Physiological stress responses in the edible crab, Cancer pagurus, to the fishery practice of de-clawing

We examined physiological stress responses in the edible crab, Cancer pagurus, subjected to the commercial fishery practice of manual de-clawing. We measured haemolymph glucose and lactate, plus muscular glycogen and glycogen mobilisation, in three experiments where the crabs had one claw removed. In the first, crabs showed physiological stress responses when 'de-clawed' as compared to 'handled only over the short term of 1-10 min. In the second, de-clawing and the presence of a conspecific both increased the physiological stress responses over the longer term of 24 h. In the third, de-clawing was shown to be more stressful than 'induced autotomy' of claws. Further, the former practice caused larger wounds to the body and significantly higher mortality than the latter. Since the fishery practice is to remove both claws, the stress response observed and mortality data reported are conservative.

The preparation of reach to grasp movements in adults with Down syndrome

The aim of this study was to determine the extent to which adults with Down syndrome (DS) are able to utilise advance information to prepare reach to grasp movements. The study comprised ten adults with DS; ten children matched to an individual in the group with DS on the basis of their intellectual ability, and twelve adult controls. The participants used their right hand to reach out and grasp illuminated perspex blocks. Four target blocks were positioned on a table surface, two to each side of the midsagittal plane. In the complete precue condition, participants were provided with information specifying the location of the target. In the partial precue condition, participants were given advance information indicating the location of the object relative to the midsagittal plane (left or right). In the null condition, advance information concerning the position of the target object was entirely ambiguous. It was found that both reaction times and movement times were greater for the participants with DS than for the adults without DS. The reaction times exhibited by individuals with DS in the complete precue condition were lower than those observed in the null condition, indicating that they had utilised advance information to prepare their movements. In the group with DS, when advance information specified only the location of the target object relative to the midline, reaction times were equivalent to those obtained when ambiguous information was given. In contrast, the adults without DS exhibited reaction times that were lower in both the complete and partial precue conditions when compared to the null condition. The pattern of results exhibited by the children was similar to that of the adults without DS. The movement times exhibited by all groups were not influenced by the precue condition. In summary, our findings indicate that individuals with DS are able to use advance information if it specifies precisely the location of the target object in order to prepare a reach to grasp movement. The group with DS were unable, however, to obtain the normal advantage of advance information specifying only one dimension of the movement goal (i.e., the position of an object relative to the body midline). (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Enlargement and the European Union’s Absorption Capacity: ‘oft-forgotten’ condition or additional obstacle to membership?

The Austrian government may have failed in its efforts in 2005 to have ‘privileged partnership' inserted into the European Union's framework for accession negotiations with Turkey, but this did not prevent the country's Chancellor, Wolfgang Schussel, from claiming that ‘for the first time ever, we have set an extra condition which will yet be very important in the future for Europe, namely the ability of the Union to take in new members'. Indeed, since its inclusion in the framework for negotiations, the EU's ‘capacity to absorb' new members is referred to as a new criterion for further enlargement of the European Union (EU). When opponents of Turkey 's membership, like Schussel, celebrate the emphasis on the EU's ‘absorption capacity', Turks generally regard it as specially-designed extra obstacle to their membership aspirations even if the EU's ‘absorption capacity' is a permanent agenda item whenever the EU discusses enlargement. This article explores the origins of this – supposedly new – condition and argues that the increased emphasis on the EU's ‘absorption capacity' can be explained by the shifts in the dynamics of EU enlargement.

Reliability of blood pressure determination with the Finapres with altered physiological states or pharmacodynamic conditions

The blood pressure waveform is modified on distal propagation by phenomena such as dispersion, reflection and the state of the arterial compliance. The consequent effects are amplification and narrowing of the wave, with an increased systolic, reduced diastolic and essentially unaltered mean blood pressure. The Finapres measures the peripheral pressure using the volume clamp principle; it has not been validated under altered physiological conditions and during pharmacodynamic interventions. We studied simultaneous Finapres and brachial blood pressures (using a conventional oscillometric sphygmomanometer—Vitalmap) in ten normal volunteers at rest, and during dynamic exercise and a cold pressor test. The effects of pharmacodynamic intervention were examined following beta-adrenoceptor blockade with propranolol (160 mg) or beta-adrenoceptor modulation with the beta-adrenoceptor partial agonist celiprolol (400 mg). The Finapres systolic pressure was significantly higher than the brachial value during all three test states. The difference between the systolic pressures measured by the two devices was shown to increase significantly during the cold pressor test, but not during dynamic (supine bicycle) exercise. The Finapres diastolic pressure was significantly higher than the Vitalmap value during exercise and the cold pressor test. The differences between the two methods increased significantly over time. Beta-adrenergic blockade with propranolol or modulation with celiprolol had no significant interaction with the pressure differences between the Finapres and Vitalmap techniques. The results would support the view that the Finapres can provide blood pressure information which is robust under most circumstances. Although this pharmacodynamic intervention did not alter the relationship between the peripheral and central blood pressure, it is important to note that this dynamic relationship is sensitive to circulatory loading conditions and wave transmission characteristics; it is possible that the Finapres could be less reliable in clinical settings where potent vasoactive agents were being administered.

Responses of calves to acute stress: Individual consistency and relations between behavioral and physiological measures

The present study examined the consistency over time of individual differences in behavioral and physiological responsiveness of calves to intuitively alarming test situations as well as the relationships between behavioral and physiological measures. Twenty Holstein Friesian heifer calves were individually subjected to the same series of two behavioral and two hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis reactivity tests at 3, 13 and 26 weeks of age. Novel environment (open field, OF) and novel object (NO) tests involved measurement of behavioral, plasma cortisol and heart rate responses. Plasma ACTH and/or cortisol response profiles were determined after administration of exogenous CRH and ACTH, respectively, in the HPA axis reactivity tests. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to condense correlated measures within ages into principal components reflecting independent dimensions underlying the calves' reactivity. Cortisol responses to the OF and NO tests were positively associated with the latency to contact and negatively related to the time spent in contact with the NO. Individual differences in scores of a principal component summarizing this pattern of inter-correlations, as well as differences in separate measures of adrenocortical and behavioral reactivity in the OF and NO tests proved highly consistent over time. The cardiac response to confinement in a start box prior to the OF test was positively associated with the cortisol responses to the OF and NO tests at 26 weeks of age. HPA axis reactivity to ACTH or CRH was unrelated to adrenocortical and behavioral responses to novelty. These findings strongly suggest that the responsiveness of calves was mediated by stable individual characteristics. Correlated adrenocortical and behavioral responses to novelty may reflect underlying fearfulness, defining the individual's susceptibility to the elicitation of fear. Other independent characteristics mediating reactivity may include activity or coping style (related to locomotion) and underlying sociality (associated with vocalization). (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Influence of environmental enrichment on welfare-related behavioural and physiological parameters in growing pigs

Three hundred and twenty pigs were reared from birth to slaughter at 21 weeks in either barren or enriched environments. The barren environments were defined as intensive housing (slatted floors and minimum recommended space allowances) and the enriched environments incorporated extra space including an area which contained peat and straw in a rack. Behavioural observations showed that environmental enrichment reduced time spent inactive and rime spent involved in harmful social and aggressive behaviour (P