The Smell of Age: Perception and Discrimination of Body Odors of Different Ages

Our natural body odor goes through several stages of age-dependent changes in chemical composition as we grow older. Similar changes have been reported for several animal species and are thought to facilitate age discrimination of an individual based on body odors, alone. We sought to determine whether humans are able to discriminate between body odor of humans of different ages. Body odors were sampled from three distinct age groups: Young (20–30 years old), Middle-age (45–55), and Old-age (75–95) individuals. Perceptual ratings and age discrimination performance were assessed in 41 young participants. There were significant differences in ratings of both intensity and pleasantness, where body odors from the Old-age group were rated as less intense and less unpleasant than body odors originating from Young and Middle-age donors. Participants were able to discriminate between age categories, with body odor from Old-age donors mediating the effect also after removing variance explained by intensity differences. Similarly, participants were able to correctly assign age labels to body odors originating from Old-age donors but not to body odors originating from other age groups. This experiment suggests that, akin to other animals, humans are able to discriminate age based on body odor alone and that this effect is mediated mainly by body odors emitted by individuals of old age

Activational effects of estradiol and dihydrotestosterone on social recognition and the arginine-vasopressin immunoreactive system in male mice lacking a functional aromatase gene.

In rodents, parts of the arginine-vasopressin (AVP) neuronal system are sexually dimorphic with males having more AVP-immunoreactive cells/fibers than females. This neuropeptide neuronal system is highly sensitive to steroids and has been proposed to play an important role in the processing of olfactory cues critical to the establishment of a social memory. We demonstrate here that gonadally intact male aromatase knockout (ArKO) mice, which cannot aromatize androgens into estrogens due to a targeted mutation in the aromatase gene, showed severe deficits in social recognition as well as a reduced AVP-immunoreactivity in several brain regions. To determine whether this reduction is due to a lack of organizational or activational effects of estrogens, we assessed social recognition abilities and AVP-immunoreactivity in male ArKO and wild-type (WT) mice when treated with estradiol benzoate (EB) in association with dihydrotestosterone propionate (DHTP) in adulthood. Adult treatment with EB and DHTP restored social recognition abilities in castrated ArKO males since they showed normal female-oriented ultrasonic vocalizations and were able to recognize an unfamiliar female using a habituation-dishabituation paradigm. Furthermore, adult treatment also restored AVP-immunoreactivity in the lateral septum of ArKO males to levels observed in intact WT males. These results suggest that social recognition in adulthood and stimulation of AVP expression in the adult mouse forebrain depend predominantly on the estrogenic metabolite of testosterone. Furthermore, our results are in line with the idea that the organization of the AVP system may depend on androgen or sex chromosomes rather than estrogens

Comparison of the sheath delivery system versus bare stenting for coronary stent implantation.

Outside the United States, Palmaz-Schatz coronary stents are implanted by hand-crimping the stent to a high pressure balloon without the use of a protective sheath. This lowers the delivery profile, increases the ease of deployment, and ensures that the postdilatation balloon is centered on the stent. To assess this bare stenting technique, 209 patients were retrospectively analyzed: 92 patients (107 lesions) with the sheath protected stent delivery system (SDS) and 117 patients (150 lesions) with the bare stent approach. The number of balloons used per lesion in the bare stent group was significantly less than in the SDS group (1.9 +/- 0.6 vs. 3.8 +/- 1.2, P < 0.0001). In addition, the procedure time in the bare stent group was significantly shorter than in the SDS group (106 +/- 55 vs. 134 +/- 60 min, P = 0.001). There was no difference in frequency of adverse events or stent displacement during the procedure. The bare stenting technique decreases the procedure time, reduces the number of balloons used, and is as safe as the SDS approach

Comparison of the sheath delivery system versus bare stenting for coronary stent implantation.

Outside the United States, Palmaz-Schatz coronary stents are implanted by hand-crimping the stent to a high pressure balloon without the use of a protective sheath. This lowers the delivery profile, increases the ease of deployment, and ensures that the postdilatation balloon is centered on the stent. To assess this bare stenting technique, 209 patients were retrospectively analyzed: 92 patients (107 lesions) with the sheath protected stent delivery system (SDS) and 117 patients (150 lesions) with the bare stent approach. The number of balloons used per lesion in the bare stent group was significantly less than in the SDS group (1.9 +/- 0.6 vs. 3.8 +/- 1.2, P < 0.0001). In addition, the procedure time in the bare stent group was significantly shorter than in the SDS group (106 +/- 55 vs. 134 +/- 60 min, P = 0.001). There was no difference in frequency of adverse events or stent displacement during the procedure. The bare stenting technique decreases the procedure time, reduces the number of balloons used, and is as safe as the SDS approach

A history of walkway slip-resistance research at the National Bureau of Standards /

"Issued December 1979."Bibliography (p. 30-31).Mode of access: Internet

Color in the health care environment : proceedings of a special workshop held at the National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, Maryland, November 16, 1976 /

Includes bibliographical references.Mode of access: Internet

Emission of volatile organic compounds from petunia flowers is facilitated by an ABC transporter.

Plants synthesize a diversity of volatile molecules that are important for reproduction and defense, serve as practical products for humans, and influence atmospheric chemistry and climate. Despite progress in deciphering plant volatile biosynthesis, their release from the cell has been poorly understood. The default assumption has been that volatiles passively diffuse out of cells. By characterization of a Petunia hybrida adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette (ABC) transporter, PhABCG1, we demonstrate that passage of volatiles across the plasma membrane relies on active transport. PhABCG1 down-regulation by RNA interference results in decreased emission of volatiles, which accumulate to toxic levels in the plasma membrane. This study provides direct proof of a biologically mediated mechanism of volatile emission