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The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a statistically significant difference in parents' perceptions of frequency and effectiveness regarding parental involvement among various demographic groups (ethnicity, education level, socio-economic status, number of children in the home) based on Epstein's (2007) six typologies of parental involvement. Parents were asked to reflect on the degree to which their child's school carried out the activities informed by the six parental involvement typologies of Epstein's Model of Parental Involvement (i.e., parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision-making, and collaborating with the community). Findings indicated that parents in this study had significantly different views regarding the implementation of effective parental involvement behaviors by schools. Results from the study will provide districts with knowledge on how to better serve parents as well as close the gap in communication between home and school.

Identifying changes in fish growth is important for accurate scientific advice used for fisheries management, because environmental change is affecting fish growth and size-at-age is a critical component of contemporary stock assessment methods. Growth-increment biochronologies are time series of growth-increments derived from hard parts of marine organisms that may reveal dynamics of somatic fish growth. Here we use time series of otolith increments of two fish stocks to fit and compare a biologically derived growth model and a generalized statistical model. Both models produced similar trajectories of annual growth trends, but the biologically based one was more precise and predicted smaller interannual fluctuations than the statistical model. The biologically based model strongly indicated covariance between anabolic and catabolic rates among individuals. Otolith size-at-age did not closely match fish length-at-age, and consequently the growth model could not accurately hindcast observed fish length-at-age. For these reasons, fitted growth dynamics from otolith biochronologies may best suited to identify growth rate fluctuations, understand past drivers of growth dynamics, and improve ecological forecast in the face of rapid environmental change. La determination des variations de la croissance des poissons est importante pour la formulation d'avis scientifiques exacts pour la gestion des peches, puisque les changements environnementaux ont une incidence sur la croissance des poissons et que la taille selon l'age est un element cle des methodes contemporaines d'evaluation des stocks. Les biochronologies d'increments de croissance sont des series chronologiques d'increments de croissance obtenues de parties dures d'organismes marins, qui peuvent reveler la dynamique de la croissance somatique des poissons. Nous utilisons des series chronologiques d'increments de croissance d'otolites provenant de deux stocks de poissons pour caler et comparer un modele de croissance fonde sur la biologie et un modele statistique generalise. Les deux modeles produisent des trajectoires semblables des tendances de la croissance annuelle, mais le modele biologique est plus precis et predit de plus petites fluctuations interannuelles que le modele statistique. Le modele biologique fait clairement ressortir la covariance des taux anaboliques et cataboliques individuels. La taille selon l'age des otolites ne concorde pas bien avec la taille selon l'age des poissons et, par consequent, le modele de croissance ne peut produire des predictions a posteriori exactes de la longueur des poissons selon l'age. Pour ces raisons, la plus grande utilite de la dynamique de croissance obtenue a partir de biochronologies d'otolites pourrait etre pour la determination des fluctuations des taux de croissance dans le but de comprendre les facteurs determinants passes de la dynamique de croissance et d'ameliorer les previsions des conditions ecologiques dans un contexte de changements climatiques rapides. [Traduit par la Redaction], Introduction Understanding the processes underlying growth is critical for modeling fish population dynamics, as size-at-age is a critical component of contemporary age- and size-structured stock assessment methods (Lorenzen 2016). Environmentally [...]

Analysis of growth increments in the hard parts of animals (e.g., fish otoliths) can be used to assess how organisms respond to variability in environmental conditions. In this study, mixed-effects models were applied to otolith data simulated for two hypothetical fish populations with assumed biological parameters and known growth response to environmental variability. Our objective was to assess the sensitivity of environment-growth relationships derived from otolith biochronologies when challenged with a range of realistic ageing errors and sampling regimes. We found that the development of a robust biochronology and the precision of environmental effect estimates can be seriously hampered by insufficient sample size. Moreover, the introduction of even moderate ageing error into the data can cause substantial underestimation of environmental sources of growth variation. This underestimation diminished our capacity to correctly quantify the known environment-growth relationship and more generally will lead to overly conservative conclusions concerning the growth response to environmental change. Careful study design, reduction of ageing errors, and large sample sizes are critical prerequisites if robust inferences are to be made from biochronological data. L'analyse des increments de croissance preserves dans les parties dures d'animaux (comme les otolites de poissons) peut etre utilisee pour evaluer les reactions des organismes aux variations des conditions ambiantes. Des modeles a effets mixtes ont ete appliques a des donnees d'otolites simulees pour deux populations de poissons hypothetiques en integrant des parametres biologiques presumes et une reaction connue de la croissance a la variabilite des conditions ambiantes. L'objectif consistait a evaluer la sensibilite des relations entre le milieu et la croissance obtenues de biochronologies reposant sur les otolites etant donnee une fourchette d'erreurs realistes de determination de l'age et de regimes d'echantillonnage. Nous constatons qu'un echantillon trop petit peut serieusement entraver l'elaboration d'une biochronologie robuste et limiter la precision des estimations des effets du milieu ambiant. L'introduction dans les donnees d'erreurs ne serait-ce que moderees de determination de l'age peut en outre entrainer une sous-estimation considerable des sources ambiantes de variation de la croissance. Cette sous-estimation reduit notre capacite de quantifier correctement la relation milieu-croissance connue et, plus generalement, se traduira par des conclusions trop moderees concernant la reaction de la croissance a des changements des conditions ambiantes. Une methodologie judicieuse, la reduction des erreurs de determination de l'age et des echantillons de grande taille sont des conditions prealables essentielles a l'etablissement d'inferences robustes a partir de donnees biochronologiques., Introduction Otoliths are calcified structures located in the inner ear of fish that commonly show growth bands corresponding to daily, seasonal, or annual growth patterns (Campana and Thorrold 2001). For [...]

