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The neuromuscular junction (NMJ) of larval Drosophila is widely used as a genetic model for basic neuroscience research. The presynaptic side of the NMJ is formed by axon terminals of motor neurons, the soma of which reside in the ventral ganglion of the central nervous system (CNS). Here we describe a streamlined protocol for dissection and immunostaining of the Drosophila CNS and NMJ that allows processing of multiple genotypes within a single staining tube. We also present a computer script called Automated Image Analysis with Background Subtraction which facilitates identification of motor nuclei, quantification of pixel intensity, and background subtraction. Together, these techniques provide a pipeline for neuroscientists to compare levels of different biomolecules in motor nuclei. We conclude that these methods should be adaptable to a variety of different cell and tissue types for the improvement of efficiency, reproducibility, and throughput during data quantification. © 2019 The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press.

Mantle plumes provide an attractive mechanism for generating short-duration, voluminous magmas in large igneous provinces (LIPs) while at the same time providing an explanation for the frequently associated break-up of supercontinents. This model has also been invoked for the Ferrar large igneous province (FLIP) in Antarctica, which zircon and baddeleyite U–Pb dating shows was emplaced over a short duration at 182.7 ± 0.5 Ma, contemporaneously with fragmentation of the supercontinent Gondwanaland. Here, we present platinum-group-element (PGE) and Os-isotopic data for the Basement Sill in the McMurdo Dry Valleys – a part of the FLIP – that challenge the plume interpretation. The Basement Sill samples studied are cumulate-textured gabbro to norite, and pyroxenite with minor ferro- or leuco-lithofacies with MgO ranging from 2 to 19 wt%. The 187Os/188Os values range from 0.1609 ± 0.003 (2σ) to 8.100 ± 1.600 (2σ); the minimum value overlaps with a previously published estimated initial 187Os/188Os ratio for Ferrar magmas of 0.145 ± 0.049 (2σ). The PGE abundance patterns for the Basement Sill define positive, convex-shaped slopes between the IPGE (Os, Ir and Ru) and PPGE (Pt, Pd and Rh). The most significant feature of the entire data set is the extreme sub-chondritic Os/Ir ratios (<0.33), values which are atypical of plume-derived magmas. These low Os/Ir ratios are more consistent with the alternative view that FLIP resulted from the decompression melting of mantle with a fossil subduction zone signature along the proto-Pacific margin of Gondwanaland, disaggregated by rifting related to plate rearrangements during supercontinent break-up. We propose that hydrated fossil subduction zones elsewhere on Earth might account for other short-lived voluminous magmatic events that form LIPs. The remarkably short duration of these events may be due to rapid decompression of hydrated mantle allowing instantaneous large-volume melting which then peters out quickly (<1 Myr) as H2O is expelled from the source rocks and into the melt. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.

Greater public visibility, growing social acceptance, and institutional recognition have opened up the opportunity for many contemporary biracial individuals to choose from a variety of racial identity options. Although macro-level (e.g., legal) barriers have all but disappeared, microlevel challenges (e.g., multiracial microaggressions) still persist for some in the growing biracial population. Thus, it is important to understand how racial identity options are exercised differently within and across particular social contexts, and how these options in turn affect biracial individuals’ development. In this chapter, first we discuss theory and research on racial identity and identification among contemporary biracial people, followed by a brief review of work on the contextual factors that influence racial identity formation in this population. Next, we explore extant research on the association of racial identity to a host of developmental outcomes (e.g., depression, self-esteem, psychological well-being, life satisfaction). In recognition of the heterogeneous nature of the biracial population, we review, where available, research for specific biracial subgroups (e.g., Black-White, Latino-White, and Asian-White). Drawing on relevant theory and empirical findings, we will then make specific recommendations on how to support biracial children’s racial identity formation and social-emotional development and on how to enhance biracial adults’ functioning. Finally, we summarize important gaps in current research and identify needed directions for future research.

This study compared the Stepwise Interview, Cognitive Interview, and Reality Interview in detecting deception with inmates. The dependent measures were the amount of unique details provided during the free narrative and mnemonics and the number of words provided during the free narrative and mnemonics of each interview. The Stepwise Interview generated 58.3% accuracy, the Cognitive Interview generated 70.0% accuracy, and the Reality Interview generated 93.3% accuracy. The different tasks of these interviews increased the differences between honest and deceptive statements and therefore, increased the accuracy in detection of deception. Differential recall enhancement is used to explain the findings.

