25191773	Clinical correlates of global functioning in obese treatment seeking persons with binge eating disorder. 	In recent years, research has called for an increased emphasis on clinical outcomes that are meaningful to patients with binge eating disorder (BED). This cross-sectional study examined the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) and its relation to clinical and demographic factors in BED patients. Thirty-two patients (28 women and 4 men) with BED (age = 41.1 ± 10.7; body mass index = 38.9 ± 5.8) seeking treatment to a weekly multidisciplinary programme at the UPC KU Leuven, Campus Kortenberg in Belgium, were asked to participate at intake. All participants were assessed with the GAF scale, completed the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI), the Body Attitude Test (BAT), the Symptoms Checklist-90, the Baecke Physical Activity Questionnaire (BPAQ), and performed a 6 minute walk test. The GAF-score (55.9 ± 13.9) was only significantly associated with the BPAQ score (7.0 ± 1.4) (r = 0.383, p = 0.03) and the BAT score (63.9 ± 16.1) (r=-0.443, p = 0.011). The regression model including both of these variables explained 25.3% of the variability in the GAF-score. This study highlights the value of clinicians assessing physical activity and body image in patients with BED. Research is needed to elucidate whether incorporating body image treatments and physical activity in the care of patients with BED can promote global functioning. 
24477375	Factors associated with a low level of physical activity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. 	Physical activity such as walking is strongly recommended for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We undertook a multicenter observational study on COPD patients, collecting the daily walking time, COPD severity score (COPDSS), functional status [London Chest Activity of Daily Living (LCADL) questionnaire], health-related quality of life (QoL) rating [five-item EuroQL (EQ-5D) and Airways Questionnaire 20 (AQ20)], and anxiety and depression rating (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale). Multivariate logistic regression modeling was performed to identify the independent predictors of a low walking time (&lt;30 min/day). We included 4,574 patients with a mean (±standard deviation) age of 67.1 ± 10.0 years, with a mean FEV1 (%) of 54.0 ± 23.7. The mean daily walking time was 73.6 ± 67.1 min (58.9 % at ≥60 min and 13.7 % at &lt;30 min). A strong direct relationship was observed between daily walking time and better QoL (EQ-5D and AQ20) and functional status (LCADL; p &lt; 0.001 in all cases). The independent predictors of a low walking time were a worse score in EQ-5D [odds ratio (OR) (95 % confidence interval per one-point increase of 0.23 (0.15-0.35)], a higher COPDSS [OR per one-point increase of 1.04 (1.02-1.07)], and the presence of depression [OR 1.58 (1.25-2.01)]. After adjustment for age and severity of symptoms, poor health status, severity of COPD, and depression are the main factors associated with a low walking time in COPD patients. 
23295109	Activity restriction vs. self-direction: hospitalised older adults' response to fear of falling. 	Functional decline is a common complication in hospitalised older adults, associated with low mobility and physical activity. Fear of falling may contribute to limited mobility and physical activity, and loss of physical function. An understanding of this relationship, as well as contributing factors, may inform the development of safe, function-promoting interventions. To describe fear of falling in hospitalised older adults and its relationship with patient characteristics and physical function and explore patient views of associated factors. combined quantitative and qualitative approach using chart extraction, observation and interviews of older adults. (i) correlations and analysis of variance methods; (ii) content and thematic analysis; and (iii) evaluation of convergence, complementarity and dissonance of quantitative and qualitative data. Depressed older persons were more likely to describe fear of falling (r = 0.47, P = 0.002). Fear of falling was associated with the loss of physical function from admission to discharge (F = 7.6, P = 0.009). The participant response to fear of falling was activity restriction vs. self-direction. Participants described the following factors, organised by social-ecological framework, to be considered when developing alternatives to activity restriction: intrapersonal, interpersonal, environmental and policy. Fear of falling plays a significant role in restricting physical activity and function. A multifactorial approach may provide a viable alternative to activity restriction, by facilitating self-direction and functional recovery. Interventions to prevent falls and activities to promote functional mobility are ideally developed in tandem, with attention paid to the physical and social environment. Preventing hospital-acquired disability may require a shift in organisational values around safety, from a soley protective approach to one that reflects an enabling philosophy emphasising independence and self-direction. Such a paradigm shift would demonstrate a valuing not only of the absence of falls but also the preservation and restoration of function. 
24485013	Physical activity intensity and health status perception of breast cancer patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy. 	The aim was to evaluate the physical activity intensity (PAI) of patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy and investigate the relationship between health status perception and PAI in Japan. Consenting participants of this prospective, descriptive, repeated measures design were 28 women aged 20-64 with stage I-IIIA initial breast cancer whose regimen included anthracycline. Participants wore a triaxial accelerometer and their PAI was measured for a 14-day period at the beginning of chemotherapy. The SF-36 Survey and Cancer Fatigue Scale were administered. The accelerometer was used to calculate the number of steps, physical activity level (PAL) and total minutes of PAI levels of under 1.5 Mets, 1.5-2.9 Mets, and more than 3.0 Mets during the first half (FH; days 2-7) and second half (SH; days 8-14) of the study. Data were analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis. During FH, the mean number of steps was 3841.1 steps/day and mean PAL was 1.43; during SH, the mean number of steps was 4058.4 steps/day, mean PAL was 1.43; participants spent over 70% of the day working quietly in a sitting position. PAL during SH was significantly associated with mean time spent during activities of 1.5-2.9 Mets (β = 0.880, p &lt; 0.0001) and 3.0 Mets (β = 0.268, p &lt; 0.0001). Patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy had extremely low physical activity. They should be provided useful information of appropriate physical movement and be supported in resolving physical and psychological distress. 
23617534	Longitudinal study of the cognitive, behavioral and physical status of day care service users with dementia: factors associated with long-term day care use. 	The aim of the present retrospective study was to investigate the time-courses of the cognitive, behavioral and physical status of day care service users with dementia, and to determine the factors associated with the long-term use of day care in order to aid the development of better interventions. We analyzed the data of 162 consecutive patients who attended our day care clinic for 1 year or more between 1 April 2000 and 31 March 2010. The patients were divided into three groups according to the length of their day care attendance (the 1-year, 3-year and 5-year groups). Then, we investigated the time-courses of their cognitive, behavioral and physical status. Logistic regression analysis was used to detect the factors that affect the duration of day care service attendance in dementia patients. The Hasegawa Dementia Scale-Revised (HDS-R), Assessment Scale for Symptoms of Dementia (ASSD) and Nishimura's Activities of Daily Living (N-ADL) scores of the three groups all significantly deteriorated during the study period except for the HDS-R score of the 3-year group. Higher age and a high ASSD score were associated with a short period of day care service attendance, whereas the patients' daughters-in-law acting as a caregiver was related to the long-term use of day care services in model 1. It is better to control behavioral and psychological symptoms in order to improve the utilities of day care for dementia patients. The caregiving environment of dementia patients might be associated with the length of day care attendance. 
24188030	Deep flexion activity training in a patient with stroke using task-oriented exercise: a case report. 	Many individuals with stroke express desires to resume activities involving deep knee flexion, such as daily living, work-related, and sports activities. However, training methods for improving deep flexion activities have not commonly been reported in the stroke rehabilitation literature. The purpose of this case report is to describe the development of a task-oriented training program and demonstrate its use in improving deep flexion activities in an individual with sub-acute hemiplegia. The patient was a 55-year-old shoe salesman diagnosed with ischemic stroke 6 weeks before physical therapy evaluation. His primary concerns were functional activities that required deep flexion, such as the inability to squat and to maintain a squatting position in the Eastern toilet and difficulty in performing work-related activities (e.g. fitting shoes for customers while sitting on a low stool). We developed a task-oriented training program that specifically targeted deep flexion activities. The first phase of training consisted primarily of practicing sit-to-stand on a low stool and the second phase consisted of practicing squatting. After 6 weeks of intervention, the patient achieved more than the expected outcome on the Goal Attainment Scale (score = +2) for both primary goals and reported positive changes in social participation, such as visiting his friends and relatives and praying at the temple. The task-oriented deep flexion activity intervention was associated with positive changes in functional activity and social participation in a patient recovering from stroke. 
24398175	Volume and intensity of physical activity in a large population-based cohort of middle-aged and older Australians: prospective relationships with weight gain, and physical function. 	To examine prospectively whether higher proportions of vigorous physical activity (VPA), independent of total activity volume, are associated with better outcomes in weight maintenance and physical function. We used three-year longitudinal data (2006/07-2009/10) of adults 45 and older (n=32,087; 59.5±9.3years) from New South Wales, Australia. Logistic regression models examined odds of weight gain and functional decline by volume and intensity of physical activity. On average, body weight increased by 0.66kg (SD=5.83, p&lt;0.001); a validated physical function score (MOS-PF) decreased by 4.79 (SD=12.56, p&lt;0.001). There was a 10% reduction in the odds of weight gain for participants who reported 300min/week or more of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) compared to less than 150min of MVPA. The proportion of MVPA that was vigorous was not associated with weight change. With the physical functioning outcome, there were independent protective effects from volume and intensity of physical activity. Independent of total MVPA, each 1% increase in the proportion of total activity that was vigorous was associated with a 0.3% decrease in the odds of decline in physical function. These prospective findings indicate that VPA per se plays an important role in the prevention of functional decline. 
24581402	Potential predictors of functional outcomes after home-based constraint-induced therapy for children with cerebral palsy. 	OBJECTIVE. Our objective was to identify predictors for treatment outcomes after home-based constraint-induced therapy (CIT) in children with cerebral palsy (CP). METHOD. Forty-three children (aged 4-12 yr) with CP were treated with individualized CIT at home for 4 wk. Potential predictors were age, sex, affected hand, and upper-extremity motor capacity measured by the Peabody Developmental Motor Scale, 2nd edition (PDMS-2). Outcomes were the Pediatric Motor Activity Log (PMAL) Amount of Hand Use and Quality of Hand Use subscales and the Functional Independence Measure for Children (WeeFIM). RESULTS. A higher PDMS-2 Visual-Motor Integration subscale score predicted a better WeeFIM score after home-based CIT (adjusted R² = .35). Younger age predicted better performance on the PMAL Amount of Hand Use and Quality of Hand Use subscales (adjusted R² = .06-.08) after home-based CIT. CONCLUSION. The potential predictors may allow occupational therapy practitioners to target those children who will benefit most after home-based constraint-induced therapy. 
