Albendazole metabolism in patients with neurocysticercosis: antipyrine as a multifunctional marker drug of cytochrome P450

The present study investigates the isoform(s) of cytochrome P450 (CYP) involved in the metabolism of albendazole sulfoxide (ASOX) to albendazole sulfone (ASON) in patients with neurocysticercosis using antipyrine as a multifunctional marker drug. The study was conducted on 11 patients with neurocysticercosis treated with a multiple dose regimen of albendazole for 8 days (5 mg/kg every 8 h). On the 5th day of albendazole treatment, 500 mg antipyrine was administered po. Blood and urine samples were collected up to 72 h after antipyrine administration. Plasma concentrations of (+)-ASOX, (-)-ASOX and ASON were determined by HPLC using a chiral phase column and detection by fluorescence. The apparent clearance (CL/f) of ASON and of the (+) and (-)-ASOX enantiomers were calculated and compared to total antipyrine clearance (CL T) and the clearance for the production of the three major antipyrine metabolites (CLm). A correlation (P<=0.05) was obtained only between the CL T of antipyrine and the CL/f of ASON (r = 0.67). The existence of a correlation suggests the involvement of CYP isoforms common to the metabolism of antipyrine and of ASOX to ASON. Since the CL T of antipyrine is a general measure of CYP enzymes but with a slight to moderate weight toward CYP1A2, we suggest the involvement of this enzyme in ASOX to ASON metabolism in man. The study supports the establishment of a specific marker drug of CYP1A2 in the study of the in vivo metabolism of ASOX to ASON.

Excitotoxic median raphe lesions aggravate working memory storage performance deficits caused by scopolamine infusion into the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus in the inhibitory avoidance task in rats

The interactions between the median raphe nucleus (MRN) serotonergic system and the septohippocampal muscarinic cholinergic system in the modulation of immediate working memory storage performance were investigated. Rats with sham or ibotenic acid lesions of the MRN were bilaterally implanted with cannulae in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus and tested in a light/dark step-through inhibitory avoidance task in which response latency to enter the dark compartment immediately after the shock served as a measure of immediate working memory storage. MRN lesion per se did not alter response latency. Post-training intrahippocampal scopolamine infusion (2 and 4 µg/side) produced a more marked reduction in response latencies in the lesioned animals compared to the sham-lesioned rats. Results suggest that the immediate working memory storage performance is modulated by synergistic interactions between serotonergic projections of the MRN and the muscarinic cholinergic system of the hippocampus.

Validation of the Brazilian Children's Test of Pseudoword Repetition in Portuguese speakers aged 4 to 10 years

The phonological loop is a component of the working memory system specifically involved in the processing and manipulation of limited amounts of information of a sound-based phonological nature. Phonological memory can be assessed by the Children's Test of Nonword Repetition (CNRep) in English speakers but not in Portuguese speakers due to phonotactic differences between the two languages. The objectives of the present study were: 1) to develop the Brazilian Children's Test of Pseudoword Repetition (BCPR), a Portuguese version of the CNRep, and 2) to validate the BCPR by correlation with the Auditory Digit Span Test from the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. The BCPR and Digit Span were assessed in 182 children aged 4-10 years, 84 from Minas Gerais State (42 from a rural region) and 98 from the city of São Paulo. There are subject age and word length effects causing repetition accuracy to decline as a function of the number of syllables of the pseudowords. Correlations between BCPR and Digit Span forward (r = 0.50; P <= 0.01) and backward (r = 0.43; P <= 0.01) were found, and partial correlation indicated that higher BCPR scores were associated with higher Digit Span scores. BCPR appears to depend more on schooling, while Digit Span was more related to development. The results demonstrate that the BCPR is a reliable measure of phonological working memory, similar to the CNRep.

