bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Self‐administration of cocaine, cannabis and heroin in the human laboratory: benefits and pitfalls
Authors: Haney Margaret 
Published: October 2008

ABSTRACTThe objective of this review is to describe self‐administration procedures for modeling addiction to cocaine, cannabis and heroin in the human laboratory, the benefits and pitfalls of the approach, and the methodological issues unique to each drug. In addition, the predictive validity of the model for testing treatment medications will be addressed. The results show that all three drugs of abuse are reliably and robustly self‐administered by non‐treatment‐seeking research volunteers. In terms of pharmacotherapies, cocaine use is extraordinarily difficult to disrupt either in the laboratory or in the clinic. A range of medications has been shown to significantly decrease cocaine's subjective effects and craving without decreasing either cocaine self‐administration or cocaine abuse by patients. These negative data combined with recent positive findings with modafinil suggest that self‐administration procedures are an important intermediary step between pre‐clinical and clinical studies. In terms of cannabis, a recent study suggests that medications that improve sleep and mood during cannabis withdrawal decrease the resumption of marijuana self‐administration in abstinent volunteers. Clinical data on patients seeking treatment for their marijuana use are needed to validate these laboratory findings. Finally, in contrast to cannabis or cocaine dependence, there are three efficacious Food and Drug Administration‐approved medications to treat opioid dependence, all of which decrease both heroin self‐administration and subjective effects in the human laboratory. In summary, self‐administration procedures provide meaningful behavioral data in a small number of individuals. These studies contribute to our understanding of the variables maintaining cocaine, marijuana and heroin intake, and are important in guiding the development of more effective drug treatment programs.
Impairment of T helper and T regulatory cell responses at birth
Authors: Schaub B. , Liu J. , Schleich I. , Höppler S. , Sattler C. , Von Mutius E. 
Published: October 2008

Background:  There is strong evidence that reduced exposures to microbial compounds triggering innate immune responses early in life are critical for the development of allergic illnesses. The underlying mechanisms remain unknown, but will include T‐cell responses either along T helper type 1 (Th1)/Th2 pathways or via T regulatory and Th17 cells. Yet, little is known about innate immune responses and the function of T regulatory/Th17 cells at birth. The aim of this study was to investigate T‐cell responses to innate (Lipid A/LpA, peptidoglycan/Ppg) and adaptive (phytohemagglutinin) stimuli at birth and to compare these findings with adult immune responses.Methods:  Cord and peripheral blood mononuclear cells including T regulatory and Th17 cells from 25 neonates and 25 adults were examined for proliferation, cytokine secretion, surface, mRNA expression and functional suppression assays.Results:  Proliferation and cytokine responses to innate stimuli were less mature at birth than in adulthood. T regulatory and Th17 cells were less expressed in cord than in adult blood (Ppg‐induced Foxp3, P = 0.001, LpA‐induced CD4+ CD25+ high, P = 0.02; Th17 : P < 0.0001). Mitogen‐induced suppression of T‐regulatory cells on T‐effector cell function was less efficient in cord than in adult blood (P = 0.01). At both ages, Th17 cells were correlated with Th1/Th2 cells (P < 0.01), but not with interleukin‐10 secretion following innate‐stimulation.Conclusion:  Innate immune responses are immature at birth. Furthermore, the function of T regulatory and Th17 cells is impaired. Th17 cells in association with Th1/Th2 cells may be involved in early immuno‐modulation. Potent innate immune stimulation early in life can potentially contribute to protection from allergic diseases.
Timeliness of diagnosis of asthma in children and its predictors
Authors: Molis W. E. , Bagniewski S. , Weaver A. L. , Jacobson R. M. , Juhn Y. J. 
Published: October 2008

