Automated Analysis of <em>C. elegans</em> Swim Behavior Using CeleST Software

Dissecting the neuronal and neuromuscular circuits that regulate behavior remains a major challenge in biology. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has ...

Rutgers University

Technology and terminology often detract from a reasoned appraisal of the euthanasia option, especially in those discussions that argue for euthanasia's incorporation into a beneficence-based medical model. "Beneficent euthanasia," assuming there is such a thing, poses special challenges to the traditional provider-patient relationship. These challenges argue for well-defined limits of beneficence and a more equitable distribution of responsiblity between participants. We should not allow technology and terminology to generate an unrealistic portrayal of patient death and its ramifications. Participants need to acknowledge their roles in the decision to kill and the obligations that those roles entail. Perhaps we can reach ethical consensus concerning euthanasia by first reasserting our span of control over the technology that can extend the near-death period and by openly discusssing euthanasia's implications.

Some ways that technology and terminology distort the euthanasia issue.

A well-known thought experiment has us ponder a lottery system that selects one person as the source of transplantable organs for two others. The organs are forcibly harvested and the "donor" dies, whereas the other two patients live. The Survival Lottery is supposed to get at the distinction between killing and letting die, but it is also a challenge to beliefs about moral duties: what are my obligations if my life could be used to save yours and another person's as well? A less extreme version of this thought experiment might have us imagining that officials of the public healthcare system would devise a similar lottery in the aftermath of a large-scale medical emergency. We could imagine that a natural disaster or an attack using biological weapons, for example, has so diminished the ability to provide public health care that in some communities, officials might consider implementing a lottery. To avoid the concerns about outright killing of selectees, officials might offer a wide range of participation in medical practice and research, not just organ allocation. Officials could ensure that no significant risks are involved, and selectees could in various ways be compensated. Would it be possible to ethically justify this "Healthcare Lottery" on the grounds that it was a temporary, yet necessary, infringement on autonomy?

Tinkering with the survival lottery during a public health crisis.

Commentary: Ethics and the rhetorical context of human research.

The purpose of the present study was to determine the influence of the glycaemic index (GI) and glycaemic load (GL) on the ratio of tryptophan (TRP) relative to other large neutral amino acids (LNAA). Ten healthy men (age 22·9 (sd 3·4) years; BMI 23·5 (sd 1·6) kg/m2) underwent standard GI testing, and later consumed each of a mixed-macronutrient (1915 kJ; 66·5 % carbohydrate (CHO), 17 % protein and 16·5 % fat) high-GI (MHGI), an isoenergetic, mixed-macronutrient low-GI (MLGI) and a CHO-only (3212 kJ; 90 % CHO, 8 % protein, 2 % fat) high-GI (CHGI) meal on separate days. The GI, GL and insulin index values (e.g. area under the curve) were largest after the CHGI meal (117, 200, 158), followed by the MHGI (79, 59, 82) and MLGI (51, 38, 56) meals, respectively (all values were significantly different, P < 0·05). After the MHGI and MLGI meals but not after the CHGI meal, TRP was elevated at 120 and 180 min (P < 0·05). After the CHGI, LNAA was lower compared with the MLGI (P < 0·05); also the rate of decline in LNAA was higher after CHGI compared with MHGI and MLGI (both comparisons P < 0·05). The percentage increase from baseline in TRP:LNAA after CHGI (23 %) was only marginally higher than after the MHGI meal (17 %; P = 0·38), but it was threefold and nearly significantly greater than MLGI (8 %; P = 0·05). The present study demonstrates that the postprandial rise in TRP:LNAA was increased by additional CHO ingestion and higher GI. Therefore, the meal GL appears to be an important factor influencing the postprandial TRP:LNAA concentration.

High-glycaemic index and -glycaemic load meals increase the availability of tryptophan in healthy volunteers.

