Standardized videotaped procedure for evaluating withdrawal-emergent tardive dyskinesia in a public residential facility

Two videotaping procedures (one-camera and two-camera) for assessing tardive dyskinesia (TD) and stereotypies were contrasted. Videotapes were subsequently rated utilizing the Dyskinesia Identification System—Condensed User Scale, which was developed in the context of a neuroleptic drug withdrawal regimen to assess abnormal involuntary movements in a developmentally disabled population. Results suggest that both videotaping procedures are able to detect TD-like movements, but that more movements are detected with the two-camera procedure, (full-view and close-up) than with the one-camera (full-view only) procedure. These procedures are applicable to clinical settings for TD monitoring.     

自体骨髓干细胞移植治疗心力衰竭的研究进展

细胞移植已为病损心脏细胞重建及衰竭心脏功能恢复提供了一种全新的治疗方法。骨髓干细胞具有自我更新、定向分化成为包括心肌细胞等多种组织细胞的潜能,其增殖分化能力能持续终生,已成为细胞移植治疗心力衰竭的主要细胞源。本文就自体骨髓干细胞治疗心力衰竭可行性、与其他移植细胞相比较的优势、临床应用现状及目前问题与展望作一综述。     

The benefits of being a senior mentor: Cultivating resilience through the mentorship of health professions students

ABSTRACT

Senior Mentor Programs (SMPs) pair community-dwelling older adults with health professions students to facilitate knowledge, improve communication skills, and promote positive attitudes regarding the aging process. Although evidence exists that SMPs meet these goals, the programs’ psychosocial impact on the senior mentors remains unexplored. The current study assessed 101 mostly female (64.4%) senior mentors (M age = 77.6) pre- and postprogram. Although mentors had no change in the amount of perceived ageism experienced or expectation of experiencing ageism, their concern/anxiety over ageism significantly decreased from pre- (M = 21.58) to posttest (M = 20.19). Qualitative thematic analysis indicated meaningfulness of program and scheduling difficulties as prevalent themes. Mentors who reported less concern about ageism following the program were more likely to have experienced ageism in the year prior to the program and to attend religious services more often, another potential intergenerational contact. These results highlight possible benefits of mentor service for older adults.     

Legacy genetics of Arachis cardenasii in the peanut crop shows the profound benefits of international seed exchange

The narrow genetics of most crops is a fundamental vulnerability to food security. This makes wild crop relatives a strategic resource of genetic diversity that can be used for crop improvement and adaptation to new agricultural challenges. Here, we uncover the contribution of one wild species accession, Arachis cardenasii GKP 10017, to the peanut crop (Arachis hypogaea) that was initiated by complex hybridizations in the 1960s and propagated by international seed exchange. However, until this study, the global scale of the dispersal of genetic contributions from this wild accession had been obscured by the multiple germplasm transfers, breeding cycles, and unrecorded genetic mixing between lineages that had occurred over the years. By genetic analysis and pedigree research, we identified A. cardenasii–enhanced, disease-resistant cultivars in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. These cultivars provide widespread improved food security and environmental and economic benefits. This study emphasizes the importance of wild species and collaborative networks of international expertise for crop improvement. However, it also highlights the consequences of the implementation of a patchwork of restrictive national laws and sea changes in attitudes regarding germplasm that followed in the wake of the Convention on Biological Diversity. Today, the botanical collections and multiple seed exchanges which enable benefits such as those revealed by this study are drastically reduced. The research reported here underscores the vital importance of ready access to germplasm in ensuring long-term world food security.

Globally, most of humanity’s food is produced by only a few crop species, most of which have low genetic diversity (1–4). This presents a fundamental limitation to genetic improvement of crops and a key vulnerability for food security. Wild crop relatives have been used as a strategic source of diversity for plant breeders (4, 5). However, the agronomically unadapted phenotypes of wild species have hampered their use. For peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.), a crop with an exceptionally narrow genetic base (6, 7), the incorporation of wild relatives into breeding programs is further impeded by barriers in sexual compatibility between the tetraploid crop and its almost exclusively diploid wild relatives (8–10). This ploidy difference arose 5,000 to 10,000 y ago with the formation of the tetraploid species, via the hybridization and spontaneous polyploidization of the diploid “A” genome species, Arachis duranensis Krapov. & W.C. Greg. and the “B” genome species, Arachis ipaënsis Krapov. & W.C. Greg. The resultant tetraploid diversified into many peanut (A. hypogaea) landraces and varieties through artificial selection during cultivation. Peanut maintains almost-complete sets of chromosomes from the two ancestral diploid species thus having a genome almost entirely of “AABB” structure, a type of polyploid termed a segmental allotetraploid (2n = 4x = 40 chromosomes; genome size of ∼2.7 Gb; 6, 11, 12).Despite the difficulties presented by the ploidy barrier, considerable effort was invested during the 1960s in complex hybridizations between peanut and a diploid “A” genome wild species accession from Bolivia, Arachis cardenasii Krapov. & W.C. Greg. GKP 10017 [PI (Plant Introduction) 262141]. Interest in this accession had been stimulated by its identification as a source of very strong pest and disease resistance (13). Using two different hybridization schemes, two different research groups obtained fertile progeny which entered into breeding programs (see Results for more details). However, over time, the subsequent dispersal and development of the resultant germplasm, with multiple seed transfers, identification code reassignments, breeding cycles, and unrecorded mixing of lineages, left the actual genetic contribution of the wild species mostly forgotten, unrecorded, or undefined.Here, we reveal the previously unknown scale of the genetic influence of A. cardenasii GKP 10017 as a donor of pest and disease resistances to the world’s peanut crop. This study involved the sequencing and assembly of the genome of this wild species accession and genetic analysis and pedigree research of diverse peanut lines from around the world. Peanuts with genetic contributions from A. cardenasii were identified on every populated continent and in 30 countries. The cultivars provided improved food security for subsistence farmers and environmental and economic benefits.