The place preference task: a new tool for studying the relation between behavior and place cell activity in rats

This study describes a task that combines random searching with goal directed navigation. The testing was conducted on a circular elevated open field (80 cm in diameter), with an unmarked target area (20 cm in diameter) in the center of 1 of the 4 quadrants. Whenever the rat entered the target area, the computerized tracking system released a pellet to a random point on the open field. Rats were able to learn the task under light and in total darkness, and on a stable or a rotating arena. Visual information was important in light, but idiothetic information became crucial in darkness. Learning of a new position was quicker under light than in total darkness on a rotating arena. The place preference task should make it possible to study place cells (PCs) when the rats use an allothetic (room frame) or idiothetic (arena frame) representation of space and to compare the behavioral response with the PCs' activity.

Intravenous Lacosamide for Treatment of Status Epilepticus after Failing First-Line Therapy

Rationale: Treatment of status epilepticus (SE) usually requires intravenous anticonvulsant therapy. Although there are established drugs of first choice for its treatment, potentially hazardous side effects of these agents are not uncommon. Lacosamide (LCM) is a novel anticonvulsant drug that is available as infusion solution. LCM could be an alternative for treatment of SE when the standard drugs fail or should be avoided. Methods: We retrospectively identified patients from the hospital databases of two German and one Swiss neurological departments (University Hospital Marburg, Klinikum Osnabrueck, University Hospital Lausanne) between September 1st 2008 and May 22nd 2009 who were admitted because of SE and received at least one dose of intravenous LCM for treatment of SE. Results: Seventeen patients (11 female, 6 male) were identified. Median age was 71 years. 3 patients suffered from generalized convulsive SE, 8 patients had significant reduction of awareness with or without subtle motor symptoms, 6 patients had a simple focal status without relevant reduction of awareness. Etiology was acute symptomatic in 5 patients, remote symptomatic without pre-existing epilepsy in 6 patients, remote symptomatic and pre-existing epilepsy in 5 patients, and unknown in 1 patient. LCM was administered after failure of first line therapy in all cases. The first LCM bolus was 400mg in 13 patients and 200mg in 4 patients. LCM administration stopped SE in 7 patients. In 2 of them, LCM was administered immediately after benzodiazepine administration, in the others after failure of benzodiazepines and other first-line and/or second-line drugs. In 3 patients, SE was terminated by other anticonvulsants like Phenytoin, Phenobarbital or Oxcarbazepine. In 5 patients, SE could only be terminated by intubation and application of high-dose Midazolam, Propofol and/or Thiopental. In 2 patients, SE could not be terminated in spite of high doses of barbiturates. There was no serious adverse event documented that could possibly be attributed to LCM Conclusions: Intravenous LCM may be an alternative treatment for SE after failure of benzodiazepins and other established drugs, or when such agents are considered unsuitable.

Vitamin E, Vitamin A, and carotenoids in male common lizard tissues

Vitamin E, vitamin A, and carotenoids are essential micronutrients for animals because of their antioxidant and immunostimulant functions and their implications for growth, development, and reproduction. In contrast to mammals and birds, information about their occurrence and distribution is generally lacking in reptiles, constraining our understanding of the use of these micronutrients. Using high-performance liquid chromatography, we determined the concentrations of vitamin E, vitamin A, and carotenoids in plasma, storage sites (liver and abdominal fat bodies), and in the colored ventral skin of male Common Lizards, Lacerta vivipara. All tissues shared a similar micronutrient profile, except the liver, which also showed traces of vitamin A(1). The main vitamin E compound present was a-tocopherol followed by lower concentrations of gamma-(beta-)tocopherol. Vitamin A(2) was the main vitamin A compound and it showed the highest concentration in the liver, where vitamin A(2) esters and traces of vitamin A(1) were found. Lutein was the main carotenoid, and it formed esters in the liver and the ventral skin. Zeaxanthin and low concentrations of beta-carotene were also present. The liver was the main storage site for carotenoid and vitamin A, whereas hepatic vitamin E concentrations resembled those present in abdominal Fat bodies. Compared with abdominal fat bodies, the ventral skin contained lower concentrations of vitamin A and vitamin E, but similar concentrations of carotenoicls. These results suggest that important differences exist in micronutrient presence, concentration, and distribution among tissues of lizards and other taxa such as birds and mammals.

