Eggshell porosity covaries with egg size among female House Wrens () but is unrelated to incubation onset and egg-laying order within clutches.

In birds, the duration of egg incubation (the time from incubation onset to hatching) can affect multiple components of nest success, but what affects incubation duration? Previous studies suggest that incubation duration is affected by both parental behavior and components of the egg, which have yet to be determined. One egg component that may be related to incubation behavior and the time until hatching is eggshell porosity, which affects the exchange of metabolic gasses and water vapor across the shell and, thus, the speed of embryonic development and incubation duration. We tested whether eggshell porosity was associated with the timing of incubation onset by female House Wrens ( Vieillot, 1809), and whether porosity varied within clutches in a manner that might be associated with incubation periods and hatching patterns (i.

The creation of a synchronous learning environment to support a study abroad program for nursing majors at a traditional liberal arts university.

In response to an increased need for Spanish-speaking and culturally competent nurses, a small private undergraduate-only liberal arts university implemented a semester-long study abroad program for nursing majors in Barcelona, Spain. Prior to the creation of this program, study abroad for nursing students was limited because of prelicensure requirements and limitations of a traditional nursing curriculum. Students studying in Spain enroll in four courses--including two core nursing courses delivered using Polycom hardware and telepresence software by nursing faculty who remain in the United States, a Spanish language course, and one general education course taught either by the University's Spain Director or by an experienced Spanish professor.

Early emerging nicotine dependence symptoms in adolescence predict daily smoking in young adulthood.

Purpose: The present study evaluated the predictive validity of individual early emerging nicotine dependence symptoms in adolescence on smoking behavior in young adulthood.

Methods: A total of 492 adolescents who, at baseline, had not smoked more than 100 cigarettes in their lifetime and 123 adolescents who smoked more than 100 cigarettes lifetime, and who participated in the 6-year follow-up assessment were included in the present analyses. Predictive validity of 10 nicotine dependence items administered at baseline was evaluated at the 6 year follow-up when the sample had entered young adulthood (mean age=21.

FINANCIAL STRESS, NEIGHBORHOOD STRESS, AND WELL-BEING: MEDIATIONAL AND MODERATIONAL MODELS.

This study explores whether high quality neighborhoods or social integration have protective effects on psychological well-being, especially in the face of financial challenges. Previous research suggests that low levels of financial stress, lower neighborhood stress, and social integration are each associated with greater levels of well-being; few studies, however, investigate these contextual variables in confluence. Data from the Notre Dame Study of Health and Well-Being were used to investigate whether (a) neighborhood stress mediates the relationship between financial stress and psychological well-being and (b) social integration moderates the relationship between neighborhood stress and psychological well-being.

Comparative genomics of Cluster O mycobacteriophages.

Mycobacteriophages--viruses of mycobacterial hosts--are genetically diverse but morphologically are all classified in the Caudovirales with double-stranded DNA and tails. We describe here a group of five closely related mycobacteriophages--Corndog, Catdawg, Dylan, Firecracker, and YungJamal--designated as Cluster O with long flexible tails but with unusual prolate capsids. Proteomic analysis of phage Corndog particles, Catdawg particles, and Corndog-infected cells confirms expression of half of the predicted gene products and indicates a non-canonical mechanism for translation of the Corndog tape measure protein.

A new species of Telmatobius (Amphibia, Anura, Telmatobiidae) from the Pacific slopes of the Andes, Peru.

We describe a new species of Telmatobius from the Pacific slopes of the Andes in central Peru. Specimens were collected at 3900 m elevation near Huaytará, Huancavelica, in the upper drainage of the Pisco river. The new species has a snout-vent length of 52.

Cold-Active, Heterotrophic Bacteria from the Highly Oligotrophic Waters of Lake Vanda, Antarctica.

The permanently ice-covered lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica are distinctive ecosystems that consist strictly of microbial communities. In this study, water samples were collected from Lake Vanda, a stratified Dry Valley lake whose upper waters (from just below the ice cover to nearly 60 m) are highly oligotrophic, and used to establish enrichment cultures. Six strains of psychrotolerant, heterotrophic bacteria were isolated from lake water samples from a depth of 50 or 55 m.

Measuring neural and behavioral activity during ongoing computerized social interactions: an examination of event-related brain potentials.

