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PubMed1984

Temperature preference of genetically obese (ob/ob) mice.

Genetically obese (ob/ob) and lean mice selected their preferred ambient temperature in a thermal gradient. Preferred ambient temperature was defined as that ambient temperature which the mice selected for sleep during daylight hours. Lean mice selected a temperature of 31.2 degrees C which resulted in a body temperature (36.7 degrees C) not greatly different from the pretest body temperature of 36.4 degrees C. Obese mice selected 29.4 degrees C which resulted in a body temperature of 36.8 degrees C, 1.8 degrees C above the pretest body temperature of 35.0 degrees C. These data indicate that obese mice select an ambient temperature that results in a body temperature no different from that of lean mice. The selection by obese animals of an ambient temperature significantly lower than that of lean mice but which results in the same body temperature may reflect an effect of adiposity on heat loss. There is no evidence of a diminished thermoregulatory set-point in obese mice.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1987

Effects of a selective alpha 1-adrenoceptor agonist, methoxamine, on sexual behavior and penile reflexes.

Methoxamine, an adrenergic agonist with selectivity for the alpha 1-adrenoceptor, when administered intraperitoneally 10 minutes prior to mating tests (1 to 5 mg/kg), effected reductions in the ejaculatory threshold, evidenced by a decrease in the number of intromissions preceding ejaculation. In mounting tests after penile anesthetization, a test which specifically assesses sexual motivation, 3 mg/kg methoxamine was without a stimulatory effect. Further, in penile reflex tests (ex copula) 1 mg/kg methoxamine was without effect, whereas 5 mg/kg decreased the number of erections, cups and flips per test, and increased the incidence of seminal emission. These data indicate a facilitation of the ejaculatory mechanism, both in and ex copula, coupled with an inhibition of erectile responses for moderate doses of methoxamine. Treatment of male rats with the alpha 2-adrenoceptor agonist clonidine (0.25 mg/kg, IP, five minutes pretest) drastically reduced the number of animals exhibiting intromissive and ejaculatory behavior in mating tests. This suppressive effect of clonidine was not prevented by prior treatment with methoxamine (3 mg/kg, 10 minutes pretest and five minutes preclonidine). Further, ST-91, a polar analog of clonidine which does not readily enter the central nervous system, was without effect on male sexual behavior. Since (1) the effects of methoxamine administration are not of similar quality or magnitude to those reported earlier after yohimbine, an alpha 2-adrenoceptor antagonist, (2) since concurrent stimulation of alpha 1- (by methoxamine) and alpha 2- (by clonidine) adrenoceptors is followed by a suppression of sexual behavior similar to that seen after clonidine alone.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Food deprivation dissociates pancreatic glucagon's effects on satiety and hepatic glucose production at dark onset.

We compared the effects of different durations of pretest food deprivation on pancreatic glucagon's (PG) satiating and glycogenolytic actions in order to test the hypothesis that stimulation of hepatic glucose production causes PG's satiety effect. Rats were maintained on a 12:12 LD cycle (lights off: 1015) and deprived of food 45 min or 8, 12, 18, or 24 hr before intraperitoneal injection of 400 micrograms/kg PG. Testing began at 1015, the beginning of the dark phase. Food intake was not inhibited after 45 min of pretest food deprivation (30 min change, 2.5 +/- 4.0%, p greater than 0.05), but was inhibited after 8 or more hr food deprivation. The largest inhibitory effect, 16.2 +/- 3.8%, p less than 0.01, occurred after 8 hr food deprivation. In separate experiments, rats were food deprived 45 min or 8 hr, similarly injected, and killed 10 min after refeeding for blood and liver samples. Hepatic glycogen content at meal onset was higher in rats deprived 45 min than in rats deprived 8 hr (3.2 +/- 0.3 vs. 1.7 +/- 0.3% liver weight, p less than 0.01), and PG injection produced a higher level of hepatic vein blood glucose in the less deprived rats (196 +/- 5 vs. 168 +/- 12 mg/dl, p less than 0.05). Thus, in rats tested at the beginning of the dark phase of the LD cycle after 45 min or 8 hr food deprivation, there is an inverse relation between PG's potencies to inhibit food intake and to stimulate hepatic glucose production.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1991

Posttraining presentation of a flashing light alters retrieval of a two-way active avoidance task in rats.