Classical target‐based drug screening is low‐throughput, largely subjective, and costly. Phenotypic screening based on in vitro models is increasingly being used to identify candidate compounds that modulate complex cell/tissue functions. Chronic inflammatory nociception, and subsequent chronic pain conditions, affect peripheral sensory neuron activity (e.g., firing of action potentials) through myriad pathways, and remain unaddressed in regard to effective, non‐addictive management/treatment options. Here, a chronic inflammatory nociception model is demonstrated based on induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) sensory neurons and glia, co‐cultured on microelectrode arrays (MEAs). iPSC sensory co‐cultures exhibit coordinated spontaneous extracellular action potential (EAP) firing, reaching a stable baseline after ≈27 days in vitro (DIV). Spontaneous and evoked EAP metrics are significantly modulated by 24‐h incubation with tumor necrosis factor‐alpha (TNF‐α), representing an inflammatory phenotype. Compared with positive controls (lidocaine), this model is identified as an "excellent" stand‐alone assay based on a modified Z' assay quality metric. This model is then used to screen 15 cherry‐picked, off‐label, Food and Drug Administration (FDA)‐approved compounds; 10 of 15 are identified as "hits". Both hits and "misses" are discussed in turn. In total, this data suggests that iPSC sensory co‐cultures on MEAs may represent a moderate‐to‐high‐throughput assay for drug discovery targeting inflammatory nociception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article highlights the challenges in identifying compound earthquakes resulting from simultaneous ruptures of multiple fault zones due to the lack of historical benchmarks and dating uncertainties in geological records. It discusses a study in Puget Sound region of western Washington, USA, where dendrochronological analysis of earthquake-killed trees helped precisely determine the timing of an earthquake cluster approximately 1100 years ago, shedding light on the dynamics and seismic risks.

This article describes how the use of Pringles cans and other tube containers can help physical education teachers gain a new perspective on incorporating a reusable, recyclable, durable product to create fun activities that support the development of fundamental skills in the physical education environment.

Fish otolith growth increments were used as indices of annual production at nine nearshore sites within the Alaska Coastal Current (downwelling region) and California Current (upwelling region) systems (~36-60°N). Black rockfish (Sebastes melanops) and kelp greenling (Hexagrammos decagrammus) were identified as useful indicators in pelagic and benthic nearshore food webs, respectively. To examine the support for bottom-up limitations, common oceanographic indices of production [sea surface temperature (SST), upwelling, and chlorophyll-a concentration] during summer (April-September) were compared to spatial and temporal differences in fish growth using linear mixed models. The relationship between pelagic black rockfish growth and SST was positive in the cooler Alaska Coastal Current and negative in the warmer California Current. These contrasting growth responses to SST among current systems are consistent with the optimal stability window hypothesis in which pelagic production is maximized at intermediate levels of water column stability. Increased growth rates of black rockfish were associated with higher chlorophyll concentrations in the California Current only, but black rockfish growth was unrelated to the upwelling index in either current system. Benthic kelp greenling growth rates were positively associated with warmer temperatures and relaxation of downwelling (upwelling index near zero) in the Alaska Coastal Current, while none of the oceanographic indices were related to their growth in the California Current. Overall, our results are consistent with bottom-up forcing of nearshore marine ecosystems-light and nutrients constrain primary production in pelagic food webs, and temperature constrains benthic food webs., Author(s): Vanessa R. von Biela[sup.1] [sup.2] , Gordon H. Kruse[sup.2] , Franz J. Mueter[sup.2] , Bryan A. Black[sup.3] , David C. Douglas[sup.1] , Thomas E. Helser[sup.4] , Christian E. Zimmerman[sup.1] [...]

