Inactive Condition Research Articles

An Analysis of the Socio-Demographic Differences in Ecuadorian Economically Active Population between Genders

Gender equity and development are common issues worldwide. International Organizations through their specialized programs and the states through their public policies have made high efforts to accomplish these goals raised internationally and locally. However, it is necessary to know the perception of the population about the achievement of these goals, and to influence the economic agents who are responsible of decision making. The present qualitative research work determines the social-demographic profile of the Ecuadorian economically active population and identifies the main characteristics by gender: racial group, activity and inactivity conditions, education, employment, poverty, and job satisfaction. The obtained results show the differences in variables related to activity and inactivity conditions, use of technology, education, and employment. The results pretend to be a useful source of information in the creation of public policies focused on poverty reduction and gender equity.

Rifts, rivers and climate recovery: A new model for the Triassic of England

Triassic basins of England developed under a regime of largely W–E extension and progressed from non-marine fluvial and aeolian sedimentation (Sherwood Sandstone Group), through marine-influenced playa lacustrine deposits (Mercia Mudstone Group) to marine environments (Penarth Group). A new tectono-stratigraphic model for the Sherwood Sandstone Group is proposed in which two major long-distance river systems developed under conditions of relative fault inactivity in the Early Triassic (Budleigh Salterton Pebble Beds and equivalent) and Middle Triassic (Otter Sandstone and equivalent). These are separated by a late Early Triassic syn-rift succession of fluvio–aeolian sandstones (Wildmoor Sandstone and Wilmslow Sandstone formations) and playa lacustrine muds (Nettlecombe Formation) which show major thickness variation and localisation with hanging wall basins. The partitioning of syn-rift deposits into mudstones within upstream basins (close to the source of water and sediment) and clean aeolian or fluvio–aeolian sandstones in downstream basins is similar to the pattern observed in the underlying late Permian. Under conditions of rapid tectonic subsidence chains of extensional basins may become disconnected with upstream basins (Wessex Basin) acting as traps for fines and water permitting more aeolian activity in temporarily unlinked downstream basins (Worcester and Cheshire basins). In addition to tectonic controls, fluctuating climate, relief related to limestone resilience in arid settings, the smoothing effect of fill and spill sedimentation and Tethyan sea-level change all contributed toward the observed Triassic stratigraphy in England.

Predicted ripple dimensions in relation to the precision of in situ measurements in the southern North Sea

Abstract. Ripples are common morphological features in sandy marine environments. Their shapes and dimensions are closely related to local sediment properties and forcing by waves and currents. Numerous predictors for the geometry and hydraulic roughness of ripples exist but, due to their empirical nature, they may fail to properly reflect conditions in the field. Here, measurements of tide and wave generated ripples in a shallow shelf sea are reported. Discrete and continuous methods for the extraction of ripple dimensions from digital elevation models (DEMs) are inter-compared. The range of measured ripple dimensions is quantified and compared to the results of empirical predictors. The repeatability of a measurement for inactive conditions is taken as the precision of measurements of bedform dimensions. The accuracy of measurement is assessed via comparison to predicted dimensions. Results from field data show that the precision of measurements is limited to 10 % of the absolute ripple dimensions. The application of different methods for the detection of ripple heights may result in form roughness heights differing by a factor of up to 2 between the traditional statistical estimate and a full evaluation of the spatial bathymetry.

Latent Catalyst-Containing Naphthoxazine: Synthesis and Effects on Ring-Opening Polymerization

A naphthoxazine containing a latent catalyst based on −OH as part of its monomer structure has been synthesized through a simple one-pot reaction at room temperature. The chemical structure of this naphthoxazine monomer has been confirmed by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and FT-IR and its purity by elemental analysis. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and in situ FT-IR have been used to investigate the active and inactive conditions for the latent catalysis. DSC and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) studies indicate that this naphthoxazine polymerizes quickly before the monomer evaporation, as is often the case for conventional naphthoxazines, minimizing the monomer loss during polymerization. The intramolecular interactions between the −OH group and oxazine ring and pyrrolidine ring of the monomer have been investigated in detail by using the homonuclear two-dimensional (2D) NMR technique 1H–1H nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (NOESY). The −OH interacts with the N in the pyrrolidine ring and oxazine ring t...