Rats were trained and tested in a two-way active avoidance task (30 trials, 0.4-mA footshock, 24-h training-test interval). Exposure to an open field with flashing light (60-W lamp, 30 Hz, for 7 min, OFL) 2 h after training caused a retrieval impairment for the avoidance task, a phenomenon called retroactive interference. Animals familiarized with the OFL 24 h before training showed no retrieval impairment when exposed to the OFL 2 h after training. Both adrenal medullectomy (performed 7 to 14 days before training) and dexamethasone treatment (2 mg/kg, injected IP 24 h and 12 h before training) prevented the OFL interfering effect. Time-course experiments revealed that OFL presented either 1 or 4 h after training caused no retrieval deficit, and that animals exposed to the OFL 2 h after training and receiving another OFL presentation 1 or 2 h, but not 4 h, prior to testing had normal retrieval performance. These results suggest: 1) that the retroactive interference caused by presentation of OFL 2 h after training is due to failure of retrieval of the avoidance task since it is counteracted by the pretest presentation to the OFL, 2) that the OFL-induced retrieval interfering effect partly depends on the novelty of the OFL situation, and on the functional integrity of pituitary ACTH and adrenomedullar-dependent mechanisms and 3) that there are different mechanisms involved in posttraining and pretest OFL effects since they present distinct time-courses.

Adrenal Medulla↗
PubMed1991

Thermal preference behavior in preweaning genetically obese (ob/ob) and lean (+/?, +/+) mice.

Impaired nonshivering thermogenesis and lowered rectal temperatures (Tre) are hallmarks that appear early in the postnatal ontogeny of the genetically obese (ob/ob) mouse. Adult obese mice compensate behaviorally for these impairments and do not defend their low Tres. We predicted that, because young mice primarily rely on behavior to ensure thermal homeostasis during preweaning development, the appearance of the obese mouse's thermoregulatory impairment should promote their continued reliance on behavioral thermoregulation compared to lean pups. Accordingly, intact litters of pups from heterozygous lean (C57BL/6J, ob/+) and from homozygous lean (+/+) matings were tested at 6, 12, and 18 days postpartum on a thermal gradient (14-44 degrees C). Obese pups had lower pretest Tres than lean (+/?) littermates at 6 days and lower pretest Tres than both lean littermates and homozygous (+/+) lean control pups at 12 and 18 days. Exposure to the gradient ameliorated these differences (i.e., no posttest Tre differences among phenotypes). Correspondingly, obese pups preferred warmer gradient locations than +/+ pups but similar locations to their phenotypically lean (+/?) littermates until 18 days, when both lean groups preferred similar thermal locations compared to warmer-seeking obese pups. These data support our hypothesis and emphasize the age-dependent impact of the ob gene on altering mouse pups' thermal preferences.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1994

Dissociation of androgen-dependent sociosexual behaviors in response to castration in Long-Evans rats.

Copulatory behavior and associated social behaviors such as ultrasonic vocalizations and scent marking are reduced in frequency following castration and are restored by exogenous administration of androgens. In the present study, we report the behavior of a subgroup of male Long-Evans rats in which there was a dissociation between the responses of androgen-dependent behaviors to castration. Five weeks after castration, 52% of the males tested (13 of 25) had higher 50 kHz vocalization frequencies than during precastration tests. This group continued to emit vocalizations after castration and actually increased their number of vocalizations over postcastration tests (pretest: 34.5 +/- 4.8 to week 15: 62.8 +/- 10.9/10 min test). The remaining males (n = 12) exhibited a decline in vocalizations (pretest: 29.7 +/- 5.1 to week 15: 6.5 +/- 2.7) that we typically observe in our laboratory. Both groups showed the expected decline in scent-marking frequency over the postcastration tests and were impaired in performance of copulatory behavior. Seminal vesicle and adrenal gland weights did not differ between the two groups. The 25 males were of the same genetic strain as previous animals in our laboratory except that they were born and raised in a different location prior to shipment to our laboratory. Androgens, therefore, may be only one of the possible influences mediating ultrasonic vocalizations.

Androgens↗
PubMed1990

Teaching pathology in the 21st century: assessment of required student use of interactive videodiscs designed to teach basic pathology.

