How feeding on young and old leaves affects the performance of Ascia monuste orseis (Godart) (Lepidoptera, Pieridae)

In the field, immature individuals of Ascia monuste orseis (Godart), the kale caterpillars, migrate in great proportion to other regions of the host in order to complete their development; there, they find leaves of different ages and are exposed to the nutritional variation of these leaves. The objective of this study was to find out how the change to leaves of different ages affects the A. monuste orseis performance. The experiments were carried out providing one kind of leaf during the three first instars, and afterwards providing leaves of different ages during the fourth and fifth instars, since it is in these two instars that the changing movement prevails in that species. The parameters to measure performance were time of development (both to complete the three first instars and the fourth and fifth instars), ingestion of food, incorporated biomass, digestive indices that evaluated efficiency in food utilization, relative growth and intake rates, percentage of emergence, weight and size of the adults. In general, the caterpillars which were first fed on new leaves presented a better performance, but this study concluded that the A. monuste orseis caterpillars have shown skills to compensate food with lower nutritional value or less abundant in nature.

(Young Investigator Award) Trabecular Bone Score Helps Classifying Women At Risk Of Fracture Prospectively In The Ofely Study

Introduction: To determine the metabolic effect of teriparatide (TPTD) on bone, 99mTc-MDP skeletal plasma clearance was measured in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis treated with TPTD 20 μg/day. Methods: Ten postmenopausal women with osteoporosis had radionuclide bone scans at baseline, 3, and 18 months after starting TPTD 20 μg/day and after 6 months off therapy. Participants were injected with 600 MBq 99mTc- MDP and whole body bone scans acquired at 10 min, 1, 2, 3, and 4 h. Multiple blood samples were taken between 5 min and 4 h and free 99mTc-MDP measured using ultrafiltration. 99mTc-MDP plasma clearance (Kbone) was evaluated using the Patlak plot method. Regional differences in Kbone were studied by measuring the whole skeleton and subregions. Serum procollagen type I Nterminal propeptide (PINP), bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BSAP), and urinary N-terminal telopeptide (NTX) were measured at each visit.Discussion: The median increase from baseline in whole skeleton Kbone was 22% (P=0.004) at 3 months and 34% (P= 0.002) at 18 months, decreasing to 0.7% after 6 months off therapy. In subregions, Kbone value increases were statistically significant at 3 months and in all subregions except the pelvis at 18 months. After 6 months off therapy, subregional Kbone values also returned toward baseline. Bone markers increases from baseline were statistically significant at 3 and 18 months (BSAP, 15% and 36%; PINP, 137% and 192%; NTX, 109% and 125%). After 6 months off therapy, PINP and NTX values had declined, though remained above baseline (BSAP, −3%; PINP, 43%; NTX, 56%). Increased Kbone values in the whole body and lower extremities were correlated with increases in most bone markers at 3 and 18 months. Increased skeletal uptake of 99mTc-MDP during treatment with TPTD is indicative of increased bone formation and is supported by increases in bone turnover markers.Conclusion: Changes in Kbone and skeletal uptake measured by radionuclide bone scans in patients taking TPTD are the result of metabolic activity of the drug. These data may provide physicians with useful insights when interpreting bone scan results in this population.

Hippocampal volume predicts fluid intelligence in musically trained people.

Recently, age-related hippocampal (HP) volume loss could be associated with a decrease in general fluid intelligence (gF). In the present study we investigated whether and how extensive musical training modulates human HP volume and gF performance. Previously, some studies demonstrated positive effects of musical training on higher cognitive functions such as learning and memory, associated with neural adaptations beyond the auditory domain. In order to detect possible associations between musical training and gF, we bilaterally segmented the HP formation and assessed the individual gF performance of people with different levels of musical expertise. Multiple regression analyses revealed that HP volume predicts gF in musicians but not in nonmusicians; in particular, bilaterally enhanced HP volume is associated with increased gF exclusively in musically trained people (amateurs and experts). This result suggests that musical training facilitates the recruitment of cognitive resources, which are essential for gF and linked to HP functioning. Musical training, even at a moderate level of intensity, can thus be considered as a potential strategy to decelerate age-related effects of cognitive decline. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

On the structural difference between the evolutionary approach of Young and that of Kandori, Mailath and Rob

We provide robust examples of symmetric two-player coordination games in normal form that reveal that equilibrium selection bythe evolutionary model of Young (1993) is essentially different from equilibrium selection by the evolutionary model of Kandori, Mailath and Rob (1993).

