kqedscience:

Breed-Specific Canine Anatomy

Charting the correct terminology for the anatomical features of three dog breeds

See more of the comic from Gemma Correll at Medium.

they forgot the worry crinkles in the middle of a pug’s forehead

poochcrew:

I knew I would find you

love always finds a way

smithsonian:

"Happy Friday!," says this baby short-eared elephant shrew. 

This little guy is 1 of 31 endangered species born at the National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in recent weeks. 

You can read more about the baby boom and view all of the Zoo’s baby animals. 

A quick, five-question screening tool could help clinicians identify which veterans may be at greater risk of violence, according to new research.

The study, published online in the American Journal of Psychiatry, is based on a national survey sample of veterans combined with a smaller, in-depth assessment sample.

The screening tool, called the Violence Screening and Assessment of Needs (VIO-SCAN), asked veterans about financial stability, combat experience, alcohol misuse, history of violence or arrests, and probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) plus anger.

“When we hear about a veteran being violent, there is a knee-jerk reaction that it stems from PTSD. The VIO-SCAN shows that PTSD is relevant to screening risk but is only the tip of the iceberg.

“Non-PTSD factors need to be looked at, such as alcohol abuse or past criminal behavior, just like in civilians,” says study lead author Eric Elbogen, research director of the forensic psychiatry program in the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and Psychologist in the US Department of Veterans Affairs.

On the VIO-SCAN, veterans give yes or no answers to questions such as, “Did you personally witness someone being seriously wounded or killed?” and “Have you ever been violent towards others or arrested for a crime?”

The answer to each question is scored as either 0 or 1. The score for each answer is combined to yield an overall score ranging from 0 to 5, with 0 indicating generally lower risk and 5 indicating generally higher risk.

“We believe this screening tool will provide clinicians with a rapid, systematic method for identifying veterans at higher risk of violence. It can help prioritize those in need of a full clinical workup, structure review of empirically supported risk factors, and develop plans collaboratively with veterans to reduce risk and increase successful reintegration in the community,” Elbogen says.

However, Elbogen cautions, the VIO-SCAN is not intended to be a comprehensive assessment of whether a veteran will or will not be violent. Instead, it is a screen identifying whether a veteran may be at high risk and thereby require a full clinical workup to make a final risk judgment.

Coauthors of the article contributed from UNC; the Department of Veterans Affairs Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center; Duke University; the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Forensic Outreach Services; and the Veterans Health Administration Office of Public Health.

The National Institute of Mental Health; the Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Office of Mental Health Services; and the Office of Research and Development Clinical Science and Health Services, Department of Veterans Affairs funded the work.

Source: UNC

The post Survey gauges veterans’ risk of violence appeared first on Futurity.

Studying healthy and malnourished young children in Bangladesh, researchers found that malnutrition has persistent detrimental effects on the vast community of microbes living in the gut.

These “friendly” microbes typically aid in extracting nutrients and calories from food, and perform many other vital functions.

The finding could help explain why malnourished children suffer from stunted growth and failure to thrive after treatment with nutrient-rich therapeutic food.

The study’s results suggest that the long-term consequences of childhood malnutrition, such as stunted growth, cognitive problems, and weakened immune systems, may be rooted in lingering, underdeveloped collections of gut microbes that can’t fully harvest energy and calories from food, says senior author Jeffrey I. Gordon, director of Washington University’s Center for Genome Sciences & Systems Biology.

In healthy children, the researchers identified features associated with normal development of the gut’s community of microbes. In comparison, they note that malnourished children carried communities of gut microbes that did not mature along a normal trajectory. Moreover, these immature bacterial collections could not be restored to good health with standard treatments of therapeutic foods.

“Although therapeutic food-based interventions have resulted in a significant decline in deaths from malnutrition, many children never fully recover,” says first author Sathish Subramanian, a Washington University MD/PhD student.

“We found that children who were malnourished had gut microbial communities that were not consistent with their chronological ages. Moreover, the severity of a child’s malnourishment was tied closely with the degree of immaturity of his or her gut microbial community, and this immaturity could not be durably repaired with standard treatments.”

The researchers are following up their research in animal models colonized with immature gut microbe communities from malnourished children. They are seeking to determine whether giving therapeutic foods for longer periods of time or administering beneficial mixtures of naturally occurring human gut microbes can repair this immaturity and improve health.