Signalling, mating success and paternal investment in sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus): A theoretical model

I present an optimisation model that links paternal investment, male display and female choice. Although deviced for sticklebacks, it readily applies to other fish with male guarding behaviour. It relies on a few basic assumptions on the ways hatching success depends on paternal investment and clutch size, and male survival on paternal investment and signaling. Paternal investment is here a state-dependent decision, and signal a condition-dependent handicap by which males inform females of how much they are willing to invest. Series of predictions are derived on female and male breeding strategies, including optimal levels of signaling and paternal investment as functions of clutch size, own condition, and residual reproductive value, as well as alternative strategies such as egg kleptoparasitism. Some predictions already have empirical support, for which the present model provides new interpretations. Other might readily be tested, e.g. by simple clutch-size manipulations.

Profile of male adolescents with conduct disorder on intellectual efficacy, cognitive flexibility, cognitive coping, impulsivity and alexithymia: a comparison with high-risk controls

Background and Objectives: To specify which of the documented cognitive and emotional deficits characterize adolescents with conduct disorder (CD) compared with high-risk controls. Methods: High-risk adolescent males with and without CD were compared on intellectual efficiency, cognitive flexibility, impulsivity, alexithymia, and cognitive coping strategies. Substance use was controlled for in analyses. Results: Both groups showed normal intellectual efficiency and cognitive flexibility, as weil as heightened alexithymia and bebavioral impulsivity. Youths with CD evidenced more self-defeating and black-and-white tbinking under stress, and more acting-out under negative affect, than those without CD. Conclusions: Deficits specifie to CD resided in facets of emotional functioning and cognitive coping that might be targeted by a coping skills intervention.

Delayed-Choice Experiments and the Metaphysics of Entanglement

Delayed-choice experiments in quantum mechanics are often taken to undermine a realistic interpretation of the quantum state. More specifically, Healey has recently argued that the phenomenon of delayed-choice entanglement swapping is incompatible with the view that entanglement is a physical relation between quantum systems. This paper argues against these claims. It first reviews two paradigmatic delayed-choice experiments and analyzes their metaphysical implications. It then applies the results of this analysis to the case of entanglement swapping, showing that such experiments pose no threat to realism about entanglement.

Impact of physical activity on energy balance, food intake and choice in normal weight and obese children in the setting of acute social stress: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Psychological stress negatively influences food intake and food choices, thereby contributing to the development of childhood obesity. Physical activity can also moderate eating behavior and influence calorie intake. However, it is unknown if acute physical activity influences food intake and overall energy balance after acute stress exposure in children. We therefore investigated the impact of acute physical activity on overall energy balance (food intake minus energy expenditure), food intake, and choice in the setting of acute social stress in normal weight (NW) and overweight/obese (OW/OB) children as well as the impact of psychological risk factors. METHOD: After receiving written consent from their parents, 26 NW (BMI < 90(th) percentile) and 24 7-to 11-year-old OW (n = 5)/OB (n = 19, BMI ≥ 90(th) percentile) children were randomly allocated using computer-generated numbers (1:1, after stratification for weight status) to acute moderate physical or to sedentary activity for 30 min. Afterwards, all children were exposed to an acute social stressor. Children and their parents completed self-report questionnaires. At the end of the stressor, children were allowed to eat freely from a range of 12 different foods (6 sweet/6 salty; each of low/high caloric density). Energy balance, food intake/choice and obesity-related psychological risk factors were assessed. RESULTS: Lower overall energy balance (p = 0.019) and a decreased choice of low density salty foods (p < 0.001) in NW children compared with OW/OB children was found after acute moderate physical activity but not sedentary activity. Independent of their allocation, OW/OB children ate more high density salty foods (104 kcal (34 to 173), p = 0.004) following stress. They scored higher on impulsive behavior (p = 0.005), restrained eating (p < 0.001) and parental corporal punishment (p = 0.03), but these psychological factors were not related to stress-induced food intake/choice. Positive parenting tended to be related to lower intake of sweet high density food (-132 kcal, -277 to 2, p = 0.054). CONCLUSIONS: In the setting of stress, acute moderate physical activity can address energy balance in children, a benefit which is especially pronounced in the OW/OB. Positive parenting may act as a protective factor preventing stress-induced eating of comfort food. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov NCT01693926 The study was a pilot study of a project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (CRSII3_147673).

