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The risk of schizophrenia is increased in offspring whose mothers experience malnutrition during pregnancy. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are dietary components that are crucial for the structural and functional integrity of neural cells, and PUFA deficiency has been shown to be a risk factor for schizophrenia. Here, we show that gestational and early postnatal dietary deprivation of two PUFAs—arachidonic acid (AA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)—elicited schizophrenia-like phenotypes in mouse offspring at adulthood. In the PUFA-deprived mouse group, we observed lower motivation and higher sensitivity to a hallucinogenic drug resembling the prodromal symptoms in schizophrenia. Furthermore, a working-memory task-evoked hyper-neuronal activity in the medial prefrontal cortex was also observed, along with the downregulation of genes in the prefrontal cortex involved in oligodendrocyte integrity and the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic system. Regulation of these genes was mediated by the nuclear receptor genes Rxr and Ppar , whose promoters were hyper-methylated by the deprivation of dietary AA and DHA. In addition, the RXR agonist bexarotene upregulated oligodendrocyte- and GABA-related gene expression and suppressed the sensitivity of mice to the hallucinogenic drug. Notably, the expression of these nuclear receptor genes were also downregulated in hair-follicle cells from schizophrenia patients. These results suggest that PUFA deficiency during the early neurodevelopmental period in mice could model the prodromal state of schizophrenia through changes in the epigenetic regulation of nuclear receptor genes.

Abstract Eumeninae and Zethinae are currently treated as subfamilies within the Vespidae and, despite providing several ecosystem services, they are poorly sampled in Brazilian biomes, such as the Atlantic Forest. The Atlantic Forest is a global biodiversity hotspot that has historically faced various anthropogenic pressures, leading to the loss of 87% of its native vegetation cover. This condition underscores the need for studies on the occurrence and distribution of biota in this biome. The present study aimed at surveying these taxa in different protected areas of Atlantic Forest domain, in the State of Paraná, southern Brazil. Field work was carried out at Parque Nacional Ilha Grande, Parque Nacional do Iguaçu and Refúgio Biológico Bela Vista, between 2019 and 2022. A total of 16 species of Eumeninae and two of Zethinae were registered, of which 44% are considered new records for Paraná. The large number of new records is a direct result of the lack of information about these taxa in the State. Considering the current trend of accelerated biome loss in Brazil, especially concerning the Atlantic Forest, studies focusing on the knowledge of local and regional faunas are urgent, in wasps of the Vespidae family. Resumo Eumeninae e Zethinae são atualmente tratadas como subfamílias da família Vespidae e, embora desempenhem diversos serviços ecossistêmicos, são pouco amostradas nos biomas brasileiros, principalmente na Mata Atlântica. A Mata Atlântica é um hotspot global de biodiversidade que, historicamente, tem sofrido diversas pressões antrópicas, resultando na perda de 87% de sua cobertura vegetal nativa. Essa condição justifica a realização de estudos sobre a ocorrência e distribuição da biota nesse bioma. Este estudo teve como objetivo realizar um levantamento desses táxons em diferentes áreas de domínio da Mata Atlântica, no estado do Paraná, Sul do Brasil. O trabalho de campo foi realizado no Parque Nacional da Ilha Grande, no Parque Nacional do Iguaçu e no Refúgio Biológico Bela Vista, entre 2019 e 2022. Um total de 16 espécies de Eumeninae e duas de Zethinae foram registradas, das quais 44% são consideradas novos registros para o Paraná. O alto número de registros inéditos é resultado da escassez de informações sobre esses táxons no estado. Considerando o atual cenário de perda acelerada de biomas no Brasil, especialmente no que diz respeito à Mata Atlântica, estudos que visem ao conhecimento da fauna local e regional são urgentes, principalmente com as vespas da família Vespidae.