The interaction of housing condition and acute immobilization stress on the elevated plus-maze behaviors of protein-malnourished rats

Protein malnutrition induces structural, neurochemical and functional alterations in the central nervous system, leading to behavioral alterations. In the present study, we used the elevated plus-maze (EPM) as a measure of anxiety to evaluate the interaction between acute immobilization and housing conditions on the behavior of malnourished rats. Pups (6 males and 2 females) were fed by Wistar lactating dams receiving a 6% (undernourished) or 16% (well-nourished) protein diet. After weaning, the animals continued to receive the same diets ad libitum until 49 days of age when they started to receive a regular lab chow diet. From weaning to the end of the tests on day 70, the animals were housed under two different conditions, i.e., individual or in groups of three. On the 69th day, half of the animals were submitted to immobilization for 2 h, while the other half were undisturbed, and both groups were tested 24 h later for 5 min in the EPM. Independent of other factors, protein malnutrition increased, while immobilization and social isolation per se decreased, EPM exploration. Analysis of the interaction of diet vs immobilization vs housing conditions showed that the increased EPM exploration presented by the malnourished group was reversed by acute immobilization in animals reared in groups but not in animals reared individually. The interaction between immobilization and housing conditions suggests that living for a long time in social isolation is sufficiently stressful to reduce the responses to another anxiogenic procedure (immobilization), while living in groups prompts the animals to react to acute stress. Thus, it is suggested that housing condition can modulate the effects of an anxiogenic procedure on behavioral responses of malnourished rats in the EPM.

Category fluency test: effects of age, gender and education on total scores, clustering and switching in Brazilian Portuguese-speaking subjects

Verbal fluency tests are used as a measure of executive functions and language, and can also be used to evaluate semantic memory. We analyzed the influence of education, gender and age on scores in a verbal fluency test using the animal category, and on number of categories, clustering and switching. We examined 257 healthy participants (152 females and 105 males) with a mean age of 49.42 years (SD = 15.75) and having a mean educational level of 5.58 (SD = 4.25) years. We asked them to name as many animals as they could. Analysis of variance was performed to determine the effect of demographic variables. No significant effect of gender was observed for any of the measures. However, age seemed to influence the number of category changes, as expected for a sensitive frontal measure, after being controlled for the effect of education. Educational level had a statistically significant effect on all measures, except for clustering. Subject performance (mean number of animals named) according to schooling was: illiterates, 12.1; 1 to 4 years, 12.3; 5 to 8 years, 14.0; 9 to 11 years, 16.7, and more than 11 years, 17.8. We observed a decrease in performance in these five educational groups over time (more items recalled during the first 15 s, followed by a progressive reduction until the fourth interval). We conclude that education had the greatest effect on the category fluency test in this Brazilian sample. Therefore, we must take care in evaluating performance in lower educational subjects.

Validation of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C) in a sample of Brazilian children

The purpose of the present study was to examine the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C), an instrument developed in the United States and applied to a sample of Brazilian schoolchildren. The process included the translation of the original material from English into Portuguese by two bilingual psychiatrists and a back translation by a bilingual physician. Both the front and back translations were revised by a bilingual child psychiatrist. The study was performed using a cross-sectional design and the Portuguese version of the SPAI-C was applied to a sample of 1954 children enrolled in 3rd to 8th grade attending 2 private and 11 public schools. Eighty-one subjects were excluded due to an incomplete questionnaire and 2 children refused to participate. The final sample consisted of 1871 children, 938 girls (50.1%) and 933 boys (49.8%), ranging in age from 9 to 14 years. The majority of the students were Caucasian (89.0%) and the remainder were African-Brazilian (11.0%). The Pearson product-moment correlation showed that the two-week test-retest reliability coefficient was r = 0.780 and Cronbach's alpha was 0.946. The factor structure was almost similar to that reported in previous studies. The results regarding the internal consistency, the test-retest reliability and the factor structure were similar to the findings obtained in studies performed on English speaking children. The present study showed that the Portuguese language version of SPAI-C is a reliable and valid measure of social anxiety for Brazilian children.

Cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of low doses of mercury chloride and methylmercury chloride on human lymphocytes in vitro

Mercury is a xenobiotic metal that is a highly deleterious environmental pollutant. The biotransformation of mercury chloride (HgCl2) into methylmercury chloride (CH3HgCl) in aquatic environments is well-known and humans are exposed by consumption of contaminated fish, shellfish and algae. The objective of the present study was to determine the changes induced in vitro by two mercury compounds (HgCl2 and CH3HgCl) in cultured human lymphocytes. Short-term human leukocyte cultures from 10 healthy donors (5 females and 5 males) were set-up by adding drops of whole blood in complete medium. Cultures were separately and simultaneously treated with low doses (0.1 to 1000 µg/l) of HgCl2 and CH3HgCl and incubated at 37ºC for 48 h. Genotoxicity was assessed by chromosome aberrations and polyploid cells. Mitotic index was used as a measure of cytotoxicity. A significant increase (P < 0.05) in the relative frequency of chromosome aberrations was observed for all concentrations of CH3HgCl when compared to control, whether alone or in an evident sinergistic combination with HgCl2. The frequency of polyploid cells was also significantly increased (P < 0.05) when compared to control after exposure to all concentrations of CH3HgCl alone or in combination with HgCl2. CH3HgCl significantly decreased (P < 0.05) the mitotic index at 100 and 1000 µg/l alone, and at 1, 10, 100, and 1000 µg/l when combined with HgCl2, showing a synergistic cytotoxic effect. Our data showed that low concentrations of CH3HgCl might be cytotoxic/genotoxic. Such effects may indicate early cellular changes with possible biological consequences and should be considered in the preliminary evaluation of the risks of populations exposed in vivo to low doses of mercury.

Determination of myocardial infarction size in rats by echocardiography and tetrazolium staining: correlation, agreements, and simplifications

Triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining and echocardiography (ECHO) are methods used to determine experimental myocardial infarction (MI) size, whose practical applicability should be expanded. Our objectives were to analyze the accuracy of ECHO in determining infarction size in rats during the first days following coronary occlusion and to test whether a simplified single measurement by TTC correctly indicates MI size, as determined by the average value for multiple slices. Infarction was induced in female Wistar rats by coronary artery occlusion and MI size analysis was performed after the acute (7th day) and chronic periods (after 4 weeks) by ECHO matched with TTC. ECHO and TTC showed similar values of MI size (% of left ventricle perimeter) in acute (ECHO: 33 ± 11, TTC: 35 ± 14) and chronic (ECHO: 38 ± 14, TTC: 39 ± 13 periods), and also presented an excellent correlation (r = 0.92, P < 0.001). Although measurements from different heart planes showed discrepancies, a single measurement acquired from the mid-ventricular level by TTC was a good estimate of MI size calculated by the average of multiple planes, with minimal disagreement (Bland-Altman test with mean ratio bias of 0.99 ± 0.07) and close to an ideal correlation (r = 0.99, P < 0.001). In the present study, ECHO was confirmed as a useful method for the determination of MI size even in the acute phase. Also, the single measure of a mid-ventricular section proposed as a simplification of the TTC method is a satisfactory prediction of average MI extension.

Relationship between disease severity and quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Few studies have evaluated the relationship between Airways Questionnaire 20 (AQ20), a measure of the quality of life, scores and physiological outcomes or with systemic markers of disease in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship of forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), body mass index, fat-free mass index, 6-min walk test (6MWT) results, dyspnea sensation and peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) with the quality of life of COPD patients. Ninety-nine patients with COPD (mean age: 64.2 ± 9.2 years; mean FEV1: 60.4 ± 25.2% of predicted) were evaluated using spirometry, body composition measurement and the 6MWT. The baseline dyspnea index (BDI) and the Modified Medical Research Council (MMRC) scale were used to quantify dyspnea. Quality of life was assessed using the AQ20 and the St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ). The Charlson index was used to determine comorbidity. The body mass index/airflow obstruction/dyspnea/exercise capacity (BODE) index was also calculated. AQ20 and SGRQ scores correlated significantly with FEV1, SpO2, 6MWT, MMRC and BDI values as did with BODE index. In the multivariate analyses, MMRC or BDI were identified as predictors of AQ20 and SGRQ scores (P < 0.001 in all cases). Thus, the relationship between AQ20 and disease severity is similar to that described for SGRQ. Therefore, the AQ20, a simple and brief instrument, can be very useful to evaluate the general impact of disease when the time allotted for measurement of the quality of life is limited.

