Hepatic Burdens of PCB and PCDD/F Congeners in Federally Endangered Shortnose Sturgeon and Atlantic Sturgeon from the Hudson River, New York, USA: Burden Patterns and Potential Consequences in Offspring

Sturgeon populations worldwide are threatened with extirpation but little is known about their tendency to bioaccumulate contaminants and their sensitivities to environmental burdens of these contaminants. Shortnose sturgeon and Atlantic sturgeon, two species that are federally endangered in the U.S., co-occur in the Hudson River (HR) where high sediment levels of PCBs and PCDD/Fs occur. Previous controlled laboratory studies showed that young life-stages of both species are sensitive to toxicities at low levels of TCDD and PCB126 exposure. The objective here was to measure congener-specific hepatic levels of PCBs and PCDD/Fs in HR specimens in order to determine if in situ bioaccumulation of these compounds was sufficiently high to cause the early life-stage toxicities previously observed. Estimates of hepatic burdens of PCBs and PCDD/Fs were obtained from a small number of specimens of each species collected between 2014 and 2016 and specimens of shortnose sturgeon collected over 30 yr earlier and archived in a museum collection. Several significant patterns emerged. Hepatic levels of legacy PCBs and PCDDs were low in specimens of both species, but typically higher in shortnose than Atlantic sturgeon, a pattern consistent with their habitat use in the HR. Hepatic burdens from archived specimens of shortnose sturgeon tended to be higher than more recently collected ones despite expected reduction in their burdens due to preservation methods. Several inadvertent PCBs congeners were detected, including PCB11, but their possible toxicity to natural populations remains to be determined in future experiments. Levels of select PCDFs congeners, 2,3,7,8-TCDF and 2,3,4,7,8 PeCDF, were elevated in some shortnose sturgeon individuals from the HR. Using Relative Potency (ReP) factors derived from white sturgeon, the observed levels of some hepatic PCDFs in HR shortnose sturgeon may have been sufficiently high to impair recruitment of young life-stages in this ecosystem.

The Fallacy of Happiness: A Psychological Investigation of Suicide among Successful People

There are three feelings that prompt a person to take their life: hopelessness, helplessness and worthlessness. Studies have found that the risk of suicide increases with decreasing happiness. In the recent past, people have been left clueless when celebrities and successful people ended their lives despite appearing overtly happy. What prompted them to do so? Modern society today highlights the importance of success over failure. Although we are motivated to be successful in life, it should not become our main gauge of happiness. In the same way we should not let success be our main goal in life and get discouraged by failure. Happiness has been viewed in two ways: as concerning the well-being of a person, and as the opposite of depression. Each one of us has different ways of measuring happiness. The quality of one’s happiness depends on one’s priorities in life. Happiness is not merely something that can be quantified with how much success and failure one has because such metric is very much subjective. How do we prevent a young life from extinguishing? How do we identify suicidal behavior among successful people and help those around? The present chapter covers the possible reasons why successful people commit suicide. Role of media in preventing suicide and measures for preventing suicide by successful people has been discussed.

Profil Segmentasi Demografis Butik ‘Mas Freddy Kebaya’ Di Kota Malang

The purpose of this study was to describe the profile of the demographic segmentation of the ‘Mas Freddy Kebaya’ boutique in Malang City. The researcher used descriptive research using qualitative methods. Data collection is obtained from the process of observation, interviews, and documentation. Checking the validity of the data using source triangulation and technique triangulation. Based on the findings in the boutique field 'Mas Freddy Kebaya' divided by the market which requires a product or marketing mix that is specifically designed with demographic variables that include: (1) age obtained data on late adulthood: 1 person, early adulthood: 7 people, late adulthood : 1 person, initial elderly period: 1 person (2) sex obtained male data: 2 people, female: 8 people, (3) young life-cycle data obtained: 1 person, married: 1 person, married- have children: 4, married - no children: 2 people, old-unmarried: 1 person. Ever married - no children: 1 person (4) family size data obtained family size 1-3: 7 people, family size 3-4: 2 people, family size 5: 1 person (5) education obtained high school data: 1 person , S1: 9 people, (6) jobs obtained by private employee data: 7 people, entrepreneurs: 3 people (7) income obtained data of more than 5 million: 10 people (8) religion obtained Islamic data: 9 people, Catholics: 1 person (9) race obtained data from Mongoloid Malays, Young Malays: 10 people (10) generations obtained data from babyboomer generation: 1 person, generation X: 1 person, generation Y: 8 people (11) Citizenship obtained data of Indonesian citizens: 10 people. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah mendeskripsikan profil segmentasi demografis butik‘Mas Freddy Kebaya’ di Kota Malang. Peneliti menggunakan jenis penelitian deskriptif dengan pendekatan kualitatif. Pengumpulan data diperoleh dari proses observasi, wawancara, dan dokumentasi. Pengecekan keabsahan data menggunakan teknik triangulasi sumber dan triangulasi teknik.Berdasarkan temuan di lapangan butik ‘Mas Freddy Kebaya’ membagi pasar yang membutuhkan produk atau bauran pemasaran tersendiri berdasarkan variabel demografis yang meliputi: (1) usia diperoleh data masa dewasa akhir: 1 orang, masa dewasa awal: 7 orang, masa dewasa akhir: 1 orang, masa lansia awal: 1 orang (2) jenis kelamin diperoleh data laki-laki: 2 orang, perempuan: 8 orang, (3) siklus hidup diperoleh data muda-tunggal: 1 orang, menikah: 1 orang, menikah-punya anak: 4, menikah-tidak punya anak: 2 orang, tua-tidak menikah: 1 orang. Pernah menikah-tidak punya anak: 1 orang (4) ukuran keluarga diperoleh data ukuran keluarga 1-3: 7 orang, ukuran keluarga 3-4: 2 orang, ukuran keluarga 5: 1 orang (5) pendidikan diperoleh data SMA: 1 orang, S1: 9 orang, (6) pekerjaan diperoleh data pegawai swasta: 7 orang, wiraswasta: 3 orang (7) pendapatan diperoleh data lebih dari 5 juta: 10 orang (8) agama diperoleh data Islam: 9 orang, Katholik: 1 orang (9) ras diperoleh data Mongoloid Melayu, Melayu Muda : 10 orang (10) generasi diperoleh data generasi babyboomer: 1 orang, generasi X: 1 orang, generasi Y: 8 orang (11) Kewarganegaraan diperoleh data WNI: 10 orang