Abstract Opiliones are arachnids that provide different services in terrestrial ecosystems, especially in tropical forests, which justifies inventory studies to better understand the occurrence and distribution of these arthropods in Brazil, since little is known about the harvestmen fauna in Conservation Units such as in the state of Paraná. In this context, the objective of the present study was to survey the harvestmen fauna at the Iguaçu National Park (PARNA) and in the Bela Vista Biological Refuge (BVBR), from September 2021 to May 2022, using a sampling effort of 40 hours in the BVBR, and 66 hours at the PARNA Iguaçu. Ten species/morphospecies were recorded, highlighting a new occurrence for Brazil, the species Opisthoplatus vegetus. The present study reduces the information gap about Opiliones in the state, which reaffirms the importance of Conservation Units for the protection of the biota in the state of Paraná. Resumo Opiliões são aracnídeos que prestam diferentes serviços nos ecossistemas terrestres, sobretudo nas florestas tropicais, o que justifica trabalhos de inventários para melhor conhecer a ocorrência e distribuição desses artrópodes no Brasil, pois pouco se conhece da fauna de opiliões em Unidades de Conservação no estado do Paraná. Nessa perspectiva, o objetivo do presente estudo visa inventariar a fauna de opiliões no Parque Nacional do Iguaçu (PARNA Iguaçu) e no Refúgio Biológico Bela Vista (RBBV), no período de setembro de 2021 a maio de 2022, com esforço amostral de 40 horas para RBBV e 66 horas PARNA Iguaçu. Foram registradas 10 espécies/morfoespécies, com destaque para uma nova ocorrência para o Brasil, a espécie Opisthoplatus vegetus. O presente estudo diminui a lacuna de informações sobre opiliones no estado e reafirma a importância da Unidades de Conservação para proteção da biota do Paraná.

In the human stomach, Helicobacter pylori, an ulcer pathogenic bacterium, colonizes the gastric mucosal layer primarily. The ability of glycopolypeptides (GPP) prepared from buttermilk to exfoliate H. pylori bound to gastric mucin was investigated. The GPP were prepared from buttermilk by digestion with trypsin, papain, pancreatin, bromelain, or pepsin. Helicobacter pylori ATCC 43504T and 43579 adhered more strongly to all of the GPP tested than to whole buttermilk, the soluble fraction of buttermilk, gastric mucin prepared from mouse stomach, or commercial pig gastric mucin. The GPP digested with trypsin, papain, or pancreatin were significantly more adherent. When the GPP concentration was 10mg/mL, bound H. pylori ATCC 43504T, 43579, and 5 clinical isolates were exfoliated markedly from immobilized porcine gastric mucin following treatment with GPP digested with trypsin or pancreatin. This ability of GPP did not correlate with sialic acid content, indicating that sialic acid content is not important in the exfoliation of this microorganism. Such an ability may depend on the structure or number of sugar chains, or the position of sialic acid. We conclude that GPP promote the exfoliation of H. pylori bound to gastric mucin and prevent the de novo adherence of this microorganism. As such, GPP are a promising food material for preventing H. pylori infection.

In the government sector, this shift is especially meaningful because financial practitioners can help departments and agencies better utilize today's limited resources to serve constituents and communities and to fulfill missions.1 LEVERAGE AI WITH NON-FINANCIAL AND FINANCIAL DATA One of the first keys to realizing the value of AI is possessing a large, broad data set from which to work and then ensuring it contains both non-financial and financial data. The Governmental Accounting Standards Board provides guidance in the form of the Service Efforts and Accomplishments (SEA) reporting standard. Donny C. Shimamoto, CPA, CITP, CGMA, is founder and managing director of IntrapriseTechKnowlogies LLC, an advisory-focused CPA firm specializing in organizational development and technology management for small businesses, middle market organizations and nonprofits.

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) has an anti-ulcer effect, but the mechanisms of this gastric mucosal protection are incompletely understood. We have suggested the importance of mucin as a mucosal protectant. We investigated whether increased mucin biosynthesis might be involved in the gastric mucosal protection conferred by EGF. EGF and then ethanol were added to primary monolayer cultures of guinea pig gastric mucous cells, in which factors such as gastric acid and gastrointestinal hormones were excluded. Mucin and prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) were assayed. Cytoprotection induced by EGF was demonstrated. Mucin biosynthesis and PGE(2) release were both significantly increased by EGF. When endogenous PGE(2) synthesis was inhibited by pretreatment with 10(-5) M or 10(-4) M indomethacin (IND), mucin biosynthesis was still significantly increased by EGF. Ethanol-induced cell damage was concentration-dependent in cultures with no other additions (normal PGE(2) and mucin biosynthesis). Damage by ethanol was decreased by EGF pretreatment (increased PGE(2) and mucin biosynthesis). Damage by ethanol was increased by 10(-5) M IND pretreatment (decreased PGE(2); normal mucin biosynthesis) and by 10(-4) M IND pretreatment (decreased PGE(2) and mucin biosynthesis). Ethanol-induced damage was decreased by EGF pretreatment even in the presence of 10(-5) M and 10(-4) M IND (decreased PGE(2); increased mucin biosynthesis). Increased mucin biosynthesis, induced by EGF independently of PGE(2), protects gastric mucous cells.

