Faunistic Composition, Ecological Properties and Zoogeographical Composition of the Family Elateridae (Coleoptera) of the Central Anatolian Region of Turkey

The focus of this study was to understand the faunistic composition, ecological properties and zoogeographical composition of Elateridae (Coleoptera) of the Central Anatolian region. 72 species belonging to seven subfamilies and 25 genera were identified. The major part of the Elateridae fauna of the Central Anatolian region is formed by the subfamilies Elaterinae and Cardiophorinae. The genus Cardiophorus was the most species-rich genus. The species composition of the Elateridae fauna of the Central Anatolian region is partially consistent with known Elateridae fauna of Turkey. The Central Anatolian region shares most species with the European part of the Western Palaearctic as does the Elateridae fauna of Turkey. Detailed localities of nine species are given for the first time for Turkey, with emphasis on the Central Anatolian region

Pediatric Acupuncture: A Review of Clinical Research

Practiced in China for more than 2000 years, acupuncture has recently gained increased attention in the United States as an alternative treatment approach for a variety of medical conditions. Despite its growing prevalence and anecdotal reports of success among pediatric populations, few empirically based studies have assessed the efficacy of acupuncture for children and adolescents. This article presents a review of the current literature, including a systematic appraisal of the methodological value of each study and a discussion of potential benefits and adverse effects of acupuncture. While acupuncture holds great promise as a treatment modality for diverse pediatric conditions, a significant amount of additional research is necessary to establish an empirical basis for the incorporation of acupuncture into standard care

How might acupuncture work? A systematic review of physiologic rationales from clinical trials

BACKGROUND: Scientific interest in acupuncture has led numerous investigators to conduct clinical trials to test the efficacy of acupuncture for various conditions, but the mechanisms underlying acupuncture are poorly understood. METHODS: The author conducted a PubMed search to obtain a fair sample of acupuncture clinical trials published in English in 2005. Each article was reviewed for a physiologic rationale, as well as study objectives and outcomes, experimental and control interventions, country of origin, funding sources and journal type. RESULTS: Seventy-nine acupuncture clinical trials were identified. Twenty-six studies (33%) offered no physiologic rationale. Fifty-three studies (67%) posited a physiologic basis for acupuncture: 33 (62% of 53) proposed neurochemical mechanisms, 2 (4%) segmental nervous system effects, 6 (11%) autonomic nervous system regulation, 3 (6%) local effects, 5 (9%) effects on brain function and 5 (9%) other effects. No rationale was proposed for stroke; otherwise having a rationale was not associated with objective, positive or negative findings, means of intervention, country of origin, funding source or journal type. The dominant explanation for how acupuncture might work involves neurochemical responses and is not reported to be dependent on treatment objective, specific points, means or method of stimulation. CONCLUSION: Many acupuncture trials fail to offer a meaningful rationale, but proposing a rationale can help investigators to develop and test a causal hypothesis, choose an appropriate control and rule out placebo effects. Acupuncture may stimulate self-regulatory processes independent of the treatment objective, points, means or methods used; this would account for acupuncture's reported benefits in so many disparate pathologic conditions

A New Species From Athous (Orthathous) Acutangulus Species Group from Turkey

A new Elateridae species, Athous (Orthathous) cagatayae n. sp., is presented from Ankara, Turkey. The morphology of the new species is described. Photographs of imago and aedeagus, aedeagi drawings of the new species, and identification key are given. The new species is discussed with species of acutangulus group, with a differential diagnosis.PubMedWoSScopu

Faunistic Composition, Ecological Properties, And Zoogeographical Composition Of The Elateridae (Coleoptera) Family In The Western Black Sea Region Of Turkey

The main aim of this study was to understand the faunistic composition, ecological properties, and zoogeographical composition of the family Elateridae (Coleoptera) of the Western Black Sea region of Turkey. As a result, 44 species belonging to 5 subfamilies and 19 genera were identified. After adding species reported in the literature to the analysis, the fauna in the research area consists of 6 subfamilies, 23 genera and 72 species. Most of the Elateridae fauna of the Western Black Sea region were classified in the subfamilies Elaterinae and Dendrometrinae. The genus Athous was the most species-rich genus. The species composition of the Elateridae fauna of the Western Black Sea region partially overlaps with the known Elateridae fauna of Turkey. The Western Black Sea region shares the most species with the European part of the Western Palaearctic region, including many of those in the Elateridae family, compared to other regions. Comparisons of the three geographical regions of Turkey show that fauna composition, ecological properties, and zoogeographical compositions of the Middle and Western Black Sea regions are more similar to each other than to those of the Central Anatolian region.PubMedWoSScopu

