An Introduction to Drugs and the Neuroscience of Behavior

This up-to-date text provides an introductory overview of the nervous system actions and behavioral effects of the major classes of psychoactive drugs, using pedagogy unique among pharmacology texts to make the topic approachable

Morphological predictors of sleep apnoea severity

Background: Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) does not always depend on obesity but on a certain morphological configuration. The study objective was to verify a hypothesis about a relation between anthropometric features and OSA occurrence and severity. Materials and methods: The study involved 138 patients, who had reported in Department and Clinic of Otolaryngology, Warsaw Medical University, due to suspected OSA. Each patient underwent morphological evaluation according to visual analogue scales. The assessment involved nasal septum morphology evaluation according to a 4-grade scale, palate morphology evaluation according to the 4-grade Friedman scale, whereas the facial profile, oropharyngeal isthmus, and the shape of the nasopharynx were assessed according to our own 3-grade scale. Results: Statistical analysis confirmed the high concordance of the basic polysomnographic parameters with the Friedman scale and the shape of the oropharyngeal isthmus. Conclusions: 1. The modified Mallampati score as well as evaluation of the shape of the oropharyngeal isthmus demonstrated high concordance with the basic polysomnographic parameters. 2. The neck circumference is a significant predictor of the apnoea-hypopnoea index value in males suffering from the OSA syndrom

Location of the narrowest area of the pharynx regarding body mass index and obstructive sleep apnoea severity

Background: Among authors studying morphological determinants of the obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) controversies exist on the location of the narrowest area within the pharynx, critical for development of obstruction. Those disagreements primarily revolve around differences between obese and nonobese OSA patients. Determination whether the location and size of the narrowest area within the pharynx differentiates the obese and nonobese OSA patients. Materials and methods: A population of 55 subjects was investigated after being diagnosed with OSA in the Polysomnography Laboratory of the Department and Clinic of Otolaryngology in the Medical University of Warsaw, Poland. Additionally a head computed tomography (CT) was performed in all the subjects. The CT images were used to do several crucial measurements which described the geometry of the facial skeleton as well as soft tissues of the head. The obtained results were correlated with apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) and body mass index (BMI) values. The data were statistically analysed. Results: The distance between the hard palate and posterior pharyngeal wall parallel to the horizontal plane as well as the shortest distance between the soft palate and posterior pharyngeal wall significantly differentiated patients in the subgroups by AHI but not by BMI. Conclusions: Pharyngeal obstruction at the level of the hard and soft palate differentiates patients with severe OSA from patients with mild and moderate OSA regardless of BMI

(Re)conceptualising physical activity participation as career

Physical activity is increasingly positioned as playing an important role in preventing and mitigating many of the decrements associated with biological ageing. As a result, public health messages encourage older people to remain active in later life. Despite this, physical activity participation rates among older adults are low. This may be in part related to the conventional approach to understanding physical activity participation as a product of motivation. We contend that this approach does not allow for a deeper exploration of the wider structural, historical and discursive contexts in which physical activity participation occurs. Therefore, we propose that physical activity can be reconceptualised as a career. Through a synthesis of findings from four studies exploring physical activity experiences in later life, we demonstrate that beginning and maintaining a physical activity career requires a disposition towards physical activity, the legitimation of physically active practices and dealing with contingencies. In addition, we demonstrate that maintaining a physical activity career requires investment and deliberation to adapt physical activity practices continually within an individual's own personal biography. As such, we conclude that current strategies to promote physical activity to older adults are unlikely to result in increased levels of participation. To promote physical activity to older adults an understanding of how structural, cultural and historical contexts influence participation is needed

The quetiapine active metabolite N-Desalkylquetiapine and the neurotensin NTS1 receptor agonist PD149163 exhibit antidepressant-like effects on operant responding in male rats