Impact of hypokinesia on some metabolic characteristics and gut microbiota composition of dairy cows

Abstract In the field of animal-breeding the “stable keeping” has a negative effect on the overall functional state of the animal's organism. Hypokinetic conditions not only produce problematic effects upon the animals' immune status and metabolism, but also generate a range of economic damages relating to productivity and meat product quality and taste. The influence of hypokinesia on some metabolic indexes and on titers of some gut commensals from Caucasus brown cows and their calves has been investigated. The investigations testify that the changes in gut microbiota and in metabolic characteristics of the animals under the conditions of physical inactivity can cause an increased risk of infectious diseases of those animals.

Methane seepage effects on biodiversity and biological traits of macrofauna inhabiting authigenic carbonates

Authigenic carbonate rocks at methane seeps are recognized as hosting diverse and abundant invertebrate assemblages, with potential forcing from fluid seepage and hydrography. Mensurative studies of carbonate macrofauna (>0.3mm) at Hydrate Ridge, OR revealed little effect of water depth and overlying oxygenation (at 600m and 800m) but a large influence of seepage activity on density, taxonomic composition, diversity, and biological traits (feeding, lifestyle, motility, size and calcification). Rocks exposed to active seepage had 3–4× higher total macrofaunal densities than under inactive conditions. Assemblages exhibited higher species richness and reduced evenness (greater dominance) under active seepage than inactive conditions, but no difference in H′ or rarefaction diversity. Actively seeping sites were characterized by errant (motile), bacterial grazing, small- and medium-sized, heavily calcified species, whereas inactive sites exhibited a greater diversity of feeding modes and more burrowers, sessile, large and lightly calcified species. Active rocks supported more exogonid (Syllidae), ampharetid, and cirratulid polychaetes, provannid snails, pyropeltid limpets, nemerteans, and sponges; whereas inactive rocks supported higher densities of ophiuroids, isopods, gammarid amphipods, hydroids, Typosyllis (Syllidae) and tanaids. Transplant experiments, in which rocks were transferred between active and inactive sites at Hydrate Ridge North (600m), revealed that assemblages respond within 13months to increase or cessation of seepage, taking on the feeding, size and calcification characteristics of the background fauna at the new site. Lifestyles and motility patterns shifted more slowly as the sessile, attached species did not track seepage as quickly. Provannid snails and pyropeltid limpets rapidly colonized rocks transplanted to active sites and disappeared when transplanted to inactive sites. Given the known variability of fluid fluxes and rapid community response, a mosaic of communities changing in space and time is hypothesized to generate the relatively high species diversity at methane seeps.

Kinetics of Hg° oxidation over a V2O5/MoO3/TiO2 catalyst: Experimental and modelling study under DeNOX inactive conditions

In this work, a kinetic study of mercury oxidation over a commercial plate-type V/Mo/Ti/O catalyst was addressed by investigating the effects of key operating variables (temperature, HCl and Hg° concentration). The study was performed under reference DeNOX-inactive conditions, that is in the absence of NOX, NH3, SOX, recognizing that surface coverage effects can greatly affect the kinetics of this complex reacting system. Aim of the work was in fact to better clarify the nature of the intrinsic reaction (in particular its temperature dependence), that, despite the increasing interest toward this reaction, is still debated with a very large scatter among observations. The experiments were performed over slabs. The combined effects of temperature and HCl concentration evidenced that the conversion of Hg° was independent from the HCl content below 300–325°C, where the reaction showed a positive temperature dependence; at higher temperature, the conversion of Hg° became highly sensitive to the HCl concentration, which determined the observed temperature dependence (negative at 2.5ppm HCl, positive at 50ppm HCl). Thus the data suggest a strong dependence of the reaction kinetics on the surface coverage of HCl.A model of the reactor cell was developed and an engineering analysis of data was performed to decouple the effects of inter-phase and intra-porous mass transfer limitations. A rate expression was derived from the formalization of a redox reaction scheme wherein a step-wise oxy-chlorination process (Hg°→HgClads→HgCl2) is assumed in line with recent theoretical findings. By assuming that the surface coverages of the HgCl intermediate and the reduced sites are negligible with respect to the coverage of free and chlorinated oxidized sites, a simple rate expression is derived which accounts for a quadratic dependence on HCl coverage and a linear dependence on the gas-phase concentration of elemental mercury (in line with the experimental evidence). The whole bulk of data could be well described, capturing the key observed trends. The activation energy of the reaction steps was found to be 14000cal/mole while the enthalpy of HCl activation was estimated at −20000cal/mole, coherently with the energetics of V-sites chlorination.