Millions of children

Severe acute malnutrition affects about 20 million children worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Moderate acute malnutrition, a less serious form of the disease, is more prevalent in South Central Asia, where it affects 30 million children. Both conditions are problematic in Bangladesh, where more than 40 percent of children under age 5 are afflicted by stunted growth.

“Treatment of malnutrition is challenging in a developing country like Bangladesh, where more than half a million children under 5 years of age suffer from severe acute malnutrition and close to 2 million from moderate acute malnutrition,” says coauthor Tahmeed Ahmed, who treats malnourished children and heads the Nutrition Program at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Bangladesh, where the research took place.

“This research has contributed immensely to what we know about the mechanisms operating in acute malnutrition. I believe it will open up new vistas for simplifying treatment of this dreadful condition that affects millions of children globally.”

‘An organ without an organ’

In recent years, scientists have come to learn that severe childhood malnutrition is not due to a lack of food alone. Rather, the condition is far more complex and may involve other factors including a breakdown in the way gut microbes process various components of the diet.

Gordon’s earlier research in Malawi involving sets of twins, in which one in the pair was healthy and the other was severely malnourished, indicated that a dysfunctional gut microbial community is an underlying cause of a severe form of childhood malnutrition.

“Tens of trillions of microbes, primarily bacteria, live in the gut,” Gordon explains. “They break down components of our diets that otherwise would pass right through our bodies and also harvest energy from food, synthesize vitamins, regulate our metabolism, and shape our immune systems.

“You can think of the collection of microbes in your gut as an organ within an organ, but one that is composed of microbial cells rather than human cells.”

When food doesn’t help

To understand the relationship between gut microbes and childhood malnutrition, Gordon and his team first needed a clearer picture of the process by which the community of microbes normally assembles in the gut.

The researchers analyzed collections of gut microbes captured in fecal samples collected monthly from healthy children, including twins, from birth to age two. All of the children in the study lived in the slums of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

Studying these children, they identified groups of microbes that assemble in the gut during the first two years of life. “Using this microbial signature of normal gut microbial community maturation, we evaluated the gut microbial communities of 64 severely malnourished children before, during and after they received standard food-based interventions,” Gordon explains.

The children ranged in age from 6-20 months and were randomly assigned to receive one of two therapeutic foods: Plumpy’Nut, an enriched peanut-based food that is the mainstay treatment for severe malnutrition worldwide, or Khichuri-Halwa, which is produced in Bangladesh and has rice and lentils as its main ingredients. Both types of food include milk powder and micronutrients, such as iron.

Fecal samples were obtained from the children before they received the therapeutic foods and every three days while they were being treated for malnutrition. Most children received the therapeutic foods for about two weeks, until they had reached certain weight milestones, as is the standard of care. After treatment ended, the children were followed for four months, and fecal samples were collected monthly.

All the children gained weight on the therapeutic foods, and no significant difference existed in the rate of weight gain based on the type of food a child received. But the therapeutic foods only had a transient improvement on the maturity of a child’s gut microbe community. Once the therapeutic food was discontinued, the gut microbe communities regressed to a more immature state.

“These children, although they gained weight, remained severely stunted and severely underweight, and their health was not fully restored,” Gordon says.

‘Immature’ gut microbe communities

In a separate group of children with moderate acute malnutrition, the researchers also noted a similar immaturity in gut microbe communities.

“These new measuring tools for defining the maturation of the gut microbial community ‘organ’ expand our view of human development following birth, provide a new way of classifying malnourished states, establish a new measure for determining the effects of current therapies, and catalyze thinking about new forms of therapy,” says Gordon.

“This could include new therapeutic foods and the possibility for safely administering naturally occurring human gut microbes that could promote healthy maturation of the gut microbial community.”

The researchers also are asking whether the signature of gut microbe maturation they identified in healthy Bangladeshi children applies to children living in other areas of the world where malnutrition is pervasive but people consume different diets. They are actively pursuing an answer to that question in locations around the world.

“We want to know whether and how this immaturity is linked to the long-term consequences of malnutrition such as stunted growth, impaired immunity and neurodevelopmental abnormalities,” Gordon adds.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the National Institutes of Health funded the study. The research appears online in Nature.