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is the most common mood disorder in the United States and European Union; however, the limitations of clinically available antidepressant drugs have led researchers to pursue novel pharmacological treatments. Clinical studies have reported that monotherapy with the atypical antipsychotic drug quetiapine produces a rapid reduction in depressive symptoms that are apparent following one week of quetiapine treatment, and it is possible that the active metabolite N-Desalkylquetiapine, which structurally resembles an antidepressant drug, produces antidepressant effects. Neuropharmacological evaluations of the neurotensin NTS1 receptor agonist PD149163 are suggestive of antidepressant efficacy, but the effects of a NTS1 receptor agonist in an antidepressant animal model have yet to be reported. The present study examined the antidepressant-like effects of the N-Desalkylquetiapine, the neurotensin NTS1 receptor agonist PD14916, quetiapine, the tricylic antidepressant drug imipramine, the atypical antipsychotic drug risperidone, and the typical antipsychotic drug raclopride on responding in male Sprague-Dawley rats trained on a differential-reinforcement-of-low-rate (DRL) 72 s operant schedule, a procedure used for screening antidepressant drugs. Quetiapine, PD149163, risperidone, and imipramine exhibited antidepressant-like effects by increasing the number of reinforcers earned, decreasing the number of responses emitted, and shifting the interresponse time (IRT) distributions to the right. N-Desalkylquetiapine produced a partial antidepressant-like effect by decreasing the number of responses emitted and producing a rightward shift in the IRT distributions, but it did not significantly alter the number of reinforcers earned. The typical antipsychotic drug raclopride decreased both reinforcers and responses. These data suggest that N-Desalklyquetiapine likely contributes to quetiapine’s antidepressant efficacy and identifies NTS1 receptor activation as a potential novel pharmacologic strategy for antidepressant drugs

Faculty Productivity, Seniority, and Salary Compression

For decades, many senior professors have noticed that the earnings of entry-level faculty are often very close to, or greater than their own. This trend in faculty life-cycle earnings can be illustrated by the 1998 salary and seniority data obtained from a public, liberal arts college (PLAC) that are reported in Table 1. Salary compression is evidenced by the narrow earnings difference ($2,300) between the highest-paid assistant professor and the lowest-paid full professor in this department. Salary inversion can be illustrated by differences in the averages, or in the range of salaries between assistant and associate professors. For example, the average assistant professor in Department X earns approximately$200 more than the average associate professor. Also, the highest paid assistant in this department earns $2,000 more than the highest-paid associate. These data indicate a U-shaped wage-tenure profile. Such a profile suggests that faculty with low levels of seniority can expect their earnings to fall, or invert, relative to the salaries of new hires as their careers unfold at this institution. Similarly, the earnings gap between new hires and faculty with high levels of seniority will compress over time.Productivity; Salary; Seniority

Neurotensin NTS1 and NTS2 receptor agonists produce anxiolytic-like effects in the 22-kHz ultrasonic vocalization model in rats

Neurotensin is a neuropeptide neurotransmitter that interacts with multiple neurotransmitter systems, including those regulating amygdalar function, via NTS1 and NTS2 receptors. Both receptors are expressed in the amygdala and agonists for NTS1 or NTS2 receptors have exhibited anxiolytic effects in animal models. Systemic adminstration of NTS1 receptor agonist PD149163 was recently shown to reduce footshock conditioned 22-kHz ultrasonic vocalizations in rats, suggesting that PD149163 produced an anxiolytic effect. The effects that neurotensin may have or a selective NTS2receptor agonist may have on 22-kHz vocalizations has yet to be examined. The current study evaluated the effects of intracerebroventricularly administered neurotensin (0.1–10.0 μg), PD149163 (0.1–10.0 ng), or the NTS2 receptor agonist JMV-431 (0.1–1.0 μg) on footshock conditioned 22-kHz vocalizations in male Wistar rats. Neurotensin, PD149163, and JMV-431 all significantly reduced the number 22-kHz calls. No changes in call duration were found, suggesting that non-specific drug effects do not account for the reductions in 22-kHz calls. These data support anxiolytic effects produced by activation of NTS1 or NTS2 receptors, and suggest that neurotensin plays a natural role in the expression of conditioned USVs. These data suggest that both receptor subtypes are putative pharmacologic targets