High social status males experience accelerated epigenetic aging in wild baboons

Aging, for virtually all life, is inescapable. However, within populations, biological aging rates vary. Understanding sources of variation in this process is central to understanding the biodemography of natural populations. We constructed a DNA methylation-based age predictor for an intensively studied wild baboon population in Kenya. Consistent with findings in humans, the resulting 'epigenetic clock' closely tracks chronological age, but individuals are predicted to be somewhat older or younger than their known ages. Surprisingly, these deviations are not explained by the strongest predictors of lifespan in this population, early adversity and social integration. Instead, they are best predicted by male dominance rank: high-ranking males are predicted to be older than their true ages, and epigenetic age tracks changes in rank over time. Our results argue that achieving high rank for male baboons—the best predictor of reproductive success—imposes costs consistent with a 'live fast, die young' life history strategy.

Dear Unknown: A Letter to a Teenage Gunshot Victim

A medical student/adjunct clinical chaplain reflects on the significance of a young life lost to gun violence.

Social and Leisure Activity Contribute to the Attenuation of Decline in Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Degeneration

ABSTRACTBehavioral variant frontotemporal degeneration (bvFTD) is clinically characterized by progressive decline in social and executive domains. Previous work suggests that early lifestyle factors such as education and occupational attainment may relate to structural integrity and moderate the rate of cognitive decline in bvFTD, but the role of other cognitively stimulating activities is understudied. We sought to investigate the effect of such activities on cortical thickness (CT) in bvFTD. bvFTD patients (n=31) completed a baseline MRI scan, and informants for the patients completed the Lifetime of Experiences Questionnaire (LEQ), which measures specific activities considered to be undertaken primarily within one particular life phase, such as education (young-life), occupation (mid-life), and social/leisure activity (late-life). At baseline, linear models assessed the effect of LEQ scores from each life phase on regional CT. A subset (n=19) of patients completed longitudinal MRI, and to evaluate the association of LEQ with longitudinal rates of CT decline, we derived individualized slopes of decline using linear mixed effects models and these were related to LEQ scores from each life phase. At baseline, a higher late-life LEQ score was associated with less atrophy in bilateral superior anterior temporal regions. Longitudinally, we observed that higher late-life LEQ scores were associated with an attenuated rate of CT loss in insular cortex. Late-life LEQ score was positively associated with both relatively preserved CT early in bvFTD and a slower rate of cortical loss in regions important for social functioning. These findings suggest that social and leisure activities may contribute to a form of resilience against pathologic effects of disease.

Love at the Threshold of War and Migration

In 1946, as the dust began to settle from the brutalities and destruction of war, Maria’s young life was set in motion. Her departure from her home village in Southern Italy to a boarding school in Umbria—followed by subsequent moves within Italy, and later to Canada—signaled a mobilization that would, in time, transform her notions of love, home, and family. Love and separation form the nexus of analysis in this chapter on love and migration. Through narratives of memory, silence, loss, regret, and resilience, a transnational love between a mother and daughter is unraveled. Drawing from a series of oral history interviews and a lifetime of conversations, this chapter examines the world of tensions and dynamics of distant love between a mother and her daughter. It shows how love was a powerful driver of migration and legitimizer of separation between mother and daughter in a historical moment of severe austerity in Italy. An auto/biographical, personal narratives approach is employed to explore questions on love and distance emerging in the contexts of war and migration in the mid-twentieth century.

Determination of breeding performances of some commercial fishes of the Bay of Bengal.

Bangladesh is blessed with a coastline of 710 km along the north and north-east part of the Bay of Bengal, having a water area of about 48,365 nmi2 (165,887 km2), as large as the country itself. In these marine and coastal waters there are about 475 species of fish, many of which play an important role in the national economy in both employment in fisheries and income generation. Identification of the breeding pattern of commercial fish is important for hatchery installation as well as coastal aquaculture. Summarized data of breeding performances such as breeding season, body length and weight, gonad weight and fecundity of 15 marine fish of the coastal and offshore waters of Bangladesh are given. The breeding pattern of the fish shows a prolonged spawning season, almost throughout the year. Variations in body length and weight, and in gonad weight and fecundity in the marine environment are also given. As these fish are marine, spawning occurs in a salinity of about 30‰ and following larval development in offshore waters, juveniles migrate towards shallow coastal waters, for shelter and feeding, where they pass their young life.