A series of 11 computer-controlled optical videodisc modules in basic medical pathology was developed to be used as self-study materials. There are approximately 70 medical schools in the United States, Canada, the Philippines, and Europe currently participating in field testing this series. In the fall of 1988, second-year medical students at the University of Arkansas College of Medicine used five of these modules in place of traditional lectures during the pathology course. A pretest was administered to students prior to use of modules. Each student then used the interactive modules for individual study. Each module presented a brief pretest, an interactive study lesson, and a posttest, each of which generated a score for the student. In addition, after completion of all five modules, students were given a posttest which was included in their first scheduled course examination. At the end of the course, questions concerning the videodisc material were presented on the final exam to test long-term retention. Students also completed attitudinal questionnaires about their experience using the videodisc modules. Results of the data collected indicate significant improvement in knowledge base by students using these interactive videodisc modules. Analysis of student attitudinal reactions was also positive. Optical videodisc computer-directed learning appears to be well-suited for medical student instruction in pathology.

Attitude↗
PubMed1990

Contingent suppression of tolerance to haloperidol: a dose-response analysis.

Rats were given injections of haloperidol (HAL; 0.625 or 2.5 mg/kg) either before (Before groups) or after (After groups) access to sweetened milk on alternate days. Controls (Saline groups) were given injections of saline. At biweekly intervals ("test days"), all groups were given pretest injections of the drug in order to monitor the development of tolerance in the After and Saline groups. Rats in the Before groups showed no tolerance to the initial suppression of milk intake. In contrast, rats in the After groups had greater intakes, although the level of intake declined on subsequent test days in the group given the lower dose. Rats in the Saline groups drank less on the test days than any of the other groups, suggesting that sensitization occurred. These results are consistent with previous findings (29) that tolerance to HAL is suppressed following pretest injections of the drug. The degree of suppression appears to be inversely related to the frequency of such injections.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Anxiolytic-like effects of alpha-2-adrenoceptor agonists on conflict behavior in the rat: pre- versus postsynaptic receptor mechanisms.

The effects of acute pretest administration and chronic posttest administration of clonidine or the selective alpha 2-adrenoceptor agonist UK-14,304 on conflict behavior were investigated. In daily 10-min sessions, water-deprived rats were trained to drink water from a tube that was occasionally electrified (0.25 mA); electrification was signaled by a tone. Prior to treatment, subjects accepted 25-30 shocks/session (punished responding) and consumed approximately 12-15 ml/session (unpunished responding). Acute pretest administration of clonidine or UK-14,304 did not increase punished responding. In contrast, chronic posttest clonidine administration (40 micrograms/kg, IP, twice daily for 8 weeks) resulted in a robust and time-dependent increase in punished responding (60-70 shocks/session) relative to saline-treated controls. Moreover, the selective alpha 2-adrenoceptor agonist UK-14,304 also increased punished responding when administered chronically (1.0 mg/kg, BID). Administration of the noradrenergic neurotoxin N-(2-chloroethyl)-N-ethyl-2-bromobenzylamine HCl (DSP4, 65 mg/kg, IP) significantly decreased punished responding in control conditioned suppression of drinking sessions. The anticonflict effect associated with chronic posttest clonidine treatment was not altered by DSP4 pretreatment. These findings suggest that chronic posttest alpha 2-adrenoceptor agonist treatment produces an anticonflict effect independent of its actions at presynaptic alpha 2-adrenoceptors.

Adrenergic alpha-Agonists↗
PubMed1993

Juvenile desipramine reduces adult sensitivity to imipramine in two behavioral tests.

The behavioral effects of adult imipramine administration were examined in female rats treated with desipramine as juveniles (JDES), treated with saline as juveniles (JSAL), and untreated as juveniles (JUNT). In the forced swimming test, the juvenile groups displayed similar behavioral effects of imipramine when administered short term following a pretest forced swimming exposure. Similar effects of imipramine were observed when administered long term prior to the only test exposure. When rats were not given a pretest forced swimming test exposure, short-term imipramine had no effect on JDES rats but did influence JSAL and JUNT rats. In the open-field test, short- and long-term imipramine treatment affected the behavior of JUNT and JSAL rats. Short-term imipramine treatment influenced open-field behavior of JDES animals, but long-term imipramine treatment had no effect. These results suggest that JDES treatment may permanently alter the neural mechanism underlying the behavioral effects of antidepressant treatment.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Quasi-experimental evaluation of the Los Angeles Know Your Body program: knowledge, beliefs, and self-reported behaviors.

