Studies and research in home economics education reported by colleges and universities, with ... supplement indicating studies reported in published form. U.S. Department of the interior. Office of education. Washington, D.C.

Multigraphed.

The DVD animal model of schizophrenia: Effects of low maternal vitamin D on brain dopamine

Background: We have previously shown that the offspring of vitamin D3 depleted rats have enlarged ventricles and altered neurotrophin profiles (reduced NGF and GDNF). These findings enhance the biological plausibility that low prenatal vitamin D may be a risk factor for schizophrenia. Our recent behavioural studies have found that adult rats with developmental vitamin D deficiency (DVD) have a subtle increase in baseline locomotor activity and a heightened response to dopamine (DA) antagonists. The aim of this study was to investigate brain DA neurochemistry in the DVD model. Methods: We examined cerebrums and striatal tissue from neonates and a variety of brain tissues from the remaining littermates at adulthood. DA, DOPAC, HVA, serotonin and 5HIAA were analysed by HPLC. Single point comparisons for DA1, DA2 and NMDA receptors were also assessed in these tissues. Results: Significant increases in DA and HVA were found in brains from DVD deplete neonates (P=0.01). However, DA and its metabolites were not increased in either the neonate or adult striatum, however there was a trend towards increased DA and its metabolites in the accumbens (P=0.1). Receptor densities were unaffected by prenatal vitamin D levels. Conclusions: Although the effect of maternal diet appears to increase DA production and turnover in neonatal brain, this does not persist into adulthood. Thus other factors must underlie the increased locomotor activity noted in these animals. Future experiments will concentrate on monitoring accumbens and striatal DA release and turnover using microdialysis in pharmacologically challenged behavioural paradigms. References: Eyles D, Brown J; Mackay-Sim A, McGrath J, Feron F. (2003) Vitamin D3 and brain development. Neuroscience 118 (3) 641–653. Burne T, McGrath J, Eyles D, Mackay-Sim A. Behavioural characterization of vitamin D receptor knockout mice. (2005) Behavioural Brain Res: 157 299–308.

Étude sur l'effet du programme Atelier d'orientation au travail sur la motivation à la fréquentation scolaire du niveau secondaire

Cette étude s'inscrit dans le cadre d'une recherche universitaire dans le domaine de l'éducation. Le but ciblé par celle-ci est d'évaluer l'impact ou l'effet d'un programme d'intervention sur les jeunes décrocheurs. Le programme d'intervention choisit est un programme gouvernemental fédéral, intitulé "Atelier d'orientation au travail (A.O.T.)". Il fait partie des programmes Défi et est parrainé par le ministère de l'Emploi et Immigration Canada, sous le département du développement de l'emploi. Le programme A.C.T a vu le jour en 1985 et a donc à son actif quatre ans d'opérations. Le principal objectif de ce programme est de prévenir l'abandon scolaire au secondaire. La présente recherche vise à fournir un éclairage particulier de l'impact ou effet qu'a ce programme sur la perception que se fait un jeune de son intérêt et de sa motivation à fréquenter l'école. À cet égard, certains étudiants du deuxième cycle du secondaire ont étés sondés à deux reprises par l'entremise du test de perception appelé; "Prédiction d'abandon scolaire (P.A.S.)". Ils ont passé ce test avant et après l'expérimentation du programme d'intervention A.O.T. Le test P.A.S. donne un indice sur la prédisposition d'abandon scolaire en sondant trois sections distinctes de la vie du jeune. La première partie permet de recueillir des informations sur le vécu du jeune à l'école, la deuxième sur l'aspect personnel et la troisième sur ce qui a trait à sa famille. […]

Effet d'une méthode d'exploration professionnelle sur l'acquisition de connaissances du monde du travail pour les élèves de secondaire III