The International Long Term Ecological Research Network: a platform for collaboration

Many scientists around the world became interested in the U.S. Long Term Ecological Research (U.S. LTER) Network\u27s research model during the 1990s and began to develop LTER and Long Term Socio-ecological Research networks in their own countries. These local networks, including the U.S. LTER Network, were loosely federated in 1993 to form the International Long Term Ecological Research (ILTER) Network, a “network of networks.” Although the first 10 yr of ILTER Network activities were largely supported by funds from the U.S. National Science Foundation, the ILTER Network had transformed into a robust, self-sustaining entity by 2006 following a two-year strategic planning process. The goal of the ILTER Network is to improve understanding of how pressures such as climate change and land use affect global ecosystems in order to inform solutions to current and future environmental problems. To fulfill this mission, the ILTER Network fosters collaborations among member scientists to extend the scope of their research across disciplinary boundaries and across more of the ILTER\u27s 600+ research sites. The ILTER Network also has many long-term data sets that are freely available for use by students, scientists, and policymakers all over the world. In this collection of papers, we consider how the ILTER Network has been, and will be, leveraged by U.S. researchers to advance understanding of ecological and socio-ecological systems around the globe

Wolbachia infection can bias estimates of intralocus sexual conflict

This is the final version. Available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.Males and females share most of their genome and develop many of the same traits. However, each sex frequently has different optimal values for these shared traits, creating intralocus sexual conflict. This conflict has been observed in wild and laboratory populations of insects and affects important evolutionary processes such as sexual selection, the maintenance of genetic variation, and possibly even speciation. Given the broad impacts of intralocus conflict, accurately detecting and measuring it is important. A common way to detect intralocus sexual conflict is to calculate the intersexual genetic correlation for fitness, with negative values suggesting conflict. Here, we highlight a potential confounder of this measure—cytoplasmic incompatibility caused by the intracellular parasite Wolbachia. Infection with Wolbachia can generate negative intersexual genetic correlations for fitness in insects, suggestive of intralocus sexual conflict. This is because cytoplasmic incompatibility reduces the fitness of uninfected females mated to infected males, while uninfected males will not suffer reductions in fitness if they mate with infected females and may even be fitter than infected males. This can lead to strong negative intersexual genetic correlations for fitness, mimicking intralocus conflict. We illustrate this issue using simulations and then present Drosophila simulans data that show how reproductive incompatibilities caused by Wolbachia infection can generate signals of intralocus sexual conflict. Given that Wolbachia infection in insect populations is pervasive, but populations usually contain both infected and uninfected individuals providing scope for cytoplasmic incompatibility, this is an important consideration for sexual conflict research but one which, to date, has been largely underappreciated.Royal SocietyLeverhulme TrustNatural Environment Research CouncilNarodowe Centrum Nauk

Fair Wage Policy and Construction Costs in British Columbia

The effect of the 1992 Fair Wage and Skill Development Policy on construction costs in British Columbia is estimated by an econometric model in which costs are a function of the project's physical characteristics, location, as well as the applicability of the fair wage policy standards. Construction projects funded by private companies and by the Province of British Columbia before and after the introduction of the policy provide the data which were collected from 1989 to 1995. Depending on the measure of construction cost and the model specification employed, the results indicate that while public construction projects are from 26 to 47 percent more expensive than privately funded projects, the fair wage policy did not significantly impact this cost differential. given the status of construction labor supply in British Columbia at the time, it is unlikely that input substitution can explain all of this result. Rather, it is more likely that the profit margin enjoyed by non-union construction companies absorbed much of the cost of this policy.