Spaced training facilitates long-term retention of place navigation in adult but not in adolescent rats

Young and adult Long Evans rats were tested in the water maze according to two different procedures: half of the subjects were given one session of four trials a day for 6 days, whereas the other subjects had the same amount of training massed in 1 day. For both conditions, a 14-day retention interval was then introduced to test long-term memory. This was followed by a four-trial reversal session. All groups showed a significant learning curve, but escape latencies were shorter for the adult than for the young rats, without differential effect of the training procedure. A first probe trial (PT1) confirmed similar accurate short-term retention in all the groups. But unimpaired long-term memory was only seen in the adult rats trained with the spaced procedure. The young rats trained over 1 day also showed some retention of the platform location after 14 days, but not the other two groups. Reversal acquisition of the new platform location was rapid in the four groups. These results indicate that although accurate short-term spatial memory in the water maze is seen after a 1-day massed training in both age groups, unimpaired long-term retention is only observed in adult rats trained with 24-h inter-session intervals.

Acute ischemic stroke in children versus young adults.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare children and young adults with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) in 2 large registries.Methods: We compared clinical characteristics, stroke etiology, workup, and outcome (modified Rankin scale score [mRS] at 3-6 months) in children (1 month-16 years) and young adults (16.1-45 years) with AIS. Data of children were collected prospectively in the nationwide Swiss NeuroPediatric Stroke Registry, young adults in the Bernese stroke database. Outcome (mRS) and stroke severity (pediatric adaptation of the National Institutes of Health stroke scale [PedNIHSS]) in children were calculated retrospectively.Results: From January 2000 to December 2008, 128 children and 199 young adults suffered from an AIS. Children were more likely to be male than young adults (62%/49%, p = 0.023) and less frequently had hypertension (p = 0.001), hypercholesterolemia (p = 0.003), and a family history of stroke (p = 0.048). Stroke severity was similar in children and young adults (median PedNIHSS/NIHSS 5/6; p = 0.102). Stroke etiology (original TOAST classification) was more likely to be "other determined cause" in children than in young adults (51%/29%; p < .001). Cervicocerebral artery dissections were less frequent in children than in young adults (10%/23%; p = 0.005). Outcome at 3 to 6 months did not differ between children and young adults (p = 0.907); 59% of children and 60% of young adults had a favorable outcome (mRS 0-1). Mortality was similar among children and young adults (4%/6%; p = 0.436). In multivariate analysis, low PedNIHSS/NIHSS was the most important predictor of favorable outcome (p < 0.001).Interpretation: Although stroke etiology and risk factors in children and young adults are different, stroke severity and clinical outcome were similar in both groups. ANN NEUROL 2011;70:245-254

Weight status and gender-related differences in motor skills and in child care - based physical activity in young children.