In 1981-1982 the Division of Cancer Control (Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Los Angeles) implemented a Know Your Body program in the Los Angeles and Santa Monica Unified School Districts. The results from this evaluation are based on analyses of over 1,400 elementary school children (ages 9-11 years) from 18 schools who were assigned to one of four comparison groups: (a) Know Your Body curriculum and health screening (N = 688 students/seven schools), (b) Know Your Body health screening only (N = 333 students/three schools), (c) Know Your Body curriculum only (N = 253 students/five schools), and (d) the control group (N = 234 students/three schools). Standardized questionnaires concerning health knowledge, beliefs, and (self-reported) behaviors were group-administered by teachers in January 1981 (pretest) and then again in March 1982 (post-test). The group receiving both the Know Your Body curriculum and the clinical screening scored higher than the control group on four out of six post-test knowledge measures, one out of three belief scales, and one out of four behavioral measures. The curriculum-only group scored higher than the control group on five out of six post-test knowledge measures and on two of three belief scales. The screening-only group did not score significantly higher than the control group on any of the outcome measures. Among children identified during the clinical screening (at pretest) as being at higher risk of developing chronic disease (N = 543), students receiving both the screening and the curriculum (N = 401) scored higher on four out of six knowledge measures and reported significantly lower consumption of both dairy products and high-cholesterol foods than "high-risk" students receiving only the clinical screening (N = 142).

Attitude to Health↗
PubMed1986

A cost/effectiveness evaluation of lay therapy treatment for child abusing and high risk parents.

This longitudinal investigation tested the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of a lay therapy treatment program in comparison with a standard social work treatment approach. A pretest-extended posttest research design was used to follow a group of child abusing and high risk mothers who received lay therapy (N = 27) and a randomized control group of similar clients (N = 28) over a 12-month period. Outcome data were obtained through interview and direct observation of the parents and children at six-month intervals. A variety of standardized instruments were used including Cattell's 16 Personality Factor Test, Coopersmith's Self-Opinion Form, and the Nurturance and Parent Observation Scales, adapted from Baumrind. Treatment success was defined as progression toward the mean scores of a matched comparison group (N = 21) obtained from the general population of the community during the pretest. The results indicated a trend toward improvement on the outcome measures for both treatment groups. The group receiving lay therapy treatment improved only slightly more than the group receiving standard treatment; however, there was also significantly less attrition with the lay therapy group. Analysis of time budget study data indicated that the lay therapists spent an average of 17.46 hours per month with each of their clients thus permitting the social workers to spend considerably less time with lay therapy clients. Analysis of the direct costs of the programs, based on time budget information, indicated that the lay therapy treatment involved more direct client contact than the standard treatment approach and was also substantially more costly. The high cost of the program was attributed to low caseloads and redundancy in supervision. This study presents several practical program and research recommendations.

Child↗
PubMed1987

Maltreated children's developmental scores: treatment versus nontreatment.

Following treatment in a therapeutic day treatment program, a group of 35 maltreated children were compared to a matched group of 35 maltreated children who had not been enrolled in a therapeutic day treatment program. The results of matched pairs t-test analyses indicated that the treatment subjects had significantly higher developmental scores in five areas of development--fine motor, cognitive, gross motor, social/emotional, and language. Further, pretest and posttest comparisons of the percentile scores of the treatment group indicated that the posttest scores were significantly higher than the pretest scores. This study demonstrates that remediation of developmental delays in maltreated children under the age of 6 years can be accomplished through an intensive day treatment program.

Child Abuse↗
PubMed1992

The ability of elementary school children to learn child sexual abuse prevention concepts.

This research was designed to address several of the methodological problems in the current body of knowledge on the efficacy of child abuse prevention programs for elementary school-aged children. A new measure, the Children's Knowledge of Abuse Questionnaire (C.K.A.Q.) was developed, and its psychometric properties assessed. In total, 400 children were tested in four groups. Half of the sample participated in a child abuse prevention program Touching, and the other half were in a waiting list control group. Half of each group were pretested, and the other half were not, in order to determine whether the pretesting sensitized the students. All children were tested again 5 months afterward to investigate the long-term retention of prevention concepts. Results showed that children who participated in the prevention program scored significantly higher on the C.K.A.Q. than children in the control condition. Age was a critical factor, with significant improvements as age increased between the kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 3 and Grade 6 students. All participants maintained their level of knowledge after 5 months had passed. The relevance and practical implications which stem from this research are discussed.

Age Factors↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Preschoolers' cognitions of authority, and its relationship to sexual abuse education.