Background: Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy in the elderly is increasingly becoming more common, despite the possibility that a minimal load on the circulation can cause serious complications such as shock and cardiac arrest. Objective: The effects of endoscopy on the heart and the possibility of predicting circulatory accidents were studied using natriuretic peptide levels. Methods: The patients were randomly chosen according to their age and divided into an elderly group (over 60 years of age, 64 patients) and a young group (under 30 years of age, 20 patients). The patients in the elderly group were further subdivided into two groups based on the presence or absence of circulatory complications (46 patients with circulatory complications and 18 without complications). The load on the heart was evaluated by measuring human atrial natriuretic peptide (hANP) and human brain natriuretic peptide (hBNP) which are secreted by the myocardial cells in response to cardiac load. Specimens were obtained before and after endoscopy. Results: The hANP level was significantly higher after endoscopy in the elderly group, regardless of the presence or absence of circulatory complications. No significant difference was observed in the hBNP level. No significant increase in hANP or hBNP levels was observed after endoscopy in the young group. Conclusions: These observations suggest an increased atrial load during endoscopy in the elderly. The increase in pulse rate during endoscopy is one possible cause of atrial load. Therefore, the risk of circulatory system damage must be recognized when endoscopy is performed in the elderly. The measurement of plasma hANP and hBNP levels may provide effective indices for evaluating cardiac load during endoscopy.

To reverse the effects of deforestation, tropical areas have expanded restoration efforts in recent years. As ecological restoration positively affects the structure and function of degraded ecosystems, understanding to what extent restoration recovers ecosystem services (ES) is an important step in directing large-scale restoration actions. We evaluated the effect of restoration in increasing the provision of ES in tropical forests. We performed a global meta-analysis of ecological indicators of the ES provided in restored areas, degraded areas and reference ecosystems. We tested for the effects of different restoration strategies, different types of degradation and for the effects of restoration over time. Overall, restoration actions contributed to a significant increase in levels of ecological indicators of ES (carbon pool, soil attributes and biodiversity protection) compared to disturbed areas. Among the restoration strategies, the natural regeneration was the most effective. Biodiversity protection and carbon recovered better than soil attributes. All other restoration strategies recovered ES to a substantially lesser degree, and reforestation with exotics decreased the ES of areas degraded by agriculture. In areas degraded by pasture, restoration was more effective in recovering the biodiversity protection, whereas in areas degraded by agriculture, the restoration recovered mainly the carbon pool. Our results show that by choosing the correct strategy, restoration can recover much of the ES lost by the degradation of tropical forests. These results should be considered for large-scale conservation and management efforts for this biome.

In this research project, synthesis and characterization of ionic liquids and their subsequent utilization as facilitators of transdermal delivery of human insulin was pursued. Choline geranate and choline oleate ionic liquids (and their deep eutectic solvents) were produced and characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance ( H NMR), water content, oxidative stability, cytotoxicity and genotoxicity assays, and ability to promote transdermal protein permeation. The results gathered clearly suggest that all ionic liquids were able to promote/facilitate transdermal permeation of insulin, although to various extents. In particular, choline geranate 1:2 combined with its virtually nil cyto- and geno-toxicity was chosen to be incorporated in a biopolymeric formulation making it a suitable facilitator aiming at transdermal delivery of insulin.

Typhoon Morakot struck southern Taiwan in the summer of 2009, causing the most severe flooding since the 1950s. In the early morning of August 9, rainfall triggered the Hsiaolin landslide, and the resulting debris avalanche covered the township of Hsiaolin Village, Kaohsiung. Around five hundred people were buried alive. Reconstruction of the runout of the debris avalanche would increase understanding of the large‐scale avalanches for future hazard mitigation purposes. Simulation of the debris avalanche runout can provide valuable information for this purpose. A new continuum shallow‐water model is applied to flow over general topography. The Coulomb friction law is adopted; the friction coefficient is initially determined by high pressure rotary‐shearing tests and subsequently fine‐tuned by an iterative procedure to minimize the difference between the simulation and the measurement. The friction coefficients measured by laboratory tests are found to be in reasonable agreement with the best‐fit result of the simulation. In addition, Voellmy rheology is applied, but it is found that the role of the fluid viscous drag is insignificant. The simulation result in the village area is further corroborated by near‐surface magnetic surveys. These indicate that the northern part of the village is dislocated, while the artifact structures of the southern part are buried near their original locations. By comparing the landslide front and the flow direction of the simulation, we are able to confirm, as also described by survivors, that the landslide swept the northern part of the village into the Cishan River, while the southern part was flooded subsequently by the debris from a dam breach about 20 min after the landslide. Key Points A new landslide model with considerations of general topography is presented The friction coefficient is calibrated by experiments and with timely DEMs Magnetic surveys over the buried village accurately validates the simulation