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The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of a new middle-school-classroom forgiveness curriculum in promoting forgiveness and reducing anger. The students in this study were 153 fourth through eighth graders in three regional parochial schools. The students were assigned to forgiveness education or control groups in the fall semester and reassigned to the opposite group in the spring semester. Before-and-after assessments of forgiveness and anger were collected in both the fall and spring semesters. The quantitative results showed that levels of forgiveness increased as expected in both semesters, but anger did not change in expected ways. The qualitative results showed that the children's conceptualizations of the forgiveness process aligned closely with the core forgiveness curriculum content. The results suggest that meaningful work can be accomplished to promote forgiveness in the middle school classroom using this newly developed, efficient, and effective curriculum that can be implemented by teachers and staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consciousness is composed of arousal (i.e., wakefulness) and awareness. Substantial progress has been made in mapping the cortical networks that underlie awareness in the human brain, but knowledge about the subcortical networks that sustain arousal in humans is incomplete. Here, we aimed to map the connectivity of a proposed subcortical arousal network that sustains wakefulness in the human brain, analogous to the cortical default mode network (DMN) that has been shown to contribute to awareness. We integrated data from ex vivo diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of three human brains, obtained at autopsy from neurologically normal individuals, with immunohistochemical staining of subcortical brain sections. We identified nodes of the proposed default ascending arousal network (dAAN) in the brainstem, hypothalamus, thalamus, and basal forebrain. Deterministic and probabilistic tractography analyses of the ex vivo diffusion MRI data revealed projection, association, and commissural pathways linking dAAN nodes with one another and with DMN nodes. Complementary analyses of in vivo 7-tesla resting-state functional MRI data from the Human Connectome Project identified the dopaminergic ventral tegmental area in the midbrain as a widely connected hub node at the nexus of the subcortical arousal and cortical awareness networks. Our network-based autopsy methods and connectivity data provide a putative neuroanatomic architecture for the integration of arousal and awareness in human consciousness. Editor's summary: Wakefulness is essential for human consciousness, but the brain connections underpinning wakefulness are unclear. Edlow et al. now map a neural network called the default ascending arousal network (dAAN) that they propose sustains human wakefulness. Using three human brains obtained at autopsy, the researchers examined the brains by ex vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and immunohistochemistry of brain sections. They report that the subcortical dAAN is linked to the cortical default mode network (DMN) that contributes to awareness (another key element of human consciousness). Functional MRI analyses from the Human Connectome Project further revealed a dAAN-DMN connectivity hub within the dopaminergic ventral tegmental area, suggesting how arousal and awareness in human consciousness might be integrated in the human brain. —Orla Smith [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Due to several factors including persistent drought conditions and the increased occurrence and severity of fire on rangeland, there is an increased need for the use of alternative forages to meet the nutrient requirements of ruminants raised in extensive grazing systems. However, information on the nutritive value of alternative forages like Eragrostis teff as influenced by harvest maturity, and the best supplementation strategies that complement and improve utilization of those forages, is still lacking. Therefore, the present study evaluated the effects of harvest maturity of teff hay (early- compared to late-heading stage of maturity) and supplemental energy sources (corn grain compared to beet pulp at 0.5% of body weight) on nutrient intake and digestibility and nitrogen utilization in beef heifers. Delaying the harvest of teff hay resulted in a decrease in nutrient supply, which was not attenuated by feeding either supplemental corn grain or beet pulp. Nitrogen retention was also negative regardless of harvest maturity, and this potentially indicates that there might be a need to provide both energy and protein supplements to improve nutrient supply and, thus, growth performance when feeding teff hay to beef cattle. The phenological stage of