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Selected AbstractsAccelerated nervous system development contributes to behavioral efficiency in the laboratory mouse: A behavioral review and theoretical proposalDEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOBIOLOGY, Issue 3 2001Ian Q. Whishaw Abstract The emergence of the laboratory mouse as a favored species for genetic research has posed a number of problems for scientists interested in the reflection of genetic influences in mouse behavior. It is commonly thought that rat behavior, which has been studied more extensively than mouse behavior, could be easily generalized to mice. In this article, a number of categories of behavior displayed by the mouse (motor, spatial, defensive, social) are reviewed and contrasted with the same categories of behavior displayed by the rat. The comparison suggests that mouse behavior is simpler and more dependent upon elementary actions than the behavior of the rat. We suggest that the behavioral simplification in the mouse adapts it for a different ecological niche than that occupied by the rat. We propose that this simplification may be mediated by accelerated brain maturation during development. We further propose that this developmental acceleration in the mouse renders it less dependent upon complex social behavior and plastic nervous system changes associated with learning than the rat. This difference poses problems for the development of relevant methods of behavioral analysis and interpretation. Since the mouse's biological adaptations will be reflected in laboratory behavior, suggestions are made for behavioral approaches to the study and interpretation of mouse behavior. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 39: 151,170, 2001 [source] Elevated body fat percentage and cardiovascular risks at low body mass index levels among Singaporean Chinese, Malays and IndiansOBESITY REVIEWS, Issue 3 2002M. Deurenberg-Yap Summary The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentage (BF%) in Singaporean Chinese, Malays and Indians, and to determine the risk for selected comorbidities at various BMI categories and abdominal fat distributions, as assessed by waist circumference (WC). The study was a cross-sectional (population) design. In total, 4723 subjects participated in the National Health Survey of 1998 in which the risks were investigated. A selected subsample of 291 subjects participated in a detailed body composition study, where weight, height and WC were measured, as were blood pressure, total and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, serum triglycerides and fasting glucose. In the subsample, BF% was determined by means of a chemical four-compartment model. At any given BF% the BMI of Singaporeans was about 3 kg m,2 lower than that of Caucasians. There were slight differences in the BF%/BMI relationship between the three ethnic groups. For all the ethnic groups, it was found that at low categories of BMI (between 22 and 24 kg m,2) and WC (between 75 and 80 cm for women and between 80 and 85 cm for men), the absolute risks for having at least one of the aforementioned risk factors were high, ranging from 41 to 81%. At these same categories the relative risks were significantly higher compared to the reference category, odds ratios ranging from 1.97,4.38. These categories of BMI and WC were all far below the cut-off values of BMI and WC as currently recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). The data from the current study, which includes evidence that not only risk factors, but also BF% are elevated at low BMI values, presents a strong case for lowering the BMI cut-off value for overweight and obesity among Singaporeans, from 25 kg m,2 and 30 kg m,2 to 23 kg m,2 and 27 kg m,2, respectively. [source] The pH change after HCl titration into resting and stimulated saliva for a buffering capacity testAUSTRALIAN DENTAL JOURNAL, Issue 2 2006M. Moritsuka Abstract Background: Saliva collection can provide clinical information about individual patients. However, a correlation between ranking buffering capacity using resting and stimulated saliva is still unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the pH change after HCl titration into resting and stimulated saliva for a salivary buffering capacity test. Methods: Resting and stimulated saliva (by chewing paraffin wax) were collected from 80 patients. After the pH of both saliva samples was measured using a hand-held pH meter, the saliva samples were titrated with 0.1N HCl to evaluate the buffering capacity. Correlations of ranking buffering capacity (high, medium, low) between stimulated saliva and resting saliva with 30,L HCl titration and between stimulated