Source: Washington University in St. Louis

The post Gut microbes don’t ‘grow up’ after malnutrition appeared first on Futurity.

As in the rest of the world, US coastal fisheries, recreation, and tourism face a growing threat from ocean acidification. Many human activities contribute to the problem, including urban and agricultural runoff. Regional features such as coastal ocean upwelling and river runoff can profoundly influence the chemistry of coastal waters.

“All of these things are happening simultaneously,” says Aaron Strong, a graduate student and lead author of a new study published in the journal BioSciencethat examines ways local and regional communities can respond to acidification and its ripple effects.

“So if we are to understand how ocean acidification will work and what it is doing—and what it might do to our industries and these ecosystems—we need to take account of all of these drivers of change.”

Global problem, local solutions

Action by local and regional coastal communities may be the best way to mitigate and adapt to the severe environmental and economic effects, researchers say.

“There is a lot of potential for state and national decision-makers to use existing laws, policies, and research programs to advance the science and proactively respond to the threat of ocean acidification,” says Lindley Mease, a research analyst at the Center for Ocean Solutions, a collaboration between Stanford University, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

While scientists still have much to learn about ocean acidification’s impacts on ecosystems and regional economies, indicators are not rosy. The global economic impacts of acidification’s harm to coral reefs alone could total $870 billion annually within the next eight decades, according to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The US mollusk shellfish industry could see losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars by 2060, according to one study, while the $818- million-a-year North Pacific salmon fishery could see major losses from acidification’s impacts on a snail that makes up the bulk of juvenile salmon’s diet, according to another study.

In recent years, the study’s authors write, discussions of ocean acidification have begun to shift from a focus on global carbon dioxide toward regional conversations about mitigation and adaptation solutions involving estuary-based conservation organizations, storm water managers, shellfish producers, and state and local officials.

“Our study reviews the scientific basis for these kinds of local- to regional-scale actions, while we work toward a solution to the global CO2 problem,” says Ryan Kelly, an assistant professor at the University of Washington. “It highlights causes of ocean acidification that we might be able to do something about.”

Source: Stanford University

The post As oceans turn acidic, our best bet may be to act locally appeared first on Futurity.

When using gestures to communicate, young children appear to instinctively break down complex ideas into simpler concepts in a language-like structure.

This suggests that children are not just learning language from older generations, but their preference for communication has shaped how languages look today.

In the paper published in the journal Psychological Science, the research team led by Sotaro Kita from the University of Warwick’s psychology department examined how four-year-olds, 12-year-olds, and adults used gestures to communicate in the absence of speech.

The study investigated whether their gesturing breaks down complex information into simpler concepts. This is similar to the way that language expresses complex information by breaking it down into units (such as words) to express a simpler concept, which are then strung together into a phrase or sentence.

Miming action

The researchers showed the participants animations of motion events, depicting either a smiling square or circle that moved up or down a slope in a particular manner, such as by jumping or rolling. Each participant was asked to use their hands to mime the action they saw on the screen without speaking.

The researchers examined whether the upward or downward path and the manner of motion were expressed simultaneously in a single gesture or expressed in two separated gestures depicting its manner or path.

Break it down

“Compared to the 12-year-olds and the adults, the four-year-olds showed the strongest tendencies to break down the manner of motion and the path of motion into two separate gestures, even though the manner and path were simultaneous in the original event,” Kita explains.

“This means the four-year-olds miming was more language-like, breaking down complex information into simpler units and expressing one piece of information at a time. Just as young children are good at learning languages, they also tend to make their communication look more like a language.”

“Previous studies of sign languages created by deaf children have shown that young children use gestures to segment information and to re-organize it into language-like sequences. We wanted to examine whether hearing children are also more likely to use gesture to communicate the features of an event in segmented ways when compared to adolescents and adults,” says Zanna Clay from the University of Neuchatel

The researchers suggest the study provides insight into why languages of the world have universal properties.

“All languages of the world break down complex information into simpler units, like words, and express them one by one. This may be because all languages have been learned by, therefore shaped by, young children. In other words, generations of young children’s preference for communication may have shaped how languages look today,” says Kita.

Source: University of Warwick

The post Kids’ gestures show an instinct for language appeared first on Futurity.