maturity of grasses and supplementation program can impact forage utilization in grazing beef cattle. However, the potential interaction between harvest maturity of Eragrostis tef (teff) hay and energy supplement source was yet to be fully evaluated. Therefore, our objective was to determine the effects of harvest maturity of teff hay and supplemental energy sources on nutrient intake, apparent total-tract nutrient digestion, nitrogen (N) utilization, and ruminal fermentation characteristics in beef heifers. A split-plot design with teff hay harvest maturity as the whole plot and supplemental energy source as the subplot was administered in a three-period (21 d), three × three Latin square design. Six crossbred beef heifers (804 ± 53.6 kg of body weight; BW) were allocated to two harvest maturities (early- (EH]) or late-heading (LH)) and to two supplemental energy sources (no supplement (CON), or rolled corn grain or beet pulp pellet fed at 0.5% of BW). Data were analyzed using SAS. There was no harvest maturity × energy supplement interaction. Although harvest maturity had no impact on total dry matter intake (DMI), crude protein (CP) intake was greater (p < 0.01) for EH than LH heifers. Total intakes of dry (DM) and organic matter (OM) were also greater (p < 0.01) for supplemented than CON heifers, whereas acid detergent fiber (ADF) intake was greater for beet pulp heifers compared to heifers fed the CON diet and supplemental corn grain. Harvest maturity had no impact on ruminal pH. However, mean ruminal pH was lower (p = 0.04), duration pH < 6.2, and molar proportions of butyrate and branched-chain fatty acids were greater (p ≤ 0.049) for heifers fed corn grain compared to CON and beet pulp diets. Heifers fed EH hay had greater (p ≤ 0.02) apparent total-tract DM, OM, CP, NDF, and ADF digestibility than heifers fed LH hay. Although there was no supplemental energy effect on microbial nitrogen (N) flow, it was greater (p < 0.01) for EH than LH heifers. Apparent N retention, which did not differ, was negative across all diets. In summary, delaying the harvest of teff hay from the EH to LH stage of maturity compromised nutrient supply, which was not attenuated by feeding supplemental corn grain and beet pulp at 0.5% of diet DM. Because N retention was negative across harvest maturity, there might be a need to provide both energy and protein supplements to improve growth performance when feeding teff hay to beef cattle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses study of impact of dried grape pomace and feeding ensiled on nitrogen utilization in backgrounding cattle. Topics discussed include effort to curb reactive N emissions centered on dietary manipulation to reduce urinary nitrogen excretion, inclusion of polyphenolic compounds including condensed tannins (CT) and analyzing nutrient intake, excretion data and digestibility.

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health is the property of Canadian Periodical for Community Studies Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

ABSTRACT Detailed anatomical understanding of the human brain is essential for unraveling its functional architecture, yet current reference atlases have major limitations such as lack of whole-brain coverage, relatively low image resolution, and sparse structural annotation. We present the first digital human brain atlas to incorporate neuroimaging, high-resolution histology, and chemoarchitecture across a complete adult female brain, consisting of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and 1,356 large-format cellular resolution (1 µm/pixel) Nissl and immunohistochemistry anatomical plates. The atlas is comprehensively annotated for 862 structures, including 117 white matter tracts and several novel cyto- and chemoarchitecturally defined structures, and these annotations were transferred onto the matching MRI dataset. Neocortical delineations were done for sulci, gyri, and modified Brodmann areas to link macroscopic anatomical and microscopic cytoarchitectural parcellations. Correlated neuroimaging and histological structural delineation allowed fine feature identification in MRI data and subsequent structural identification in MRI data from other brains. This interactive online digital atlas is integrated with existing Allen Institute for Brain Science gene expression atlases and is publicly accessible as a resource for the neuroscience community. J. Comp. Neurol. 