Over the last decades, a decline in motor skills and in physical activity and an increase in obesity has been observed in children. However, there is a lack of data in young children. We tested if differences in motor skills and in physical activity according to weight or gender were already present in 2- to 4-year-old children. Fifty-eight child care centers in the French part of Switzerland were randomly selected for the Youp'là bouge study. Motor skills were assessed by an obstacle course including 5 motor skills, derived from the Zurich Neuromotor Assessment test. Physical activity was measured with accelerometers (GT1M, Actigraph, Florida, USA) using age-adapted cut-offs. Weight status was assessed using the International Obesity Task Force criteria (healthy weight vs overweight) for body mass index (BMI). Of the 529 children (49% girls, 3.4 ± 0.6 years, BMI 16.2 ± 1.2 kg/m2), 13% were overweight. There were no significant weight status-related differences in the single skills of the obstacle course, but there was a trend (p = 0.059) for a lower performance of overweight children in the overall motor skills score. No significant weight status-related differences in child care-based physical activity were observed. No gender-related differences were found in the overall motor skills score, but boys performed better than girls in 2 of the 5 motor skills (p ≤ 0.04). Total physical activity as well as time spent in moderate-vigorous and in vigorous activity during child care were 12-25% higher and sedentary activity 5% lower in boys compared to girls (all p < 0.01). At this early age, there were no significant weight status- or gender-related differences in global motor skills. However, in accordance to data in older children, child care-based physical activity was higher in boys compared to girls. These results are important to consider when establishing physical activity recommendations or targeting health promotion interventions in young children.

Which clinical signs predict hypoxaemia in young Senegalese children with acute lower respiratory tract disease?

BACKGROUND: Acute lower respiratory tract diseases are an important cause of mortality in children in resource-limited settings. In the absence of pulse oximetry, clinicians rely on clinical signs to detect hypoxaemia. OBJECTIVE: To assess the diagnostic value of clinical signs of hypoxaemia in children aged 2 months to 5 years with acute lower respiratory tract disease. METHODS: Seventy children with a history of cough and signs of respiratory distress were enrolled. Three experienced physicians recorded clinical signs and oxygen saturation by pulse oximetry. Hypoxaemia was defined as oxygen saturation <90%. Clinical predictors of hypoxaemia were evaluated using adjusted diagnostic odds ratios (aDOR). RESULTS: There was a 43% prevalence of hypoxaemia. An initial visual impression of poor general status [aDOR 20·0, 95% CI 3·8-106], severe chest-indrawing (aDOR 9·8, 95% CI 1·5-65), audible grunting (aDOR 6·9, 95% CI 1·4-25) and cyanosis (aDOR 26·5, 95% CI 1·1-677) were significant predictors of hypoxaemia. CONCLUSION: In children under 5 years of age, several simple clinical signs are reliable predictors of hypoxaemia. These should be included in diagnostic guidelines.

Intrahippocampal cholinergic grafts in aged rats compensate impairments in a radial maze and in a place learning task

Age-related cognitive impairments were studied in rats kept in semi-enriched conditions during their whole life, and tested during ontogeny and adult life in various classical spatial tasks. In addition, the effect of intrahippocampal grafts of fetal septal-diagonal band tissue, rich in cholinergic neurons, was studied in some of these subjects. The rats received bilateral cell suspensions when aged 23-24 months. Starting 4 weeks after grafting, they were trained during 5 weeks in an 8-arm maze made of connected plexiglass tunnels. No age-related impairment was detected during the first eight trials, when the maze shape was that of a classical radial maze in which the rats had already been trained when young. The older rats were impaired when the task was made more difficult by rendering two arms parallel to each other. They developed an important neglect of one of the parallel tunnels resulting in a high amount of errors before completion of the task. In addition, the old rats developed a systematic response pattern of visits to adjacent arms in a sequence, which was not observed in the younger subjects. None of these behaviours were observed in the old rats with a septal transplant. Sixteen weeks after grafting, another experiment was conducted in a homing hole board task. Rats were allowed to escape from a large circular arena through one hole out of many, and to reach home via a flexible tube under the table. The escape hole was at a fixed position according to distant room cues, and olfactory cues were made irrelevant by rotating the table between the trials. An additional cue was placed on the escape position. No age-related difference in escape was observed during training. During a probe trial with no hole connected and no proximal cue present, the old untreated rats were less clearly focussed on the training sector than were either the younger or the grafted old subjects. Taken together, these experiments indicate that enriched housing conditions and spatial training during adult life do not protect against all age-related deterioration in spatial ability. However, it might be that the considerable improvement observed in the grafted subjects results from an interaction between the graft treatment and the housing conditions.