Background:  There is a paucity of literature using medical records to evaluate the timeliness of asthma diagnosis in children and the predictors associated with timeliness of asthma diagnosis.Methods:  Subjects were obtained from a convenience sample of 839 children, aged 5–13 years. We conducted comprehensive medical record reviews for these children to determine their asthma status by applying predetermined criteria for asthma. Predictors were evaluated for an association with timeliness of asthma diagnosis.Results:  Of 839 children, 276 children met the criteria for asthma before 18 years of age. Of these subjects, 97 had timely diagnosis of asthma while 179 did not have timely diagnosis of asthma with the median delay of 3.3 years. Children with definite asthma at the time of index date was three times more timely to be diagnosed with asthma [hazard ratios (HR) 3.3, 95% CI: 2.43–4.47, P < 0.001], compared to those with probable asthma. Children with a family history of asthma were more timely to be diagnosed with asthma (HR 1.36, 95% CI: 1.03–1.8, P = 0.031). Children with exercise‐induced wheezing or bronchospasm were more timely to be diagnosed with asthma (HR 1.79, 95% CI: 0.95–3.36, P = 0.07), compared to those with spasmodic (or bronchospastic) cough.Conclusions:  Many asthmatic children are not diagnosed with asthma in a timely manner, especially in those without the commonly recognized factors associated with asthma. Health care providers need to be reminded that asthma can still occur in those without commonly recognized risk factors. Asthma guidelines need to emphasize this aspect.
Early markers of allergic disease in a primary prevention study using probiotics: 2.5‐year follow‐up phase
Authors: Prescott S. L. , Wiltschut J. , Taylor A. , Westcott L. , Jung W. , Currie H. , Dunstan J. A. 
Published: October 2008

Background: We previously reported that aLactobacillus acidophilusprobiotic strain (LAFTI®L10/LAVRI‐A1) given for the first 6 months of life increased the risk of allergen sensitization at 1 year of age.Methods: To assess the effects on subsequent allergic outcomes, 153 children from the initial prevention cohort (n = 178) were reviewed at 2.5 years of age. Clinical outcomes were assessed in relation to (i) probiotic supplementation; and (ii) immune function previously assessed at 6 months of age.Results: Supplementation with this probiotic did not reduce the risk of dermatitis at 2.5 years (31/74, 42%) compared with that in placebo group (25/76, 34%). There was no significant reduction in any other allergic disease or allergen sensitization. Inhalant sensitization at 2.5 years (n = 29) was associated with higher proportions of circulating CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T‐cell populations (P = 0.005) and higher allergen‐induced FOXP3 levels (P = 0.003) at 6 months. This was also seen in children with dermatitis. Children with dermatitis at 2.5 years also had significantly lower toll‐like receptor 4 lipopolysaccharide responses at 6 months of age (IL‐12P = 0.04, IL‐6P = 0.039) and lower polyclonal (PHA) responses (IFN‐γP = 0.005, IL‐10P = 0.001, and IL‐6P = 0.001). Children who had previously received the probiotic had fewer gastrointestinal infections in the preceding 18 months (P = 0.023).Conclusion: The LAFTI®L10 probiotic strain did not have any significant effect on allergy outcomes. Allergic children showed a number of early differences in immune function including altered regulatory T‐cell markers and innate immune function.
Understanding patient sensitization profiles in complex pollen areas: a molecular epidemiological study
Authors: Barber D. , De La Torre F. , Feo F. , Florido F. , Guardia P. , Moreno C. , Quiralte J. , Lombardero M. , Villalba M. , Salcedo G. , Rodríguez R. 
Published: October 2008