Analysis of IL-10 and IL-6 Gene Polymorphisms and Their Serum Levels in Patients with Brucellosis: A Case Control Study

ABSTRACTBackground: It seems that polymorphism in the regulatory areas of cytokine genes affects the cytokine production capacity and may play a role in the development of infectious diseases. Interleukin-10 (IL-10) and Interleukin-6 (IL-6), which are cytokines of Th2, cause the macrophage become inactive and patient conditions get worse.Methods: In this case‐control study, 60 patients with brucellosis and 60 healthy participants were recruited. IL-10 genotyping at positions -1082 (G/A), -819 (C/T), and -592 (C/A) and IL-6 genotyping at position -174 (G/C) were analyzed by amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism-polymerase chain reaction (RFLP-PCR) methods. The levels of IL-10 and IL-6 were determined by a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in sera of study population.Results: The AA and CC genotypes of the IL-10 gene at positions -1082 G/A and -819 C/T were significantly more frequent in patients in comparison to controls, respectively. The AG genotype of the IL-10 gene at positions -1082 G/A was significantly more frequent in control groups than the patients. Serum levels of IL-10 and IL-6 were significantly more frequent in the patients than in the control groups.Conclusions: Our study showed that the AA and CC genotypes at positions -1082 and -819 are very important, respectively. These results suggest that IL-10 (-1082 G/A) GG genotype may be considered as a risk factor for brucellosis, while the AG genotype might be a protective factor against the disease.

Mouthparts in Leptotrombidium larvae (Acariformes: Trombiculidae).

Mouthparts of Leptotrombidium larvae (Acariformes: Trombiculidae), potential vectors of tsutsugamushi disease agents, were studied in detail using light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The mouthparts incorporated within the pseudotagma gnathosoma are composed of the infracapitulum ventrally and the chelicerae dorsally. The ventral wall of the infracapitulum is formed by a wide mentum posteriorly and a narrowed malapophysis anteriorly. The malapophysis firmly envelops the distal cheliceral portions by its lateral walls. The lateral lips of the malapophysis are flexible structures hiding the cheliceral blades in inactive condition and turning back forming a type of temporary sucker closely applied to the host skin during feeding. The roof of the infracapitulum is formed by a weakly sclerotized labrum anteriorly and a cervix with the capitular apodemes extending posteriorly. The labral muscles are lacking. The capitular apodemes serve as origin for pharyngeal dilators running to the dorsal wall of the pharynx fused with the bottom of the infracapitulum. The basal cheliceral segments are separated from each other besides the very posterior portions where they are movably joined by the inner walls. The sigmoid pieces serve for insertion of the cheliceral elevators originating at the posterior portions of the basal segments. The movable digits reveal the solid basal sclerite and the cheliceral blade curved upward with a tricuspid cap on its tip. Dendrites of nerve cells run along the digits to their tips. The ganglia are placed within the basal segments just behind the movable digits. The chelicerae also reveal well developed flexible fixed digits overhanging the basal portions of the blades. The gnathosoma possesses several sets of extrinsic muscles originating at the scutum and at the soft cuticle behind it. Laterally, the gnathosoma bears five-segmented palps with a trifurcate palpal claw.

Growth and metabolism of Beauveria bassiana spores and mycelia.