The contribution of the young Cretaceous Caribbean Oceanic Plateau to the genesis of late Cretaceous arc magmatism in the Cordillera Occidental of Ecuador

The eastern part of the Cordillera Occidental of Ecuador comprises thick buoyant oceanic plateaus associated with island-arc tholeiites and subduction-related calc-alkaline series, accreted to the Ecuadorian Continental Margin from Late Cretaceous to Eocene times. One of these plateau sequences, the Guaranda Oceanic Plateau is considered as remnant of the Caribbean-Colombian Oceanic Province (CCOP) accreted to the Ecuadorian Margin in the Maastrichtien. Samples studied in this paper were taken from four cross-sections through two arc-sequences in the northern part of the Cordillera Occidental of Ecuador, dated as (Rio Cala) or ascribed to (Macuchi) the Late Cretaceous and one arc-like sequence in the Chogon-Colonche Cordillera (Las Orquideas). These three island-arcs can clearly be identified and rest conformably on the CCOP. In all four localities, basalts with abundant large clinopyroxene phenocrysts can be found, mimicking a picritic or ankaramitic facies. This mineralogical particularity, although not uncommon in island arc lavas, hints at a contribution of the CCOP in the genesis of these island arc rocks. The complete petrological and geochemical study of these rocks reveals that some have a primitive island-arc nature (MgO values range from 6 to 11 wt.%). Studied samples display marked Nb, Ta and Ti negative anomalies relative to the adjacent elements in the spidergrams characteristic of subductionrelated magmatism. These rocks are LREE-enriched and their clinopyroxenes show a tholeiitic affinity (FeO(1)-TiO(2) enrichment and CaO depletion from core to rim within a single crystal). The four sampled cross-sections through the island-arc sequences display homogeneous initial Nd, and Pb isotope ratios that suggest a unique mantellic source for these rocks resulting from the mixing of three components: an East-Pacific MORB end-member, an enriched pelagic sediment component, and a HIMU component carried by the CCOP. Indeed, the ankaramite and Mg-basalt sequences that form part of the Caribbean-Colombian Oceanic Plateau are radiogenically enriched in (206)Pb/(204)Pb and (207)Pb/(204)Pb and contain a HIMU component similar to that observed in the Gorgona basalts and Galapagos lavas. The subduction zone that generated the Late Cretaceous arcs occurred far from the continental margin, in an oceanic environment. This implies that no terrigenous detrital sediments interacted with the source at this period. Thus, the enriched component can only result from the melting of subducted pelagic sediments. We have thus defined the East-Pacific MORB, enriched (cherts, pelagic sediments) and HIMU components in an attempt to constrain and model the genesis of the studied island-arc magmatism, using a compilation of carefully selected isotopic data from literature according to rock age and paleogeographic location at the time of arc edification. Tripolar mixing models reveal that proportions of 12-15 wt.% of the HIMU component, 7-15 wt.% of the pelagic sediment end-member and 70-75 wt.% of an East-pacific MORB end-member are needed to explain the measured isotope ratios. These surprisingly high proportions of the HIMU/CCOP component could be explained by the young age of the oceanic plateau (5-15 Ma) during the Late Cretaceous arc emplacement. The CCOP, basement of these arc sequences, was probably still hot and easily assimilated at the island-arc lava source. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved,