Au Québec, plusieurs documents du Ministère de l'éducation soulignent l'importance de fournir aux jeunes du secondaire une meilleure information scolaire et professionnelle. Le récent document produit par le Ministère de l'éducation (1982a) intitulé La formation professionnelle des .jeunes, mentionne que "les élèves devraient bénéficier d'une meilleure préparation à la vie active par l'acquisition de connaissances utiles à l'intégration professionnelle, comme des connaissances sur les caractéristiques de la main-d'oeuvre, etc." (p. 32). Cette affirmation est née de plusieurs critiques formulées depuis la réforme scolaire des années '60 à l'effet que l'école publique ne préparait pas suffisamment les jeunes au marché du travail. De plus, le Ministère de l'éducation a rendu obligatoire un nouveau programme d'information scolaire et professionnelle pour tous les élèves du secondaire. Ce programme s'est implanté graduellement, en commençant par les élèves de secondaire I, depuis septembre 1983. Ce programme "vise à habiliter l'élève à faire des choix éclairés d'éducation et de formation professionnelle, choix congruents par rapport à lui-même et réalistes par rapport au marché du travail" (1981a, p. 14). Son contenu dénote un souci de rendre plus significatifs les expériences et les apprentissages des élèves de façon à faciliter leurs choix scolaires et professionnels. […]

Value Of Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy In Papillary Thyroid Cancer: Initial Results Of A Prospective Trial.

The objectives of the study were to evaluate the performance of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in detecting occult metastases in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and to correlate their presence to tumor and patient characteristics. Twenty-three clinically node-negative PTC patients (21 females, mean age 48.4 years) were prospectively enrolled. Patients were submitted to sentinel lymph node (SLN) lymphoscintigraphy prior to total thyroidectomy. Ultrasound-guided peritumoral injections of (99m)Tc-phytate (7.4 MBq) were performed. Cervical single-photon emission computed tomography and computed tomography (SPECT/CT) images were acquired 15 min after radiotracer injection and 2 h prior to surgery. Intra-operatively, SLNs were located with a gamma probe and removed along with non-SLNs located in the same neck compartment. Papillary thyroid carcinoma, SLNs and non-SLNs were submitted to histopathology analysis. Sentinel lymph nodes were located in levels: II in 34.7 % of patients; III in 26 %; IV in 30.4 %; V in 4.3 %; VI in 82.6 % and VII in 4.3 %. Metastases in the SLN were noted in seven patients (30.4 %), in non-SLN in three patients (13.1 %), and in the lateral compartments in 20 % of patients. There were significant associations between lymph node (LN) metastases and the presence of angio-lymphatic invasion (p = 0.04), extra-thyroid extension (p = 0.03) and tumor size (p = 0.003). No correlations were noted among LN metastases and patient age, gender, stimulated thyroglobulin levels, positive surgical margins, aggressive histology and multifocal lesions. Sentinel lymph node biopsy can detect occult metastases in PTC. The risk of a metastatic SLN was associated with extra-thyroid extension, larger tumors and angio-lymphatic invasion. This may help guide future neck dissection, patient surveillance and radioiodine therapy doses.

Gut Bacteria Products Prevent Aki Induced By Ischemia-reperfusion.

Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are fermentation end products produced by the intestinal microbiota and have anti-inflammatory and histone deacetylase-inhibiting properties. Recently, a dual relationship between the intestine and kidneys has been unraveled. Therefore, we evaluated the role of SCFA in an AKI model in which the inflammatory process has a detrimental role. We observed that therapy with the three main SCFAs (acetate, propionate, and butyrate) improved renal dysfunction caused by injury. This protection was associated with low levels of local and systemic inflammation, oxidative cellular stress, cell infiltration/activation, and apoptosis. However, it was also associated with an increase in autophagy. Moreover, SCFAs inhibited histone deacetylase activity and modulated the expression levels of enzymes involved in chromatin modification. In vitro analyses showed that SCFAs modulated the inflammatory process, decreasing the maturation of dendritic cells and inhibiting the capacity of these cells to induce CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cell proliferation. Furthermore, SCFAs ameliorated the effects of hypoxia in kidney epithelial cells by improving mitochondrial biogenesis. Notably, mice treated with acetate-producing bacteria also had better outcomes after AKI. Thus, we demonstrate that SCFAs improve organ function and viability after an injury through modulation of the inflammatory process, most likely via epigenetic modification.

