Island Hopping through Urban Filters: Anthropogenic Habitats and Colonized Landscapes Alter Morphological and Performance Traits of an Invasive Amphibian.

A prominent feature of the modern era is the increasing spread of invasive species, particularly within island and urban ecosystems, and these occurrences provide valuable natural experiments by which evolutionary and invasion hypotheses can be tested. In this study, we used the invasion route of guttural toads (Sclerophrys gutturalis) from natural-native and urban-native populations (Durban, South Africa) to their urban-invasive and natural-invasive populations (Mauritius and Réunion) to determine whether phenotypic changes that arose once the toads became urbanized in their native range have increased their invasive potential before they were transported (i.e., prior adaptation) or whether the observed changes are unique to the invasive populations. This urban/natural by native/invasive gradient allowed us to examine differences in guttural toad morphology (i.e., body size, hindlimb, and hindfoot length) and performance capacity (i.e., escape speed, endurance, and climbing ability) along their invasion route. Our findings indicate that invasive island populations have reduced body sizes, shorter limbs in relation to snout-vent length, decreased escape speeds, and decreased endurance capacities that are distinct from the native mainland populations (i.e., invasion-derived change). Thus, these characteristics did not likely arise directly from a pre-transport anthropogenic "filter" (i.e., urban-derived change). Climbing ability, however, did appear to originate within the urban-native range and was maintained within the invasive populations, thereby suggesting it may have been a prior adaptation that provided this species with an advantage during its establishment in urban areas and spread into natural forests. We discuss how this shift in climbing performance may be ecologically related to the success of urban and invasive guttural toad populations, as well as how it may have impacted other island-derived morphological and performance phenotypes.

Formaldehyde Levels in Traditional and Portable Classrooms: A Pilot Investigation.

The pilot study discussed in this article assessed formaldehyde levels in portable classrooms (PCs) and traditional classrooms the authors evaluated formaldehyde levels in day and overnight indoor air (TCs) and explored factors influencing indoor air quality (e.g., carbon dioxide, temperature, and relative humidity). In a cross-sectional design, samples from nine PCs renovated within three years previously and three TCs in a school district in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. Formaldehyde levels ranged from 0.0068 to 0.038 parts per million (ppm). In both types of classroom, overnight formaldehyde median levels (PCs = 0.018 ppm; TCs = 0.019 ppm) were higher than day formaldehyde median levels (PCs = 0.011 ppm; TCs = 0.016 ppm). Carbon dioxide levels measured 470-790 ppm at 7:00 a.m. and 470-1800 ppm at 4:00 p.m. Afternoon medians were higher in TCs (1,400 ppm) than in PCs (780 ppm). Consistent with previous studies, formaldehyde levels were similar among PCs and TCs. Reducing carbon dioxide levels by improving ventilation is recommended for classrooms.

Biological Perspectives: Anti-NMDA Receptor Encephalitis.

PURPOSE: This article explores the recently recognized anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, which may produce psychiatric symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Historically, some patients presenting for psychiatric care may have actually been suffering from anti-NMDA encephalitis; thus, awareness of this disorder may facilitate appropriate treatment. TREATMENT IMPLICATIONS: Early diagnosis and aggressive treatment promote better outcomes. First-line treatment includes immunotherapy.

Biological perspectives: pain: it's not all in your head.

Neuroanatomy correlates with the psychological changes of pain. Neuroplastic transformation appears in the reduction of gray matter volume, or shrinkage in the top-down cortical areas vital for working memory, problem solving, sequencing and discrimination of different information and cognitive modulation of pain via the descending pain modulatory tracts and control over other cortical areas involved in the emotional perception of pain. These latter areas become more active,thereby intensifying the susceptibility to negative affect associated with pain (Geha & Apkarian, 2006).An animal model of chronic neuropathic pain was associated with impairment in the firing activity of the locus coeruleus and its expression of noradrenaline in ascending and descending pathways, which plays roles in not only pain perception, but mood, anxiety,attention and concentration, the sympathetic nervous system,and the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis,which serves to mobilize an organism's survival by the expression of cortisol in an immediate survival circumstance.

Advances in identifying beryllium sensitization and disease.

Beryllium is a lightweight metal with unique qualities related to stiffness, corrosion resistance, and conductivity. While there are many useful applications, researchers in the 1930s and 1940s linked beryllium exposure to a progressive occupational lung disease. Acute beryllium disease is a pulmonary irritant response to high exposure levels, whereas chronic beryllium disease (CBD) typically results from a hypersensitivity response to lower exposure levels. A blood test, the beryllium lymphocyte proliferation test (BeLPT), was an important advance in identifying individuals who are sensitized to beryllium (BeS) and thus at risk for developing CBD. While there is no true "gold standard" for BeS, basic epidemiologic concepts have been used to advance our understanding of the different screening algorithms.