Activated glia are known to exhibit either neuroprotective or neurodegenerative effects, depending on their phenotype, while participating in chronic pain regulation. Until recently, it has been believed that satellite glial cells and astrocytes are electrically slight and process stimuli only through intracellular calcium flux that triggers downstream signaling mechanisms. Though glia do not exhibit action potentials, they do express both voltage- and ligand-gated ion channels that facilitate measurable calcium transients, a measure of their own phenotypic excitability, and support and modulate sensory neuron excitability through ion buffering and secretion of excitatory or inhibitory neuropeptides (i.e., paracrine signaling). We recently developed a model of acute and chronic nociception using co-cultures of iPSC sensory neurons (SN) and spinal astrocytes on microelectrode arrays (MEAs). Until recently, only neuronal extracellular activity has been recorded using MEAs with a high signal-to-noise ratio and in a non-invasive manner. Unfortunately, this method has limited compatibility with simultaneous calcium transient imaging techniques, which is the most common method for monitoring the phenotypic activity of astrocytes. Moreover, both dye-based and genetically encoded calcium indicator imaging rely on calcium chelation, affecting the culture's long-term physiology. Therefore, it would be ideal to allow continuous and simultaneous direct phenotypic monitoring of both SNs and astrocytes in a high-to-moderate throughput non-invasive manner and would significantly advance the field of electrophysiology. Here, we characterize astrocytic oscillating calcium transients (OCa2+Ts) in mono- and co-cultures of iPSC astrocytes as well as iPSC SN-astrocyte co-cultures on 48 well plate MEAs. We demonstrate that astrocytes exhibit OCa2+Ts in an electrical stimulus amplitude- and duration-dependent manner. We show that OCa2+Ts can be pharmacologically inhibited with the gap junction antagonist, carbenoxolone (100 µM). Most importantly, we demonstrate that both neurons and glia can be phenotypically characterized in real time, repeatedly, over the duration of the culture. In total, our findings suggest that calcium transients in glial populations may serve as a stand-alone or supplemental screening technique for identifying potential analgesics or compounds targeting other glia-mediated pathologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large‐scale, climate‐induced synchrony in the productivity of fish populations is becoming more pronounced in the world's oceans. As synchrony increases, a population's "portfolio" of responses can be diminished, in turn reducing its resilience to strong perturbation. Here we argue that the costs and benefits of trait synchronization, such as the expression of growth rate, are context dependent. Contrary to prevailing views, synchrony among individuals could actually be beneficial for populations if growth synchrony increases during favorable conditions, and then declines under poor conditions when a broader portfolio of responses could be useful. Importantly, growth synchrony among individuals within populations has seldom been measured, despite well‐documented evidence of synchrony across populations. Here, we used century‐scale time series of annual otolith growth to test for changes in growth synchronization among individuals within multiple populations of a marine keystone species (Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua). On the basis of 74,662 annual growth increments recorded in 13,749 otoliths, we detected a rising conformity in long‐term growth rates within five northeast Atlantic cod populations in response to both favorable growth conditions and a large‐scale, multidecadal mode of climate variability similar to the East Atlantic Pattern. The within‐population synchrony was distinct from the across‐population synchrony commonly reported for large‐scale environmental drivers. Climate‐linked, among‐individual growth synchrony was also identified in other Northeast Atlantic pelagic, deep‐sea and bivalve species. We hypothesize that growth synchrony in good years and growth asynchrony in poorer years reflects adaptive trait optimization and bet hedging, respectively, that could confer an unexpected, but pervasive and stabilizing, impact on marine population productivity in response to large‐scale environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantifying the marine radiocarbon reservoir effect, offsets (ΔR), and ΔR variability over time is critical to improving dating estimates of marine samples while also providing a proxy of water mass dynamics. In the northeastern Pacific, where no high-resolution time series of ΔR has yet been established, we sampled radiocarbon (14C) from exactly dated growth increments in a multicentennial chronology of the long-lived bivalve, Pacific geoduck (Paneopea generosa) at the Tree Nob site, coastal British Columbia, Canada. Samples were taken at approximately decadal time intervals from 1725 CE to 1920 CE and indicate average ΔR values of 256 ± 22 years (1σ) consistent with existing discrete estimates. Temporal variability in ΔR is small relative to analogous Atlantic records except for an unusually old-water event, 1802–1812. The correlation between ΔR and sea surface temperature (SST) reconstructed from geoduck increment width is weakly significant (r2 =.29, p =.03), indicating warm water is generally old, when the 1802–1812 interval is excluded. This interval contains the oldest (–2.1σ) anomaly, and that is coincident with the coldest (–2.7σ) anomalies of the temperature reconstruction. An additional 32 14C values spanning 1952–1980 were detrended using a northeastern Pacific bomb pulse curve. Significant positive correlations were identified between the detrended 14C data and annual El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and summer SST such that cooler conditions are associated with older water. Thus, 14C is generally relatively stable with weak, potentially inconsistent associations to climate variables, but capable of infrequent excursions as illustrated by the unusually cold, old-water 1802–1812 interval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HuR is an RNA-binding protein implicated in RNA processing, stability, and translation. Previously, we examined protein synthesis in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons treated with inflammatory mediators using ribosome profiling. We found that the HuR consensus binding element was enriched in transcripts with elevated translation. HuR is expressed in the soma of nociceptors and their axons. Pharmacologic inhibition of HuR with the small molecule CMLD-2 reduced the activity of mouse and human sensory neurons. Peripheral administration of CMLD-2 in the paw or genetic elimination of HuR from sensory neurons diminished behavioral responses associated with NGF- and IL-6-induced allodynia in male and female mice. Genetic disruption of HuR altered the proximity of mRNA decay factors near a key neurotrophic factor (TrkA). Collectively, the data suggest that HuR is required for local control of mRNA stability and reveals a new biological function for a broadly conserved post-transcriptional regulatory factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]