524:3127-3481, 2016. © 2016 The Authors The Journal of Comparative Neurology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT H.M., Henry Molaison, was one of the world's most famous amnesic patients. His amnesia was caused by an experimental brain operation, bilateral medial temporal lobe resection, carried out in 1953 to relieve intractable epilepsy. He died on December 2, 2008, and that night we conducted a wide variety of in situ MRI scans in a 3 T scanner at the Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General) Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging. For the in situ experiments, we acquired a full set of standard clinical scans, 1 mm isotropic anatomical scans, and multiple averages of 440 μm isotropic anatomical scans. The next morning, H.M.'s body was transported to the Mass General Morgue for autopsy. The photographs taken at that time provided the first documentation of H.M.'s lesions in his physical brain. After tissue fixation, we obtained ex vivo structural data at ultra-high resolution using 3 T and 7 T magnets. For the ex vivo acquisitions, the highest resolution images were 210 μm isotropic. Based on the MRI data, the anatomical areas removed during H.M.'s experimental operation were the medial temporopolar cortex, piriform cortex, virtually all of the entorhinal cortex, most of the perirhinal cortex and subiculum, the amygdala (except parts of the dorsal-most nuclei-central and medial), anterior half of the hippocampus, and the dentate gyrus (posterior head and body). The posterior parahippocampal gyrus and medial temporal stem were partially damaged. Spared medial temporal lobe tissue included the dorsal-most amygdala, the hippocampal-amygdalo-transition-area, ∼2 cm of the tail of the hippocampus, a small part of perirhinal cortex, a small portion of medial hippocampal tissue, and ∼2 cm of posterior parahippocampal gyrus. H.M.'s impact on the field of memory has been remarkable, and his contributions to neuroscience continue with a unique dataset that includes in vivo, in situ, and ex vivo high-resolution MRI. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Telephone Linked Care for Detection of Mental Health Disorders in the Workplace (TLC-Detect) is an automated mental health screening and intervention program that may be offered by employers to their employees to address undiagnosed and untreated mental and emotional health distress in order to enhance productivity and reduce absenteeism and presenteeism (reduced productivity while at work). We conducted a formative usabifity evaluation, using semistructured interviews with 10 individuals in order to discover remediable problems before the system is released to be evaluated in a randomized clinical trial. Overall, participants felt that the system was valuable and defivered important information and education about mental health disorders. The research identified specific positive and negative features of the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract There is a need to identify new therapeutic targets for the treatment of cocaine addiction due to the rise in cocaine abuse and deaths due to cocaine overdose. Regulator of G protein signaling (RGS) proteins such as RGS2 and RGS4 are widely distributed in brain regions that play a role in drug reward. Importantly, RGS2 and RGS4 negatively regulate G-protein coupled receptor signaling pathways of monoaminergic neurotransmitters that play a role in the rewarding effects of cocaine by enhancing the rate of hydrolysis of Gα-bound guanine nucleotide triphosphate. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the effects of cocaine on conditioned place preference (CPP) and locomotor activity in mice that lacked either RGS2 or RGS4 (i.e. knockout (KO) mice) and their wildtype (WT) littermates. Moreover recent studies have reported influence of sex on RGS functioning and hence studies were conducted in both male and female mice. Cocaine-induced CPP was attenuated in male, but not female RGS4 KO mice compared to respective RGS4 WT mice. Cocaine-induced CPP was not influenced by deletion of RGS2 in either male or female mice. Similarly, cocaine-induced locomotor activity was not influenced by deletion of either RGS2 or RGS4 irrespective of sex. Together, the data indicate that the rewarding effects of cocaine were attenuated in the absence of RGS4 expression, but not in the absence of RGS2 expression in a sex-dependent manner. Importantly, these data suggest that RGS4 can serve as a potential target for medications that can be used to treat cocaine addiction. Graphical abstract The primary finding of this study was that knockout of regulator of G-protein signaling 4 (RGS4) attenuated the rewarding effects of cocaine in male, but not in female mice. Cocaine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) was not influenced by presence or absence of RGS2 irrespective of sex. Additionally, cocaine-induced increase in locomotor activity was not influenced by presence or absence of either RGS2 or RGS4. Together, these data suggest that RGS4, but not RGS2 plays a role in the rewarding effects of cocaine in a sex-dependent manner. Unlabelled Image Highlights • Rewarding effects of cocaine were observed in all wildtype (WT) mice (RGS2 WT and RGS4 WT) irrespective of genotype or sex. • Rewarding effects of cocaine were attenuated in male, but not in female mice lacking RGS4 (RGS4 KO). • Presence or absence of RGS2 did not influence the rewarding effects of cocaine irrespective of sex. • RGS2 or RGS4 play no role in cocaine-induced locomotor activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. Test the feasibility and impact of an automated workplace mental health assessment and intervention. Design. Efficacy was evaluated in a randomized control trial comparing employees who received screening and intervention with those who received only screening. Setting. Workplace. Subjects. 