21552158	Association between knee extensor strength and EMG activities during squat movement. 	The present study aimed to clarify how the force-generating capability of quadriceps femoris (QF) is associated to its surface EMG activity during a body mass-based squat movement. Isometric knee extension torque (KET) during maximal voluntary contraction and EMG activities of the rectus femoris and vastus lateralis muscles during a body mass-based squat movement were determined in 53 men and 48 women age 19-90 yr, including 18 frail elderly persons who used the long-term care insurance system. The rectified EMG signals during the squat movement were averaged and normalized as the relative value (%EMG(max)) to that during maximal voluntary contraction. The %EMG(max) values for rectus femoris and vastus lateralis were averaged and used as an index representing the level of muscular activities of QF during the squat movement (QF %EMG(max)). QF %EMG(max) was nonlinearly related to KET relative to body mass (KET/BM). Linear piecewise continuous regression analysis showed that there was a breakpoint of 1.9 N·m·kg(-1) in the relationship between the two variables. In individuals with KET/BM less than 1.9 N·m·kg(-1), QF %EMG(max) rapidly increased as KET/BM decreased. The current results indicate that the activity level of QF during a body mass-based squat movement is influenced by its force generation capability. For individuals with a KET/BM less than 1.9 N·m·kg(-1), body mass-based squat movement is considered to be a fairly high-intensity exercise. The breakpoint of 1.9 N·m·kg(-1) may be assumed to be a threshold level of knee extensor strength, which should be maintained for performing the activities of daily living without great difficulty. 
21531563	Age- and sex-related differences for electromyography gaps during daily activity and a discrete task. 	Temporal patterns of quiescent electromyography termed 'gaps' were investigated in young and old men and women for a discrete task and daily activity. Gaps in women (1.3±3.2) and old adults (1.5±3.4) were fewer compared with men (4.7±6.7) and young adults (4.6±6.9) for the discrete task (p&lt;0.001). Gap duration was shorter for women (0.1±0.2s) and old adults (0.1±0.3s) compared with men (0.2±0.3s) and young adults (0.2±0.2s) (p&lt;0.01). For daily activity, gap number was similar with age, but gap duration and percentage of total time occupied by gaps were less in old compared with young adults (50%), and in women compared with men (43%) (p&lt;0.001). Results suggest gap activity is sensitive to type and duration of activity and that old adults and women demonstrate less quiescent electromyography than young adults and men. 
20108856	Insulin-sensitivity response to a single bout of resistive exercise in type 1 diabetes mellitus. 	Little is known about the acute effects of resistance exercise on insulin sensitivity in people with type 1 diabetes. Repeated-measures design with 2 independent variables: group (exercise and nonexercise control) and time (preexercise and 12 and 36 h postexercise). General Clinical Research Center, Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA. 14 physically active subjects (11 men and 3 women) with type 1 diabetes. The exercise group completed 5 sets of 6 repetitions of strenuous (80% 1-RM) quadriceps and hamstring exercises while the control group performed only activities of daily living. Insulin sensitivity was assessed with the euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic-clamp technique preexercise and 12 and 36 h postexercise. Insulin-sensitivity values were not significantly different between the exercise and control groups (P = .92) or over time (P = .67). A single bout of strenuous resistance exercise does not alter insulin sensitivity in people with type 1 diabetes. 
18705151	The biological mechanisms of cancer-related skeletal muscle wasting: the role of progressive resistance exercise. 	Cancer results in perturbations in skeletal muscle protein metabolism leading to muscle wasting. Although severe wasting is seen primarily in persons with advanced malignancies, a number of cancer patients show some degree of wasting at presentation. Although cancer-related skeletal muscle wasting is attributable, in part, to decreased muscle protein synthesis, its primary cause appears to be increased muscle protein degradation. Although several proteolytic systems may be involved, compelling evidence suggests that the major system responsible for skeletal muscle protein degradation in cancer is the ATP-dependent ubiquitin- proteasome system. Other contributing factors include proinflammatory cytokines and the tumor-released proteolysis-inducing factor. Decreased physical activity and decreased nutritional intake may also play a role. Cancer-related skeletal muscle wasting is clinically significant because of its profound effects on functional outcomes and quality of life. Nevertheless, no specific interventions have proved to be effective in preventing or reversing the problem. Interventions such as nutritional supplementation and appetite stimulants are only partially helpful. A nonpharmacologic intervention that may attenuate cancer-related skeletal muscle wasting is progressive resistance exercise training (PRT). PRT is a potent stimulus of growth in muscle mass and strength. PRT may attenuate cancer-related skeletal muscle wasting by downregulating the activity of proinflammatory cytokines and by increasing the phosphorylation of intramuscular amino acid-signaling molecules. This article discusses several cancer-related skeletal muscle wasting mechanisms and proposes how PRT might attenuate muscle wasting by counteracting some of these mechanisms. 
24346236	Frailty and prognosis in advanced heart failure. 	The frailty syndrome is characterized by an increased vulnerability to physiologic stress. Frailty is distinct from disability and disease states; however, there is a strong relationship between frailty and heart failure and the pathophysiology's overlap. Heart failure exacerbations and hospitalizations likely accelerate the cycle of frailty. The following review summarizes the relationship between heart failure and frailty, and the utility of a frailty assessment in heart failure management. A frailty assessment can help to stratify heart failure patients at high risk for adverse outcomes. Increasing availability of device therapies for patients with heart failure make prerisk assessment an important management strategy. Furthermore, studies are necessary to understand the relationship between heart failure and frailty and to devise the best care strategies for these patients. 
25160577	The lived experiences of people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in relation to exercise. 	The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences of people diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Seven active exercisers with MS participated in semi-structured interviews regarding their exercise experiences since diagnosis. Data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA; Smith  &amp; Osborn, 2003 ). Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. The results and interpretations of narratives revealed a number of functional limitations due to the severity of MS symptoms, which were found to have a major effect on the ability of the participants to exercise. Furthermore, psychological problems and the heightened behavioural adjustments to the progressive disability led to re-appraisal of ability to exercise. Previous, relevant exercise experience made participants more determined to continue to be able to exercise after diagnosis. The wider exercise experience narratives were related to concerns about safety, dependability on others to overcome the challenges, and potential environmental hazards. The loss of spontaneous opportunities to exercise because of these actual and perceived barriers was key to this population. This research highlighted the need to rethink the health and social service arrangements in relation to exercise provision for individuals with MS. 
24217275	An intensive exercise program improves motor performances in patients with dementia: translational model of geriatric rehabilitation. 	Translation of intensive exercise programs developed specifically for patients with dementia into clinical settings is lacking. To determine if a progressive resistance and functional training program, previously evaluated in dementia outpatients, can be implemented in a geriatric inpatient setting in order to improve motor performances in patients with dementia. Eligible patients in one ward of a German geriatric hospital were assigned to the intervention group (IG, n = 74) and received intensive exercise training specifically designed for patients with dementia. Patients in the second ward were observed as a control group (CG, n = 74). All patients received usual care treatment. Primary endpoints were maximal lower extremity strength measured by a leg-press device and duration of the 5-chair-stand test for functional performance. Secondary outcomes included a number of parameters for strength and function. The rehabilitation period averaged 18.1 ± 6.8 days. The IG significantly improved in both primary endpoints (change: maximal strength, IG: +51.9 ± 42.3% versus CG: +13.5 ± 51.8%, p &lt; 0.001; functional performance, IG: -19.2 ± 22.3% versus CG: -3.8 ± 32.2% s, p = 0.037). Secondary outcomes confirmed effects for strength and some, but not all, functional parameters. Interestingly, low baseline motor status, but not cognitive status, predicted positive training response. An intensive exercise program can be implemented in a geriatric rehabilitation setting to improve motor performances in patients with dementia. Results suggest that an intensification of training is feasible in the target group and substantially increases the benefits in comparison to receiving usual care exercise only. 
24484718	Patients over 65 years are assigned lower ECOG PS scores than younger patients, although objectively measured physical activity is no different. 	The Eastern Cooperative Group Performance Status (ECOG PS) is a widely used standard functional classification in oncology practice, the verbal descriptors of which refer to physical activity (PA). Little is known about the cut-off points of this scale and measured PA levels. This research investigated the relationship between PS assigned, objectively measured PA, and patient age. One hundred ambulatory patients with treatment-naive cancer wore an accelerometer (RT3) for a mean (SD) of 5.6 (1.1) days before initial oncology evaluation and ECOG PS assignment. Seventy five participants (75%) were &lt;65 years and 25 were ≥65 years. Eighty nine (89%) were assigned an ECOG PS of 0 or 1 and 11% a PS of 2 or 3. A weak but significant inverse association was found between objectively measured PA and PS (rho = -0.26, p = 0.01). Seventy one participants (80%) with a PS of 0 or 1 spent more than 50% of waking hours resting. Participants assigned a PS of 2-3 spent significantly more time resting than those assigned a PS of 0 (p = 0.01). Age ≥65 years was significantly related to PS assigned (p = 0.04), although the older cohort were no less sedentary than younger patients. PA levels were low, but PS scoring reflected relative PA levels and differentiated between patients of PS 0 and 2-3. Chronological age was not predictive of activity levels, but older patients were assigned lower PS scores. Incorporation of objective PA measures may merit further investigation especially in the geriatric oncology setting. 
24131430	Use of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health as a framework for analyzing the Stroke Impact Scale-16 relative to falls. 	To determine if subscores based on grouping Stroke Impact Scale 16 (SIS-16) items according to International Classification of Functioning, Health and Disability (ICF) components are more accurate in identifying individuals with a history of falls than the total SIS-16 score. Case series. 43 community-dwelling people with chronic stroke. Participants were grouped based on six month fall history (no fall versus one or more falls). The SIS-16 items were categorized as belonging to the Body Structure and Function (BSF), Activity (ACT) or Participation (PART) component of the ICF. SIS-16 total score and ICF component subscores were analyzed for their association with falls. Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves were (ROC) analyzed. There were significant differences between groups on SIS-16 total (p = 0.006), BSF (p = 0.041) and ACT (p = 0.003) scores. The BSF and ACT component subscores had the highest specificity (0.91) and sensitivity (0.80), respectively, for categorizing participants according to fall history. The BSF + ACT component subscore demonstrated greater accuracy than the total SIS-16 for identifying people with falls (area under the curve = 0.78). The ICF may be a useful model for analysis of fall screening tools for people with chronic stroke. ICF component subscores are more accurate than the SIS-16 total score for this purpose. 
24190876	Predicting functional decline in older patients undergoing cardiac surgery. 	a growing number of older patients undergo cardiac surgery. Some of these patients are at increased risk of post-operative functional decline, potentially leading to reduced quality of life and autonomy, and other negative health outcomes. First step in prevention is to identify patients at risk of functional decline. There are no current published tools available to predict functional decline following cardiac surgery. to validate the identification of seniors at risk-hospitalised patients (ISAR-HP), in older patients undergoing cardiac surgery. a multicenter cohort study in cardiac surgery wards of two university hospitals with follow-up 3 months after hospital admission. consecutive cardiac surgery patients, aged ≥65. Functional decline was defined as a decline of at least one point on the Katz ADL Index at follow-up compared with preadmission status. 475 patients were included, 16% of all patients and 20% of patients ≥70+ suffered functional decline. The amended prediction model predicted functional decline using four criteria: preadmission need for daily assistance in instrumental activities of daily living, use of a walking device, need for assistance in travelling and no education after age 14. Area under the receiver operating curve for patients ≥70 it was 0.73. For the amended ISAR-HP sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were 85, 48, 29 and 93%, respectively. the amended ISAR-HP used in older cardiac surgery patients showed good discriminative values at score ≥1, supporting the generalisability of this prediction model for this patient group. 