Background:  Allergy diagnosis in patients exposed to multiple pollen species is complex and misdiagnosis is often a cause for unsuccessful specific immunotherapy.Objective:  We studied the sensitization profile of individual allergens (major, minor and pan‐allergens) in pollen‐sensitized patients in a region with high exposure to olive pollen by investigating the influence of minor allergens on allergic disease and the association between pan‐ and minor allergen sensitizations.Methods:  A panel of 13 purified allergens, which included the most relevant allergens in the area, as well as minor olive allergens and pan‐allergens, were screened using a high‐capacity technology (ADVIA‐Centaur®) in 891 patients.Results:  Olive allergy as measured by specific IgE to Ole e 1 was the leading pollinosis in the area. The minor olive allergens Ole e 7 and Ole e 9 were markers of more severe allergic illness. Profilin sensitization was associated mainly with grass allergy, the second most prevalent pollinosis. Salsola kali pollen allergy was the third most common cause of pollinosis in the area. The prevalence of sensitization to the peach allergen Pru p 3, a nonspecific lipid‐transfer protein, was notable.Conclusion:  Epidemiological analysis by component‐resolved diagnosis is a new method, which elucidates the interaction between allergen exposure gradient and patient sensitization. High exposure leads to differential sensitization profiles some of which are associated with more severe allergic conditions. Profilin sensitization, related mainly to grass pollinosis, was a marker of more severe grass pollen sensitization.
Song Frequency Does Not Reflect Differences in Body Size among Males in Two Oscine Species
Authors: Cardoso Gonçalo C. , Mamede Ana T. , Atwell Jonathan W. , Mota Paulo G. , Ketterson Ellen D. , Price Trevor D. 
Published: October 2008

AbstractLarge animals, having large vocal organs, produce low sound frequencies more efficiently. Accordingly, the frequency of vocalizations is often negatively related to body size across species, and also among individuals of many species, including several non‐oscine birds (non‐songbirds). Little is known about whether song frequency reveals information about body size within oscine species, which are characterized by song learning and large repertoires. We asked whether song frequency is related to body size in two oscines that differ in repertoire size: the dark‐eyed junco (Junco hyemalis) and the serin (Serinus serinus). We also asked whether the extent to which receivers sample repertoires might influence the reliability of their assessment of body size. We found that none of the frequency traits of song that we investigated was related to male body size, nor did more extensive sampling of repertoires lead to any relationship between frequency and body size. Possible reasons for these results are the small range of variation in size within species, or the elaborate vocal physiology of oscines that gives them great control over a wide frequency range. We discuss these results as they relate to female preferences for high‐frequency song that have been previously reported for oscine species.
Evidence of Social Influences on Cache‐Making by Grey Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis)
Authors: Hopewell Lucy J. , Leaver Lisa A. 
Published: October 2008

AbstractMany studies have found that scatter‐hoarding animals change their behaviour when storing food in the presence of conspecifics to minimize the likelihood that their caches will be pilfered; they refrain from caching, move away from conspecifics or choose visually obscured sites. This study reports the first evidence that the presence of conspecifics continues to influence the caching behaviour of a scatter‐hoarding mammal, the grey squirrel, after a suitable cache site has been selected and the hoarder is filling and covering its cache. Wild grey squirrels were filmed when storing preferred and less preferred nuts and when they were alone or with conspecifics present. In line with previous findings, squirrels spent longer travelling from the nut patch and were more vigilant when conspecifics were present. However, squirrels also spent longer disguising their caches and were more likely to stop digging and become vigilant when conspecifics were present than when they were alone. In particular, they were most likely to curtail their digging when storing their preferred nuts in the presence of conspecifics. The results indicate that caching squirrels remain sensitive to the presence of conspecifics until the cache is complete and that they respond flexibly to conspecifics according to the type of food they are storing.
Anti‐Predator Signals in the Chaffinch Fringilla coelebs in Response to Habitat Structure and Different Predator Types
Authors: Jones Katherine A. , Whittingham Mark J. 
Published: October 2008

AbstractMany animals respond to the presence of predators with conspicuous signals such as alarm calling. These signals may aid the detection of the predator by conspecifics or may deter the predator from attack. The advantages of such signals may be dependent upon predator type and habitat type. We measured signalling behaviours (alarm calling and tail flicking) in foraging chaffinches in response to different predator models (hawk and pigeon control, cat and plastic box as control). In addition we measured responses to a cat model when chaffinches were foraging in different habitat structures (obstructed vs. open). There was no difference in the number of individual chaffinches alarm calling in obstructed vs. open habitat, but birds tail flicked more in open habitat, suggesting that tail flicking acts as a visual signal to the predator or conspecifics and therefore unlike auditory cues is influenced by habitat structure. Chaffinches were also more likely to tail flick in response to the cat model than the other three models. Our results are consistent with the idea that animals may respond to ground predators, which spend a large amount of time observing prey before attack, by using signalling behaviours, such as tail flicking and alarm calling. Further work on prey selection by predators is needed to separate the functions of signalling behaviour in response to predators.
Post‐Conflict Non‐Aggressive Behaviours may be neither Friendly nor Conciliatory: Conflict Management of Male Hamadryas Baboons
Authors: Colmenares Fernando , Silveira Fernando 
Published: October 2008

