This study evaluates and compares the effectiveness of three group interventions on trauma symptoms for children who have been sexually abused. All of the groups followed the same treatment protocol, with two of them incorporating variations of animal-assisted therapy. A total of 153 children ages 7 to 17 who were in group therapy at a Child…

Objective: This article aims to review basic and clinical studies outlining the roles of prefrontal cortical (PFC) networks in the behavior and cognitive functions that are compromised in childhood neurodevelopmental disorders and how these map into the neuroimaging evidence of circuit abnormalities in these disorders. Method: Studies of animals,…

The objective of this research was to determine areas of improvement to bacon production. The first trial was conducted to determine differences in belly and bacon quality traits in pigs fed ractopamine (RAC) for various durations during finishing. A 2x3x2 factorial arrangement was used with barrows and gilts, fed RAC levels of 0.0, 5.0, or 7.4…

Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway is one of the universal pathways involved in animal development. This dissertation focuses on Hh role in the mammalian gonad development, which is a central part of mammalian sexual development and identity. The central dogma of mammalian sex development is that genetic sex determines the gonadal sex, which in turn…

This article discusses Charles Darwin's interest in topics that may broadly be defined as "neurological" in character. Using published and manuscript materials, it examines the sources of Darwin's knowledge of neurological matters and seeks to explain why questions concerning the relation of mind and brain both in humans and other animals were…

Although abuse of several unusual inhalants had been documented, addiction to cow dung fumes or their ashes has not been reported in medical literature as yet. We are reporting a case of cow dung dependence in ingestion and inhalational form.

Elucidating the functional properties of the dentate gyrus (DG), CA3, and CA1 areas is critical for understanding the role of the dorsal hippocampus in contextual fear memory processing. In order to specifically disrupt various hippocampal inputs, we used region-specific infusions of DCG-IV, the metabotropic glutamate receptor agonist, which…

The amyloid precursor protein (APP) undergoes sequential cleavages to generate various polypeptides, including the amyloid [beta] (1-42) peptide (A[beta][1-42]), which is believed to play a major role in amyloid plaque formation in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here we provide evidence that, in contrast with its pathological role when accumulated,…

In Experiments 1 and 2, rats were trained in a Morris pool to find a hidden platform located some distance away from a single landmark. Males learned to swim to the platform faster than females, but on test trials without the platform, males, unlike females, spent less time in the platform quadrant of the pool in the second half of each test trial…

Career and technical education courses, such as agricultural education, exist, in part, to assist students in acquiring the competencies needed to achieve employability. However, whether the current secondary agricultural education curriculum meets the needs of industry leaders who employ high school graduates of agricultural education programs is…

Invertebrate model organisms are powerful systems for uncovering conserved principles of animal biology. Despite widespread use in scientific communities, invertebrate research is often severely undervalued by laypeople. Here, we present a set of simple, inexpensive public outreach exercises aimed at explaining to the public why basic research on…

This column focuses on promoting learning through assessment. The author discusses the formative assessment probe "Pond Water," which reveals how elementary children will often apply what they know about animal structures to newly discovered microscopic organisms, connecting their knowledge of the familiar to the unfamiliar through…

Our aim is to present a working model that may serve as a valuable heuristic to predict enduring effects of drugs when administered during development. Our primary tenet is that a greater understanding of neurodevelopment can lead to improved treatment that intervenes early in the progression of a given disorder and prevents symptoms from…

Zebra finch song behavior is sexually dimorphic: males sing and females do not. The neural system underlying this behavior is sexually dimorphic, and this sex difference is easy to quantify. During development, the zebra finch song system can be altered by steroid hormones, specifically estradiol, which actually masculinizes it. Because of the…

Long-lasting memories of adverse experiences are essential for individuals' survival but are also involved, in the form of recurrent recollections of the traumatic experience, in the aetiology of anxiety diseases (e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD]). Extinction-based erasure of fear memories has long been pursued as a behavioral way to…