Adaptive sequence evolution in a color gene involved in the formation of the characteristic egg-dummies of male haplochromine cichlid fishes.

BACKGROUND: The exceptionally diverse species flocks of cichlid fishes in East Africa are prime examples of parallel adaptive radiations. About 80% of East Africa's more than 1 800 endemic cichlid species, and all species of the flocks of Lakes Victoria and Malawi, belong to a particularly rapidly evolving lineage, the haplochromines. One characteristic feature of the haplochromines is their possession of egg-dummies on the males' anal fins. These egg-spots mimic real eggs and play an important role in the mating system of these maternal mouthbrooding fish. RESULTS: Here, we show that the egg-spots of haplochromines are made up of yellow pigment cells, xanthophores, and that a gene coding for a type III receptor tyrosine kinase, colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor a (csf1ra), is expressed in egg-spot tissue. Molecular evolutionary analyses reveal that the extracellular ligand-binding and receptor-interacting domain of csf1ra underwent adaptive sequence evolution in the ancestral lineage of the haplochromines, coinciding with the emergence of egg-dummies. We also find that csf1ra is expressed in the egg-dummies of a distantly related cichlid species, the ectodine cichlid Ophthalmotilapia ventralis, in which markings with similar functions evolved on the pelvic fin in convergence to those of the haplochromines. CONCLUSION: We conclude that modifications of existing signal transduction mechanisms might have evolved in the haplochromine lineage in association with the origination of anal fin egg-dummies. That positive selection has acted during the evolution of a color gene that seems to be involved in the morphogenesis of a sexually selected trait, the egg-dummies, highlights the importance of further investigations of the comparative genomic basis of the phenotypic diversification of cichlid fishes.

Male beach workers and western female tourists : livelihood strategies in Kenya's south coast region