Ramadan is a period in which Muslims fast during daylight hours and is associated with disturbances in sleep-wake behaviour and adverse effects on physical and mental health in normal volunteers. Studies using athletes are rare and remain equivocal as to whether Ramadan influences sleep-wake patterns. Notably, the standardized assessment of subjective sleep quality and daytime sleepiness in athletes has not been established. This study employed the Arabic version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Insomnia Severity Index, and Epworth Sleepiness Scale in nine football players aged 20-35 years (mean ± s: 26 ± 4) one week before and during the last week of Ramadan. Compliance rates with self-administration were high (71%) and the results demonstrated a robust decline in total sleep time (before Ramadan: 6.6 ± 2 h; at the end of Ramadan: 5.3 ± 1 h; P < 0.05, effect size 0.81). Compared with previous research, the study questionnaires offer improved methodology, including less time constraints plus standardization in scoring. Thus, this study demonstrates a framework for greater reproducibility and reliability in the assessment of subjective sleep-wake patterns in athletes before and during Ramadan.

Total sleep time in Muslim football players is reduced during Ramadan: a pilot study on the standardized assessment of subjective sleep-wake patterns in athletes.

Sleep is now considered as a new frontier in performance enhancement. This article presents background content on sleep function, sleep needs and methods of sleep investigation along with data on the potential effects of Ramadan fasting on sleep in normal individuals and athletes. Accumulated sleep loss has negative impacts on cognitive function, mood, daytime sleepiness and performance. Sleep studies in athletes fasting during Ramadan are very rare. Most of them have demonstrated that during this month, sleep duration decreased and sleep timing shifted. But the direct relation between sleep changes and performance during Ramadan is not yet elucidated. Objective sleep patterns can be investigated using polysomnography, actigraphy, and standardised questionnaires and recorded in daily journals or sleep logs. The available data on sleep indicate that team doctors and coaches should consider planning sleep schedule and napping; implementing educational programmes focusing on the need for healthy sleep; and consider routine screening for sleep loss in athletes of all age groups and genders.

Sleep in athletes and the effects of Ramadan.

This study compared the thermal, physiological and perceptual responses associated with match-play tennis in HOT (∼34°C wet-bulb-globe temperature (WBGT)) and COOL (∼19°C WBGT) conditions, along with the accompanying alterations in match characteristics.

Thermal, physiological and perceptual strain mediate alterations in match-play tennis under heat stress.

To determine whether an individualised hydration regimen reduces thermal, physiological and perceptual strain during match-play tennis in the heat, and minimises alterations in neuromuscular function and physical performance postmatch and into recovery.

Coping with heat stress during match-play tennis: does an individualised hydration regimen enhance performance and recovery?

Ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) have been utilized to infer animals' affective states in multiple research paradigms including animal models of drug abuse, depression, fear or anxiety disorders, Parkinson's disease, and in studying neural substrates of reward processing. Currently, the analysis of USV data is performed manually, and thus is time consuming.

Automated detection of 50-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations using template matching in XBAT.

Intermittent fasting during the month of Ramadan, although not obligatory, is commonly practiced by Muslim children.

A Prospective Study of the Physiological and Neurobehavioral Effects of Ramadan Fasting in Preteen and Teenage Boys.

Muslims observe fasting during the month of Ramadan by abstaining from eating and drinking from dawn to sunset. Available literature shows that although several studies have been conducted on athletes to determine the effects of Ramadan fasting in terms of physical fitness and performance, little data are available regarding the knowledge, beliefs and attitudes of athletes (particularly footballers) towards Ramadan fasting during high-level competitions. This study explored the knowledge, beliefs and attitudes towards Ramadan fasting among football players participating in the London 2012 Olympics football tournament.

Christopher Herrera

Computing Research and Education Building (CoRE)

Rutgers University

Automated Analysis of C. elegans Swim Behavior Using CeleST Software

Christopher Herrera

.css-o250i3{font-size:18px;font-family:Open Sans,sans-serif;line-height:21.6px;}Computing Research and Education Building (CoRE)

Rutgers University

Automated Analysis of C. elegans Swim Behavior Using CeleST Software

Computing Research and Education Building (CoRE)