saliva and resting saliva with 40,L HCl titration were statistically analysed by Spearman Rank Correlation Test (p < 0.05). Results: At 50,L HCl titration, stimulated saliva buffering capacities were ranked into high (above pH 5.5), medium (pH from 5.5 to 4.5) and low (below pH 4.5). At 30,40,L HCl titration, the resting saliva buffering capacities were ranked into the same categories. Spearman Rank Correlation indicated significant positive coefficients for the stimulated saliva and resting saliva buffering capacity at 30,L titration and the stimulated saliva and resting saliva at 40,L titration. Conclusion: Stimulated saliva is more resistant to variation in pH change during HCl titration than resting saliva. Stimulated saliva sampling is a good method to determine buffering capacity during a comprehensive oral health assessment. [source] Salt fluoridation and dental caries in JamaicaCOMMUNITY DENTISTRY AND ORAL EPIDEMIOLOGY, Issue 4 2001Saskia R. Estupiñán-Day Abstract ,Purpose: In 1987, Jamaica initiated a comprehensive island-wide salt fluoridation program. A survey was conducted in 1995 to monitor the impact of salt fluoridation among children in Jamaica. Methods: Dental examinations of 1120 children aged 6,8, 12, and 15 years were conducted according to World Health Organization criteria to assess dental caries, fluorosis, the presence of and need for dental sealants, and Community Periodontal Treatment Needs (CPI). Results: Age specific DMFT means observed in 1995 were 0.2 at age 7, 0.4 at age 8, 1.1 at age 12 and 3.0 at age 15. The mean DMFT scores in children 6, 12 and 15 years of age were dramatically lower than the corresponding scores of 1.7, 6.7 and 9.6 obtained at the baseline examination in 1984 for children of the same age groups, respectively (baseline data for 7- and 8-year-olds were not collected). The mean percentage of sound permanent teeth for all age groups was 90% in 1995. The percentage of children caries-free at baseline was 27.6% for 6 years, 2.8% for 12 years and 0.3% for 15 years of age. In 1995, the percentage of caries-free children (permanent teeth) was 61%. In 1984, 23 children were scored as having very mild or mild fluorosis. In 1995, five children were scored in the same categories of fluorosis, using Dean's criteria; thus, fluorosis remained at negligible levels in 1995. Conclusions: The oral health survey conducted in Jamaica in 1995 indicated a significant decline in dental caries compared with findings in 1984. The major change in Jamaica during the interval was the introduction of salt fluoridation in 1987. Dental fluorosis was low in the 1995 survey. [source] Should an obsessive,compulsive spectrum grouping of disorders be included in DSM-V?,DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY, Issue 6 2010Katharine A. Phillips M.D. Abstract The obsessive,compulsive (OC) spectrum has been discussed in the literature for two decades. Proponents of this concept propose that certain disorders characterized by repetitive thoughts and/or behaviors are related to obsessive,compulsive disorder (OCD), and suggest that such disorders be grouped together in the same category (i.e. grouping, or "chapter") in DSM. This article addresses this topic and presents options and preliminary recommendations to be considered for DSM-V. The article builds upon and extends prior reviews of this topic that were prepared for and discussed at a DSM-V Research Planning Conference on Obsessive,Compulsive Spectrum Disorders held in 2006. Our preliminary recommendation is that an OC-spectrum grouping of disorders be included in DSM-V. Furthermore, we preliminarily recommend that consideration be given to including this group of disorders within a larger supraordinate category of "Anxiety and Obsessive,Compulsive Spectrum Disorders." These preliminary recommendations must be evaluated in light of recommendations for, and constraints upon, the overall structure of DSM-V. Depression and Anxiety, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Acute-to-chronic species sensitivity distribution extrapolationENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 7 2004Cédric Duboudin Abstract Seeking to make greater use of available data for risk assessment of substances, we constructed, for the situation in which chronic data are limited or even nonexistent but acute data are relatively large, an acute to chronic transformation (ACT) methodology based on the concept of species sensitivity distributions (SSDs). This ACT methodology uses a comparison of acute and chronic SSDs, separately for vertebrate data (with 22 substances) and for invertebrate data (with 15 substances). Rather than comparing an acute toxicity value with a chronic value, as when