Florivory and sex ratio in Annona dioica St. Hil. (Annonaceae) in the Pantanal at Nhecolândia, southwestern Brazil

Annona dioica St. Hil. is a species that grows to approximately 2 m tall and is very widespread in the cerrados. Individual plants of this androdioecious species produce numerous hermaphroditic or male flowers, but few fruits. The aim of this study was to determine the sex ratio among the plants and to compare the frequency of herbivory between male and hermaphroditic flowers. The fieldwork was done by studying flowering plants in grasslands used as pasture for cattle at Fazenda Nhumirim. One hundred and forty-seven male plants and 71 hermaphroditic plants were examined and produced a total of 194 and 94 flowers, respectively, during the study period. The male:hermaphrodite sex ratio was 2.07:1, and was similar to the male:hermaphrodite flower ratio of 2.06:1. The frequency of florivory rate in hermaphrodites was significantly higher than in male flowers (33.0%, n = 31, and 25.7%, n = 50, respectively; G = 14.83; d.f. = 1; p < 0.001). The mean fresh weights of male and hermaphroditic flowers were significantly different (8.38 ± 2.40 g vs. 6.93 ± 2.68 g, respectively; 0 ± SEM; n = 50 each; t = 2.479; d.f. = 49; p = 0.017). These results indicate that the low fruit set in this species can be explained by the sex ratio, the greater herbivory of hermaphroditic flowers and the probable absence of pollinators.

Intranasal vaccination with messenger RNA as a new approach in gene therapy: Use against tuberculosis

Background: mRNAs are highly versatile, non-toxic molecules that are easy to produce and store, which can allow transient protein expression in all cell types. The safety aspects of mRNA-based treatments in gene therapy make this molecule one of the most promising active components of therapeutic or prophylactic methods. The use of mRNA as strategy for the stimulation of the immune system has been used mainly in current strategies for the cancer treatment but until now no one tested this molecule as vaccine for infectious disease. Results: We produce messenger RNA of Hsp65 protein from Mycobacterium leprae and show that vaccination of mice with a single dose of 10 mu g of naked mRNA-Hsp65 through intranasal route was able to induce protection against subsequent challenge with virulent strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Moreover it was shown that this immunization was associated with specific production of IL-10 and TNF-alpha in spleen. In order to determine if antigen presenting cells (APCs) present in the lung are capable of capture the mRNA, labeled mRNA-Hsp65 was administered by intranasal route and lung APCs were analyzed by flow cytometry. These experiments showed that after 30 minutes until 8 hours the populations of CD11c(+), CD11b(+) and CD19(+) cells were able to capture the mRNA. We also demonstrated in vitro that mRNA-Hsp65 leads nitric oxide (NO) production through Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7). Conclusions: Taken together, our results showed a novel and efficient strategy to control experimental tuberculosis, besides opening novel perspectives for the use of mRNA in vaccines against infectious diseases and clarifying the mechanisms involved in the disease protection we noticed as well.

Azimuthal Anisotropy of pi(0) Production in Au plus Au Collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV: Path-Length Dependence of Jet Quenching and the Role of Initial Geometry

We have measured the azimuthal anisotropy of pi(0) production for 1 < p(T) < 18 GeV/c for Au + Au collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV. The observed anisotropy shows a gradual decrease for 3 less than or similar to p(T) less than or similar to 7-10 GeV/c, but remains positive beyond 10 GeV/c. The magnitude of this anisotropy is underpredicted, up to at least similar to 10 GeV/c, by current perturbative QCD (PQCD) energy-loss model calculations. An estimate of the increase in anisotropy expected from initial-geometry modification due to gluon saturation effects and fluctuations is insufficient to account for this discrepancy. Calculations that implement a path-length dependence steeper than what is implied by current PQCD energy-loss models show reasonable agreement with the data.