23385109	Climbing stairs after outpatient rehabilitation for a lower-limb amputation. 	To study the necessity and ability to climb stairs in persons after a lower-limb amputation (LLA) and the relation of this ability with personal and clinical variables. Cross-sectional study. Outpatient department of a rehabilitation center. Persons with an LLA (N=155; mean age ± SD, 64.1 ± 11.2y; 73% men). Not applicable. The necessity to climb stairs was assessed with the Prosthetic Profile of the Amputee. Several indicators of the ability to climb stairs were assessed including: (1) independence in climbing stairs with a handrail and (2) without a handrail, according to the Locomotor Capabilities Index; (3) numbers of floors actually climbed, according to a rating scale; and (4) limitations in climbing stairs, according to the Climbing Stairs Questionnaire (range, 0-100, with higher scores indicating less limitations). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the associations between the ability to climb stairs and personal and clinical variables. Of the participants, 47% had to climb stairs. The ability to climb stairs was: (1) 62% independently climbed stairs with a handrail and (2) 21% without a handrail; (3) 32% didn't climb any stairs, 34% climbed half a floor or 1 floor, and 34% climbed ≥ 2 floors; (4) the median sum score (interquartile range) of the Climbing Stairs Questionnaire was 38 (19-63), indicating marked limitations. Older participants and women were less able to climb stairs with and without a handrail. A considerable number of persons with an LLA have to climb stairs in their home environment. Many of them, especially older participants and women, are particularly hampered in their ability to climb stairs. 
22765020	Contextualized perceptions of movement as a source of expanded insight: People with multiple sclerosis' experience with physiotherapy. 	The hospitals' outpatient clinics for people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) are important in the health care. Research regarding physiotherapy in such clinics is limited. The purpose was to investigate how PwMS perceive movement during single sessions of physiotherapy in a hospital's outpatient clinic, and what do these experiences mean for the patient's insight into their movement disturbances? Qualitative research interviews were performed with a purposive sample of 12 PwMS and supplemented with seven videotaped sessions. Content analysis was performed. The results indicate that contextualized perceptions of movement appear to be an essential source for PwMS to gain expanded insight with regard to their individual movement disturbances regardless of their ambulatory status. The contextualization implies that perceptions of movement are integrated with the physiotherapist's explanations regarding optimizing gait and balance or other activities of daily life. Perceptions of improvement in body part movement and/or functional activities are vital to enhancing their understanding of their individual movement disorders, and they may provide expanded insight regarding future possibilities and limitations involving everyday tasks. The implementation of movements, which transforms the perceived improvement into self-assisted exercises, appeared to be meaningful. Contextualized perceptions of improvements in movement may strengthen the person's sense of ownership and sense of agency and thus promote autonomy and self-encouragement. The findings underpin the importance of contextualized perceptions of movement based on exploration of potential for change, as an integrated part of information and communication in the health care for PwMS. Further investigations are necessary to deepen our knowledge. 
22734846	Continued recovery in an adult with cerebellar ataxia. 	The authors previously reported on the functional recovery of an adult with chronic, severe ataxia secondary to traumatic brain injury (TBI) after 28 sessions of trunk stabilization and locomotor training (LT). The purpose of this case report is to describe this individual's functional abilities 3.5 years after the intervention. Thirteen months post-TBI and not expected to be a functional ambulator, an adult male participated in a trunk stabilization and LT intervention. After the intervention, he continued to exercise in a hospital-based fitness program and received additional physical therapy. Evaluation of balance, gait, trunk performance, self-reported function, and quality of life was performed at 6 weeks (baseline), 1 year, and 3.5 years after completing the intervention. Balance, gait, and function improved. Resting left transverse abdominis thickness, measured using ultrasound imaging, increased as did left-side bridge and trunk flexion endurance. He increased community participation and expressed general satisfaction with his overall quality of life. In the 3.5 years after participation in an intervention of trunk stabilization and LT this adult became an independent limited community ambulator. Persons with severe ataxia secondary to TBI may continue to improve many years after injury. 
22874772	Caregiving burden and out-of-home mobility of cognitively impaired care-recipients based on GPS tracking. 	Out-of-home mobility refers to the realization of trips outside the home, by foot or by other means of transportation. Although out-of-home mobility is important for the well-being of older people with cognitive impairment, its importance for their caregivers is not clear. This study aims to clarify the relationship between caregiving burden and out-of-home mobility of care-recipients using Global Positioning Systems (GPS) technology. Seventy-six dyads (care-recipients and caregivers) were recruited from a psychogeriatric center, where they underwent cognitive assessment, followed by psychosocial interviews at home. Care-recipients received GPS tracking kits to carry for a period of four weeks, whenever they left home. Mobility data and diagnostic and psychosocial data were examined in relation to caregiver burden. The strongest predictors of burden were care-recipients' lower cognitive status and more time spent walking out-of-home. An interaction was found between cognitive status and time spent walking in relation to caregiver burden. The relationship between walking and burden was stronger among caregivers of care-recipients with dementia than caregivers of care-recipients with no cognitive impairment or mild cognitive impairment. Care-recipients' behavioral and emotional states were also positively related to caregiver burden. The findings stress the importance of maintaining older persons' out-of-home mobility during cognitive decline. 
22543890	A preliminary evaluation of the PEDI-CAT Mobility item bank for children using walking aids and wheelchairs. 	To examine the discriminant validity and scoring patterns of the PEDI-CAT Mobility item bank for children who use a walking aid or wheelchair. Parents whose children use a walking aid (n=35) or a wheelchair (n=31) completed the full PEDI-CAT Mobility item bank (105 items including 13 walking aid and 14 wheelchair items) on-line. An independent sample t-test was used to examine mean scores between the groups. Point spread and placement of the scores along the overall 20-80 test scale and response patterns for the 27 mobility device items were analyzed descriptively. Mean scaled scores were significantly different (p &lt; 0.001) for the two groups. Mean score for the Wheelchair Group (38.37, SD=7.09) was lower than the Walking Aid Group (46.97, SD=5.10). The Walking Aid Group started and ended higher on the 20 to 80 scale metric than the Wheelchair Group. No floor or ceiling effects were seen for the scoring of the 27 items specifying use of a mobility device. The %scores of the PEDI-CAT Mobility domain could differentiate the functional mobility status between known groups of children who use a walking aid or wheelchair and provides specific items to measure functional mobility with use of a mobility device. 
19290768	Evaluating the validity of computerized content analysis programs for identification of emotional expression in cancer narratives. 	Psychological interventions provide linguistic data that are particularly useful for testing mechanisms of action and improving intervention methodologies. For this study, emotional expression in an Internet-based intervention for women with breast cancer (n = 63) was analyzed via rater coding and 2 computerized coding methods (Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count [LIWC] and Psychiatric Content Analysis and Diagnosis [PCAD]). Although the computerized coding methods captured most of the emotion identified by raters (LIWC sensitivity = .88; PCAD sensitivity = .83), both over-identified emotional expression (LIWC positive predictive value = .31; PCAD positive predictive value = .19). Correlational analyses suggested better convergent and discriminant validity for LIWC. The results highlight previously unrecognized deficiencies in commonly used computerized content-analysis programs and suggest potential modifications to both programs that could improve overall accuracy of automated identification of emotional expression. Although the authors recognize these limitations, they conclude that LIWC is superior to PCAD for rapid identification of emotional expression in text. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved). 
17523883	The effects of practice on speed of information processing using the Adjusting-Paced Serial Addition Test (Adjusting-PSAT) and the Computerized Tests of Information Processing (CTIP). 	Three experiments were conducted to determine the effects of practice on the Adjusting-Paced Serial Addition Task (Adjusting-PSAT) (Tombaugh, 1999) and the Computerized Tests of Information Processing (CTIP) (Tombaugh &amp; Rees, 2000). The Adjusting-PSAT is a computerized modification of the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) (Gronwall, 1977) that makes the interval between digits contingent on the correctness of the response. This titration procedure permits a threshold value to be derived that represents the shortest presentation interval in which a person can process the digits to produce the correct sum. The CTIP consists of three reaction time tests that are progressively more difficult. Results showed that robust practice effects occurred with the Adjusting-PSAT, with the greatest increase in performance occurring on the first retest trial. Practice effects were equally prominent regardless of whether the first retest trial occurred 20A min, 1 week, or 3 months after the first administration. These gains were maintained for periods up to 6 months and were independent of modality of presentation (visual or auditory) and type of number list (easy or hard). In contrast to the findings with the Adjusting-PSAT, only minimal practice effects were observed with the CTIP. The major clinical implication of the study is that the high reliability coefficients for the CTIP, the lack of anxiety associated with its administration, and its insensitivity to variables such as numerical and verbal ability make the CTIP ideally suited for the serial evaluation of cognitive status. These characteristics also make the CTIP a viable alternative to the Adjusting-PSAT or PASAT for measuring speed of information processing. If the Adjusting-PSAT is administered repeatedly in clinical evaluations, a &quot;dual baseline&quot; or &quot;run in&quot; procedure should be used, with the second administration serving as the baseline measurement. 
17576306	Psychotherapeutic strategies for healing trauma. 	The Adaptive Information Processing Model (AIP), originally developed by Shapiro (2001), provides a model for understanding how trauma affects the brain and how healing occurs. The effects of trauma are thought to be much broader than the diagnosis of PTSD and overlap with many other diagnostic categories. Recent physiological research supports the complexity of neurobiological responses to childhood stress and trauma. The Treatment Hierarchy, AIP model, and evidence-based treatment framework presented here provide the context and a compass for holistic PMH-APRN practice for working with traumatized patients. 
17086782	Comparison of three modes of measuring stress, coping, and humor in school-age children. 	Computer-assisted administration of surveys is gaining popularity among many researchers, but the equivalence of this method to more traditional approaches such as using paper and pencil has not been determined for many commonly used questionnaires, particularly among school-age children. This study examined systematic differences in the responses of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders to measures of stress, coping, and humor among three modes of assessment: paper-and-pencil questionnaires, computer-assisted self-interviewing (CASI), or a combination of paper-and-pencil and CASI. Participants were 1,245 ethnically diverse children enrolled in public schools in the central region of the United States. Psychometric and score distribution characteristics were examined using item analyses and analyses of mean and covariance structure as a function of mode of assessment. Differences in response patterns, primarily at the scale score level, were documented on some of the key measures. In general, CASI medians and means were higher and correlations among CASI measures tended to be lower than those obtained with paper-and-pencil and mixed mode assessment, and CASI variances were lower. This study suggests the importance of the continued examination of the impact of mode of questionnaire administration when assessing these and other domains of well-being in school-age children. 
