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Preference Scores (preference + score)
Selected AbstractsPerception of sweet taste is important for voluntary alcohol consumption in miceGENES, BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR, Issue 1 2008Y. A. Blednov To directly evaluate the association between taste perception and alcohol intake, we used three different mutant mice, each lacking a gene expressed in taste buds and critical to taste transduction: ,-gustducin (Gnat3), Tas1r3 or Trpm5. Null mutant mice lacking any of these three genes showed lower preference score for alcohol and consumed less alcohol in a two-bottle choice test, as compared with wild-type littermates. These null mice also showed lower preference score for saccharin solutions than did wild-type littermates. In contrast, avoidance of quinine solutions was less in Gnat3 or Trpm5 knockout mice than in wild-type mice, whereas Tas1r3 null mice were not different from wild type in their response to quinine solutions. There were no differences in null vs. wild-type mice in their consumption of sodium chloride solutions. To determine the cause for reduction of ethanol intake, we studied other ethanol-induced behaviors known to be related to alcohol consumption. There were no differences between null and wild-type mice in ethanol-induced loss of righting reflex, severity of acute ethanol withdrawal or conditioned place preference for ethanol. Weaker conditioned taste aversion (CTA) to alcohol in null mice may have been caused by weaker rewarding value of the conditioned stimulus (saccharin). When saccharin was replaced by sodium chloride, no differences in CTA to alcohol between knockout and wild-type mice were seen. Thus, deletion of any one of three different genes involved in detection of sweet taste leads to a substantial reduction of alcohol intake without any changes in pharmacological actions of ethanol. [source] Infant information processing and family history of specific language impairment: converging evidence for RAP deficits from two paradigmsDEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE, Issue 2 2007Naseem Choudhury An infant's ability to process auditory signals presented in rapid succession (i.e. rapid auditory processing abilities [RAP]) has been shown to predict differences in language outcomes in toddlers and preschool children. Early deficits in RAP abilities may serve as a behavioral marker for language-based learning disabilities. The purpose of this study is to determine if performance on infant information processing measures designed to tap RAP and global processing skills differ as a function of family history of specific language impairment (SLI) and/or the particular demand characteristics of the paradigm used. Seventeen 6- to 9-month-old infants from families with a history of specific language impairment (FH+) and 29 control infants (FH,) participated in this study. Infants' performance on two different RAP paradigms (head-turn procedure [HT] and auditory-visual habituation/recognition memory [AVH/RM]) and on a global processing task (visual habituation/recognition memory [VH/RM]) was assessed at 6 and 9 months. Toddler language and cognitive skills were evaluated at 12 and 16 months. A number of significant group differences were seen: FH+ infants showed significantly poorer discrimination of fast rate stimuli on both RAP tasks, took longer to habituate on both habituation/recognition memory measures, and had lower novelty preference scores on the visual habituation/recognition memory task. Infants' performance on the two RAP measures provided independent but converging contributions to outcome. Thus, different mechanisms appear to underlie performance on operantly conditioned tasks as compared to habituation/recognition memory paradigms. Further, infant RAP processing abilities predicted to 12- and 16-month language scores above and beyond family history of SLI. The results of this study provide additional support for the validity of infant RAP abilities as a behavioral marker for later language outcome. Finally, this is the first study to use a battery of infant tasks to demonstrate multi-modal processing deficits in infants at risk for SLI. [source] The Influence of Labels, Non-Labeling Sounds, and Source of Auditory Input on 9- and 15-Month-Olds' Object CategorizationINFANCY, Issue 3 2003Anne L. Fulkerson This experiment examines the joint influence of auditory and social cues on infants' basic-level and global categorization. Nine- and fifteen-month-olds were familiarized to a series of category exemplars in an object-examining task. Objects were introduced with a labeling phrase, a non-labeling sound, or no sound, and auditory input was presented orally by the experimenter or played on a hidden voice recorder. Novel objects from the familiarized category and a contrasting category were then presented. Results of analyses performed on novelty preference scores indicated that infants demonstrated basic-level categorization in all conditions. However, infants at both age levels only demonstrated global categorization when labeling phrases were introduced. In addition, labels led to global categorization in 9-month-olds regardless of the source of those labels; however, labels only led to global categorization in 15-month-olds when the labels were presented orally by the experimenter. [source] Lipid Oxidation, Color, Volatiles, and Sensory Characteristics of Aerobically Packaged and Irradiated Pork with Different Ultimate pHJOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE, Issue 8 2001K.C. Nam ABSTRACT: Irradiation and storage increased lipid oxidation of normal and pale-soft-exudative (PSE) muscles, whereas dark-firm-dry (DFD) muscle was very stable and resistant to oxidative changes. Irradiation increased redness regardless of pork-quality type, and the increases were proportional to irradiation dose. Irradiation increased the production of sulfur-containing volatiles, but not lipid oxidation products. The total volatiles produced in normal and PSE pork were higher than the DFD pork. Some volatiles produced in meat by irradiation evaporated during storage under aerobic packaging conditions. Nonirradiated normal and DFD pork had higher odor preference scores than the nonirradiated PSE, but irradiation reduced the preference scores of all 3 pork-quality types. [source] Caregiver Acceptability and Preferences for Early Childhood Caries Preventive Treatments for Hispanic ChildrenJOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH DENTISTRY, Issue 4 2009Sally H. Adams RN Abstract Objective: The objective of this study was to determine caregiver treatment acceptability and preferences for five preventive dental treatments for early childhood caries in young Hispanic children. Methods: We interviewed 211 parents/caregivers of Hispanic children attending Head Start programs regarding their acceptability of, and preferences for, five standard preventive dental treatments for young children. Treatments assessed were toothbrushing with fluoride toothpaste, fluoride varnish, and xylitol in food for children, and xylitol gum and chlorhexidine rinse for mothers. The interview assessment included presentation of illustrated cards with verbal description of treatment, photograph/video clip, and treatment samples. Parents rated the acceptability of each treatment (1-5 scale) and treatment preferences within each of 10 possible pairs. Individual treatment preferences were summed to create overall preference scores (range 0-4). Results: All treatments were rated as highly acceptable, however, there were differences (range 4.6-4.9; Friedman chi-square = 23.4, P < 0.001). Chlorhexidine, toothbrushing, and varnish were most acceptable, not different from each other, but more acceptable than xylitol in food (P < 0.05). Summed treatment preferences revealed greater variability (means ranged 1.4-2.6; Friedman chi-square = 128.2, P < 0.001). Fluoride varnish (2.6) and toothbrushing (2.5) were most highly preferred, and differences between preferences for xylitol in food (1.4), xylitol gum (1.5), and chlorhexidine (2.1) were all significant (P < 0.001). Preferences for chlorhexidine were also significantly greater than those for the xylitol products (P < 0.001). Conclusions: All five treatments were highly acceptable, however, when choosing among treatments overall, fluoride varnish and toothbrushing were favored over other treatments. [source] | ||||||||||