Measuring Effectiveness of Marketing Message: The Role of Verbal, Visual and Brand Elements

The aim of this paper is to study the role of verbal, visual and brand elements while meas-uring effectiveness of marketing message. The thesis is written in the context of mobile gaming industry. The object of the study is marketing message. To achieve the aim, the main research question was formulated: How do the elements of marketing message, such as verbal, visual and brand, affect the consumer’s attitude toward the ad, emotional response and attention capture? The theory development chapter lays on three corner stones – analysis of previous litera-ture on marketing message and its elements, namely verbal, visual and brand; overview of literature on attitude formation and particularly attitude toward the ad. In addition, investiga-tion of key points of emotional response and attention capture literature finalizes the chap-ter. The empirical part consists of experiment, conducted with 27 participants. Experiment includes the self-report semantically anchored scale, measuring the attitude toward the ad, as well as autonomic measures – eye tracking (attention capture) and facial expressions (emotional response). The results of the experiment showed that the size of the brand element – the logo – has an effect on the attention capture and the overall attitude toward the ad. The bigger the logo, the more time people spend viewing it, and they realise the message is more educa-tional and factual. The measure related to the visual element – the visual complexity – in-creases the intensity of participant’s facial expression. While the measure of verbal ele-ment – the contrast between text and background colours – leads to a better attitude to-ward the ad. The higher the contrast between text and background, the more known the message appears to the viewer.

Organizational commitment and perceived relatedness as correlates of the intention to continue officiating in track and field

The objectives of the present study were to explore three components of organizational commitment (affective [AC], normative [NC] and continuance [CC] commitment; Allen & Meyer, 1991), perceived relatedness (Oeci & Ryan, 1985; 2002), and behavioural intention (Ajzen, 2002) within the context of volunteer track and field officiating. The objectives were examined in a 2-phase study. Ouring phase 1, experts (N = 10) with domain familiarity assessed the item content relevance and representation of modified organizational commitment (OC; Meyer, Allen & Smith, 1993) and perceived relatedness (La Guardia, Oeci, Ryan & Couchman, 2000) items. Fourteen of 26 (p < .05) items were relevant (Aiken's coefficient V) and NC (M = 3.88, SO = .64), CC (M = 3.63, SD = .52), and relatedness (M = 4.00, SD = .93) items had mean item content-representation ratings of either "good" or "very good" while AC (M = 2.50, SD = 0.58) was rated "fair". Participants in phase 2 (N = 80) responded to items measuring demographic variables, perceptions of OC to Athletics Canada, perceived relatedness to other track and field officials, and a measure of intention (yiu, Au & Tang, 2001) to continue officiating. Internal consistency reliability estimates (Cronbach's (1951) coefficient alpha) were as follows: (a) AC = .78, (b) CC = .85, (c) NC = .80 (d) perceived relatedness = .70 and, (e) intention = .92 in the present sample. Results suggest that the track and field officials felt only minimally committed to Athletics Canada (AC M = 3.90, SD = 1.23; NC M = 2.47, SD = 1.25; CC M = 3.32; SD = 1.34) and that their relationships with other track and field officials were strongly endorsed (M = 5.86, SD = 0.74). Bivariate correlations (Pearson r) indicated that perceived relatedness to other track and field officials demonstrated the strongest relationship with intention to continue officiating (r = .346, p < .05), while dimensions of OC were not significantly related to intention (all p's > .05). Together perceived relatedness (j3 = .339, p = .004), affective commitment (j3 = -.1 53, p = .308), normative commitment (j3 = -.024, p = .864) and continuance commitment (j3 = .186, P = .287) contribute to the prediction of intention to continued officiating (K = .139). These relationships remained unaffected by the inclusion of demographic (j3age = -.02; P years with Athletics Canada = -.13; bothp's > .05) or alternative commitment (j3sport = -.19; P role = .15; Pathletes = .20; all p' s > .05) considerations. Three open-ended questions elicited qualitative responses regarding participants' reasons for officiating. Responses reflecting initial reasons for officiating formed these higher order themes: convenience, helping reasons, extension of role, and intrinsic reasons. Responses reflecting reasons for continuing to officiate formed these higher order themes: track and field, to help, and personal benefits. Responses reflecting changes that would influence continued involvement were: political, organizational/structural, and personal. These results corroborate the findings of previous investigations which state that the reasons underpinning volunteer motivations change over time (Cuskelly et al., 2002). Overall, the results of this study suggest that track and field officials feel minimal commitment to the organization of Athletics Canada but a stronger bond with their fellow officials. Moreover, the degree to which track and field officials feel meaningfully connected to one another appears to exert a positive influence on their intentions to continue officiating. As such, it is suggested that in order to promote continued involvement, Athletics Canada increases its focus on fostering environments promoting positive interactions among officials.