15769226	Validation of a computerized adaptive version of the Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (SNAP). 	This is a validation study of a computerized adaptive (CAT) version of the Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (SNAP) conducted with 413 undergraduates who completed the SNAP twice, 1 week apart. Participants were assigned randomly to 1 of 4 retest groups: (a) paper-and-pencil (P&amp;P) SNAP, (b) CAT, (c) P&amp;P/CAT, and (d) CAT/P&amp;P. With number of items held constant, computerized administration had little effect on descriptive statistics, rank ordering of scores, reliability, and concurrent validity, but was preferred over P&amp;P administration by most participants. CAT administration yielded somewhat lower precision and validity than P&amp;P administration, but required 36% to 37% fewer items and 58% to 60% less time to complete. These results confirm not only key findings from previous CAT simulation studies of personality measures but extend them for the 1st time to a live assessment setting. 
15332204	Stress in adult students with schizophrenia in a supported education program. 	The successful integration of former psychiatric inpatients into the community requires innovative programs of psychosocial rehabilitation, including supported education. This article examines psychological distress as an outcome variable, and social support and coping strategies as mediating variables among 70 service-user students (SUS) with schizophrenia and a comparison group of 55 adult students (AS) with no psychiatric diagnosis. Both groups were participants in a supported education program. The study variables were assessed by standardized research instruments: the Talbieh Brief Distress Inventory (TBDI), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS). Univariate and multivariate analyses were used. Compared with the control subjects, SUS reported higher emotional distress and the utilization of emotion-oriented coping strategies, and a lesser availability of social support from family and friends. These variables explained 46.3%, 24.5%, and 22.5%, respectively, of the total variance in psychological distress scores. The findings provide the basis for interventions geared to reduce distress and, as a result, to enable students with severe mental illness to fully utilize the supported education program. 
12804793	Acquisition and contextual switching of multiple internal models for different viscous force fields. 	Humans can learn an enormous number of motor behaviors in different environments. To explain this, the MOSAIC model proposes that multiple internal models are acquired in the brain, which can be switched. However, previous behavioral studies that examined arm-movement adaptations to multiple environments reported a rather limited learning capability. Hitherto, humans have been believed incapable of learning two opposite viscous force fields, which are both dynamic transformations and depend on the same state variable, presented in a random order with only a visual cue. In contrast, this study found that humans are capable of this. Elbow joint movements to specified targets were perturbed by either resistive or assistive viscous force fields generated by a single degree-of-freedom manipulandum. The resistive or assistive viscous force fields were cued by a blue or red color on a CRT screen, respectively. The squared distance between the end point and the target, and the variance of the joint angular velocities were used as kinematic performance indices. These movement errors decreased significantly as a function of the training days. Aftereffects and learning consolidation were demonstrated in the random presentation of the two force fields. Consequently, humans were able to learn the multiple and distinct internal models of the two force fields and appropriately switch them even for a random presentation cued only by color after several days of training. This study suggests that none of the previously proposed conditions for multiple internal model learning are necessary prerequisites, and indicates that the difficulty in learning is determined by the balance between the effectiveness of contextual information and the similarity of force fields. 
12610250	An automated treatment for jet lag delivered through the internet. 	Seventy percent of persons who suffer from psychiatric illness do not receive treatment. Cost-effective, automated treatment can be delivered through the Internet but can be complicated by the lack of professional supervision. This open study piloted a fully automated, publicly available treatment for jet lag as a means of highlighting some of the issues involved in delivering treatment over the Internet. Twenty study participants rated the severity of their jet lag symptoms and their adherence to a light-exposure schedule calculated to accelerate adaptation to a new time zone. A significant negative correlation was observed between how closely participants followed the light-exposure schedules and the severity of their jet lag symptoms. 
23160222	Evolutional background of dominance/submissivity in sex and bondage: the two strategies? 	We theorize that sexual arousal by dominance and submission may be connected to a reproduction strategy respecting a reached social dominance rank (a common reproduction strategy in socially living mammals), while the preference for &quot;bondage&quot; may be derived from an opportunistic strategy when being unable to compete for hierarchic rank (an alternative reproductive strategy that co-occurs frequently with the above-named main strategy). The answers to questions dealing with hierarchy in character should correlate exclusively with sexual arousal connected to any kind of expression of a hierarchy, but not with bondage. The data were obtained from young adults (157 males and 183 females aged 18-20, with mean 18.4 years) via questionnaires. Seven out of eight questions dealing with hierarchy correlated with sexual arousal by dominance and submission in men (Spearman's r=0.169-0.313; p&lt;0.05 - p&lt;0.001), two questions correlated with sexual arousal by dominance and submission in women (Spearman's r=0.32-0.166, p&lt;0.001, p&lt;0.05). THE MAIN FINDINGS: The questions dealing with hierarchy correlated with sexual arousal by dominance and submission while no answers correlated with bondage, neither in men nor in women. The preference for sexual arousal by dominance and submission may be connected to strategy respecting rank, while the preference for &quot;bondage&quot; may be derived from an opportunistic strategy that may be essential for possible partner problems solution. From the evolutionary biology point of view, these patterns of sadomasochistic sex appear as adaptive rather than as pathology. 
22561232	Effects of a putative antidepressant with a rapid onset of action in defeated mice with different coping strategies. 	There is evidence suggesting that stressful social events may result in depressive-like disorders, but the development of these disorders depend on the way in which people cope with stress. Although antidepressants are useful their drawback is a delay in the therapeutic effects, moreover not all the patients show an adequate response to this treatment. The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of RS 67333, which is a 5-HT(4) receptor partial agonist and a putative antidepressant which exhibits a rapid onset of action and to determine whether this drug reverses the behavioural and physiological effects that are generated by chronic defeat in subjects who manifest a more vulnerable profile in their response to stress. Male mice were exposed to defeat for 21 consecutive days using a sensorial contact model. After 18 days of defeat, 2 groups of subjects were established, active and passive, in accordance with the behaviour that was manifested during social confrontation, and drug treatment was initiated for 5 days. Finally, the animals were subjected to a forced swimming test (FST). The results revealed higher corticosterone levels in passive mice after the last defeat. Additionally, 3 days after the last defeat, they showed lower corticosterone levels and higher splenic IL-6 and TNF-α levels and hypothalamic GR mRNA levels when compared to their active and manipulated control counterparts. Passive mice had higher 5-HT(1A) receptor mRNA levels than the manipulated controls and a lower MR/GR ratio than active mice. Similar to stress, the drug increased hypothalamic GR mRNA levels, but it did not affect other measured physiological variables or social behaviour, which suggested that the mechanism of this drug is not the most adequate for reversing stress-induced effects in this model. Nevertheless, the treatment increased swimming and decreased immobility in the FST, suggesting an antidepressant potential for this drug. 
22903868	Voice hearing within the context of hearers' social worlds: an interpretative phenomenological analysis. 	Research has found relational qualities of power and intimacy to exist within hearer-voice interactions. The present study aimed to provide a deeper understanding of the interpersonal context of voice hearing by exploring participants' relationships with their voices and other people in their lives. This research was designed in consultation with service users and employed a qualitative, phenomenological, and idiographic design using semi-structured interviews. Ten participants, recruited via mental health services, and who reported hearing voices in the previous week, completed the interviews. These were transcribed verbatim and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Five themes resulted from the analysis. Theme 1: 'person and voice' demonstrated that participants' voices often reflected the identity, but not always the quality of social acquaintances. Theme 2: 'voices changing and confirming relationship with the self' explored the impact of voice hearing in producing an inferior sense-of-self in comparison to others. Theme 3: 'a battle for control' centred on issues of control and a dilemma of independence within voice relationships. Theme 4: 'friendships facilitating the ability to cope' and theme 5: 'voices creating distance in social relationships' explored experiences of social relationships within the context of voice hearing, and highlighted the impact of social isolation for voice hearers. The study demonstrated the potential role of qualitative research in developing theories of voice hearing. It extended previous research by highlighting the interface between voices and the social world of the hearer, including reciprocal influences of social relationships on voices and coping. Improving voice hearers' sense-of-self may be a key factor in reducing the distress caused by voices. 
22574848	Child sexual abuse and psychological impairment in victims: results of an online study initiated by victims. 	Sexual abuse of children has been a topic of scientific investigation for the past few decades. Research in this area, however, is rarely initiated, conceptualized, and conducted by victims themselves. Apart from possibly having painted a one-sided picture of sexual abuse, this presumed dominance of nonvictims might also have marginalized victims in a research area central to their lives. This study was conducted by a victims interest group as an effort to meet the need to add victims' perspectives to our current understanding of this topic. The online survey focused on investigating victims' psychosocial impairment, which was found to be extensive. Results indicated that an intact social support system facilitates better health, especially when offered early on. 
22635155	Social workers and workplace bullying: perceptions, responses and implications. 	This non-experimental, cross-sectional study examined social workers' perceptions of bullying work relationships and their ability to construct effective coping responses to perceived workplace bullying. Quantitative data were gathered through the use of a mailed questionnaire, and qualitative data resulted from semi-structured individual interviews. The quantitative sample consisted of 111 social workers from the metropolitan, Washington, DC area, who were employed in organizations. Two self-identified targets of bullying participated in the interviews. Nearly three of five social workers (58%) in the sample reported being the targets of demeaning, rude, and hostile workplace interactions more than once in the previous year. Targets were more likely to work in government agencies/military and mental health outpatient organizations (19% and 18% respectively). More than a third of targets (35%) held a direct service role (clinical/direct practice), whereas almost a third (29%) identified their role as administration or management. The findings from this study suggest that workplace bullying may be a problem for social workers and that the social work profession may need to develop tools and guidelines to help practitioners identify, confront and extinguish these behaviors. 
19650513	A support intervention to promote health and coping among homeless youths. 	Homeless youths are often vulnerable to limited support resources and loneliness. Peers are a potent source of social support. A support intervention for homeless youths was designed to optimize peer influence and was pilot tested. The intervention was based on an initial assessment of support needs and intervention preferences from the perspective of 36 homeless youths and 27 service providers. Based on the results, a 20-week pilot intervention program was designed, consisting of 4 support groups, optional one-on-one support, group recreational activities, and meals. Support was provided by professional and peer mentors, including formerly homeless youths. A total of 56 homeless youths aged 16 to 24 took part. Participants completed pre-, mid-, and post-test quantitative measures and qualitative interviews. In spite of challenges due primarily to attrition, the youths reported enhanced health behaviours, improved mental well-being, decreased loneliness, expanded social network, increased coping skills, enhanced self-efficacy, and diminished use of drugs and alcohol. Further research could focus on replication at other sites with a larger sample. 