AbstractThe relational model of conflict resolution predicts that after an aggressive conflict there should be a motivational shift from aggression to attraction. Most tests of the reconciliation hypothesis assume, however, that all non‐aggressive post‐conflict behaviours between former opponents are motivationally homogeneous and qualify as friendly reunions. In fact, although the hypothesis predicts an increased occurrence of friendly contacts after conflicts, in practice, however, post‐conflict reunions often include a mixture of contact and non‐contact behaviours. Most reconciliation studies either (often) assume a conciliatory function for post‐conflict reunions or (less often) test functional predictions. Finally, the valuable relationships hypothesis predicts that conciliatory rates should be relatively higher between friends and allies than between non‐friends/allies. In this paper, we use data on non‐aggressive interactions following conflicts between adult male hamadryas baboons that are neither friends nor allies to assess the implications of all these important but largely overlooked issues. The analyses of the rate and temporal relation of non‐contact greeting (NCTG) to anxiety‐related behaviours and side‐directed aggression as well as of the behaviours used during non‐aggressive interactions with male and female third‐parties suggest that the NCTG used by males after conflicts were neither motivationally friendly nor functionally conciliatory. We point out that the gestures exchanged during these post‐conflict NCTG can be interpreted as formalized signals of equal status and that the rate and form of the greetings used by male opponents are indicative of high relationship insecurity and incompatibility respectively. We conclude that although male hamadryas’ post‐conflict NCTG are not conciliatory they may serve to assess their opponents’ attitude and to negotiate the restoring of their pre‐conflict levels of peaceful but non‐amicable co‐existence.
Innate and Learned Shoaling Preferences Based on Body Coloration in Juvenile Mollies,Poecilia latipinna
Authors: Ledesma Jessica M. , McRobert Scott P. 
Published: October 2008

AbstractShoaling offers fish enhanced protection from predators through a phenomenon known as the confusion effect. This phenomenon depends on a high degree of phenotypic homogeneity within a shoal, which may confuse predators that have difficulty in targeting a single individual as prey. Accordingly, fish typically choose shoalmates with similar phenotypic characteristics to themselves. In the molly (Poecilia latipinna), dramatic differences in body coloration have been shown to affect shoalmate choice in adults. Here, we show that juvenile mollies (50 d old) were capable of shoaling and that early experience impacted shoalmate choice. When raised in isolation, mollies chose shoalmates with similar body coloration to their own. When raised with other juvenile mollies, test fish chose to associate with individuals of the same coloration as the fish with whom they had been reared. These results show thatP. latipinnaare capable of the behavioral plasticity that has been demonstrated in other fish species, and that early experience affects the impact of body coloration on shoaling decisions in this species.
Case of Bilateral Seminoma in a Trotter Stallion
Authors: Govaere J , Ducatelle R. , Hoogewijs M , De Schauwer C , De Kruif A 
Published: October 2008

ContentsThis report describes a bilateral seminoma in a stallion. After slaughter, histological examination revealed that the tumour consisted predominantly of polyhedral tumour cells with large nuclei, obvious nucleoli and a small border of cytoplasm. The mitotic index was low and Ki67 staining revealed 4% nuclear staining. To our knowledge, this paper is the first using Ki67 staining as a method to evaluate the mitotic rate in a testicular seminoma in the stallion.
Effect of Suppression of FSH with a GnRH Antagonist (Acyline) Before and During Follicle Deviation in the Mare
Authors: Checura CM , Beg MA , Gastal EL , Gastal MO , Wiltbank MC , Parrish JJ , Ginther OJ 
Published: October 2008