calculating an acute to chronic ratio (ACR), samples of acute and chronic data corresponding to the same category of species were compared. Starting from a sample of acute data, the ACT methodology showed relationships that enable the creation of a sample of predicted chronic values. This sample can then be used to calculate a predicted chronic hazardous concentration potentially affecting 5% of species (HC5%), just as with a sample of real chronic toxicity values. This ACT approach was tested on 11 substances. For each substance, the real chronic HC5% and the predicted chronic HC5% were calculated and compared. The ratio between chronic HC5% and ACT HC5% was, on average, 1.6 and did not exceed 4.4 for the 11 substances studied. [source] The Costs of Childhood Epilepsy in Italy: Comparative Findings from Three Health Care SettingsEPILEPSIA, Issue 5 2001R. Guerrini Summary: ,Purpose: To determine the direct costs of epilepsy in a child neurology referral population, stratified by disease, duration, and severity, comparing three different health care settings [i.e., teaching or clinical research (CR) hospitals, general hospitals, and outpatient services]. Methods: Patients were accepted if they had confirmed epilepsy and were resident in the center catchment area. Eligible subjects were grouped in the following categories: (a) newly diagnosed patients; (b) patients with epilepsy in remission; (c) patients with active non,drug-resistant epilepsy; and (d) those with drug-resistant epilepsy. Over a 12-month period, data regarding the consuming of all resources (i.e., consultations, tests, hospital admissions, drugs), were collected for each patient. Using the Italian National Health Service tariffs, the unit cost of each resource was calculated and indicated in Euros, the European currency. Results: A total of 189 patients was enrolled by two teaching-CR hospitals, two general hospitals, and two outpatient services. The patients were evenly distributed across the four categories of epilepsy. The mean annual cost per person with epilepsy was 1,767 Euros. Drug-resistant epilepsy was the most expensive category (3,268 Euros) followed by newly diagnosed epilepsy (1,907 Euros), active non,drug-resistant epilepsy (1,112 Euros), and epilepsy in remission (844 Euros). Costs were generally highest in teaching-CR hospitals and lowest in outpatient services. Hospital services were the major cost in all epilepsy groups, followed by drugs. Conclusions: The cost of epilepsy in children and adolescents in Italy tends to vary significantly depending on the severity and duration of the disease Hospitals services and drugs are the major sources of costs. The setting of health care plays a significant role in the variation of the costs, even for patients in the same category of epilepsy. [source] The psychological determinants of low-rate daily smokingADDICTION, Issue 10 2004Jean-François Etter ABSTRACT Aims To compare low-rate daily smokers (one to five cigarettes/day) with other daily smokers, using the Transtheoretical Model of Change as a framework. Design Mail survey with a follow-up after 7 months. Setting A randomly selected population sample in French-speaking Switzerland, in 1998. Participants A total of 2338 daily smokers aged 25 + years, including 95 smokers of one to five cigarettes/day, 324 smokers of six to 10 cigarettes/day, 399 smokers of 11,15 cigarettes/day and 1520 smokers of 16 + cigarettes/day, and 1765 people (75% of 2338) at 7-month follow-up. Findings Compared with smokers of 16 + cigarettes/day, low-rate smokers of one to five cigarettes/day included more women (67% versus 46%, P < 0.001), were 4 years younger (P < 0.001), were less motivated to quit smoking (62% versus 37% in the ,precontemplation' stage of change, P < 0.001), thought that quitting would be easier (,3.4 points on a 0,10 scale, P < 0.001) and were less bothered by the risk of smoking. Low-rate smokers were taking control more actively over their smoking, e.g. they more often stayed away from places where people smoked, sat in the no-smoking sections in public places and tried to delay as much as they could their first cigarette of the day. Only 45% of low-rate smokers were still in the same category 7 months later. Conclusions For many smokers, low-rate smoking may result from a conscious effort to limit their cigarette consumption. Being a low-rate smoker was a temporary condition for most people. Low-rate smokers should be considered as a specific, although heterogeneous group. [source] Context-dependent behavioural and neuronal sensitization in striatum to MDMA (ecstasy) administration in ratsEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 1 2006Kevin T. Ball Abstract To investigate the neuronal