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β-Endorphin and sex differentially modulate the response to EtOH in a sitespecific manner
No full textThe effects of alcohol are multifaceted, involving brain circuits regulating reward, motivation, and stress, frequently via the endogenous opioid, beta-endorphin (β-E). It is currently unknown how alcohol affects neural circuit activation in females and how β-E affects ethanol\u27s ability to induce neuronal activation. Therefore, we investigated the impact of acute alcohol treatment on neuronal activation in reward-and stress-related brain circuitry in a sex-and β-E dependent manner. In this study, male and female control (C57BL/6J; β-E+/+) and β-E null (−/−) mice were injected intraperitoneally with 2 g/kg ethanol (EtOH) or saline. Post-injection, animals were sacrificed using ketamine/xylazine and perfused with saline followed by 4% paraformaldehyde. Brain sections (35 μm) were immunohistochemically processed for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), dopamine\u27s ratelimiting enzyme, and c-fos, a neuronal activation marker. The number of c-fos immunoreactive cell nuclei, THimmunoreactivity, and TH/c-fos-ir cells were quantified in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), ventral tegmental area (VTA), paraventricular nucleus (PVN), central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA), paraventricular thalamic nucleus (PVA) and Edinger-Westphal nucleus (EW). In females, EtOH increased c-fos expression in the CeA, PVN, EW and NAc shell, while c-fos expression in the VTA, and TH expression in the VTA and NAc, depended on a genotype and treatment interaction. In males, EtOH increased c-fos in the CeA and PVN. EtOH also increased the number of double-labeled cells in the Arc, but only in females. These results suggest that the neurons in females are inherently more sensitive to EtOH, emphasizing the importance of studying the relationship between sex and alcohol addiction
The Formation of the Arthurian Children\u27s Canon
Get PDFThe first children’s adaptation of Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur was written by James Knowles in the mid-19th century. In the 103 years between the publication of Knowles’ The Story of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table in 1860 and the release of Disney’s The Sword in the Stone in 1963, the tales in Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur were synthesized into a story that primarily focused on teaching moral lessons to readers. Knowles’ work, as well as works written by Sidney Lanier and Howard Pyle, adapted Malory’s stories by removing the sex and violence present in the medieval myths. These adaptations remade Arthurian stories into children’s literature, and, by doing so, drove the Arthurian canon into a creative dead end. During the Victorian and Edwardian eras, authors, publishers, educators, and theorists saw children’s literature as inherently didactic. Lanier’s adaptation, which became the dominant American children’s adaptation, removed the affair between Launcelot and Gwenyver that is prominent in Le Morte d’Arthur. Pyle, perhaps inspired in part by Knowles and Lanier before him, painted Arthur and his knights as romanticized models of gentlemanly behavior. Arthur was thereby turned from a morally gray cuckold into a simple exemplar of chivalry. Arthurian tales are and continue to be shared with audiences of all ages, but these 19th and early 20th adaptations constricted medieval Arthurian myths into a children’s canon of formulaic moral stories that ultimately limited its readership and creative innovations
Competitive Interactions Between Creek Chub (Semotilus atromaculatus) and Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) under the Influence of Rising Temperatures
Get PDFThe natural distribution of many freshwater fish species are limited by their thermal tolerances, both because a species cannot inhabit an area outside its tolerance range and because of increased stress when in environments approaching the limits of its tolerance range. Many species may mediate temperature change physiologically, behaviorally, or both but these changes often may change or compromise interspecific dynamics through the effects on feeding behavior, growth rate, immune responses, and social behavior. In the Appalachian Mountains, creek chub (Semotilus atromaculatus) are found in warm-water and cold-water streams, the latter of which are also inhabited by brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis). Brook trout have a lower tolerance for warmer temperatures than creek chub, and require higher oxygen concentrations, which decrease in warmer waters. As the temperatures of cold-water streams continue to increase due to anthropogenic climate change and land use, brook trout are under more thermal stress, which negatively affects their ability to compete with creek chub. To examine the influences that temperature has on competitive interactions between these species, we observed feeding behavior, aggression, and space use differences at three different temperatures (18°C, 20°C, and 22°C) among dyad pairs for all combinations of species (brook trout/brook trout, brook trout/creek chub, creek chub/creek chub). Results show that an increase in temperature causes decreased appetite and aggression in brook trout and increased competition between the two focal species. This may have implications in the range restriction of brook trout, and the decreased dominance of a top predator may lead to diverse impacts on stream community dynamics
Sexually Dimorphic Effects of Alcohol on Tyrosine Hydroxylase Receptors in the Mesolimbocortical Pathway
No full textAlcohol effects the brain in a sexually dimorphic manner. Men require more alcohol to become intoxicated, and the alcohol has a sedative effect. On the other hand, females are more prone to anxiety-like behaviors, and as a result, alcohol has a greater anxiolytic effect on females than it does on males. The exact mechanism that causes this difference is unknown, but it may have to do with an enzyme known as tyrosine hydroxylase (TH). Tyrosine hydroxylase is the rate-limiting enzyme in dopamine production. When a person consumes alcohol, the ethanol increases dopamine signaling in the mesolimbocortical reward pathway in the brain. Since TH is the rate limiting enzyme for dopamine production, I hypothesized that ethanol increases the amount of TH expression. Since females experience a greater anxiolytic effect in response to alcohol consumption than males, I also hypothesized that ethanol would produce a greater number of TH cell bodies in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the mesolimbocortical pathway, as well as increase the density of TH fibers in the nucleus accumbens more in females than in males. To test this hypothesis, naïve adult male and female mice were injected intraperitoneally with either 2g/kg ethanol or saline. Ninety minutes after injection, the mice were anesthetized, transcardially perfused, and their brains were harvested. The brains were then sliced into 35micron thick sections, and were subjected to immunohistochemistry where they were stained with TH and c-fos antibodies before being mounted on slides. The slides were then analyzed, and the number of TH cell bodies in the VTA were recorded for each mouse. In addition, the thickness of the TH fibers in the nucleus accumbens was also recorded for each mouse. The results showed increased TH expression in the ethanol injected mice. In addition, female ethanol injected mice showed greater levels of TH cell bodies in the ventral tegmental area than male ethanol injected mice