BackgroundFungi are ubiquitous in nature and have evolved over time to colonize a wide range of ecosystems including pest control. To date, most research has focused on the hypocrealean genera Beauveria bassiana, which is a typical filamentous fungus with a high potential for insect control. The morphology and components of fungi are important during the spores germination and outgrow to mycelia. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no report on the morphology and components of B. bassiana spores and mycelia. In the work, the growth and metabolism of Beauveria bassiana spores and mycelia were studied. High performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) was employed to study the metabolism of B. bassiana spores and mycelia. Principal component analysis (PCA) based on HPLC-MS was conducted to study the different components of the spores and mycelia of the fungus. Metabolic network was established based on HPLC-MS and KEGG database.ResultsThrough Gompertz model based on macroscopic and microscopic techniques, spore elongation length was found to increase exponentially until approximately 23.1 h after cultivation, and then growth became linear. In the metabolic network, the decrease of glyoxylate, pyruvate, fumarate, alanine, succinate, oxaloacetate, dihydrothymine, ribulose, acetylcarnitine, fructose-1, 6-bisphosphate, mycosporin glutamicol, and the increase of betaine, carnitine, ergothioneine, sphingosine, dimethyl guanosine, glycerophospholipids, and in spores indicated that the change of the metabolin can keep spores in inactive conditions, protect spores against harmful effects and survive longer.ConclusionsAnalysis of the metabolic pathway in which these components participate can reveal the metabolic difference between spores and mycelia, which provide the tools for understand and control the process of of spores germination and outgrow to mycelia.

Peculiarities of taiga tick Ixodes persulcatus Sch. (Parasitiformes: Ixodidae) development in natural biotopes in Leningrad Province

The peculiarities of taiga tick development were analyses on basis of long-term observations of generations of 30 females during life of ticks at the all stages, in active and inactive conditions, in periods of wintering and metamorphosis. The life cycle of Ixodes persulcatus in the conditions of Leningrad Province (north-west of Russia) lasts 3 years, only one stage is developed per year. Absolute age of taiga tick is equal to 3 years. Calendar age of larvae and nymphs could reach 11–12 months, calendar age of imago is not more than 11 months in favorable biotic and abiotic factors.

Effect of enforced physical inactivity induced by 60-day of bed rest on hepatic markers of NAFLD in healthy normal-weight women.

Physical inactivity leads to a cluster of metabolic disorders that have been associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases. We tested whether physical inactivity increases hepatic biomarkers of NAFLDs. Sixteen normal-weight healthy women (body mass index = 21.2 ± 0.5 kg/m(2) ) were studied under controlled energy balance conditions during a previous 60-day bed rest with (n = 8) or without (n = 8) a combined aerobic/resistive exercise protocol. Stored samples were retrospectively used to measure plasma hepatic markers, i.e. steatosis-related alanine and aspartate transaminases, cytokeratin 18 and angiopoietin-like 3, at baseline, after 30 and 60 days of bed rest. Fasting insulin and triglycerides were measured at baseline and after 30 days of bed rest. Two indexes were calculated, one combining alanine and aspartate transaminase and cytokeratin 18 and another cytokeratin 18, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance and aspartate aminotransferase. Sixty days of bed rest increased all hepatic markers (P < 0.05 for all) and the two indexes (P < 0.01 for both). Exercise significantly reduced the elevation in aspartate transaminase, cytokeratin 18 and both indexes (P < 0.02 for all) but not the increase in alanine transaminase and angiopoietin-like 3. Changes between baseline and 30 days of bed rest in triglycerides were positively associated with changes in aspartate transaminase (R(2) = 0.28, P = 0.04) suggesting a role of hypertriglyceridaemia in the alteration of liver metabolism under inactive conditions. Physical inactivity increases, independent of fat mass, hepatic markers of steatosis and steatohepatitis. Regular exercise can limit these physical inactivity-induced metabolic alterations. Future studies need to elucidate the underlying mechanisms.