Recent years have seen an emerging knowledge base and increasing public interest and awareness of sexual-economic relationships between local men and Western women, in different touristic regions around the world. However, to date, Western perspectives on the phenomenon make up the bulk of the existent literature. Questioning the dominant discourse of 'romance tourism' and representations of male participants as 'victims-opportunists', this dissertation explores male beach workers' experiences with, and perspectives on sexual-economic relationships between Kenyan men and visiting Western women in Kenya's South Coast region. The men were not considered in isolation; their experiences and perspectives are situated in relation to their family ties, social networks and the political economy of beach tourism. The study shows that locally these relationships are clearly understood as livelihood strategies for the visited. Men seek to establish long-term intimate relationships with female tourists as a means to accessing life's basic necessities for themselves and for their families and overall to improve their standards of living. It is argued that these relationships are a response to the poverty and inequalities generated by socio-economic changes over time. They are also a response to local gender role prescriptions that hinge male social value on men's capacity to marry, procreate and provide intergenerational social and economic support. The men's parallel quest for non-sexual economically motivated friendships with visiting foreign tourists termed "family friends" is a salient finding, that serves to reinforce the finding that the sexual- economic relationships are above all livelihood strategies. Résumé Ces dernières années ont vu l'émergence d'une base de connaissance, ainsi que d'un intérêt et d'une prise de conscience accrue du public, à l'égard des relations économico-sexuelles entre hommes locaux et femmes occidentales, dans différentes régions touristiques du monde. Cependant, à ce jour, des perspectives occidentales sur ce phénomène constituent l'essentiel de la littérature existante. En remettant en question le discours dominant du «romance tourism» (tourisme sentimental) et les représentations qui conçoivent les hommes participants comme étant 'victimes-opportunistes', cette thèse explore les expériences, et les visions qu'ont les travailleurs de plage sur les relations économico-sexuelles entre hommes Kenyans et femmes Occidentales dans la région de la côte sud du Kenya. Les hommes n'ont pas été considérés de manière isolée; leurs expériences et leurs perspectives sont situées par rapport à leur liens familiaux, leur réseaux sociaux et aussi par rapport à l'économie politique du tourisme balnéaire. L'étude montre que sur place ces relations sont clairement conçues comme des stratégies de survie pour les participants hôtes. Les hommes cherchent à établir des relations de long durée avec des femmes touristes comme moyen d'accéder à des biens et des services qui constituent des nécessités de bases, pour eux et pour leur familles et globalement pour relever leur niveau de vie! L'étude fait valoir que ces relations sont une réponse à la pauvreté et aux inégalités sociales crées par des dynamiques socio-économiques au fil du temps. Elles sont aussi une réponse au prescriptions sociales locales par lesquelles la valeur sociale masculine est définie à travers la capacité des hommes à se marier, à procréer et d'assurer un soutien intergénérationnel social et économique. La quête, en parallèle, de relations d'amitiés non-sexuelles à motivation économique, dénommé « family friends », par des hommes, est un résultat saillant de cette étude qui vient renforcer l'observation que les relations économico-sexuelles relèvent avant tout des stratégies de survie.

Carotid artery stenting compared with endarterectomy in patients with symptomatic carotid stenosis (International Carotid Stenting Study): an interim analysis of a randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Stents are an alternative treatment to carotid endarterectomy for symptomatic carotid stenosis, but previous trials have not established equivalent safety and efficacy. We compared the safety of carotid artery stenting with that of carotid endarterectomy. METHODS: The International Carotid Stenting Study (ICSS) is a multicentre, international, randomised controlled trial with blinded adjudication of outcomes. Patients with recently symptomatic carotid artery stenosis were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive carotid artery stenting or carotid endarterectomy. Randomisation was by telephone call or fax to a central computerised service and was stratified by centre with minimisation for sex, age, contralateral occlusion, and side of the randomised artery. Patients and investigators were not masked to treatment assignment. Patients were followed up by independent clinicians not directly involved in delivering the randomised treatment. The primary outcome measure of the trial is the 3-year rate of fatal or disabling stroke in any territory, which has not been analysed yet. The main outcome measure for the interim safety analysis was the 120-day rate of stroke, death, or procedural myocardial infarction. Analysis was by intention to treat (ITT). This study is registered, number ISRCTN25337470. FINDINGS: The trial enrolled 1713 patients (stenting group, n=855; endarterectomy group, n=858). Two patients in the stenting group and one in the endarterectomy group withdrew immediately after randomisation, and were not included in the ITT analysis. Between randomisation and 120 days, there were 34 (Kaplan-Meier estimate 4.0%) events of disabling stroke or death in the stenting group compared with 27 (3.2%) events in the endarterectomy group (hazard ratio [HR] 1.28, 95% CI 0.77-2.11). The incidence of stroke, death, or procedural myocardial infarction was 8.5% in the stenting group compared with 5.2% in the endarterectomy group (72 vs 44 events; HR 1.69, 1.16-2.45, p=0.006). Risks of any stroke (65 vs 35 events; HR 1.92, 1.27-2.89) and all-cause death (19 vs seven events; HR 2.76, 1.16-6.56) were higher in the stenting group than in the endarterectomy group. Three procedural myocardial infarctions were recorded in the stenting group, all of which were fatal, compared with four, all non-fatal, in the endarterectomy group. There was one event of cranial nerve palsy in the stenting group compared with 45 in the endarterectomy group. There were also fewer haematomas of any severity in the stenting group than in the endarterectomy group (31 vs 50 events; p=0.0197). INTERPRETATION: Completion of long-term follow-up is needed to establish the efficacy of carotid artery stenting compared with endarterectomy. In the meantime, carotid endarterectomy should remain the treatment of choice for patients suitable for surgery. FUNDING: Medical Research Council, the Stroke Association, Sanofi-Synthélabo, European Union.