How to screen for problematic cannabis use in population surveys: an evaluation of the Cannabis Use Disorders Identification Test (CUDIT) in a Swiss sample of adolescents and young adults.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Cannabis use is a growing challenge for public health, calling for adequate instruments to identify problematic consumption patterns. The Cannabis Use Disorders Identification Test (CUDIT) is a 10-item questionnaire used for screening cannabis abuse and dependency. The present study evaluated that screening instrument. METHODS: In a representative population sample of 5,025 Swiss adolescents and young adults, 593 current cannabis users replied to the CUDIT. Internal consistency was examined by means of Cronbach's alpha and confirmatory factor analysis. In addition, the CUDIT was compared to accepted concepts of problematic cannabis use (e.g. using cannabis and driving). ROC analyses were used to test the CUDIT's discriminative ability and to determine an appropriate cut-off. RESULTS: Two items ('injuries' and 'hours being stoned') had loadings below 0.5 on the unidimensional construct and correlated lower than 0.4 with the total CUDIT score. All concepts of problematic cannabis use were related to CUDIT scores. An ideal cut-off between six and eight points was found. CONCLUSIONS: Although the CUDIT seems to be a promising instrument to identify problematic cannabis use, there is a need to revise some of its items.

Low prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis infection in asymptomatic young Swiss men

BACKGROUND: Prevalence and risk factors for Chlamydia trachomatis infection among young men in Switzerland is still unknown. The objective of the present study was to assess prevalence and risk factors for C. trachomatis infection in young Swiss men. METHODS: 517 young Swiss men were enrolled in this cross-sectional study during their compulsory military recruitment. Participants completed a questionnaire and gave urine samples which were screened for C. trachomatis DNA by PCR. Genotyping of positive samples was done by amplification and sequencing the ompA gene. RESULTS: The prevalence of chlamydial infection among young Swiss male was 1.2% (95% confidence interval [95%CI], 0.4-2.5%). C. trachomatis infection was only identified among the 306 men having multiple sexual partner. Although frequent, neither unprotected sex (absence of condom use), nor alcohol and drug abuse were associated with chlamydial infection. Men living in cities were more frequently infected (2.9%, 95%CI 0.8-7.4%) than men living in rural areas (0.5%, 95%CI 0.1-1.9%, p = 0.046). Moreover, naturalised Swiss citizens were more often positive (4.9%, 95%CI 1.3-12.5%) than native-born Swiss men (0.5%, 95%CI 0.1-1.7%, p = 0.003). CONCLUSION: In comparison with other countries, the prevalence of chlamydial infection in men is extremely low in Switzerland, despite a significant prevalence of risky sexual behaviour. C. trachomatis infection was especially prevalent in men with multiple sexual partners. Further research is required (i) to define which subgroup of the general population should be routinely screened, and (ii) to test whether such a targeted screening strategy will be effective to reduce the prevalence of chlamydial infection among this population.

Role of high normal gamma-glutamyltransferase level in identifying heavy alcohol use in young men.

The objective of the current study was to determine the predictive value of high normal gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) level as an indication of heavy drinking in young men. In a sample of 577 men attending a one-day army recruitment process mandatory for all Swiss men at age 19 years, GGT level was evaluated as the dependent variable for each of eight dichotomous classifications of individuals on the basis of meeting cut-off criteria for five indexes of alcohol use, two indexes of alcohol-related problems, and one index of body mass. The sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of GGT level in identifying subjects as either heavy drinkers or being overweight were determined. Compared with findings for their counterparts, GGT level was higher in subjects reporting consumption of more than 14 drinks per week (20.5 +/- 7.81 vs. 18.9 +/- 7.60, P <.05), in those reporting being drunk at least once during the past 30 days (20.3 +/- 7.80 vs. 18.3 +/- 7.43, P <.001), and in individuals with body mass indexes >or=25 kg/m(2) (25.8 +/- 10.84 vs. 18.3 +/- 6.59, P <.001). At a GGT level cut-off of 20 U/l, the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of either being a heavy drinker or overweight were 48.2%, 70.2%, 67.7%, and 51.2%, respectively. Exclusion of subjects with body mass indexes of >or=25 kg/m(2) revealed similar results. High normal GGT level in young men is indicative of heavy alcohol use or being overweight; when present, subjects should be screened further for potential concomitant drinking problems.