mechanisms underlying the behavioural alterations that accompany repeated exposure to MDMA (ecstasy), we recorded the activity of >,200 striatal units in response to multiple, intermittent, locomotor-activating doses (5.0 mg/kg) of MDMA. Rats were treated with once-daily injections of either saline or MDMA for 5 days when housed in their home cage, followed by a challenge injection 3,5 days later when housed in a recording chamber. Because contextual drug associations might be particularly important to the expression of behavioural sensitization to chronic MDMA, a separate group of rats received repeated injections of MDMA alternately in the recording chamber or home cage, according to the above timeline. A sensitized locomotor response was observed only in rats that had previously experienced MDMA in the context of the recording chamber, and only on the challenge day. These sensitized animals also showed a decreased basal firing rate in neurons that were subsequently excited by MDMA when compared with the same category of neurons earlier in the treatment regimen. This resulted in a greater percentage increase from the baseline firing rate on the challenge day compared with the first and fifth days of treatment, even though this trend was not evident with an analysis of absolute firing rate. These results strongly support a role for context in the expression of MDMA-induced locomotor sensitization, and implicate striatal involvement in the neurobehavioural changes associated with the repeated use of MDMA. [source] The Temporal Asynchrony of Planktonic Cladocerans Population at Different Environments of the Upper Paraná River FloodplainINTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF HYDROBIOLOGY, Issue 6 2008Erica Mayumi Takahashi Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the existence of synchronic fluctuation patterns in cladoceran populations of the Upper Paraná River floodplain. The following hypothesis were tested: (i) the populations of a given species present the same fluctuation pattern in abundance for different environments and (ii) synchrony is higher when we consider subsets of neighboring environments or those belonging to the same category (e.g., lagoons, rivers). Samplings were performed every three months from February 2000 to November 2002 at 11 sites. To evaluate spatial synchrony, the intraclass correlation coefficient was used. The results showed no significant correlation for the most abundant species, meaning that fluctuation patterns of planktonic cladocerans were asynchronous. Asynchrony indicated that the influence of floods and regional climatic factors was not strong enough to synchronize the populations, suggesting that local factors were more important than regional effects in determining zooplankton abundance patterns. The implications of these results are that the observations from a single environment cannot be extrapolated to other environments in a manner that would allow its use as a sentinel site. This means that a monitoring program for floodplain systems, or at least for the Paraná River floodplain, has to comprise greater spatial extents. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source] Flexural Strength, Elastic Modulus, and pH Profile of Self-etch Resin Luting CementsJOURNAL OF PROSTHODONTICS, Issue 4 2008Egle Saskalauskaite DDS Abstract Purpose: To determine the flexural strength, modulus of elasticity, and 24-hour pH profile of three self-etching resin luting cements and to obtain comparative data for representative conventional resin and resin-modified glass ionomer luting cements. Materials and Methods: Three self-etching resin luting cements [RelyX Unicem (3M ESPE), Maxcem (Kerr), Embrace Wetbond (Pulpdent)] were tested and compared with two conventional resin cements [RelyX ARC (3M ESPE), Linkmax (GC)] plus two resin-modified glass ionomer luting cements [Fuji Plus (GC), RelyX Luting Plus (3M ESPE)]. Flexural strength and modulus of elasticity were determined using bar-shaped specimens (2 × 2 × 25 mm3) at 24 hours, using an Instron universal testing machine. Setting pH was measured using a flat-surface pH electrode at 0, 2, 5, 15, and 30 minutes and 1, 2, 4, 6, and 24 hours after mixing. Testing was performed under both dual-cured and self-cured conditions for all dual-cure cements. Data analysis included ANOVA and Tukey's test (p < 0.05). Results: The self-etching cements showed similar flexural strength to the conventional resin cements, except for Embrace Wetbond self-cured, which was considerably lower. Modulus of elasticity results were both higher and lower than for conventional resin cements. All photopolymerized conventional and self-etch dual-cure cements showed markedly higher