School Choice and Student Screening in the Chilean Educational System: Who Chooses Whom?. The Case of the Catholic Education

The student´s screening made by schools corresponds to a regulatory mechanism for school inclusion and exclusion that normally overlaps the parental expectations of school choice. Based in "Parents survey 2006" data (n=188.073) generated by the Chilean Educational Ministry, this paper describe the parents reasons for choosing their children's school, and school´s criteria for screening students. It concludes that the catholic schools are the most selective institutions and usually exceed the capacity of parental choice. One of the reasons to select students would be the direct relationship between this practice and increasing the average score on the test of the Chilean Educational Quality Measurement System (SIMCE).

Effect of multiple oral doses of androgenic anabolic steroids on endurance performance and serum indices of physical stress in healthy male subjects.

Anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) are doping agents that are mostly used for improvement of strength and muscle hypertrophy. In some sports, athletes reported that the intake of AAS is associated with a better recovery, a higher training load capacity and therefore an increase in physical and mental performances. The purpose of this study was to evaluate, the effect of multiple doses of AAS on different physiological parameters that could indirectly relate the physical state of athletes during a hard endurance training program. In a double blind settings, three groups (n = 9, 8 and 8) were orally administered placebo, testosterone undecanoate or 19-norandrostenedione, 12 times during 1 month. Serum biomarkers (creatine kinase, ASAT and urea), serum hormone profiles (testosterone, cortisol and LH) and urinary catecholamines (noradrenalin, adrenalin and dopamine) were evaluated during the treatment. Running performance was assessed before and after the intervention phase by means of a standardized treadmill test. None of the measured biochemical variables showed significant impact of AAS on physical stress level. Data from exercise testing on submaximal and maximal level did not reveal any performance differences between the three groups or their response to the treatment. In the present study, no effect of multiple oral doses of AAS on endurance performance or bioserum recovery markers was found.

PTH and 1.25 vitamin D response to a low-calcium diet is associated with bone mineral density in renal stone formers.

BACKGROUND: Renal calcium stones and hypercalciuria are associated with a reduced bone mineral density (BMD). Therefore, the effect of changes in calcium homeostasis is of interest for both stones and bones. We hypothesized that the response of calciuria, parathyroid hormone (PTH) and 1.25 vitamin D to changes in dietary calcium might be related to BMD. METHODS: A single-centre prospective interventional study of 94 hyper- and non-hypercalciuric calcium stone formers consecutively retrieved from our stone clinic. The patients were investigated on a free-choice diet, a low-calcium diet, while fasting and after an oral calcium load. Patient groups were defined according to lumbar BMD (z-score) obtained by dual X-ray absorptiometry (group 1: z-score <-0.5, n = 30; group 2: z-score -0.5-0.5, n = 36; group 3: z-score >0.5, n = 28). The effect of the dietary interventions on calciuria, 1.25 vitamin D and PTH in relation to BMD was measured. RESULTS: An inverse relationship between BMD and calciuria was observed on all four calcium intakes (P = 0.009). On a free-choice diet, 1.25 vitamin D and PTH levels were identical in the three patient groups. However, the relative responses of 1.25 vitamin D and PTH to the low-calcium diet were opposite in the three groups with the highest increase of 1.25 vitamin D in group 1 and the lowest in group 3, whereas PTH increase was most pronounced in group 3 and least in group 1. CONCLUSION: Calcium stone formers with a low lumbar BMD exhibit a blunted response of PTH release and an apparently overshooting production of 1.25 vitamin D following a low-calcium diet.