Evaluation of Best Management Practices for Stream Retoration Projects
Get PDFBest Management Practices (BMPs) are often used to describe acceptable practices that could be implemented to protect water quality and promote soil conservation at any particular location. Toe logs, cross vanes, and riparian plantings are just a few of the many possible BMPs used in stream restoration projects to anchor bank sediments, control the direction of water flow, re-establish riffles and pools, and improve the overall aquatic habitat. Eighteen impaired sites with implemented BMPs and four forested (reference) sites across four Pennsylvania counties were electro-shocked for fish populations. The difference in fish populations before and after the installation of BMPs at all eighteen impaired sites were compared and served as one of the many possible ways to assess the effectiveness of the implemented BMPs. It was expected that the streams with a greater quantity of BMPs installed would result in healthier, more abundant, fish populations. The goal of this research is to gain an understanding of which BMPs are most effective in improving fish habitat and then use this information to create a ranking of BMPs or BMP categories in order to guide restoration managers toward the most effective techniques for the site-specific conditions
The Role of Teacher Capacity and Instructional Practices in English Learners’ Literacy Development
Get PDFThe self-study examined the impact of teaching strategies and methods used regarding students who are bilingual and biliterate (ELLs). Preliminary research was conducted in order to isolate several notable teaching strategies and methods. The isolated teaching strategies and methods were peer-reviewed. The peer-review indicated the implementation of said strategies would support the language and literacy development of ELLs while also allowing students to participate more fully in classroom activities and lessons. Upon isolating a minimum of 15 teaching strategies and methods, lesson plans were created and evaluated in order to determine how such strategies and methods impact teaching practices
Hypobaria and Hypoxia Exert Separate Effects on HIF Expression in Drosophila melanogaster
Get PDFGlobal surface temperatures have been rising alarmingly over recent centuries due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Some of the largest temperature effects have been found at the poles and in mountain regions such as the Himalayas where new higher altitude habitat is potentially available for insect populations. While other studies have examined low oxygen effects on development, we are aware of none that have examined the effects of low pressure; low levels of oxygen (hypoxia) typically stimulate the adaptive expression of hypoxia inducible factor genes (HIFs)
Destellos Del Horror: El Sida en La Obra de Reinaldo Arenas
No full textEste artículo estudia las respuestas éticas y estéticas desarrolladas por el escritor cubano Reinaldo Arenas en relación con el VIH/sida en diferentes textos (cartas íntimas, apuntes y novelas autoficcionales). La enfermedad en Arenas es impulso para la escritura autobiográfica, la introspección y el conocimiento de sí. Se propone que el autor metaforiza el VIH/sida en los años previos a su diagnóstico (1985-1987) e inmediatamente posteriores a este como una primera toma de conciencia de la cercanía de la muerte. Una vez asumida la enfermedad, Arenas despliega una labor desenfrenada para concluir el proyecto de su obra antes de morir. Se analizan las estrategias narrativas en la novela autoficcional El color del verano, entre ellas el empleo de epístolas y oraciones, utilizadas por Arenas para dotar de un registro íntimo a la enfermedad, aún dentro del estilo paródico de esta obra. En el último epígrafe, se indaga en los motivos por los que Arenas se mantuvo reticente a la hora de mostrar abiertamente en sus obras finales sus padecimientos físicos y psíquicos a causa del sida y se analiza esta reticencia como una estrategia política
Poetic Agency: Edith Jacobson’s Captivity
No full textImprisoned by the Gestapo, German-Jewish psychoanalyst Edith Jacobson (1897-1978) managed to escape Nazism and successfully continued her psychoanalytic career in American exile. This essay is the first of two on Jacobson\u27s prison notebook, newly published under the title Gefängnisaufzeichnungen. It focuses on the interdisciplinary encounter of prison poetry with psychoanalysis, illustrating the unique therapeutic capacity of poetry to ease pain in states of utter deprivation, and placing specific emphasis on Jacobson’s complex biography and the discovery of her manuscript notebook
Sedimentation Rates in Paired Streams During High Precipitation Events on Elk Creek
Get PDFA large concern in today’s watersheds are the impairments on sediment and nutrient in the Chesapeake Bay. Many threats come from agricultural landscapes that run along large streams, creeks, and rivers. Using best management practices such as riparian buffers and exclusion of livestock are major factors that help in stream restoration. This research will show sediment loss, along with other features like ammonia and nitrate in small watersheds along Elk Creek in Centre County, Pennsylvania. Water samples were taken every six hours by autosamplers from the barnyard upstream and downstream locations, and at the forest upstream and downstream site. Data was analyzed from the samples for field parameters and turbidity. Agricultural stream had higher valves for pH, specific conductivity, and turbidity. Forest stream had a higher valve for dissolved oxygen. Weekly average of ammonia was 2 times higher in the agricultural stream, along with nitrate 15 times compared to the forest stream. Due to weather condensations, the forest saw very little to almost no soil loss in the fall compared to the agricultural stream always losing soil every day, averaging 18,000 kg of sediment lost a week. This study is will help determine the affects of a stream restoration, that is placed to happen in the summer of 2020