Contributions To Agrypninae (Coleoptera: Elateridae) Fauna Of Pakistan With Four New Species And Three New Records

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Chimpanzees return favors at a personal cost

Humans regularly provide others with resources at a personal cost to themselves. Chimpanzees engage in some cooperative behaviors in the wild as well, but their motivational underpinnings are unclear. In three experiments, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) always chose between an option delivering food both to themselves and a partner and one delivering food only to themselves. In one condition, a conspecific partner had just previously taken a personal risk to make this choice available. In another condition, no assistance from the partner preceded the subject’s decision. Chimpanzees made significantly more prosocial choices after receiving their partner’s assistance than when no assistance was given (experiment 1) and, crucially, this was the case even when choosing the prosocial option was materially costly for the subject (experiment 2). Moreover, subjects appeared sensitive to the risk of their partner’s assistance and chose prosocially more often when their partner risked losing food by helping (experiment 3). These findings demonstrate experimentally that chimpanzees are willing to incur a material cost to deliver rewards to a conspecific, but only if that conspecific previously assisted them, and particularly when this assistance was risky. Some key motivations involved in human cooperation thus may have deeper phylogenetic roots than previously suspected

Glomerular filtration rate and kidney size in type 2 hypertensive diabetic patients

Glomerular hyperfiltration is thought to play an important role in the genesis of diabetic nephropathy. While hyperfiltration is well documented in early Type 1 diabetes, the evidence for hyperfiltration in type 2 diabetes is conflicting. The aim of this study was to find out whether Type 2 hypertensive diabetic patients have hyperfiltration and renal hypertrophy and to asses the effects of an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, perindopril, on glomerular filtration rate (GFR), kidney size in hypertensive Type 2 diabetic patients. GFR and kidney size have been studied in 32 Type 2 hypertensive diabetic patients (M:F 16:16, mean age 40.9±1.2 year, mean duration of diabetes 2.6 ± 1.0 month) and 30 normal controls (M:F 15:15, mean age 40. 3 .± 2.5) enrolled into this study. In normal subjects total GFR, right and left kidney sizes (length × width) were 105.3 ± 7.0 ml/min, 101.4±2.3 mm × 55.7±3.8 mm and 102.8±2.1 mm × 52.0 ± 4.2 mm. In diabetic patients total GFR, right and left kidney sizes (length width) were 100.6 ± 7.1 ml/min (p> 0.05), 99.12 ± 1.5 mm × 50.03 ± 1.08 mm (p >0.05) and 101.0 ± 1.4 mm × 47.53 ± 1.2 mm (p>0.05) respectively. Patients were prescribed perindopril for eight months. After perindopril treatment, GFR and kidney size did not change significantly. In conclusion there was no hyperfiltration and renal hypertrophy in Type 2 hypertensive diabetic patients. The lack of glomerular hypertrophy, nephromegaly and hyperfiltration suggests that diabetic glomerulopathy is not always associated with preceding hyperfiltration. As a result of this, perindopril therapy did not change kidney size and glomerular filtration rate

Effects of sibutramine on thermogenesis in obese patients assessed via immersion calorimetry

WOS: 000244518100019PubMed ID: 17276969Glucose utilization studies show that sibutramine-induced thermogenesis is mediated via selective sympathetic activation of brown adipose tissue. The goal of the present study was to use a new calorimetry method in which resting metabolic rate is enhanced to evaluate the effects of sibutramine treatment on thermogenesis. Sixty obese women were included in the study. Subjects were divided into 2 equal groups-the placebo and sibutramine treatment groups. The sibutramine group was given sibutramine 10 mg daily for 12 wk. At baseline and at the end of the 12-wk treatment period, thermogenic measurements were taken with the use of water immersion calorimetry. Subjects were examined at weeks 4, 8, and 12 of treatment to identify adverse effects. Body mass index, measured at 31.5 +/- 2.05 kg/m(2) in the placebo group, decreased to 30.4 +/- 2.94 kg/m(2) after 12 wk (P=.07). In the sibutramine group, it decreased from 33.5 +/- 4.1 kg/m(2) to 30.9 +/- 4.8 kg/m(2) (P <.05). In the sibutramine group, mean thermogenic response changed from a baseline value of 1.27 +/- 0.29 kcal/kg/h to 1.44 +/- 0.13 kcal/kg/h after 12 wk of treatment. In the placebo group, the baseline value was 1.56 +/- 0.27 kcal/kg/h; it changed to 1.33 +/- 0.36 kcal/kg/h at the end of 12 wk. The findings of this study suggest that sibutramine treatment promotes thermogenesis, thus facilitating weight loss. Calorimetry enhances resting metabolism through more efficient heat transfer from the body