18361115	Livelihood strategies of food-insecure poor, female-headed families in rural Alabama. 	Previous studies suggest that households headed by single women in general, and particularly those by African-American females, are at greater risk for food insecurity and hunger. However, questions remain about how single mothers cope with food insecurity. This study examined how food-insecure, poor single mothers get food for themselves and their children. 100 African-American single mothers from rural Alabama were recruited and interviewed about their livelihood strategies up to two times during a 1-yr. period. The findings show that most of the mothers used numerous strategies to make sure that there was an adequate amount of food for the family. These strategies included work, government assistance such as food stamps, cash assistance from relatives and friends, food from food banks and churches, cohabiting, coresiding with a friend or relative, eating at a Senior Meal Program, and eating less. Psychological aspects of food insecurity included feeling depressed, feeling sad, feeling lonely, having trouble sleeping, and having trouble concentrating. These results suggest that preventive measures to reduce food insecurity among single mothers should remain a priority, and referrals to psychological counseling might help assist them in coping during this difficult time in their lives. 
16720134	Experiences of food insecurity among urban soup kitchen consumers: insights for improving nutrition and well-being. 	Adequate nutrition is an essential determinant of health. Disadvantaged individuals within the cities of developed countries continue to have poor health, yet the role of food insecurity in such groups is poorly understood. This cross-sectional study describes such experiences among 22 randomly selected participants who participated in interviews at a charity-run soup kitchen in urban Sydney, Australia. Interviews explored four constructs of food insecurity (quantitative, qualitative, psychological, and social), identifying related barriers and coping strategies. Reliable access to food was limited. Low income; high rents; poor health; and addictions to cigarettes, alcohol, illicit drugs, and gambling were associated with dependence on charities. Poor dentition and lack of food storage and cooking facilities were important barriers to adequate nutrition. Meals were missed and quantities restricted as a coping strategy. Participants demonstrated adequate knowledge and a desire to eat healthful food. Opportunities for social interaction and trust in soup kitchen staff were important motivators of attendance. Strategies to reduce food insecurity among seriously disadvantaged city dwellers should focus less on education and more on practical solutions, such as accessing affordable healthful food for those without kitchen facilities, improving dentition, and reducing addictions. It is also important to facilitate social networks with trusted support organizations. 
15283497	Adolescent and parent assessments of diabetes mellitus management at school. 	This study explored opinions, concerns, and recommendations regarding care of Type 1 diabetes in schools. Thirty adolescent females and their parents participated in semi- structured, individual interviews that were audiotaped, transcribed, coded, and qualitatively analyzed. Responses emerged in three categories: knowledge/training of school staff; foods offered/available at school; and school rules. Participants expressed concerns that school personnel, particularly classroom teachers, possess limited knowledge of diabetes; that healthy food/beverage options are limited in the cafeteria, vending machines, and classrooms; and that school rules impede self-care of diabetes. Implications for enhancing diabetes management at school are noted. 
15154123	Resident coping strategies in the nursing home: an indicator of the need for dietary services change. 	Inadequate food intake leading to malnutrition impacts up to 85% of nursing home residents. Malnutrition can result in compromised quality of life and lead to chronic disability, functional decline, increased health care utilization and costs, and death. This article examines organizational structure (Perrow, 1979) and person-environment fit (Lawton, 1982) as factors in nutritional care of nursing home residents. The strategies used by residents to cope with organizational food and food service issues, competence, and environmental press in the nursing home can alert nurses to the need for changes in dietary services to increase food intake and quality of life. 
12859882	Maintaining food sufficiency: Coping strategies identified by limited-resource individuals versus nutrition educators. 	This study's purposes were to identify food acquisition and management coping strategies used by limited-resource individuals to maintain food sufficiency, compare strategies named by the target audience to those previously identified by nutrition educators, and examine these strategies to advance grounded theory. Eleven focus groups, conducted with 62 limited-resource individuals, elucidated coping strategies that they or others they knew used to acquire or manage food to maintain food sufficiency. The results were compared with practices as previously identified by nutrition educators who regularly worked with this audience. Subjects aged 19 to 67 from throughout New Jersey were recruited by Food Stamp agencies, low-income outreach programs, soup kitchens, welfare offices, Head Start centers, shelters, and food pantries. Of the 95 coping strategies identified, 83% were known from nutrition educators previously. Ten new practices (eg, selling blood) had not previously been identified by educators. Four of 10 practices were not found in the literature (eg, repeated participation in research studies). Six practices previously reported by nutrition educators were not mentioned by the study population. Educators who work with limited-resource individuals are a good resource for research with this audience. Study findings may be important considerations for nutrition program planning and policy making. 
12823791	Application of the Transtheoretical Model of behavior change to the physical activity behavior of WIC mothers. 	This descriptive-correlational study examined the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of behavior change in relationship to the physical activity behavior of mothers receiving assistance from the Women, Infants, and Children program. A purposive sample (N = 30) of six women at each of the five stages of readiness for behavior change was used. Relationships between stage of behavior change (measured using the Stage of Exercise Adoption tool) and other TTM constructs were examined. The constructs and corresponding instruments included physical activity behavior (Seven-Day Physical Activity Recall), pros, cons, decisional balance (Exercise Benefits/Barriers Scale and two open-ended questions), self-efficacy (Self-efficacy for Exercise scale), and processes of behavior change (Processes of Exercise Adoption tool and the Social Support for Exercise scale). Significant relationships were found between stage of behavior change and two physical activity energy expenditure indices (rs = 0.71-0.73, p &lt; 0.01), daily minutes of moderate to very hard physical activity (rs = 0.81, p &lt; 0.01), pros (rs = 0.56, p &lt; 0.01), cons (rs = -0.52, p &lt; 0.05), decisional balance (rs = 0.56, p &lt; 0.01), and self-efficacy (rs = 0.56, p &lt; 0.01). Use of the 10 processes of change differed by stage of change. Pros to physical activity included a sense of accomplishment, increased strength, stress relief, and getting in shape after pregnancy. Cons included fatigue, childcare, and cold weather. Results support the TTM as relevant to WIC mothers and suggest strategies to increase physical activity in this population. 
24398332	Linking inter-individual differences in the conflict adaptation effect to spontaneous brain activity. 	Conflict adaptation has been widely researched in normal and clinical populations. There are large individual differences in conflict adaptation, and it has been linked to the schizotypal trait. However, no study to date has examined how individual differences in spontaneous brain activity are related to behavioral conflict adaptation (performance). Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (RS-fMRI) is a promising tool to investigate this issue. The present study evaluated the regional homogeneity (ReHo) of RS-fMRI signals in order to explore the neural basis of individual differences in conflict adaptation across two independent samples comprising a total of 67 normal subjects. A partial correlation analysis was carried out to examine the relationship between ReHo and behavioral conflict adaptation, while controlling for reaction time, standard deviation and flanker interference effects. This analysis was conducted on 39 subjects' data (sample 1); the results showed significant positive correlations in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. We then conducted a test-validation procedure on the remaining 28 subjects' data (sample 2) to examine the reliability of the results. Regions of interest were defined based on the correlation results. Regression analysis showed that variability in ReHo values in the DLPFC accounted for 48% of the individual differences in the conflict adaptation effect in sample 2. The present findings provide further support for the importance of the DLPFC in the conflict adaptation process. More importantly, we demonstrated that ReHo of RS-fMRI signals in the DLPFC can predict behavioral performance in conflict adaptation, which provides potential biomarkers for the early detection of cognitive control deterioration. 
24001003	Time course of shape and category selectivity revealed by EEG rapid adaptation. 	A hallmark of human cognition is the ability to rapidly assign meaning to sensory stimuli. It has been suggested that this fast visual object categorization ability is accomplished by a feedforward processing hierarchy consisting of shape-selective neurons in occipito-temporal cortex that feed into task circuits in frontal cortex computing conceptual category membership. We performed an EEG rapid adaptation study to test this hypothesis. Participants were trained to categorize novel stimuli generated with a morphing system that precisely controlled both stimulus shape and category membership. We subsequently performed EEG recordings while participants performed a category matching task on pairs of successively presented stimuli. We used space-time cluster analysis to identify channels and latencies exhibiting selective neural responses. Neural signals before 200 msec on posterior channels demonstrated a release from adaptation for shape changes, irrespective of category membership, compatible with a shape- but not explicitly category-selective neural representation. A subsequent cluster with anterior topography appeared after 200 msec and exhibited release from adaptation consistent with explicit categorization. These signals were subsequently modulated by perceptual uncertainty starting around 300 msec. The degree of category selectivity of the anterior signals was strongly predictive of behavioral performance. We also observed a posterior category-selective signal after 300 msec exhibiting significant functional connectivity with the initial anterior category-selective signal. In summary, our study supports the proposition that perceptual categorization is accomplished by the brain within a quarter second through a largely feedforward process culminating in frontal areas, followed by later category-selective signals in posterior regions. 
24121129	Rumination mediates the relationship between structural variations in ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and sensitivity to negative life events. 	Individuals have different levels of stress sensitivity. An individual's predisposition to experience negative life events (NLEs) may make him/her more vulnerable to a series of psychopathological and physical diseases. However, the neuroanatomical correlates of individual differences in sensitivity to NLEs remain unknown. In this study, voxel-based morphometry was used to identify the gray matter (GM) associations of individual differences in sensitivity to NLEs measured by adolescent self-rating life events checklist. Results showed that there was a positive association between individual NLEs sensitivity and regional GM volume (rGMV) in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC). GM was mostly evident in the left frontal operculum and a small part of the left middle frontal gyrus. This region was thought to play an important role in introception. Importantly, our study revealed that rumination served as a mediator between the rGMV of the VLPFC and individual NLEs sensitivity. These findings suggest that people with greater VLPFC might be more inclined to ruminate and the ruminative response style might make them more sensitive to NLEs. 
22807242	Stress-induced reduction in hippocampal volume and connectivity with the ventromedial prefrontal cortex are related to maladaptive responses to stressful military service. 	Previous studies have shown that people who develop psychopathology such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following stress exposure are characterized by reduced hippocampal (HC) volume and impaired HC functional connectivity with the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). Nevertheless, the exact interrelationship between reduced HC volume and HC-vmPFC connectivity deficits in the context of stress has yet to be established. Furthermore, it is still not clear whether such neural abnormalities are stress induced or precursors for vulnerability. In this study, we combined measurements of MRI, functional MRI (fMRI), and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to prospectively study 33 a priori healthy Israeli soldiers both pre- and post-exposure to stress during their military service. Thus, we were able to assess the contributions of structural and functional features of the HC and its connectivity to the onset and progression of maladaptive response to stress (i.e., increased PTSD symptoms post-exposure). We found that soldiers with decreased HC volume following military service (i.e., post-exposure) displayed more PTSD-related symptoms post-exposure as well as reduced HC-vmPFC functional and structural connectivity post-exposure, compared to soldiers with increased HC volume following military service. In contrast, initial smaller HC volume pre-exposure did not have an effect on any of these factors. Our results therefore suggest that reduction in HC volume and connectivity with the vmPFC together mark a maladaptive response to stressful military service. As stress-induced HC volume reductions were previously shown to be reversible, these localized biological markers may carry valuable therapeutic potential. 