ContentsA GnRH antagonist (Acyline) was used to study the role of FSH in early development of a follicular wave in 61 mares. In Experiment 1, a single dose of 3 mg per mare, compared with 0 and 1 mg, suppressed both the FSH and follicle responses to exogenous GnRH. In Experiment 2, high concentrations of FSH were induced by two successive ablations of all follicles ≥ 6 mm on days 10 and 13 (day 0 = ovulation). A single treatment with Acyline resulted in significantly greater suppression of plasma concentrations of FSH than a single treatment with charcoal‐extracted follicular fluid (source of inhibin) or oestradiol. Suppression of FSH was not significantly different between the group treated with Acyline alone and a group treated with a combination of Acyline, inhibin and oestradiol. In Experiment 3, all follicles were ablated on day 10 to induce an FSH surge and a new follicular wave. Acyline treatment on day 10 resulted in an immediate decrease in FSH, without a significant effect on day of emergence of a new wave or growth of follicles from 7 to 11 mm on days 11–13. Treatment on day 15, a day before expected follicle deviation and after the peak of the wave‐stimulating FSH surge, resulted in an immediate decrease in FSH and cessation of follicle growth. Results indicated that growth of follicles for about 2 days after wave emergence was independent of FSH. In contrast, during the decline in the wave‐stimulating FSH surge and before follicle deviation, growth of follicles was dependent on FSH.
Governing the Majority World? Critical reflections on the role of occupation technology in international contexts
Authors: Molke Daniel K. , Rudman Debbie Laliberte 
Published: October 2008

Background: Within occupational therapy, increasing attention has been focussed on international development work. However, many have critiqued the focus of knowledge development within occupational therapy and occupational science, arguing that it is focussed on Western values. Questions arise about how occupational therapy and occupational science, and the knowledge and therapeutic technologies that are associated with these communities, will affect the ‘developing’ world, which, recently, some have described as the Majority World.Aim and method: Using Foucauldian analytical tools, this paper reflects on specific discourses that are foundational for development work. Specifically, this paper attempts to better understand how concepts like ‘occupational justice’ and the ‘occupational being’ are presented in the literature and relate to practices in international contexts. Within this analysis, attention is focussed on how practices associated with occupational development work might also be enmeshed in power dynamics.Results: This paper outlines how occupational discourses may shape and order life in particular ways and challenges researchers and practitioners to develop a better understanding of how power can operate through occupational discourses and occupational therapy practices. This paper also adds to the literature through the interpretation and explication of various theories that may underpin work in international contexts.Conclusions/future directions: Suggestions for future directions that will enable the development of more politically and culturally sensitive knowledge and practices are also explored. It is crucial that as a community we become more aware of how our theoretical frameworks may impact and shape practice.
Are we applying interventions with research evidence when targeting secondary complications of the stroke‐affected upper limb
Authors: Gustafsson Louise , Yates Kathryn 
Published: October 2008

Background/aim:  This study aimed to survey occupational therapy practice with reference to the current evidence for management of secondary complications of the stroke‐affected upper limb.Methods:  A questionnaire was developed to identify the clinical practice of occupational therapists in managing the client's stroke‐affected upper limb. Participants were recruited via an email to the national occupational therapy neurology listserve. Occupational therapists working in stroke rehabilitation were invited to complete the questionnaire online or to print off and return.Results:  Fifty‐five occupational therapists completed the questionnaire. Results revealed that treatment techniques with little to no evidence were used frequently, including pillow cushion supports (98%), positional stretch (94%) and slings (61%). Alternatively, treatment techniques with significant supporting evidence were used at a lower frequency, such as electrical stimulation (39%).Conclusions:  The results of the questionnaire highlight an inconsistent application of evidence within clinical practice and the consistent application of treatment techniques with poor supporting evidence. This result does not represent poor clinical practice. Rather, it highlights the need for the research literature to articulate the clinical reasoning underpinning clinicians’ selection of treatment techniques and to determine the effectiveness of frequently used, but poorly supported treatment techniques.