The Introduction of the Stipend System for Local Council and the Change of Legislative Activity: focused on the Gyeongsangbuk-do Council

Since 2006, the stipend system for local council is introduced to increase the professionalism of its members and have a purpose to promote a qualitative maturation of legislative activity. In this paper, I have analyzed how the behavior of legislators have been changed and the activation of local council have been realized by the new institution. BR After the stipend system have been come into effect, a lot of highly educated professionals have engaged in local council. People who are trying to work at a job by taking the council seats have increased significantly. This meant that the expertise of local councils have become even higher.BR In accordance with being improved professionalism of lawmakers, the legislative process also have undergone considerable change compared to the previous period. The policy making ability was grown significantly and the viscosity ability in the decision making process also has been achieved considerably. But rather deliberative process have shown an inactive condition. Taken overall, after the stipend system was become effective, we can conclude that the legislative activity is quite active.

Marijuana’s dose-dependent effects in daily marijuana smokers.

Active marijuana produces significant subjective, psychomotor, and physiological effects relative to inactive marijuana, yet demonstrating that these effects are dose-dependent has proven difficult. This within-subject, double-blind study was designed to develop a smoking procedure to obtain a marijuana dose-response function. In four outpatient laboratory sessions, daily marijuana smokers (N = 17 males, 1 female) smoked six 5-s puffs from 3 marijuana cigarettes (2 puffs/cigarette). The number of puffs from active (≥5.5% Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol/THC) and inactive (0.0% THC) marijuana varied according to condition (0, 2, 4, or 6 active puffs); active puffs were always smoked before inactive puffs. Subjective, physiological, and performance effects were assessed prior to and at set time points after marijuana administration. Active marijuana dose-dependently increased heart rate and decreased marijuana craving, despite evidence (carbon monoxide expiration, weight of marijuana cigarettes post-smoking) that participants inhaled less of each active marijuana cigarette than inactive cigarettes. Subjective ratings of marijuana "strength," "high," "liking," "good effect," and "take again" were increased by active marijuana compared with inactive marijuana, but these effects were not dose-dependent. Active marijuana also produced modest, non-dose-dependent deficits in attention, psychomotor function, and recall relative to the inactive condition. In summary, although changes in inhalation patterns as a function of marijuana strength likely minimized the difference between dose conditions, dose-dependent differences in marijuana's cardiovascular effects and ratings of craving were observed, whereas subjective ratings of marijuana effects did not significantly vary as a function of dose.

Development and characterization of a novel fluorescent indicator protein PMCA4-GCaMP2 in cardiomyocytes

Isoform 4 of the plasma membrane calcium/calmodulin dependent ATPase (PMCA4) has recently emerged as an important regulator of several key pathophysiological processes in the heart, such as contractility and hypertrophy. However, direct monitoring of PMCA4 activity and assessment of calcium dynamics in its vicinity in cardiomyocytes are difficult due to the lack of molecular tools. In this study, we developed novel calcium fluorescent indicators by fusing the GCaMP2 calcium sensor to the N-terminus of PMCA4 to generate the PMCA4–GCaMP2 fusion molecule. We also identified a novel specific inhibitor of PMCA4, which might be useful for studying the role of this molecule in cardiomyocytes and other cell types.Using an adenoviral system we successfully expressed PMCA4–GCaMP2 in both neonatal and adult rat cardiomyocytes. This fusion molecule was correctly targeted to the plasma membrane and co-localised with caveolin-3. It could monitor signal oscillations in electrically stimulated cardiomyocytes. The PMCA4–GCaMP2 generated a higher signal amplitude and faster signal decay rate compared to a mutant inactive PMCA4mutGCaMP2 fusion protein, in electrically stimulated neonatal and adult rat cardiomyocytes. A small molecule library screen enabled us to identify a novel selective inhibitor for PMCA4, which we found to reduce signal amplitude of PMCA4–GCaMP2 and prolong the time of signal decay (Tau) to a level comparable with the signal generated by PMCA4mutGCaMP2. In addition, PMCA4–GCaMP2 but not the mutant form produced an enhanced signal in response to β-adrenergic stimulation. Together, the PMCA4–GCaMP2 and PMCA4mutGCaMP2 demonstrate calcium dynamics in the vicinity of the pump under active or inactive conditions, respectively.In summary, the PMCA4–GCaMP2 together with the novel specific inhibitor provides new means with which to monitor calcium dynamics in the vicinity of a calcium transporter in cardiomyocytes and may become a useful tool to further study the biological functions of PMCA4. In addition, similar approaches could be useful for studying the activity of other calcium transporters during excitation–contraction coupling in the heart.

