cranial ultrasound findings in preterm infants.

Objective: Hypotension is a commonly treated complication of prematurity, although definitions and management guidelines vary widely. Our goal was to examine the relationship between current definitions of hypotension and early abnormal cranial ultrasound findings.

Methods: We prospectively measured mean arterial pressure in 84 infants who were < or = 30 weeks' gestational age and had umbilical arterial catheters in the first 3 days of life.

Fluctuating pressure-passivity is common in the cerebral circulation of sick premature infants.

Cerebral blood flow pressure-passivity results when pressure autoregulation is impaired, or overwhelmed, and is thought to underlie cerebrovascular injury in the premature infant. Earlier bedside observations suggested that transient periods of cerebral pressure-passivity occurred in premature infants. However, these transient events cannot be detected reliably by intermittent static measurements of pressure autoregulation.

Impaired trophic interactions between the cerebellum and the cerebrum among preterm infants.

Background: Advanced neuroimaging techniques have brought increasing recognition of cerebellar injury among premature infants. The developmental relationship between early brain injury and effects on the cerebrum and cerebellum remains unclear.

Objectives: To examine whether cerebral parenchymal brain lesions among preterm infants are associated with subsequent decreases in cerebellar volume and, conversely, whether primary cerebellar injury is associated with decreased cerebral brain volumes, with advanced, 3-dimensional, volumetric MRI at term gestational age equivalent.