Hematologic Reference Values for Clinically Healthy Captive Golden Conures (Guaruba guarouba)

Golden conures or ararajubas (Guaruba guarouba) are endangered parrots endemic to the Brazilian Amazon forest. Body mass, blood cell counts, and total plasma protein were determined for 70 clinically healthy golden conures captive at zoologic parks and private breeder facilities in Brazil. Hematologic results (mean +/- SD) were: Erythrocytes 3.6 +/- 0.5 x 10(6) cells/mm(3), hemoglobin 12.8 +/- 1.4 g/dl, packed cell volume 46 +/- 3.8%, mean corpuscular volume 132 +/- 20 fl, mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) 36 +/- 5.7 pg, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) 28 +/- 3.5%, thrombocytes 26.3 +/- 9.3 x 10(3) cells/mm(3), leukocytes 11.9 +/- 4.5 x 10(3) cells/mm(3), heterophils 6284 +/- 2715 cells/mm(3), lymphocytes 5473 +/- 2408 cells/mm(3), monocytes 113 +/- 162 cells/mm(3), eosinophils 10 +/- 42 cells/mm(3), basophils 27 +/- 64 cells/mm(3). Body mass was 254 +/- 24.9 g and total plasma protein (TPP) was 3.54 +/- 0.58 g/dl. No statistical differences were observed between genders within age groups. Differences between juveniles (J) and adults (A) were identified for TPP < A), MCH (J > A), and MCHC (J > A). These results provide reliable reference values for the clinical interpretation of hematologic results for the species. Hematology may be an important tool for population health investigations on free-ranging golden conure populations and will also be essential to survey the health of release candidates in future reintroduction programs.

Pimavanserin, a selective serotonin (5-HT)2A-inverse agonist, enhances the efficacy and safety of risperidone, 2 mg/day, but does not enhance efficacy of haloperidol, 2 mg/day: Comparison with reference dose risperidone, 6 mg/day

Most atypical antipsychotic drugs (APDs), e. g. risperidone (RIS), produce more extensive blockade of brain serotonin (5-HT)(2A) than dopamine (DA) D-2 receptors. This distinguishes them from typical APDs, e.g. haloperidol (HAL). Our objective was to test the hypothesis that augmentation of low doses of RIS or HAL (2 mg/day) with pimavanserin (PIM), a selective 5-HT2A inverse agonist, to enhance 5-HT2A receptor blockade, can achieve efficacy comparable to RIS, 6 mg/day, but with lesser side effects. In a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, 6 week trial, 423 patients with chronic schizophrenia experiencing a recent exacerbation of psychotic symptoms were randomized to RIS2mg + placebo (RIS2PBO), RIS2mg + PIM20mg (RIS2PIM), RIS6mg + PBO (RIS6PBO), HAL2mg + PBO (HAL2PBO), or HAL2mg + PIM20mg (HAL2PIM). Improvement in psychopathology was measured by the PANSS and CGI-S. The reduction in PANSS Total Score with RIS2PIM at endpoint was significantly greater than RIS2PBO: -23.0 vs. -16.3 (p = 0.007), and not significantly different from the RIS6PBO group: -23.2 points. The percentage of patients with >= 20% improvement at day 15 in the RIS2PIM group was 62.3%, significantly greater than the RIS6PBO (42.1%; p = 0.01) and the RIS2PBO groups (37.7%; p = 0.002). Weight gain and hyperprolactinemia were greater in the RIS6PBO group than the RIS2PIM group but there was no difference in extrapyramidal side effects (EPS). HAL2PBO and HAL2PIM were not significantly different from each other in efficacy but HAL2PIM had less EPS at end point. Both HAL groups and RIS6PBO showed equal improvement in psychopathology at endpoint, indicating HAL 2 mg/day is effective to treat an acute exacerbation in chronic schizophrenia patients. In conclusion, a sub-effective RIS dose combined with PIM to enhance 5-HT2A receptor blockade provided faster onset of action, and at endpoint, equal efficacy and better safety, compared to standard dose RIS. These results support the conclusion that 5-HT2A receptor blockade is a key component of the action of some atypical APDs and can reduce EPS due to a typical APD. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Groups of services delivered by Brazilian branchless banking and respective network integration models

Over the last decade, Brazil has pioneered an innovative model of branchless banking, known as correspondent banking, involving distribution partnership between banks, several kinds of retailers and a variety of other participants, which have allowed an unprecedented growth in bank outreach and became a reference worldwide. However, despite the extensive number of studies recently developed focusing on Brazilian branchless banking, there exists a clear research gap in the literature. It is still necessary to identify the different business configurations involving network integration through which the branchless banking channel can be structured, as well as the way they relate to the range of bank services delivered. Given this gap, our objective is to investigate the relationship between network integration models and services delivered through the branchless banking channel. Based on twenty interviews with managers involved with the correspondent banking business and data collected on almost 300 correspondent locations, our research is developed in two steps. First, we created a qualitative taxonomy through which we identified three classes of network integration models. Second, we performed a cluster analysis to explain the groups of financial services that fit each model. By contextualizing correspondents' network integration processes through the lens of transaction costs economics, our results suggest that the more suited to deliver social-oriented, "pro-poor'' services the channel is, the more it is controlled by banks. This research offers contributions to managers and policy makers interested in understanding better how different correspondent banking configurations are related with specific portfolios of services. Researchers interested in the subject of branchless banking can also benefit from the taxonomy presented and the transaction costs analysis of this kind of banking channel, which has been adopted in a number of developing countries all over the world now. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.