Lateralized declarative-like memory for conditional spatial information in domestic chicks (Gallus gallus)

Declarative memory is an explicit, long-term memory system, used in generalization and categorization processes and to make inferences and to predict probable outcomes in novel situations. Animals have been proven to possess a similar declarative-like memory system. Here, we investigated declarative-like memory representations in young chicks, assessing the roles of the two hemispheres in memory recollection. Chicks were exposed for three consecutive days to two different arenas (blue/yellow), where they were presented with two panels, each depicting a different stimulus (cross/square). Only one of the two stimuli was rewarded, i.e., it hid a food reward. The position (left/right) of the rewarded stimulus remained constant within the same arena, but it differed between the two arenas (e.g., reward always on the left in the blue context and on the right in the yellow one). At test, both panels depicted the rewarded stimulus, thus chicks had to remember food position depending on the previously experienced contextual rule. Both binocular and right-eye monocularly-tested chicks correctly located the reward, whereas left-eye monocularly-tested chicks performed at the chance level. We showed that declarative-like memory of integrated information is available at early stages of development, and it is associated with a left hemisphere dominance

Medicinal and ethnoveterinary remedies of hunters in Trinidad

BACKGROUND: Ethnomedicines are used by hunters for themselves and their hunting dogs in Trinidad. Plants are used for snakebites, scorpion stings, for injuries and mange of dogs and to facilitate hunting success. RESULTS: Plants used include Piper hispidum, Pithecelobium unguis-cati, Bauhinia excisa, Bauhinia cumanensis, Cecropia peltata, Aframomum melegueta, Aristolochia rugosa, Aristolochia trilobata, Jatropha curcas, Jatropha gossypifolia, Nicotiana tabacum, Vernonia scorpioides, Petiveria alliacea, Renealmia alpinia, Justicia secunda, Phyllanthus urinaria,Phyllanthus niruri,Momordica charantia, Xiphidium caeruleum, Ottonia ovata, Lepianthes peltata, Capsicum frutescens, Costus scaber, Dendropanax arboreus, Siparuma guianensis, Syngonium podophyllum, Monstera dubia, Solanum species, Eclipta prostrata, Spiranthes acaulis, Croton gossypifolius, Barleria lupulina, Cola nitida, Acrocomia ierensis (tentative ID). CONCLUSION: Plant use is based on odour, and plant morphological characteristics and is embedded in a complex cultural context based on indigenous Amerindian beliefs. It is suggested that the medicinal plants exerted a physiological action on the hunter or his dog. Some of the plants mentioned contain chemicals that may explain the ethnomedicinal and ethnoveterinary use. For instance some of the plants influence the immune system or are effective against internal and external parasites. Plant baths may contribute to the health and well being of the hunting dogs

Health risk behaviours among adolescents in the English-speaking Caribbean: a review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of this paper was to review and summarize research on prevalence of health risk behaviours, their outcomes as well as risk and protective factors among adolescents in the English-speaking Caribbean.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Searching of online databases and the World Wide Web as well as hand searching of the <it>West Indian Medical Journal </it>were conducted. Papers on research done on adolescents aged 10 – 19 years old and published during the period 1980 – 2005 were included.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Ninety-five relevant papers were located. Five papers were published in the 1980s, 47 in the 1990s, and from 2000–2005, 43 papers. Health risk behaviours and outcomes were divided into seven themes. Prevalence data obtained for these, included lifetime prevalence of <b>substance use</b>: cigarettes-24% and marijuana-17%; <b>high risk sexual behaviour</b>: initiation of sexual activity ≤ 10 years old-19% and those having more than six partners-19%; <b>teenage pregnancy</b>: teens account for 15–20% of all pregnancies and one-fifth of these teens were in their second pregnancy; <b>Sexually-Transmitted Infections (STIs)</b>: population prevalence of gonorrhoea and/or chlamydia in 18–21 year-olds was 26%; <b>mental health</b>: severe depression in the adolescent age group was 9%, and attempted suicide-12%; <b>violence and juvenile delinquency</b>: carrying a weapon to school in the last 30 days-10% and almost always wanting to kill or injure someone-5%; <b>eating disorders and obesity</b>: overweight-11%, and obesity-7%. Many of the risk behaviours in adolescents were shown to be related to the adolescent's family of origin, home environment and parent-child relationships. Also, the protective effects of family and school connectedness as well as increased religiosity noted in studies from the United States were also applicable in the Caribbean.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There is a substantial body of literature on Caribbean adolescents documenting prevalence and correlates of health risk behaviours. Future research should emphasize the designing and testing of interventions to alleviate this burden.</p

The importance of the altricial – precocial spectrum for social complexity in mammals and birds:A review

Various types of long-term stable relationships that individuals uphold, including cooperation and competition between group members, define social complexity in vertebrates. Numerous life history, physiological and cognitive traits have been shown to affect, or to be affected by, such social relationships. As such, differences in developmental modes, i.e. the ‘altricial-precocial’ spectrum, may play an important role in understanding the interspecific variation in occurrence of social interactions, but to what extent this is the case is unclear because the role of the developmental mode has not been studied directly in across-species studies of sociality. In other words, although there are studies on the effects of developmental mode on brain size, on the effects of brain size on cognition, and on the effects of cognition on social complexity, there are no studies directly investigating the link between developmental mode and social complexity. This is surprising because developmental differences play a significant role in the evolution of, for example, brain size, which is in turn considered an essential building block with respect to social complexity. Here, we compiled an overview of studies on various aspects of the complexity of social systems in altricial and precocial mammals and birds. Although systematic studies are scarce and do not allow for a quantitative comparison, we show that several forms of social relationships and cognitive abilities occur in species along the entire developmental spectrum. Based on the existing evidence it seems that differences in developmental modes play a minor role in whether or not individuals or species are able to meet the cognitive capabilities and requirements for maintaining complex social relationships. Given the scarcity of comparative studies and potential subtle differences, however, we suggest that future studies should consider developmental differences to determine whether our finding is general or whether some of the vast variation in social complexity across species can be explained by developmental mode. This would allow a more detailed assessment of the relative importance of developmental mode in the evolution of vertebrate social systems