Social exclusion is a complex social phenomenon with powerful negative consequences. Given the impact of social exclusion on mental and emotional health, an understanding of how perceptions of social exclusion develop over the course of a social interaction is important for advancing treatments aimed at lessening the harmful costs of being excluded. To date, most scientific examinations of social exclusion have looked at exclusion after a social interaction has been completed.

Oxygen-dependent copper toxicity: targets in the chlorophyll biosynthesis pathway identified in the copper efflux ATPase CopA deficient mutant.

Characterization of a copA(-) mutant in the purple photosynthetic bacterium Rubrivivax gelatinosus under low oxygen or anaerobic conditions, as well as in the human pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae identified HemN as a copper toxicity target enzyme in the porphyrin synthesis pathway. Heme synthesis is, however, unaffected by copper under high oxygen tension because of the aerobic coproporphyrinogen III oxidase HemF. Nevertheless, in the copA(-) mutant under aerobiosis, we show that the chlorophyll biosynthesis pathway is affected by excess copper resulting in a substantial decrease of the photosystem.

Depression and nicotine dependence from adolescence to young adulthood.

Introduction: Despite the highly replicated relationship between depression and nicotine dependence, little is known about this association across both time and levels of lifetime smoking exposure. In the present study, we evaluate if symptoms of depression are associated with emerging nicotine dependence after accounting for smoking exposure and whether this relationship varies from adolescence to young adulthood and across increasing levels of smoking.

Patients And Methods: The sample was drawn from the Social and Emotional Contexts of Adolescent Smoking Patterns Study which measured smoking, nicotine dependence and depression over 6 assessment waves spanning 6years.

Spatially resolved magnetic field structure in the disk of a T Tauri star.

Magnetic fields in accretion disks play a dominant part during the star formation process but have hitherto been observationally poorly constrained. Field strengths have been inferred on T Tauri stars and possibly in the innermost part of their accretion disks, but the strength and morphology of the field in the bulk of a disk have not been observed. Spatially unresolved measurements of polarized emission (arising from elongated dust grains aligned perpendicularly to the field) imply average fields aligned with the disks.

Training Intensity Affects Motor Rehabilitation Efficacy Following Unilateral Ischemic Insult of the Sensorimotor Cortex in C57BL/6 Mice.

Background: Motor rehabilitative training improves behavioral functionality and promotes beneficial neural reorganization following stroke but is often insufficient to normalize function. Rodent studies have relied on skilled reaching tasks to model motor rehabilitation and explore factors contributing to its efficacy. It has been found that greater training intensity (sessions/day) and duration (training days) facilitates motor skill learning in intact animals.

Nicotine-dependence-varying effects of smoking events on momentary mood changes among adolescents.

Introduction: Theories of nicotine addiction emphasize the initial role of positive reinforcement in the development of regular smoking behavior, and the role of negative reinforcement at later stages. These theories are tested here by examining the effects of amount smoked per smoking event on smoking-related mood changes, and how nicotine dependence (ND) moderates this effect. The current study examines these questions within a sample of light adolescent smokers drawn from the metropolitan Chicago area (N=151, 55.

Long-term seizure suppression and optogenetic analyses of synaptic connectivity in epileptic mice with hippocampal grafts of GABAergic interneurons.

Studies in rodent epilepsy models suggest that GABAergic interneuron progenitor grafts can reduce hyperexcitability and seizures in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Although integration of the transplanted cells has been proposed as the underlying mechanism for these disease-modifying effects, prior studies have not explicitly examined cell types and synaptic mechanisms for long-term seizure suppression. To address this gap, we transplanted medial ganglionic eminence (MGE) cells from embryonic day 13.

Examining the relationships between self-efficacy, task-relevant attentional control , and task performance: Evidence from event-related brain potentials.

Self-efficacy (SE) is a modifiable psychosocial factor related to individuals' beliefs in their capabilities to successfully complete courses of action and has been shown to be positively associated with task performance. The authors hypothesized that one means through which SE is related with improved performance is through enhanced task-relevant attentional control during task execution. To assess this hypothesis, we examined the relationships between SE and behavioural and neural indices of task performance and task-relevant attentional control for 76 young adults during the completion of a flanker task.

The ongoing cognitive processing of exclusionary social events: evidence from event-related potentials.