Elliptic and Hexadecapole Flow of Charged Hadrons in Au plus Au Collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV

Differential measurements of the elliptic (upsilon(2)) and hexadecapole (upsilon(4)) Fourier flow coefficients are reported for charged hadrons as a function of transverse momentum (p(T)) and collision centrality or number of participant nucleons (N(part)) for Au + Au collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV/ The upsilon(2,4) measurements at pseudorapidity vertical bar eta vertical bar <= 0.35, obtained with four separate reaction-plane detectors positioned in the range 1.0 < vertical bar eta vertical bar < 3.9, show good agreement, indicating the absence of significant Delta eta-dependent nonflow correlations. Sizable values for upsilon(4)(p(T)) are observed with a ratio upsilon(4)(p(T), N(part))/upsilon(2)(2)(p(T), N(part)) approximate to 0.8 for 50 less than or similar to N(part) less than or similar to 200, which is compatible with the combined effects of a finite viscosity and initial eccentricity fluctuations. For N(part) greater than or similar to 200 this ratio increases up to 1.7 in the most central collisions.

Transverse momentum dependence of eta meson suppression in Au plus Au collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV

New measurements by the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider for. production at midrapidity as a function of transverse momentum ((PT)) and collision centrality in root s(NN) = 200 GeV Au + Au and p + p collisions are presented. They indicate nuclear modification factors (R(AA)) which are similar in both magnitude and trend to those found in earlier pi(0) measurements. Linear fits to R(AA) as a function of (PT) in 5-20 GeV/c show that the slope is consistent with zero within two standard deviations at all centralities, although a slow rise cannot be excluded. Having different statistical and systematic uncertainties, the pi(0) and eta measurements are complementary at high (PT); thus, along with the extended (PT) range of these data they can provide additional constraints for theoretical modeling and the extraction of transport properties.

Transition in Yield and Azimuthal Shape Modification in Dihadron Correlations in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions

Hard-scattered parton probes produced in collisions of large nuclei indicate large partonic energy loss, possibly with collective produced-medium response to the lost energy. We present measurements of pi(0) trigger particles at transverse momenta p(T)(t) = 4-12 GeV/c and associated charged hadrons (p(T)(a) = 0.5-7 GeV/c) vs relative azimuthal angle Delta phi in Au + Au and p + p collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV. The Au + Au distribution at low p(T)(a), whose shape has been interpreted as a medium effect, is modified for p(T)(t) < 7 GeV/c. At higher p(T)(t), the data are consistent with unmodified or very weakly modified shapes, even for the lowest measured p(T)(a), which quantitatively challenges some medium response models. The associated yield of hadrons opposing the trigger particle in Au + Au relative to p + p (I(AA)) is suppressed at high p(T) (I(AA) approximate to 0.35-0.5), but less than for inclusive suppression (R(AA) approximate to 0.2).

Enhanced Production of Direct Photons in Au plus Au Collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV and Implications for the Initial Temperature

The production of e(+)e(-) pairs for m(e+e-) < 0.3 GeV/c(2) and 1< p(T) < 5 GeV/c is measured in p + p and Au + Au collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV. An enhanced yield above hadronic sources is observed. Treating the excess as photon internal conversions, the invariant yield of direct photons is deduced. In central Au + Au collisions, the excess of the direct photon yield over p + p is exponential in transverse momentum, with an inverse slope T = 221 +/- 19(stat) +/- 19(syst) MeV. Hydrodynamical models with initial temperatures ranging from T(init) similar to 300-600 MeV at times of similar to 0.6-0.15 fm/c after the collision are in qualitative agreement with the data. Lattice QCD predicts a phase transition to quark gluon plasma at similar to 170 MeV.