463 volunteers from Boston Medical Center, Boston University, and EMC and oilier employed adults, among whom 164 were randomized to the intervention (N = 87) and control (N = 77) groups. Intervention. The system administers a panel of telephonic assessment instruments followed by tailored information, education, and. referrals. Measures. The Work Limitation Questionnaire, the Medical Outcomes Questionnaire Short Form-12, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, question 10 from the Patient Health Questionnaire to measure functional impairment, and the Perceived Stress Scale-4 and questions written, by study psychiatrists to measure emotional distress and social support respectively. The WHO-Five Well-being Index was administered to measure overall well-bang. Analysis. Independent sample t-tests and χ² tests as well as mean change were used, to compare the data. Results. No significant differences on 16 of the 20 comparisons at 3- and 6-month time, points. The intervention group showed a significant improvement in depression (p ≤ . 05) at 3 months and on two Work Limitation Questionnaire subscales, the, Mental-Interpersonal Scale (p ≤ . 05) and the Time and Scheduling Scale (p ≤ . 05), at 3 and 6 months respectively with a suggestive improvement in mental health at 6 months (p ≤ .10). Conclusions. This is a potentially fruitful area for research with important implications for workplace behavioral interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Multi-contrast framework for 3D histology reconstruction that is robust against outliers and computationally efficient. • Graph theoretical approach that explicitly models accuracy and smoothness of the reconstructions. • Probabilistic model of spatial deformations optimized using linear programming. • 3D histology reconstruction of two stains (Nissl and parvalbumin) from the Allen human brain atlas and the corresponding mapping to MNI space. [Display omitted] Joint registration of a stack of 2D histological sections to recover 3D structure ("3D histology reconstruction") finds application in areas such as atlas building and validation of in vivo imaging. Straightforward pairwise registration of neighbouring sections yields smooth reconstructions but has well-known problems such as "banana effect" (straightening of curved structures) and "z-shift" (drift). While these problems can be alleviated with an external, linearly aligned reference (e.g., Magnetic Resonance (MR) images), registration is often inaccurate due to contrast differences and the strong nonlinear distortion of the tissue, including artefacts such as folds and tears. In this paper, we present a probabilistic model of spatial deformation that yields reconstructions for multiple histological stains that that are jointly smooth, robust to outliers, and follow the reference shape. The model relies on a spanning tree of latent transforms connecting all the sections and slices of the reference volume, and assumes that the registration between any pair of images can be see as a noisy version of the composition of (possibly inverted) latent transforms connecting the two images. Bayesian inference is used to compute the most likely latent transforms given a set of pairwise registrations between image pairs within and across modalities. We consider two likelihood models: Gaussian (ℓ 2 norm, which can be minimised in closed form) and Laplacian (ℓ 1 norm, minimised with linear programming). Results on synthetic deformations on multiple MR modalities, show that our method can accurately and robustly register multiple contrasts even in the presence of outliers. The framework is used for accurate 3D reconstruction of two stains (Nissl and parvalbumin) from the Allen human brain atlas, showing its benefits on real data with severe distortions. Moreover, we also provide the registration of the reconstructed volume to MNI space, bridging the gaps between two of the most widely used atlases in histology and MRI. The 3D reconstructed volumes and atlas registration can be downloaded from https://openneuro.org/datasets/ds003590. The code is freely available at https://github.com/acasamitjana/3dhirest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]