New research describes how exposure to air pollution early in life produces harmful changes in the brains of mice, including an enlargement of part of the brain that is seen in humans who have autism and schizophrenia.

As in autism and schizophrenia, the changes occurred predominately in males. The mice also performed poorly in tests of short-term memory, learning ability, and impulsivity.

The results are consistent with several recent studies that have shown a link between air pollution and autism in children, researchers say. Most notably, a 2013 study in JAMA Psychiatry reported that children who lived in areas with high levels of traffic-related air pollution during their first year of life were three times as likely to develop autism.

“Our findings add to the growing body of evidence that air pollution may play a role in autism, as well as in other neurodevelopmental disorders,” says Deborah Cory-Slechta, professor of environmental medicine at the University of Rochester and lead author of the study, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

In three sets of experiments, Cory-Slechta and her colleagues exposed mice to levels of air pollution typically found in mid-sized US cities during rush hour. The exposures were conducted during the first two weeks after birth, a critical time in the brain’s development. The mice were exposed to polluted air for four hours each day for two four-day periods.

Rampant inflammation

In one group of mice, the brains were examined 24 hours after the final pollution exposure. In all of those mice, inflammation was rampant throughout the brain, and the lateral ventricles—chambers on each side of the brain that contain cerebrospinal fluid—were enlarged two-to-three times their normal size.

“When we looked closely at the ventricles, we could see that the white matter that normally surrounds them hadn’t fully developed,” Cory-Slechta says. “It appears that inflammation had damaged those brain cells and prevented that region of the brain from developing, and the ventricles simply expanded to fill the space.”

The problems were also observed in a second group of mice 40 days after exposure and in another group 270 days after exposure, indicating that the damage to the brain was permanent. Brains of mice in all three groups also had elevated levels of glutamate, a neurotransmitter, which is also seen in humans with autism and schizophrenia.

Ultrafine particles

Most air pollution is made up mainly of carbon particles that are produced when fuel is burned by power plants, factories, and cars. For decades, research on the health effects of air pollution has focused on the part of the body where the damage is most obvious—the lungs.

That research began to show that different-sized particles produce different effects. Larger particles—the ones regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—are actually the least harmful because they are coughed up and expelled. But many researchers believe that smaller particles known as ultrafine particles—which are not regulated by the EPA—are more dangerous, because they are small enough to travel deep into the lungs and be absorbed into the bloodstream, where they can produce toxic effects throughout the body.

That assumption led Cory-Slechta to design a set of experiments that would show whether ultrafine particles have a damaging effect on the brain, and if so, to reveal the mechanism by which they inflict harm. Her study published today is the first scientific work to do both.

“I think these findings are going to raise new questions about whether the current regulatory standards for air quality are sufficient to protect our children,” she says.

The study was funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, a part of the National Institutes of Health.

Source: University of Rochester

The post Does air pollution raise the risk of autism? appeared first on Futurity.

Standing meetings can get employees excited about creative group processes and can reduce their tendencies to get territorial, new research shows.

“Organizations should design office spaces that facilitate non-sedentary work,” says Andrew Knight, assistant professor of organizational behavior at the Olin Business School of the Washington University in St. Louis.

Knight teamed with Markus Baer, associate professor of organizational behavior, on a new paper published online in Social Psychological and Personality Science.

Removing chairs could be a low-cost way to redesign an office space while also tackling the health effects of sitting in one place for too long, Knight says, citing mounting evidence that a sedentary lifestyle is bad for people’s health.

“Our study shows that even a small tweak to a physical space can alter how people work with one another,” he says.

“Markus and I were particularly interested in the role of a sedentary workspace because standing desks were a new option that was available to faculty members for outfitting their offices,” he says. “We wondered how this type of arrangement would play out for people working together in a group to achieve a collective goal.”

Exciting work

Knight and Baer designed a study that asked participants to work together in teams for 30 minutes to develop and record a university recruitment video. The teams worked in rooms that either had chairs arranged around a table or with no chairs at all.

After making the videos, research assistants rated how the team worked together and the quality of the videos, while the participants rated how territorial their team members were in the group process.