23867733	Neural mechanisms mediating positive and negative treatment expectations in visceral pain: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study on placebo and nocebo effects in healthy volunteers. 	To elucidate placebo and nocebo effects in visceral pain, we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study to analyze effects of positive and negative treatment expectations in a rectal pain model. In 36 healthy volunteers, painful rectal distensions were delivered after intravenous application of an inert substance combined with either positive instructions of pain relief (placebo group) or negative instructions of pain increase (nocebo group), each compared to neutral instructions. Neural activation during cued-pain anticipation and pain was analyzed along with expected and perceived pain intensity. Expected and perceived pain intensity were significantly increased in the nocebo group and significantly decreased in the placebo group. In the placebo group, positive expectations significantly reduced activation of the somatosensory cortex during anticipation and of the insula, somatosensory cortex, and amygdala during pain delivery when compared to neutral expectations. Within the nocebo group, negative expectations led to significantly increased insula activation during painful stimulation. Direct group contrasts during expectation modulation revealed significantly increased distension-induced activation within the somatosensory cortex in the nocebo group. In conclusion, the experience and neural processing of visceral pain can be increased or decreased by drug-specific expectations. This first brain imaging study on nocebo effects in visceral pain has implications for the pathophysiology and treatment of patients with chronic abdominal complaints such as irritable bowel syndrome. 
23691985	Aversive Pavlovian control of instrumental behavior in humans. 	Adaptive behavior involves interactions between systems regulating Pavlovian and instrumental control of actions. Here, we present the first investigation of the neural mechanisms underlying aversive Pavlovian-instrumental transfer using fMRI in humans. Recent evidence indicates that these Pavlovian influences on instrumental actions are action-specific: Instrumental approach is invigorated by appetitive Pavlovian cues but inhibited by aversive Pavlovian cues. Conversely, instrumental withdrawal is inhibited by appetitive Pavlovian cues but invigorated by aversive Pavlovian cues. We show that BOLD responses in the amygdala and the nucleus accumbens were associated with behavioral inhibition by aversive Pavlovian cues, irrespective of action context. Furthermore, BOLD responses in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex differed between approach and withdrawal actions. Aversive Pavlovian conditioned stimuli modulated connectivity between the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the caudate nucleus. These results show that action-specific aversive control of instrumental behavior involves the modulation of fronto-striatal interactions by Pavlovian conditioned stimuli. 
23369802	Relationship between emotional experience and resilience: an fMRI study in fire-fighters. 	Resilience refers to the capacity to cope effectively in stressful situations or adversity. It may involve the ability to experience emotions matching the demands of environmental circumstances. The brain mechanisms underlying resilience remain unclear. In this study, we aim to investigate the relationship between the neural basis of emotional experience and resilience. Thirty-six fire-fighters were included. They performed an fMRI script-driven paradigm comprising relaxing and trauma-related scripts to evaluate the cerebral substrate of emotional experience (p&lt;0.05, FDR-corrected). Correlations were examined between fMRI activations and the resilience DRS15 scale (p&lt;0.05). Resilience was positively correlated with the right amygdala and left orbitofrontal activations when performing the contrast of trauma vs. relaxing script. The present study provides neural data on the mechanisms underlying resilience and their relationship with emotional reactivity, suggesting that appropriate emotional response in stressful situations is essential for coping with aversive events in daily life. 
23348952	Pheromones exert top-down effects on visual recognition in the jumping spider Lyssomanes viridis. 	In diverse and productive habitats, predaceous arthropods are expected to frequently encounter dangerous conspecifics and heterospecifics. This should make quick and accurate discriminations between species and sexes adaptive. By simultaneously sampling both visual cues and pheromones, and by utilizing stringent species- and sex-specific visual recognition templates, an individual should be able to increase both its speed and accuracy in making such discriminations. We tested for the use and stringency of visual recognition templates in the jumping spider Lyssomanes viridis by presenting males with animated images of conspecifics, heterospecifics and composite images that combined the facial coloration and morphology of one sex or species with the leg coloration of another. Males' courtship versus threat displays indicated whether a stimulus was perceived as a potential mate or a threat. By comparing males' visual inspection times of, and display types towards, the various images in the presence versus absence of female pheromones, we were able to deduce whether males tend to inspect a subset of the color pattern and morphological features that make up their conspecific recognition templates (i.e. those on just the face or just the legs), or all features, and whether this changes in the presence of pheromones. We found that the male recognition template for conspecific female was surprisingly coarse, whereas the recognition template for conspecific male, and especially the male face, was more specific. Pheromones hastened the recognition of images with coloration and morphology closely matching those of conspecifics, presumably by activating conspecific visual recognition templates. When males were presented with an image that was, overall, a poor match to a conspecific female, but that contained a subset of female or female-like features, female pheromones usually did not hasten recognition, but did increase the likelihood that the image would be identified as a female. Taken together, our data suggest that males examined features on both the face and the legs in both the presence and absence of pheromones, and that female pheromones tipped the balance in favor of a female identification when a male was unsure how to categorize an incongruous set of visual features. 
21219483	Appetitive and consummatory sexual and agonistic behaviour elicits FOS expression in aromatase and vasotocin neurones within the preoptic area and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis of male domestic chickens. 	Some components of male sexual and agonistic behaviours are considered to be regulated by the same neurocircuitry in the medial preoptic nucleus (POM) and the medial portion of bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BSTM). To better understand this neurocircuitry, numbers of aromatase- (ARO) or arginine vasotocin- (AVT) immunoreactive (ir) neurones expressing immediate early gene protein FOS were compared in the POM and BSTM of male chickens following sexual or agonistic behaviours. Observations were made on males showing: (i) appetitive (courtship) and consummatory (copulation) sexual behaviours; (ii) only appetitive sexual behaviour, or (iii) displaying agonistic behaviour toward other males. Control males were placed on their own in the observation pen, or only handled. In the POM, appetitive sexual behaviour increased ARO+FOS colocalisation, whereas agonistic behaviour decreased the number of visible ARO-ir cells. In the dorsolateral subdivision of BSTM (BSTM1), appetitive sexual behaviour also increased ARO+FOS colocalisation, although the numbers of visible ARO-ir and AVT-ir cells were not altered by sexual or agonistic behaviours. In the ventromedial BSTM (BSTM2), appetitive sexual behaviour increased ARO+FOS and AVT+FOS colocalisation, and all behaviours decreased the number of visible ARO-ir cells, particularly in males expressing consummatory sexual behaviour. Positive correlations were found between numbers of cells with ARO+FOS and AVT+FOS colocalisation in both subdivisions of the BSTM. Waltzing frequency was positively correlated with ARO+FOS colocalisation in the lateral POM, and in both subdivisions of the BSTM in males expressing sexual behaviour. Waltzing frequency in males expressing agonistic behaviour was negatively correlated with the total number of visible ARO-ir cells in the lateral POM and BSTM2. These observations suggest a key role for ARO and AVT neurones in BSTM2 in the expression of appetitive sexual behaviour, and differential roles for ARO cells in the POM and BSTM in the regulation of components of sexual and agonistic behaviours. 
21039504	Sound production in the pygmy sculpin Cottus paulus (Cottidae) during courtship and agonistic behaviours. 	A field study examined sound production in the pygmy sculpin Cottus paulus, a threatened species found only in Coldwater Spring (Coosa River drainage), Alabama where the study was conducted. Two distinct call types are made during both courtship and agonistic encounters: a single knock and a knock train. The duration of the knock train significantly differs between contexts, while the signal structure stays the same. Knock trains are longer when the intended audience is a female, while short and abrupt when intended for a male intruder. 
20338531	Darwin and sexual selection: One hundred years of misunderstanding. 	Darwin's book on the Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871) is often viewed as the continuation of The Origin of Species published 12 years earlier (1859), both because of the implicit parallelism between natural selection and sexual selection, and because Darwin himself presents the book as developing a subject (man) which he intentionally omitted in the Origin. But the Descent can also be viewed as the continuation of his book on Variation published three years earlier (1868). Firstly because Darwin's hypothesis of pangenesis links the selection process to the origin of variation through use and disuse, an idea underlying his speculations on the origin of moral sense in humans. Second because like the action of the horticulturist on his domestic crops, sexual selection exerted by one sex on the other sex can develop fancy traits that are not easily accounted for by their utility to the selected organism itself, such as artistic taste, pride, courage, and the morphological differences between human populations. These traits are difficult to reconcile with pangenesis. They add up to other contradictions of the book possibly resulting from Darwin's erroneous inference about the mechanism of inheritance, like those on the determination of sex-ratio, or the confusion between individual adaptation and the advantage to the species. These inconsistencies inaugurate a weakening of the Darwinian message, which will last 50 years after his death. They contributed to the neglect of sexual selection for a century. Darwin however maintained a logical distinction between evolutionary mechanisms and hereditary mechanisms, and an epistemological distinction between evolutionary theory and Pangenesis hypothesis. In the modern context of Mendelian genetics, Darwin's sexual selection retrospectively appears as luminous an idea in its pure principle as natural selection, even though the mechanisms governing the evolution of sexual choice in animals remain largely unresolved. 
19277680	Social electric signals in freely moving dyads of Brachyhypopomus pinnicaudatus. 	Brachyhypopomus pinnicaudatus (pulse-type weakly electric fish) is a gregarious species that displays reproductive behavior and agonistic encounters between males only during the breeding season. During social interactions, in addition to its basal electric organ discharge (EOD), fish emit social electric signals (SESs) in the contexts of reproduction and intrasexual aggression. We reproduced natural behavior in laboratory settings: SESs recorded in the field are indistinguishable from those observed in our experimental setup. SESs are nocturnal, change seasonally and exhibit sexual dimorphism. This study provides an exhaustive characterization and classification of SESs produced by males and females during the breeding season. In male-female dyads, males produce accelerations and chirps while females interrupt their EODs. The same SESs are observed in male-male dyads. We present a novel, thorough classification of male chirps into four independent types (A, B, C, and M) based on their duration and internal structure. The type M chirp is only observed in male-male dyads. Chirps and interruptions, both in male-female and male-male dyads, are emitted in bouts, which are also grouped throughout the night. Our data suggest the existence of a sophisticated electric dialog during reproductive and aggressive interaction whose precise timing and behavioral significance are being investigated. 