Exclusionary social events are known to cause alterations in neural activity and attention-related processes. However, the precise nature of these neural adjustments remains unknown as previous research has been limited to examining social interactions and exclusionary events as unitary phenomena. To address this limitation, we assessed neural activity during both inclusionary and exclusionary social interactions by examining event-related brain potentials at multiple points within each social event.

Family experience with eating disorders scale: a systematic way to engage the family in treatment.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to measure congruence in perceptions of family dynamics in eating-disordered adolescents and their parents.

Design And Methods: A pilot sample of 35 matched parent-child dyads completed either the Parent Version or the newly modified Client Version of the Family Experience with Eating Disorders Scale (FEEDS).

Findings: Differences between parent and child perceptions on subscale totals were not demonstrated, but statistically significant differences on select items were shown.

Developing Attention: Behavioral and Brain Mechanisms.

Brain networks underlying attention are present even during infancy and are critical for the developing ability of children to control their emotions and thoughts. For adults, individual differences in the efficiency of attentional networks have been related to neuromodulators and to genetic variations. We have examined the development of attentional networks and child temperament in a longitudinal study from infancy (7 months) to middle childhood (7 years).

Compensatory limb use and behavioral assessment of motor skill learning following sensorimotor cortex injury in a mouse model of ischemic stroke.

Mouse models have become increasingly popular in the field of behavioral neuroscience, and specifically in studies of experimental stroke. As models advance, it is important to develop sensitive behavioral measures specific to the mouse. The present protocol describes a skilled motor task for use in mouse models of stroke.

Age-dependent reorganization of peri-infarct "premotor" cortex with task-specific rehabilitative training in mice.

Background: The incidence of stroke in adulthood increases with advancing age, but there is little understanding of how poststroke treatment should be tailored by age.

Objective: The goal of this study was to determine if age and task specificity of rehabilitative training affect behavioral improvement and motor cortical organization after stroke.

Methods: Young and aged mice were trained to proficiency on the Pasta Matrix Reaching Task prior to lesion induction in primary motor cortex with endothelin-1.

Acoustic tractor beam.

Negative radiation forces act opposite to the direction of propagation, or net momentum, of a beam but have previously been challenging to definitively demonstrate. We report an experimental acoustic tractor beam generated by an ultrasonic array operating on macroscopic targets (>1 cm) to demonstrate the negative radiation forces and to map out regimes over which they dominate, which we compare to simulations. The result and the geometrically simple configuration show that the effect is due to nonconservative forces, produced by redirection of a momentum flux from the angled sides of a target and not by conservative forces from a potential energy gradient.

Coregulation in Romantic Partners' Attachment Styles: A Longitudinal Investigation.

The goal of the present research was to examine the coregulation of partner-specific attachment security in romantic relationships. We studied a sample of 172 couples 5 times over 1 year. At each assessment wave, partners independently completed a self-report measure of their security in the relationship.

The Ycf54 protein is part of the membrane component of Mg-protoporphyrin IX monomethyl ester cyclase from barley (Hordeum vulgare L.).

The biosynthesis of chlorophyll has been demonstrated to require an extensive set of enzymes, the initial stages of which are shared with the synthesis of heme. Of these enzymes, the most enigmatic is the Mg-protoporphyrin IX monomethyl ester cyclase (EC 1.14.

Fatigue in the presence of coronary heart disease.

Background: Fatigue is a prevalent and disabling symptom associated with many acute and chronic conditions, including acute myocardial infarction and chronic heart failure. Fatigue has not been explored in patients with stable coronary heart disease (CHD).

Objectives: The purpose of this partially mixed sequential dominant status study was to (a) describe fatigue in patients with stable CHD; (b) determine if specific demographic (gender, age, education, income), physiological (hypertension, hyperlipidemia), or psychological (depressive symptoms) variables were correlated with fatigue; and (c) determine if fatigue was associated with health-related quality of life.

A new species of the Rhinella margaritifera species group (Anura, Bufonidae) from the montane forest of the Selva Central, Peru.

We describe a new species of the bufonid toad genus Rhinella from transition montane forest of the buffer zones of the Yanachaga-Chemillén National Park and the Pui Pui Protected Forest (eastern slopes of Andes, Selva Central, Peru). The new species belongs to the Rhinella margaritifera species group (confirmed by mtDNA data) and differs from all its members by the absence of tympanic membrane and tympanic annulus. It is characterized by medium size (SVL 57.