An investigation of the emotion assumptions of just-world theory /

The purpose ofthis study was to investigate the emotion assumptions underlying just-world theory. This theory proposes that people have a need to believe in a just world - a world where people get what they deserve. The first emotion assumption is that people, therefore, find injustices (Le., undeserved outcomes) threatening and thus emotionally arousing. Second, it is this arousal that is assumed to drive subsequent strategies for maintaining the belief in a just world. One strategy an individual may use to maintain this belief is derogating victims of injustice, or seeing their character in a more negative light. To test these two assumptions, 102 participants viewed a video depicting either a victim who presumably presented a high threat to people's belief in ajust world (she was innocent and, therefore, undeserving of her fate) or low threat (she was not innocent and, therefore, more deserving of her fate) while their heart rate and EDA was measured. Half of the participants were then given the opportunity to help the victim whereas the other half were not given this opportunity. The manipulations were followed by both explicit and indirect measures of evaluations ofthe victim as well as self-report measures of affect experienced while watching the victim video, and an individual difference scale assessing the strength of participants' just-world beliefs (as well as other measures that were part ofa larger study). Results indicated that participants did report feeling more threatened by the innocent victim. Although there was some evidence of victim derogation on the implicit measure of victim evaluation, there was no evidence that emotional arousal drove the negative evaluations of the victim who could not be helped. Some interaction effects with individual differences in just-world beliefs did occur, but these were not entirely consistent with the rationale behind the individual difference scales. These results provide only weak support for the first emotion assumption ofjust-world theory. Implications of these findings as well as limitations of the study and future directions concerning just-world theory are discussed.

Vulnerability to adverse consequences of drinking and problem drinker status as predicted by risky drinking behaviours, drug use, sex differences and affect : a test of multiple models /

Although alcohol problems and alcohol consumption are related, consumption does not fully account for differences in vulnerability to alcohol problems. Therefore, other factors should account for these differences. Based on previous research, it was hypothesized that risky drinking behaviours, illicit and prescription drug use, affect and sex differences would account for differences in vulnerability to alcohol problems while statistically controlling for overall alcohol consumption. Four models were developed that were intended to test the predictive ability of these factors, three of which tested the predictor sets separately and a fourth which tested them in a combined model. In addition, two distinct criterion variables were regressed on the predictors. One was a measure of the frequency that participants experienced negative consequences that they attributed to their drinking and the other was a measure of the extent to which participants perceived themselves to be problem drinkers. Each of the models was tested on four samples from different populations, including fIrst year university students, university students in their graduating year, a clinical sample of people in treatment for addiction, and a community sample of young adults randomly selected from the general population. Overall, support was found for each of the models and each of the predictors in accounting for differences in vulnerability to alcohol problems. In particular, the frequency with which people become intoxicated, frequency of illicit drug use and high levels of negative affect were strong and consistent predictors of vulnerability to alcohol problems across samples and criterion variables. With the exception of the clinical sample, the combined models predicted vulnerability to negative consequences better than vulnerability to problem drinker status. Among the clinical and community samples the combined model predicted problem drinker status better than in the student samples.