18681618	Courtship and agonistic sounds by the cichlid fish Pseudotropheus zebra. 	Courtship and agonistic interactions in an African cichlid species present a richer diversity of acoustic stimuli than previously reported. Male cichlids, including those from the genus Pseudotropheus (P.), produce low frequency short pulsed sounds during courtship. Sounds emitted by P. zebra males in the early stages of courtship (during quiver) were found to be significantly longer and with a higher number of pulses than sounds produced in later stages. During agonistic intrasexual quiver displays, males produced significantly longer sounds with more pulses than females. Also, male sounds had a shorter duration and pulse period in courtship than in male-male interactions. Taken together, these results show that the acoustic repertoire of this species is larger than what was previously known and emphasize the importance of further research exploiting the role of acoustic stimuli in intra- and interspecific communication in African cichlids. 
17516790	Constructing culture in cowbirds (Molothrus ater). 	In past work, the authors produced divergent patterns of courtship and communication in juvenile male cowbirds (Molothrus ater) by providing them with different social experiences during their 1st year. Here the authors determined whether these different social patterns could be transmitted to new generations of juvenile males. In Experiment 1, the authors exposed groups of juveniles to adult males who differed in the amount of male-male competition they produced. In Experiment 2, they gave groups of juveniles either social access to adult males or only visual and acoustic access to those males. In both experiments, juvenile males developed patterns of courtship and competition similar to those expressed by the adult males with whom they had social contact. The juveniles never had the opportunity to observe some of the adults' behaviors that they came to replicate. This suggests that the role of the adults was to establish the social structure in the groups, modifying juveniles' early social interactions. Juveniles were then &quot;cultured&quot; within these different learning environments, constructing social behavior similar to the adult males' behavior in their 1st year. 
17310402	Sibling interaction of children with autism: development over 12 months. 	While deficits in social interaction are central to autism, the sibling relationship has been found to provide a key medium for the development of such skills. Naturalistic observations of sibling pairs including children with autism and controls with Down syndrome were made across two time periods, twelve months apart. Consistent with the evidence on typically developing children, the amount and rate of initiations of both prosocial and agonistic interaction increased, but further analysis suggested that these interactions were stage-managed by the typically developing children. Results show social interaction and imitation in children with autism and the special role that sibling interactions can play. Longitudinal research on the acquisition of social skills in children with developmental disabilities is needed. 
15914701	Scale of negative family interactions: a measure of parental and sibling aggression. 	This article examines a measure of received emotional, physical, and sexual aggression within the family: the Scale of Negative Family Interactions (SNFI). Unlike traditional familial violence scales that measure parental aggression alone, the SNFI simultaneously measures sibling violence for a more comprehensive examination of familial aggression. Although a variety of scales may be used in researching parental abuse, the SNFI is uniquely intended for (a) examining sibling violence while controlling for parental aggression, (b) examining parental abuse while controlling for sibling violence, and (c) comprehensively examining family violence to include aggression from both parents and siblings. Test-retest and internal consistency reliability were demonstrated, and evidence for validity is presented. In addition to offering a measure of sibling and parental aggression, the SNFI has the advantages of including everyone in the role of parent or sibling and of measuring a wide variety of emotional, physical, and sexual aggression within the family. 
15555508	Hormonal correlates of siblicide in Nazca boobies: support for the Challenge Hypothesis. 	The androgen hormone testosterone (T) mediates vertebrate aggression in many contexts and according to the Challenge Hypothesis is up-regulated during social challenges. While originally applied to challenges experienced by breeding adults, we show for the first time that T is similarly up-regulated during deadly sibling aggression in young birds. When two nestling Nazca boobies hatch, one--usually the older chick--virtually always kills the other chick by pushing it from the nest. We compared concentrations of T, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA; a precursor of T), and corticosterone (Cort; a stress hormone) of chicks at various stages. T was elevated during fights in both chicks in two-chick broods, but not before and after fights, and not in chicks lacking a nest mate. DHEA was elevated 1 day after hatching and declined with age but appeared not to vary in concert with aggression. Cort did not vary across fighting and nonfighting periods. In conjunction with an earlier study [Tarlow, E.M., Wikelski, M., Anderson, D.J., 2001. Hormonal correlates of siblicide in Galapagos Nazca boobies. Horm. Behav. 40:14-20], these results indicate that T is temporarily up-regulated around the time of fights, as predicted by the Challenge Hypothesis. Our data suggest a general role for T during challenges at any time in life, not just during breeding. 
11467880	Hormonal correlates of siblicide in Galápagos Nazca boobies. 	Nazca boobies (Sula granti) show unconditional obligate siblicide immediately after hatching, reducing the typical two-egg clutch size to one. We studied body mass changes and levels of testosterone (T), corticosterone (CORT), and progesterone (P) for A-chicks (dominant, first hatched), B-chicks (subordinate, second hatched), and singletons, during the first 7 days after hatching, when siblicide normally occurs. Mass increase with age was higher for A-chicks than for singletons and B-chicks. This exaggerated the existing developmental advantage of A- over B-chicks that is due to hatching asynchrony. In nests with two chicks, CORT titer was significantly higher in B-chicks than in A-chicks. During ontogenetic development, CORT decreased with age for A-chicks, but did not change for singletons. P showed qualitatively similar ontogenetic changes to CORT, remaining unchanged for A-chicks but increasing for singletons. Thus, both CORT and P levels were lower for A-chicks than for singletons, and both hormones varied inversely with body mass. Overall, T levels did not differ between different categories of chicks. However, one B-chick in the process of reversing the dominance relationship with its older, but weakened, sibling had significantly elevated T. We suggest that CORT and P are regulated to promote exaggerated mass gain in socially challenged A-chicks, facilitating siblicide. Whether T induces aggressiveness during short time intervals of intense sibling rivalry needs further attention. 
8559775	Nest defense and survival of offspring in highly aggressive wild Canadian female house mice. 	Nest defense behavior was examined in wild female house mice (Mus domesticus) that were derived from a stock initially trapped in Alberta, Canada. The first objective was to determine whether behavior toward pups prior to mating was related to the intensity of postpartum aggression in a variety of social situations. Therefore, prior to the experiments we screened virgin females for their behavior toward a newborn pup [60% of the females exhibited infanticide and 40% were noninfanticidal: 7% were parental (retrieved and hovered over the pup) and 33% ignored the pup]. Infanticidal and noninfanticidal females were then mated with males and used in four experiments. In Experiment 1 the females were housed individually prior to deliver, while in Experiment 2 the females were allowed to remain with their mates; in both situations all females successfully reared litters of similar sizes. Male and female intruders (that had all exhibited infanticide when previously tested with a pup) were placed separately into a test cage containing a lactating female during the first four days after delivery. Regardless of the presence of the stud male, previously infanticidal females were more aggressive (exhibited more attacks per min) toward both male and female intruders than were previously noninfanticidal females; infanticidal females also exhibited more of both forms of attack (offensive and defensive) and also attacked with greater intensity than did noninfanticidal females. The number of attacks toward intruders of both sexes increased for both infanticidal and noninfanticidal females between Day 1-4 postpartum, but very high rates of attack were observed on all days by the lactating females, including the day of delivery. In Experiments 3 and 4 only the most aggressive (previously infanticidal) females were tested. In Experiment 3, two unrelated, unfamiliar females were mated separately and then were housed together just prior to delivery, which was planned to occur 3-4 days apart. In 5 of the 15 cages, all pups disappeared on the day of delivery of the second female to deliver her litter. In the remaining 10 cages, it appeared that none of the pups produced by the 20 females were killed. Thus, in this experiment, 66% of pups survived to Day 4 postpartum. In Experiment 4, two previously infanticidal female siblings, which had been housed together since birth, were placed together with a stud male. In all 9 cages only one female became pregnant and delivered pups, but only 3 litters survived to Day 4 (no litters were observed being attacked during intruder tests).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS) 
2375271	Sibling violence and agonistic interactions among middle adolescents. 	Two hundred seventy-two high school juniors and seniors were surveyed regarding their experiences as victims and perpetrators of sibling violence and agonistic interactions with their closest-spaced siblings. Findings support earlier reports that siblings engage in a variety of violent acts directed toward one another and that there are few differences between males and females as to the extent of the behaviors. Subjects reported experiences of negative physical and verbal interactions less frequently than did younger subjects in previous studies, suggesting the need to further examine age-related differences in sibling violence. Discussion focuses on the implications of the present findings and direction for future studies in this area. 
2350310	Pilots' knowledge of blood alcohol levels and the 0.04% blood alcohol concentration rule. 	A national sample of licensed pilots was surveyed regarding their knowledge of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) 0.04% blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit, the relationship between the number of drinks and BAC, and the manner in which BAC decays with time. A majority of the 1039 respondents were unaware of the 1985 0.04% BAC rule change. In addition, many lacked an understanding of the relationship between the amount of alcohol consumed and the resulting BAC, and of the rate at which BAC decays. The number of drinks necessary to raise BAC to specific levels was frequently overestimated, and the amount of time necessary for BAC to decay was frequently underestimated. These errors were more pronounced for moderate and heavy drinkers than for abstainers and infrequent drinkers. These results suggest that pilots could have difficulty if they attempt to use the 0.04% BAC value as a guide to safety in their flying activities. 
23206904	Grooming-related feeding motivates macaques to groom and affects grooming reciprocity and episode duration in Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). 	Allogrooming is considered as an altruistic behavior wherein primates exchange grooming as a tradable commodity for reciprocal grooming or other commodities such as support during aggression and tolerance during co-feeding. First, we report a case of the grooming relationships of the lowest-ranking adult female in a group of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). The female (Lp) had lost a portion of the fur and was groomed by higher-ranking individuals without providing reciprocal grooming or other commodities. The groomers probably fed on lice eggs from the fur of Lp more frequently than from that of other adult groomees. This suggests that grooming-related feeding (GRF) motivated many individuals to groom Lp and influenced grooming reciprocity in dyads. Second, we investigated quantitative grooming data for adult females. A high GRF rate was found to lengthen the duration of grooming, suggesting that GRF motivates groomers to groom. From these results, we proposed 2 possible reasons for groomers' sensitivity to GRF rate: (1) the nutritional benefit from GRF compensates for part of the cost of giving grooming and facilitates giving grooming and (2) groomer's sensitivity to the GRF rate maintains the efficiency of removing lice eggs and ensures the groomee's hygienic benefit in receiving grooming. 
19840082	The relative roles of kinship and reciprocity in explaining primate altruism. 	Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the evolution of altruistic behaviours. Their relative roles in explaining actual cases of animal altruism are, however, unclear. In particular, while kin selection is widely believed to have a pervasive influence on animal behaviour, reciprocity is generally thought to be rare. Despite this general agreement, there has been no direct test comparing the relative roles of kinship and reciprocity in explaining animal altruism. In this paper, we report on the results of such a test based on a meta-analysis of allogrooming in primates, grooming being probably the most common altruistic behaviour among mammals. In direct contrast to the prevailing view, reciprocity played a much larger role than kinship in explaining primate allogrooming. These results point to a more significant role of reciprocity in the evolution of animal altruism than is generally acknowledged. 