flexural strength and modulus than when solely self-cured. The resin-modified glass ionomer cements were characterized by lower flexural strength and elastic modulus. Self-etching resin cements showed lower initial pH (2.0 to 2.4) than conventional resin cements (4.8 to 5.2) and a wide range of final pH values (3.9 to 7.3) at 24 hours. One self-etching cement (Unicem) revealed a unique pH profile characterized by a more rapid rise in pH to neutrality both when dual-cured (15 minutes) and when auto-cured (1 hour). Conclusions: The self-etching resin cements evaluated in this study displayed disparate properties and cannot be considered a homogeneous group. Flexural strength properties were most uniform and were similar to those of the conventional resin cements, whereas moduli of elasticity showed greater variation. Setting pH profiles differed, depending on the brand and mode of cure, even within the same category of luting cement. All cements with dual-cure capability, both conventional and self-etch, showed significantly superior properties when photopolymerized. [source] How price increases affect future purchases: The role of mental budgeting, income, and framingPSYCHOLOGY & MARKETING, Issue 1 2010Christian Homburg This article suggests that mental budgeting processes provide afurther understanding of how and to what degree price increases negatively affect a customer's future purchase behavior in a particular category of expenses. Furthermore, the authors analyze how customer income and different price presentation tactics alter this reaction. Results of two experimental studies using both students and non-students show that customer income attenuates the negative effect of a price increase on the likelihood of a future purchase in a particular expense category. As an underlying mechanism, the influence of customer income on future purchase behavior is partially mediated by the degree to which customers engage in mental budgeting. Moreover, mental budgeting strengthens the negative effect of a price increase on a future purchase in the same category of expenses, whereas it does not alter the effect of a price increase on a future purchase in another category. Finally, the framing of a price increase as a percentage versus in absolute terms leads to a lower likelihood of a future category purchase. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Effects of Weight Loss Intervention on Erectile Function in Older Men with Type 2 Diabetes in the Look AHEAD TrialTHE JOURNAL OF SEXUAL MEDICINE, Issue 1pt1 2010Rena R. Wing PhD ABSTRACT Introduction., Overweight men with diabetes often report erectile dysfunction (ED), but few studies have examined effects of weight loss on this problem. Aim., This study examined 1-year changes in erectile function (EF) in overweight/obese men with type 2 diabetes participating in the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) trial. Methods., Participants in Look AHEAD were randomly assigned to a control condition involving diabetes support and education (DSE) or to intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) involving group and individual sessions to reduce weight and increase physical activity. Men from five of the clinical sites in Look AHEAD completed the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) at baseline (N = 372) and at 1 year (N = 306) (82%). Main Outcome Measures., Changes in EF as reported on the EF subscale of the IIEF. Results., At 1 year, the ILI group lost a greater percent of initial body weight (9.9% vs. 0.6 %) and had greater improvements in fitness (22.7% vs. 4.6%) than DSE. EF improved more in ILI (17.3 ± 7.6 at baseline; 18.6 ± 8.1 at 1 year) than in DSE (18.3 ± 7.6 at baseline; 18.4 ± 8.0 at 1 year); P = 0.04 and P = 0.06 after adjusting for baseline differences. Using established norms for none (i.e., normal EF), and three grades (i.e., mild, moderate, and severe) ED, 8% of men in ILI reported a worsening of EF from baseline to 1 year, 70% stayed in the same category, and 22% reported improvements. In contrast, 20% of DSE reported worsening, 57% stayed in the same category, and 23% improved (P = 0.006). Conclusion., In this sample of older overweight/obese diabetic men, weight loss intervention was mildly helpful in maintaining EF. Wing RR, Rosen RC, Fava JL, Bahnson J, Brancati F, Gendrano INC, Kitabchi A, Schneider SH, and Wadden TA. Effects of weight loss intervention on erectile function in older men with type 2 diabetes in the look AHEAD trial. J Sex Med 2010;7:156,165. [source] Bacterial vaginosis , a laboratory and clinical diagnostics enigma,APMIS, Issue 3 2005Review article II Diagnosing bacterial vaginosis (BV) has long been based on the clinical criteria of Amsel