The effect of a weighted-vest strength and balance training program on obstructed walking in postmenopausal women

SUMMARY Background: Age related declines in lower extremity strength have been associated with impaired mobility and changes in gait patterns, which increase the likelihood of falls. Since community dwelling adults encounter a wide range of locomotor challenges including uneven and obstmcted walking surfaces, we examined the effect of a strength 11 and balance exercise program on obstructed walking in postmenopausal women. Objectives: This study examined the effect of a weighted-vest strength and balance exercise program on adaptations of the stance leg during obstacle walking in postmenopausal women. Methods: Eighteen women aged 44-62 years who had not engaged in regular resistance training for the past year were recruited from the St. Catharines community to participate in this study. Eleven women volunteered for an aerobic (walking), strength, and balance training program 3 times per week for 12 weeks while 7 women volunteered as controls. Measurements included: force platform dynamic balance measure of the center of pressure (COP) and ground reaction forces (GRFs) in the stance leg while going over obstacles of different heights (0,5, 10,25 and 30 cm); and isokinetic strength measures of knee and ankle extension and flexion. Results: Of the 18 women, who began the trial, 16 completed it. The EX group showed a significant increase of 40% in ankle plantar flexion strength (P < 0.05). However, no improvements in measures of COP or GRFs were observed for either group. Failure to detect any changes in measures of dynamic balance may be due to small sample size. Conclusions: Postmenopausal women experience significant improvements in ankle strength with 12 weeks of a weighted-vest balance and strength training program, however, these changes do not seem to be associated with any improvement in measures of dynamic balance.

Factors affecting a woman's decision to leave an abusive relationship : the theory of planned behaviour /

The present study tested the appHcabiUty of Ajzen's (1985) theory of planned behaviour (TPB), an extension of Fishbein and Ajzen's (1975) theory of reasoned action (TRA), for the first time, in the context of abused women's decision to leave their abusive relationships. The TPB, as a means of predicting women's decision to leave their abusive partners' was drawn from Strube's (1988, 1991) proposed decision-making model based on the principle that the decision-making process is a rational, deliberative process, and regardless of outcome, was a result of a logical assessment of the available data. As a means of predicting those behaviours not under volitional control, Ajzen's (1985) TPB incorporated a measure of perceived behavioural control. Data were collected in two phases, ranging from 6 months to 1 year apart. It was hypothesized that, to the extent that an abused woman held positive attitudes, subjective norms conducive to leaving, and perceived control over leaving, she would form an intention to leave and thus, increase the likelihood of actually leaving her partner. Furthermore, it was expected that perceptions of control would predict leaving behaviour over and above attitude and subjective norm. In addition, severity and frequency of abuse were assessed, as were demographic variables. The TPB failed to account significantly for variability in either intentions or leaving behaviour. All of the variance was attributed to those variables associated with the theory of reasoned action, with social influence emerging as the strongest predictor of a woman's intentions. The poor performance of this model is attributed to measurement problems with aspects of attitude and perceived control, as well as a lack of power due to the small sample size. The insufficiency of perceived control to predict behaviour also suggests that, on the surface at least, other factors may be at work in this context. Implications of these results, and recommendations such as, the importance of obtaining representative samples, the inclusion of self-esteem and emotions as predictor variables in this model, a reevaluation of the target behaviovu" as nonvolitional, and longitudinal studies spanning a longer time period for future research within the context of decision-making are discussed.