Low-rank Gallus gallus domesticus chicks are better at transitive inference reasoning

A form of deductive reasoning, transitive inference, is thought to allow animals to infer relationships between members of a social group without having to remember all the interactions that occur. Such an ability means that animals can avoid direct confrontations which could be costly. Here we show that chicks perform a transitive inference task differently according to sex and rank. In female chicks, low-ranking birds performed better than did the highest ranked. Male chicks, however, showed an inverted U-shape of ability across rank, with the middle ranked chicks best able to perform the task. These results are explained according to the roles the sexes take within the group. This research directly links the abilities of transitive inference learning and social hierarchy formation and prompts further investigation into the role of both sex and rank within the dynamics of group living

Comparative Study of Osteoblastic Activity of Same Implants (Endopore) in the Immediate Extraction Site Utilizing Single Photon Emission Computerized Tomography: Peri-implant Autogeneous Bone Grafting with GTR versus No Peri-implant Bone Grafting

The study was designed to exploit the single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) to compare osteoblastic activity of two implant systems: an Endopore® implant (Beaded implants) placed immediately into an extraction socket in conjunction with peri-implant autogenous grafting supple-mented with a guided tissue regeneration (GTR) technique, and an Endopore® implant placed immediately into the extraction socket without peri-implant grafting and GTR. Endopore® implants of the same size (12 mm x 4.1 mm INT-Hex) were placed in fresh extraction sockets in the canine-tooth region of the pigs jaw. The implant on the right side had peri-implant bone grafting utilizing autogenous bone together with cytoplast resorbable GTR membrane, whilst the implant on the left side received no peri-implant bone grafting. Osteoblastic activity was evaluated 81 days (11 weeks and 4 days) post implantation using the SPECT imaging technique. The SPECT imaging revealed more osteoblastic activity on the side with peri-implant bone grafting as compared with the site without peri-implant bone grafting. The result suggests that peri-implant bone grafting with GTR around the immediate implant showed more osteoblastic activity and thus enhanced osseointegration when compared with the implant without bone grafting and GTR. Bone grafting and GTR should be encouraged as a standard procedure with dental implants. Keywords: Guided tissue regeneration, immediate implant, peri-implant grafting "Estudio Comparativo de Actividad Osteoblástica de los Mismos Implantes (Endopore) en el Sitio Inmediato de Extracción Utilizando Tomografía Computarizada por Emisión de Fotones Individuales: Injerto de Hueso Autógeno Peri-Implantario con RTG Frente al Injerto de Hueso no Peri-implantario – Estudio Experimental en un Modelo de Cerdo" RESUMEN El estudio fue diseñado para aprovechar la tomografía computarizada por emisión de fotones individuales (SPECT) con el propósito de comparar la actividad osteoblástica de dos sistemas de implante: un implante Endopore® (implantes con cuentas) colocado inmediatamente en una cavidad de extracción en conjunción con el injerto óseo autógeno peri-implantario complementado con una técnica de regeneración tisular guiada (RTG), y un implante Endopore® colocado inmediatamente en la cavidad de extracción sin injerto peri-implantario y RTG. Implantes Endopore® del mismo tamaño (12 mm x 4.1 INT-Hex) fueron colocados en cavidades de extracción frescas en la región del canino de la mandíbula de los cerdos. El implante del lado derecho tuvo un injerto óseo peri-implantario utilizando hueso autógeno junto con una membrana (RTG) reabsorbible Cytoplast, en tanto que el implante del lado izquierdo no recibió injerto óseo peri-implantario. La actividad osteoblástica se evaluó 81 días (11 semanas y 4 días) tras la implantación usando la técnica de procesamiento de imágenes por SPECT. Esta técnica reveló más actividad osteoblástica en el lado del injerto óseo peri-implantario, en comparación con el sitio sin injerto óseo peri-implantario. El resultado sugiere que el injerto óseo peri-implantario con RTG alrededor del implante inmediato tiene más actividad osteoblástica, y por ende mayor oseointegración, si se le compara con el implante sin injerto óseo y RTG. Tanto el injerto óseo como la RTG deben estimularse como procedimientos estándar de los implantes dentales. Palabras claves: Implante inmediato, injerto peri-implantario, regeneración tisular guiad

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE OSTEOBLASTIC ACTIVITY OF TWO IMPLANT SYSTEMS (Endopore versus Entegra) UTILIZING SINGLE PHOTON EMISSION COMPUTERISED TOMOGRAPHY (SPECT): EXPERIMENTAL STUDY IN PIGS MODEL

Implantology has been an important component of dental management for over forty years, and during that period, many configurations of implant materials and methods have been developed. As empirical and clinical research yield new implant materials, there has been need to test and compare these materials to provide the most cost-effective and efficient implants. Evaluation of efficiency of implants has relied heavily on histological and radiological methods, but these one dimensional measurement methods fail to evaluate the osteoblastic activity and osseointegration properties of putative implants. In this report we describe the use of a quantitative single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) as a tool for comparing the osseo-integrating capabilities of two types of implant