This article presents select findings from an interpretive phenomenological study which aimed to describe the lived experience of parental bereavement. Six parents, each of whom experienced the death of a child due to cancer at least one year prior, participated in conversational interviews to share what it has been like for them since their child's death. Heideggerian (1962) phenomenology provided the philosophical underpinnings of the study, while van Manen's (1997) phenomenological method guided data collection and analysis. From this methodological approach, a structure of the meaning of parental bereavement experience was revealed. Profound suffering emerged as one essential theme. Pertinent findings related to this theme are discussed. Parents share ways others might minimize their suffering and provide support in their lifelong journey towards healing. Findings will enhance nurses' practice of providing bereavement care, which is an expectation of quality palliative care. Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evolutionary approaches are gaining popularity in conservation science, with diverse strategies applied in efforts to support adaptive population outcomes. Yet conservation strategies differ in the type of adaptive outcomes they promote as conservation goals. For instance, strategies based on genetic or demographic rescue implicitly target adaptive population states whereas strategies utilizing transgenerational plasticity or evolutionary rescue implicitly target adaptive processes. These two goals are somewhat polar: adaptive state strategies optimize current population fitness, which should reduce phenotypic and/or genetic variance, reducing adaptability in changing or uncertain environments; adaptive process strategies increase genetic variance, causing maladaptation in the short term, but increase adaptability over the long term. Maladaptation refers to suboptimal population fitness, adaptation refers to optimal population fitness, and (mal)adaptation refers to the continuum of fitness variation from maladaptation to adaptation. Here, we present a conceptual classification for conservation that implicitly considers (mal)adaptation in the short-term and long-term outcomes of conservation strategies. We describe cases of how (mal)adaptation is implicated in traditional conservation strategies, as well as strategies that have potential as a conservation tool but are relatively underutilized. We use a meta-analysis of a small number of available studies to evaluate whether the different conservation strategies employed are better suited toward increasing population fitness across multiple generations. We found weakly increasing adaptation over time for transgenerational plasticity, genetic rescue, and evolutionary rescue. Demographic rescue was generally maladaptive, both immediately after conservation intervention and after several generations. Interspecific hybridization was adaptive only in the F1 generation, but then rapidly leads to maladaptation. Management decisions that are made to support the process of adaptation must adequately account for (mal)adaptation as a potential outcome and even as a tool to bolster adaptive capacity to changing conditions.

Floristic quality assessments (FQA) are widely used to assess ecological condition, based on plant species' coefficients of conservatism, or C values, but these values are typically assigned at the state level, limiting their regional consistency. We developed ecoregional C values (eC) using standard expert-based team review, partly informed by preexisting state C values for the 5 EPA ecoregions that cover New England and part of New York. We evaluated a total of 3686 taxa, with separate eC values for each ecoregion in which they occurred. We compared the performance of the C and eC values using the response of FQA metrics (mean C, cover-weighted mean C) to a disturbance gradient, based on readily available datasets in Maine and Vermont. The eC values typically performed moderately better than state values and provide a region-wide tool for assessment methods. All eC values are available on the Universal FQA website. © 2019 Humboldt Field Research Institute. All rights reserved.

Background: The movement profile of older adults with compromised function is unknown, as is the relationship between these profiles and the development of major mobility disability (MMD)-a critical clinical outcome. We first describe the dimensions of movement in older adults with compromised function and then examine whether these dimensions predict the onset of MMD. Methods: Older adults at risk for MMD (N = 1,022, mean age = 78.7 years) were randomized to receive a structured physical activity intervention or health education control. We assessed MMD in 6-month intervals (average follow-up of 2.2 years until incident MMD), with activity assessed at baseline, 6-, 12- and 24-month follow-up via accelerometry. Results: A principal components analysis of 11 accelerometer-derived metrics yielded three components representing lifestyle movement (LM), extended bouts of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and stationary body posture. LM accounted for the greatest proportion of variance in movement (53%). Within health education, both baseline LM (HR = 0.74; 95% CI 0.62 to 0.88) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (HR = 0.69; 95% CI 0.54 to 0.87) were associated with MMD, whereas only LM was associated with MMD within physical activity (HR = 0.74; 95% CI 0.61 to 0.89). There were similar nonlinear relationships present for LM in both physical activity and health education (p ¡ .04), whereby risk for MMD was lower among individuals with higher levels of LM. Conclusions: Both LM and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity should be central in treatment regimens for older adults at risk for MMD.

Temperate marine ecosystems globally are undergoing regime shifts from dominance by habitat-forming kelps to dominance by opportunistic algal turfs. While the environmental drivers of shifts to turf are generally well-documented, the feedback mechanisms that stabilize novel turf-dominated ecosystems remain poorly resolved. Here, we document a decline of kelp Saccharina latissima between 1980 and 2018 at sites at the southernmost extent of kelp forests in the Northwest Atlantic and their replacement by algal turf. We examined the drivers of a shift to turf and feedback mechanisms that stabilize turf reefs. Kelp replacement by turf was linked to a significant multi-decadal increase in sea temperature above an upper thermal threshold for kelp survival. In the turf-dominated ecosystem, 45% of S. latissima were attached to algal turf rather than rocky substrate due to preemption of space. Turf-attached kelp required significantly (2 to 4 times) less force to detach from the substrate, with an attendant pattern of lower survival following 2 major wave events as compared to rock-attached kelp. Turf-attached kelp allocated a significantly greater percentage of their biomass to the anchoring structure (holdfast), with a consequent energetic trade-off of slower growth. The results indicate a shift in community dominance from kelp to turf driven by thermal stress and stabilized by ecological feedbacks of lower survival and slower growth of kelp recruited to turf.

This study examines how children's age, gender and interviewer gender affected children's testimony after witnessing a theft. Children (N=127, age = 6-11 years) witnessed an experimenter (E1) find money, which he/she may/may not have taken. E1 then asked the children to falsely deny that the theft occurred, falsely accuse E1 of taking the money, or tell the truth when interviewed by a second experimenter. Falsely denying or falsely accusing influenced children's forthcomingness and quality of their testimony. When accusing, boys were significantly more willing than girls to disclose about the theft earlier and without being asked directly. When truthfully accusing, children gave lengthier testimony to same-gendered adults. When denying, children were significantly more willing to disclose the theft earlier to male interviewers than to females. As children aged, they were significantly less likely to lie, more likely to disclose earlier when accusing, and give lengthier and more consistent testimony.