The effect of citric acid on the activity, thermodynamics and conformation of mushroom polyphenoloxidase

Few reports have focused on the effect of citric acid on thermodynamics and conformation of polyphenoloxidase (PPO). In this study, variations on activity, thermodynamics and conformation of mushroom PPO induced by citric acid (1–60mM) and relationships among these were investigated. It showed that with the increasing concentration of citric acid, the activity of PPO decreased gradually to an inactivity condition; inactivation rate constant (k) of PPO increased and the activation energy (Ea) as well as thermodynamic parameters (ΔG, ΔH, ΔS) decreased, which indicated that the thermosensitivity, stability and number of non-covalent bonds of PPO decreased. The conformation was gradually unfolded, which was reflected in the decrease of α-helix contents, increase of β-sheet and exposure of aromatic amino acid residuals. Moreover, two linear relationships of relative activities, enthalpies (ΔH) against α-helix contents were obtained. It indicated that changes of activity and thermodynamics might correlate to the unfolding of conformation.

Identification of hemostatic genes expressed in human and rat leg muscles and a novel gene (LPP1/PAP2A) suppressed during prolonged physical inactivity (sitting)

BackgroundPartly because of functional genomics, there has been a major paradigm shift from solely thinking of skeletal muscle as contractile machinery to an understanding that it can have roles in paracrine and endocrine functions. Physical inactivity is an established risk factor for some blood clotting disorders. The effects of inactivity during sitting are most alarming when a person develops the enigmatic condition in the legs called deep venous thrombosis (DVT) or “coach syndrome,” caused in part by muscular inactivity. The goal of this study was to determine if skeletal muscle expresses genes with roles in hemostasis and if their expression level was responsive to muscular inactivity such as occurs in prolonged sitting.MethodsMicroarray analyses were performed on skeletal muscle samples from rats and humans to identify genes associated with hemostatic function that were significantly expressed above background based on multiple probe sets with perfect and mismatch sequences. Furthermore, we determined if any of these genes were responsive to models of physical inactivity. Multiple criteria were used to determine differential expression including significant expression above background, fold change, and non-parametric statistical tests.ResultsThese studies demonstrate skeletal muscle tissue expresses at least 17 genes involved in hemostasis. These include the fibrinolytic factors tetranectin, annexin A2, and tPA; the anti-coagulant factors TFPI, protein C receptor, PAF acetylhydrolase; coagulation factors, and genes necessary for the posttranslational modification of these coagulation factors such as vitamin K epoxide reductase. Of special interest, lipid phosphate phosphatase-1 (LPP1/PAP2A), a key gene for degrading prothrombotic and proinflammatory lysophospholipids, was suppressed locally in muscle tissue within hours after sitting in humans; this was also observed after acute and chronic physical inactivity conditions in rats, and exercise was relatively ineffective at counteracting this effect in both species.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that skeletal muscle may play an important role in hemostasis and that muscular inactivity may contribute to hemostatic disorders not only because of the slowing of blood flow per se, but also potentially because of the contribution from genes expressed locally in muscles, such as LPP1.

Immediate effects of AAF devices on the characteristics of stuttering: A clinical analysis