This study investigated preschoolers' perceptions of authority in sexual and benign situations and how these might influence acquisition of concepts presented in a sexual abuse prevention program. Participants were 117 children, ages 36-84 months, at four day-care centers. Children were randomly assigned to either an experimental or delayed treatment control group. Measures of authority and prevention skills were administered prior to and following the first administration of the curriculum. Preschoolers reasoned at a higher level of authority in sexually abusive encounters as compared to benign ones. For experimental children, this capability increased after participating in the prevention program. At pretest, sexual abuse authority scores predicted scores on one of two prevention skills; pretest authority scores did not predict either posttest prevention skill. Results are discussed in relation to children's understanding of moral versus social-conventional rules, and future directions for research are indicated.

Child↗
PubMed1993

Effect of the calcium channel blocker amlodipine on memory in mice.

Five experiments were performed to investigate the effects of amlodipine, a calcium channel antagonist of the 1,4-dihydropyridine class, on consolidation and retrieval of memory in mice. In a single-trial passive avoidance task, amlodipine was administered pretraining, posttraining, or pretesting. Results of temporal and dose-response studies showed that memory enhancement (significant increase in step-through latency) occurred when amlodipine (5, 7, 9, 15, and 30 mg/kg) was given either immediately post-training or (15 mg/kg) 15 min pretesting. Using a conditioned emotional response task, tone was paired with shock using Pavlovian conditioning procedures. Strength of conditioning was assessed by measuring suppression of drinking in the presence of a tone. Amlodipine (7 mg/kg) given immediately following both high- and low-intensity shock significantly enhanced conditioned suppression. In the third experiment thirsty mice were trained on a spatial discrimination task in a linear maze. Correct choices were reinforced with liquid reinforcement. Amlodipine (10 mg/kg) injected immediately after the training session produced a significant enhancement of discrimination performance on a 24-h retention test. In the fourth experiment mice were given 25 training trials in a two-way active avoidance task and were treated with either amlodipine (10 mg/kg) or saline after training. Amlodipine-treated mice made significantly more avoidances on the test session than control animals. The final experiment demonstrated that the deficit in approach-avoidance behavior seen in 18-month-old mice could be reversed by amlodipine treatment after the training session. These studies suggest that amlodipine can facilitate memory consolidation and retrieval.

Amlodipine↗
PubMed1988

The influence of anxiety and locus of control on adolescents' response to naproxen sodium for mild to moderate pain.

This study assessed the influence of internal health locus of control (IHLC) and anxiety on the adolescent's response to the treatment of mild and moderate pain. Fifty-four adolescents (ages 16-22 years) from two adolescent clinics presenting with mild to moderate pain caused by dysmenorrhea, muscle sprain or strain, headache, or backache were studied. Following a physical examination and a pretest assessment of pain, IHLC, and the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, subjects were randomly assigned in a double-blind fashion to groups receiving placebo (n = 16), 100 mg of naproxen sodium (n = 19), or 200 mg naproxen sodium (n = 19) and assessed at 1, 2, 3, and 4 hours. Based on a repeated-measure analysis of covariance test, there were no differences between groups in the pretest measurements. All treatment groups had a decrease in pain over the 4 hours (p less than 0.0001). Patients from one institution had more pain reduction than at the other (p less than 0.0001), and females had more pain reduction than males (p less than 0.034). Subjects receiving 200 mg of naproxen sodium had more pain relief (p less than 0.034) than subjects taking placebo at hour 2. Baseline anxiety was positively associated with pain after receiving placebo, but inversely associated with pain after taking naproxen sodium. The IHLC appeared to have a positive effect on the response to naproxen sodium, but no effect on the response to placebo.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

The development of a testicular self-examination instructional booklet for adolescents.

Testicular cancer (TC) is the most common cancer in 15-34-year-old males, but many young men are unaware of their risks, symptoms, and possibility of detection by testicular self-examination (TSE). After a pretest to determine baseline knowledge and TSE activity, 66 young men, 15-20 years old (means = 18.5 +/- 1.5), were given a programmed-learning self-instructional booklet to read. A posttest after completion of reading the booklet assessed attitudes and new knowledge. A 2-year follow-up tested knowledge and current TSE activity. Pretest analysis revealed that only 15% of the subjects were aware of their risks of TC, and only 6% had been taught TSE by a health professional. Subjects were unable to correctly identify the symptoms of TC, and only 1.5% reported regularly performing TSE. At 2-year follow-up, 95% (p less than .001) knew that a small lump was the most common symptom of TC, and 67% reported performance of TSE (p less than .001). These results suggest that adolescent males are not being taught about TC and TSE, and that our booklet is effective in teaching young men about TC risks and symptoms and how to perform TSE. This self-instruction method may be useful in health education classes for high school and college age youth.

Adolescent↗