Behavioral Patterns Associated with Chemotherapy-Induced Emesis: A Potential Signature for Nausea in Musk Shrews

Nausea and vomiting are common symptoms in patients with many diseases, including cancer and its treatments. Although the neurological basis of vomiting is reasonably well known, an understanding of the physiology of nausea is lacking. The primary barrier to mechanistic research on the nausea system is the lack of an animal model. Indeed investigating the effects of anti-nausea drugs in pre-clinical models is difficult because the primary readout is often emesis. It is known that animals show a behavioral profile of sickness, associated with reduced feeding and movement, and possibly these general measures are signs of nausea. Studies attempting to relate the occurrence of additional behaviors to emesis have produced mixed results. Here we applied a statistical method, temporal pattern (t-pattern) analysis, to determine patterns of behavior associated with emesis. Musk shrews were injected with the chemotherapy agent cisplatin (a gold standard in emesis research) to induce acute (<24 h) and delayed (>24 h) emesis. Emesis and other behaviors were coded and tracked from video files. T-pattern analysis revealed hundreds of non-random patterns of behavior associated with emesis, including sniffing, changes in body contraction, and locomotion. There was little evidence that locomotion was inhibited by the occurrence of emesis. Eating, drinking, and other larger body movements including rearing, grooming, and body rotation, were significantly less common in emesis-related behavioral patterns in real versus randomized data. These results lend preliminary evidence for the expression of emesis-related behavioral patterns, including reduced ingestive behavior, grooming, and exploratory behaviors. In summary, this statistical approach to behavioral analysis in a pre-clinical emesis research model could be used to assess the more global effects and limitations of drugs used to control nausea and its potential correlates, including reduced feeding and activity levels

Shoulder rotational strength profiles of danish national level badminton players

Background Increased age has been shown to be associated with weaker external rotators and stronger internal rotators of the shoulder in pitchers and tennis players. Whether this age-associated change is present in elite badminton players is unknown. Purpose To compare the internal and external rotation strength of the shoulder in adolescent and adult elite badminton players. Study design Cross-sectional. Methods Thirty-one adolescent (12 females aged 16.8 ± 1.6 years and 19 males aged 17.1 ± 1.6 years) and 29 adult (10 females aged 25 ± 2.9 years and 19 males aged 26.2 ± 4.6 years) national level badminton players were tested pre-seasonally for external rotation (ER) and internal rotation (IR) isometric muscle strength bilaterally, using a hand-held dynamometer. Within-group ER to IR strength ratios were calculated (ER/IR×100%). Results The adolescents had stronger shoulder ER than the adults on both sides (p < 0.05). The adult males tended to have stronger IR of the dominant shoulder than the adolescent males (p = 0.071). In the dominant shoulders, the strength ratios for adult females and males were 77% and 78%, respectively, while the same ratio for adolescent females and males were 85% and 99%, respectively. In the non-dominant shoulders, the ER/IR strength ratios for adult females and males were 90% and 87%, respectively, while the ratios for adolescent females and males were 116% and 102%, respectively. Conclusion This study is the first to demonstrate that in shoulder injury-free national team badminton players, adolescents have stronger shoulder ER than adults on both sides. Therefore, increased age appears to be associated with weaker shoulder ER muscles in elite badminton players.publishedVersio

Temporal patterns of rat behaviour in the central platform of the elevated plus maze. Comparative analysis between male subjects of strains with different basal levels of emotionality

We have analyzed the temporal patterns of behaviour of male rats of the Wistar and DA/Han strains on the central platform of the elevated plus maze. The ethogram encompassed 10 behavioural elements. Durations, frequencies and latencies showed quantitative differences as to walking and sniffing activities. Wistar rats displayed significantly lower latency and significantly higher durations and frequencies of walking activities. DA/Han rats showed a significant increase of sniffing duration. In addition, DA/Han rats showed a significantly higher amount of time spent in the central platform. Multivariate T-pattern analysis revealed differences in the temporal organization of behaviour of the two rat strains. DA/Han rats showed (a) higher behavioural complexity and variability and (b) a significantly higher mean number of T-patterns than Wistar rats. Taken together, T-pattern analysis of behaviour in the centre of the elevated plus maze can noticeably improve the detection of subtle features of anxiety related behaviour. We suggest that T-pattern analysis could be used as sensitive tool to test the action of anxiolytic and anxiogenic manipulations.peer-reviewe

Population fluctuations and synanthropy explain transmission risk in rodent-borne zoonoses

Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).Population fluctuations are widespread across the animal kingdom, especially in the order Rodentia, which includes many globally important reservoir species for zoonotic pathogens. The implications of these fluctuations for zoonotic spillover remain poorly understood. Here, we report a global empirical analysis of data describing the linkages between habitat use, population fluctuations and zoonotic reservoir status in rodents. Our quantitative synthesis is based on data collated from papers and databases. We show that the magnitude of population fluctuations combined with species’ synanthropy and degree of human exploitation together distinguish most rodent reservoirs at a global scale, a result that was consistent across all pathogen types and pathogen transmission modes. Our spatial analyses identified hotspots of high transmission risk, including regions where reservoir species dominate the rodent community. Beyond rodents, these generalities inform our understanding of how natural and anthropogenic factors interact to increase the risk of zoonotic spillover in a rapidly changing world.Peer reviewe

Comparing resonant photon tunneling via cavity modes and Tamm plasmon polariton modes in metal-coated Bragg mirrors

Resonant photon tunneling was investigated experimentally in multilayer structures containing a high-contrast (TiO2/SiO2) Bragg mirror capped with a semitransparent gold film. Transmission via a fundamental cavity resonance was compared with transmission via the Tamm plasmon polariton resonance that appears at the interface between a metal film and a one-dimensional photonic bandgap structure. The Tamm-plasmon-mediated transmission exhibits a smaller dependence on the angle and polarization of the incident light for similar values of peak transmission, resonance wavelength, and finesse. Implications for transparent electrical contacts based on resonant tunneling structures are discussed

Most Reported Genetic Associations with General Intelligence Are Probably False Positives

General intelligence (g) and virtually all other behavioral traits are heritable. Associations between g and specific single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in several candidate genes involved in brain function have been reported. We sought to replicate published associations between g and 12 specific genetic variants (in the genes DTNBP1, CTSD, DRD2, ANKK1, CHRM2, SSADH, COMT, BDNF, CHRNA4, DISC1, APOE, and SNAP25) using data sets from three independent, well-characterized longitudinal studies with samples of 5,571, 1,759, and 2,441 individuals. Of 32 independent tests across all three data sets, only 1 was nominally significant. By contrast, power analyses showed that we should have expected 10 to 15 significant associations, given reasonable assumptions for genotype effect sizes. For positive controls, we confirmed accepted genetic associations for Alzheimer’s disease and body mass index, and we used SNP-based calculations of genetic relatedness to replicate previous estimates that about half of the variance in g is accounted for by common genetic variation among individuals. We conclude that the molecular genetics of psychology and social science requires approaches that go beyond the examination of candidate genes.Economic