et al., whereby three of four defined criteria must be satisfied. Though there are other criteria and scoring methods which function well in comparison (i.e. Nugent scoring), it is not certain that they will always identify the same category of patients. Point-of-care methods based on various combinations of microbial products, presence of RNA, or more complex laboratory instrumentations such as sensor arrays, have also been introduced for the diagnosis of BV. No method for diagnosing BV can at present be regarded as the best. It could be that , based partly on tacit knowledge on the part of the clinical investigators scoring in the clinic , various scoring systems have been chosen to fit a particular BV-related problem in a particular population. In this review we critically examine these pertinent issues influencing clinical scoring and laboratory diagnostics of BV. [source] Using patterns of reef fish assemblages to refine a Habitat Classification System for marine parks in NSW, AustraliaAQUATIC CONSERVATION: MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS, Issue 1 2010Hamish A. Malcolm Abstract 1.The Solitary Islands Marine Park (SIMP) in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, is located in a tropical-temperate biotone, with variable influence of the tropical East Australian Current (EAC) from inshore to offshore. Marine communities on the extensive, subtidal, rocky reefs are poorly described. As a result, the current Habitat Classification System (HCS) used as part of the process to determine the marine park zoning arrangements, which places all shallow reef (<25,m) in the same category, is unlikely to represent real biotic patterns. 2.To evaluate the influence of five key factors (distance from shore, reef type, dominant benthos, latitude, and depth range) fish assemblages were widely surveyed, using 30-minute timed counts, at 68 sites across the extent of shallow reef within the park. Relationships between assemblage patterns and levels of the different factors were subsequently examined using multivariate analyses. 3.Patterns of reef fish assemblages were most strongly correlated with distance from shore. Three distinct assemblages occurred on inshore (<1.5,km), mid-shelf (1.5,6,km), and offshore (>6,km) reefs. Differences in assemblage structure by reef type were also apparent on inshore and offshore reefs, but not on mid-shelf reefs. Correlations with the other factors were weak. The cross-shelf pattern was persistent over the scale of years. 4.The results of the study provide strong support for incorporating distance-from-shore categories into a refined HCS. This will improve its ability to represent biological diversity as reflected by patterns of reef fish assemblages. Further research is required to determine the wider application of the HCS to other marine parks in NSW and to determine if it also, effectively, represents other components of biodiversity. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Interspecific Competition and Niche Separation in Primates: A Global AnalysisBIOTROPICA, Issue 3 2009Brian M. Schreier ABSTRACT Primates are an extraordinarily well-known tropical forest, mammalian taxon. We investigated potential modes of niche separation in primates by identifying sympatric species with putatively similar niche characteristics and assessing potential competition using data gleaned from an extensive literature review. We defined competing species-pairs as (a) sympatric species in which (b) the body mass of the larger species was within 30 percent of the smaller species' mass and (c) the species had the same category of diet. A sample of 43 well-studied forests (7,20 per continent) provided 673 pairs of sympatric primate species. Of these, 45 pairs (7%) are potential competitors by our definition. Africa has the largest number of competing pairs (17 pairs), while Asia might have the highest percentage of competitors in each forest site (17%). Niche separation was investigated for each pair by examining them for each of eight possible modes of separation: detailed differences in diets (28% of potential competitors), use of different heights in the forest (25%), use of different types of forest (14%), use of different locations within the forest (11%), use of support branches of different diameters (7%), different ranging behavior (6%), different techniques of prey capture (4%), and differential timing of activity (4%). The use of different heights in the forest is the dominant form of potential separation in Africa (31% of competing species-pairs) and Asia (38%), while detailed differences in diet appears to be the primary mode of niche separation in the Americas (26%) and Madagascar (32%). [source] | |||||||||||||