The participants wore small sensors around their wrists to measure “physiological arousal”—the way people’s bodies react when they get excited. When a person’s arousal system becomes activated, sweat glands around the feet and hands release bursts of moisture. The sensors pass a small current of electricity through the skin to measure these moisture bursts.

Knight and Baer found that the teams who stood had greater physiological arousal and were less territorial about ideas than those in the seated arrangement.

Members of the standing groups reported that their team members were less protective of their ideas. This reduced territoriality, led to more information sharing and higher quality videos.

“Seeing that the physical space in which a group works can alter how people think about their work and how they relate with one another was very exciting,” Knight says.

The new study contributes to the relatively new study of organizational behavior and office design as it includes wearable sensors. “Wearable technology like FitBit and Google Glass is becoming more popular for consumers but is still relatively rare in this kind of research,” Knight says.

“We think that the future holds great promise for integrating wearable technology into research; our study is one example of how doing so can enrich a study.”

Ditch chairs, add whiteboards?

Knight encourages organizations to experiment with their office spaces. Removing chairs and adding whiteboards are low-cost options that encourage brainstorming and collaboration. In his own office, Knight uses an adjustable-height desk so he can sit or stand and tries to minimize time spent seated in meetings. He is now experimenting with walking meetings too.

“We’ve really just scratched the surface on linking group dynamics research with the physical space,” Knight says.

He and colleagues hope to help organizations experiment with different room designs out of the lab and in the real world. “Working in the field, with real organizations, will help us to examine the longer-term effects of physical space manipulations.”

Source: Washington University in St. Louis

The post Are meetings more creative without chairs? appeared first on Futurity.

[U don't mind if I watch you sit on your hand while you draw, do U?]

From Bored Panda.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Owls, The Big J

More like “We Have Shut Down.”

Apollo the English bulldog…from Laughing Squid.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: BIG HUGE PUPPEHs, Bulldogs, Chub

Palikka must think
“Would rather nom a cupcake
Instead of salad”

“Greetings from Finland! This is Palikka, not only the most adorable tortoise hatchling in the long history of tortoise hatchlings but also an impeccable master of disguise, attempting to pass as a cupcake while simultaneously eating salad. Photos taken by Anni L. (With the kind help of Emleri L.)”

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Friday Haiku, tortoise

Mollusks are quite cute
They are very small indeed
So watch where you step

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: creepy crawlies, Friday Haiku

This little guy, of course, is named Biddy. We first saw him just a little over a year ago, and he’s still quite a, er, handful as you can see.

Biddy is ALL OVER the Interwebs, too.

From Ned Hardy.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Hedgie Madness

slothville:

Sloths do selfies too. But only when they look this good.

Meet Punk, a three fingered resident of APPC wildlife rescue in Panama. He’s a sloth with plenty of attitude. A notorious escape artist who is just old enough to get his freedom and be released into the wild where he belongs #keepwildanimalswild

Hi everyone, I'm Samson. I was born near the shores of Lake Huron, Canada, but life and my wonderful parents moved me down to Brooklyn, New York when I was 10 weeks old. I have to say the city is really growing on me, especially all the dogs that are around for me to meet! Besides taking long naps and trying to become housebroken, I love puppy play dates and eating frozen green beans. I think the green beans really soothe my teething. Though my parents don't want me to grow too fast, I need to start climbing stairs on my own!

Sometimes my people think I am more like a cat than a puppy. I'm quiet and spend most of the day sleeping on the couch--only fools sleep on the floor! Except I really like wrestling and playing with other dogs. Of course, I would also like to do that with cats, but they don't seem to like it as well. I'm not always good at coming when I am called, but hey, I am only 7 months old. Everyone who meets me tells me how cute I am, that I look like a stuffed animal, or a little Chewbacca. I impress them with my loving nature and my one trick: I roll over on command! Who needs any other skills? That one makes people smile and laugh a lot. The people who taught my puppy classes think that I look like a Havanese, but no one knows for sure. It's okay though, because I am unique!

Hi, my name is Bentley and I live in Florida. I have been in my new home for about 2 weeks now and I love it! Some things I enjoy are: chasing lizards, chewing paper (when my family isn't looking), and playing with my toys. Everyone who meets me tells me how cute I am, but I guess I can't complain about that. I am starting puppy classes soon and can't wait to meet the other puppies!