The present study investigated the immediate effects of altered auditory feedback (AAF) and one Inactive Condition (AAF parameters set to 0) on clinical attributes of stuttering during scripted and spontaneous speech. Two commercially available, portable AAF devices were used to create the combined delayed auditory feedback (DAF) and frequency altered feedback (FAF) effects. Thirty adults, who stutter, aged 18–68 years (M=36.5; SD=15.2), participated in this investigation. Each subject produced four sets of 5-min of oral reading, three sets of 5-min monologs as well as 10-min dialogs. These speech samples were analyzed to detect changes in descriptive features of stuttering (frequency, duration, speech/articulatory rate, core behaviors) across the various speech samples and within two SSI-4 (Riley, 2009) based severity ratings. A statistically significant difference was found in the frequency of stuttered syllables (%SS) during both Active Device conditions (p=.000) for all speech samples. The most sizable reductions in %SS occurred within scripted speech. In the analysis of stuttering type, it was found that blocks were reduced significantly (Device A: p=.017; Device B: p=.049). To evaluate the impact on severe and mild stuttering, participants were grouped into two SSI-4 based categories; mild and moderate–severe. During the Inactive Condition those participants within the moderate–severe group (p=.024) showed a statistically significant reduction in overall disfluencies. This result indicates, that active AAF parameters alone may not be the sole cause of a fluency-enhancement when using a technical speech aid.Educational objectives: The reader will learn and be able to describe: (1) currently available scientific evidence on the use of altered auditory feedback (AAF) during scripted and spontaneous speech, (2) which characteristics of stuttering are impacted by an AAF device (frequency, duration, core behaviors, speech & articulatory rate, stuttering severity), (3) the effects of an Inactive Condition on people who stutter (PWS) falling into two severity groups, and (4) how the examined participants perceived the use of AAF devices.

An Evaluation of the Aboistop Citronella-Spray Collar as a Treatment for Barking of Domestic Dogs

The aim of our study was to investigate whether citronella-spray collars offer a humane alternative to electric-shock collars to reduce the barking of domestic dogs. The Aboistop collar was applied to seven dogs with problematic barking behaviour by the dogs' owners in a series of case studies concurrently run. Vocalisation of the dogs was recorded in the problem context under baseline conditions, inactive collar conditions, and active collar conditions. The Aboistop collar was effective at reducing problem vocalization for only three of seven dogs and appeared to be most effective for dogs whose problem barking had developed more recently. The collar may be more humane than other punishment methods, but it did produce stress reactions which varied in severity across the dogs. Clinical Relevance. In our study, the collar was applied by the dogs' owners in order to test whether the collar would be effective when used by members of the public. While the results here are preliminary, they suggest that the collar may be effective for some dogs, but not for others, when applied by dog owners for the treatment of problem vocalisation. Further research is required to determine whether the collar could be effective when administered by a trained professional.

Is there evidence for nonthermal modulation of whole body heat loss during intermittent exercise?

This study compared the effect of active, passive, and inactive recoveries on whole body evaporative and dry heat loss responses during intermittent exercise at an air temperature of 30 degrees C and a relative humidity of 20%. Nine males performed three 15-min bouts of upright seated cycling at a fixed external workload of 150 W. The exercise bouts were separated by three 15-min recoveries during which participants 1) performed loadless pedaling (active recovery), 2) had their lower limbs passively compressed with inflatable sleeves (passive recovery), or 3) remained upright seated on the cycle ergometer (inactive recovery). Combined direct and indirect calorimetry was employed to measure rates of whole body evaporative heat loss (EHL) and metabolic heat production (M-W). Mean body temperature (T(b)) was calculated from esophageal and mean skin temperatures, and mean arterial pressure (MAP) was measured continuously. Active and passive recoveries both reversed the reduction in MAP associated with inactive recovery (P <or= 0.05). This response was paralleled by greater levels of EHL during active (207 +/- 53 W) and passive recoveries (203 +/- 55 W) compared with the inactive condition (168 +/- 53 W, P <or= 0.05). However, the greater rate of EHL during active recovery was paralleled by a greater M-W (194 +/- 16 W) compared with inactive recovery (149 +/- 27 W, P <or= 0.001). In contrast, M-W during passive recovery (139 +/- 20 W) was not significantly different from the inactive condition (P = 0.468). Furthermore, there were no differences in T(b) between inactive and passive conditions during the recovery periods (P = 0.820). As such, passive recovery resulted in greater levels of EHL for a given change in T(b) compared with inactive recovery (P <or= 0.05). These results strongly suggest that the progressive increase in core temperature during successive exercise/rest cycles is primarily the result of a baroreflex-mediated attenuation of postexercise whole body evaporative heat loss.