19492309	Grooming in mandrills and the time frame of reciprocal partner choice. 	In this study, we examined the time frame of reciprocal partner choice in the grooming interactions of captive mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx) in order to test the hypothesis that the cognitive limitations of primates constrain the occurrence of reciprocation to short time intervals. In contrast to this hypothesis, mandrills groomed preferentially those individuals that groomed them more even when cases of immediate reciprocation were excluded from the analysis. These results show that mandrills were not limited to reciprocating grooming over short time intervals. It is proposed that a system of emotional bookkeeping may support the ability of primates to reciprocate over long time frames. 
17516796	Grooming and coalitions in Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata): partner choice and the time frame reciprocation. 	Evidence of a reciprocal exchange of grooming and agonistic support in primates is mixed. In this study, the authors analyzed a large database of grooming and coalitions in captive female Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) to investigate their within-group distribution and temporal relations. Macaques groomed preferentially those individuals that groomed them most and supported preferentially those individuals that supported them most. They also supported preferentially those individuals that groomed them most and groomed preferentially those individuals that supported them most. These results were not explained by covariation of grooming and support with third variables such as kinship, rank, or time spent in proximity. However, receiving grooming did not increase the short-term probability of supporting a partner, and being supported did not increase the short-term probability of grooming a partner. The proximate mechanisms underlying the exchange of services were discussed in relation to the time frame of the behavioral choices made by the monkeys. 
1670417	[Evolutionary psychiatry]. 	The author's perspective is that of a naturalist and ethologist. In this paper, he looks for evidences of phylogenetic components inherited from evolutionary adaptive behaviours in the etiology of psychopathological syndromes: bipolar depressions, seasonal affective disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, hysterical syndrome, impulsive behaviours, eating disorders, etc. Evolutionary psychiatry which sets present human pathological behaviour in the context of our species past evolution and of our ancestor's adaptations to their natural environment, leads the psychopathologist to revise certain of classic concepts in this field and resort to some of the concepts used by the ethologists, such as territory, hierarchy, allo-grooming and altruistic behaviour. It constitutes an invitation to reconsider the heredity of mental disorders in the light of phylogenetic consideration. As Freud and Lorenz have always recommended, one should not dissociate ontogeny from phylogeny in the study of human behaviour, whether normal or pathological. 
6709060	Grooming, alliances and reciprocal altruism in vervet monkeys. 	Reciprocal altruism refers to the exchange of beneficial acts between individuals, in which the benefits to the recipient exceed the cost to the altruist. Theory predicts that cooperation among unrelated animals can occur whenever individuals encounter each other regularly and are capable of adjusting their cooperative behaviour according to experience. Although the potential for reciprocal altruism exists in many animal societies, most interactions occur between closely related individuals, and examples of reciprocity among non-kin are rare. The field experiments on vervet monkeys which we present here demonstrate that grooming between unrelated individuals increases the probability that they will subsequently attend to each others' solicitations for aid. Vervets appear to be more willing to aid unrelated individuals if those individuals have behaved affinitively toward them in the recent past. In contrast, recent grooming between close genetic relatives appears to have no effect on their willingness to respond to each other's solicitations for aid. 
23910660	Altruistic behavior by egg-laying worker honeybees. 	If a honeybee (Apis mellifera) colony loses its queen, worker bees develop their ovaries and produce male offspring [1]. Kin selection theory predicts that the degree of altruism in queenless colonies should be reduced because the relatedness of workers to a hivemate's offspring is less in queenless colonies than it is to the daughters of the queen in queenright colonies [2-4]. To explore this hypothesis, we examined the behavior and physiology of queenless egg-laying workers. Queenless bees engaged in both personal reproduction and the social foraging and defense tasks that benefited their colony. Laying workers also had larger brood-food-producing and wax glands, showing metabolic investments in both colony maintenance and personal reproduction. Whereas in queenright colonies there is a very clear age-based pattern of division of labor between workers, in queenless colonies the degree of individual specialization was much reduced. Queenless colonies functioned as a collective of reproductive and behaviorally generalist bees that cooperatively maintained and defended their nest. This social structure is similar to that observed in a number of primitively social bee species [5]. Laying workers therefore show a mix of selfish personal reproduction and altruistic cooperative behavior, and the queenless state reveals previously unrecognized plasticity in honeybee social organization. 
20500363	Altruistic self-removal of health-compromised honey bee workers from their hive. 	Social insect colonies represent distinct units of selection. Most individuals evolve by kin selection and forgo individual reproduction. Instead, they display altruistic food sharing, nest maintenance and self-sacrificial colony defence. Recently, altruistic self-removal of diseased worker ants from their colony was described as another important kin-selected behaviour. Here, we report corroborating experimental evidence from honey bee foragers and theoretical analyses. We challenged honey bee foragers with prolonged CO(2) narcosis or by feeding with the cytostatic drug hydroxyurea. Both treatments resulted in increased mortality but also caused the surviving foragers to abandon their social function and remove themselves from their colony, resulting in altruistic suicide. A simple model suggests that altruistic self-removal by sick social insect workers to prevent disease transmission is expected under most biologically plausible conditions. The combined theoretical and empirical support for altruistic self-removal suggests that it may be another important kin-selected behaviour and a potentially widespread mechanism of social immunity. 
24464195	Variation between self- and mutual assessment in animal contests. 	Limited resources lead animals into conflicts of interest, which are resolved when an individual withdraws from a direct contest. Current theory suggests that the decision to withdraw can be based on a threshold derived from an individual's own state (self-assessment) or on a comparison between their own state and their opponent's (mutual assessment). The observed variation between these assessment strategies in nature does not conform to theory. Thus, we require theoretical developments that explain the functional significance of different assessment strategies. We consider a hawk-dove game with two discrete classes that differ in fighting ability, in which the players strategically decide on their investment toward mutual assessment. Analysis of the model indicates that there are simultaneous trade-offs relating to assessment strategies. First, weak individuals in a population must decide on whether to acquire information about their opponents at the cost of providing opponents with information about themselves. Secondly, all individuals must decide between investing in mutual assessment and being persistent in contests. Our analysis suggests that the potential for individuals to make errors during contests and differences in the consequences of sharing information within a population may serve as fundamental concepts for explaining variation in assessment strategy. 
24107377	Interspecific dominance via vocal interactions mediates altitudinal zonation in neotropical singing mice. 	Interspecific aggression between ecologically similar species may influence geographic limits by mediating competitive exclusion at the range edge. Advertisement signals that mediate competitive interactions within species may also provide social information that contributes to behavioral dominance and spatial segregation among species. We studied the mechanisms underlying altitudinal range limits in Neotropical singing mice (Scotinomys), a genus of muroid rodent in which males vocalize to repel rivals and attract mates. We first delineated replacement zones and described temperature regimes on three mountains in Costa Rica and Panama where Chiriquí singing mice (S. xerampelinus) abruptly replace Alston's singing mice (S. teguina). Next, we conducted interspecific behavioral trials and reciprocal removal experiments to examine if interspecific aggression mediated species replacement. Finally, we performed reciprocal playback experiments to investigate whether response to song matched competitive interactions. Behavioral trials and removal experiments suggest that S. xerampelinus is behaviorally dominant and excludes S. teguina from higher, cooler altitudes. Playback experiments indicate that subordinate S. teguina is silenced and repelled by heterospecific song, whereas S. xerampelinus responded to heterospecifics with approach and song rates comparable to responses to conspecifics. Thus, interspecific communication reflects underlying dominance and suggests that acoustic signaling contributes to altitudinal zonation of ecologically similar congeners. Our findings implicate the use of social information in structuring spatial distributions of animal communities across landscapes and provide insight into how large-scale patterns are generated by individual interactions. 
23579464	Social regulation of electric signal plasticity in male Brachyhypopomus gauderio. 	In animal communication, the social context that elicits particular dynamic changes in the signal can provide indirect clues to signal function. Female presence should increase the expression of male signal traits relevant for mate-choice, while male presence should promote the enhancement of traits involved in male-male competition. The electric fish Brachyhypopomus gauderio produces a biphasic electric pulse for electrolocation and communication. Pulse amplitude predicts the signaler's body size while pulse duration predicts circulating androgen levels. Males enhance pulse amplitude and duration when the numbers of males and females increase simultaneously. Here we tested the relative effects of female presence and male presence on male signal enhancement, and whether the size of the male competitor affected this enhancement. We found that male presence drives the enhancement of both pulse amplitude and second phase duration, independently of the size of the male competitor. Female presence induces the enhancement of pulse duration, but not pulse amplitude. These data suggest that males probably attend to information about a competitor's body size coded by pulse amplitude and attend to aggressiveness coded by a competitor's pulse duration, both potential predictors of fight outcome. Females may be primarily concerned about information on reproductive condition coded by pulse duration. 
22820323	Vocal rate as an assessment process during fallow deer contests. 	Two types of model propose that strategic decisions during contests are determined either by (i) a mutual-assessment process or (ii) a self-assessment process. Vocal signals are thought to convey information about the competitive abilities of individuals, the ultimate function of which is a reduction in costs associated with fighting consistent with the principle of mutual assessment. Nevertheless, the limited evidence that male ungulates engage in mutual assessment of vocal rates during dyadic contests has been questioned. Therefore, we examined the vocal rates of winners and losers during escalated dyadic contests between male fallow deer in order to further inform on this issue. Our results showed that winners and losers did not differ in vocal rate. The best model fit that accounted for individual vocal rates included a preponderance of factors related to the opponent indicating that contestants were attending to their opponent during fights. Vocal rate was, therefore, dependent on estimates of opponent quality without reference to self, supporting an 'opponent-only' rather than a mutual assessment process. 
22845831	With a little help from my kin: barn swallow nestlings modulate solicitation of parental care according to nestmates' need. 	In altricial species, offspring competing for access to limiting parental resources (e.g. food) are selected to achieve an optimal balance between the costs of scrambling for food, the benefits of being fed and the indirect costs of subtracting food to relatives. As the marginal benefits of acquiring additional food decrease with decreasing levels of need, satiated offspring should be prone to favour access to food by their needy kin, thus enhancing their own indirect fitness, while concomitantly reducing costs of harsh competition with hungry broodmates. We tested this prediction in feeding trials of barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) nestlings by comparing begging behaviour and food intake of two similar-sized nestmates, one of which was food-deprived (FD). Non-food-deprived (NFD) offspring modulated begging intensity depending on their nestmate's need: when competing with FD nestmates, NFD nestlings reduced both the intensity and frequency of begging displays compared to themselves in the control trial before food deprivation. Hence, NFD nestlings reduced their competitiveness to the advantage of FD nestmates, which obtained more feedings and showed a threefold larger increase in body mass. Moderation of individual selfishness can therefore be adaptive in the presence of a needier kin, because the indirect fitness benefits of promoting its condition can outweigh the costs of forgoing being fed, and because it limits the cost of begging escalation against a vigorous competitor. 
23613321	Attack or attacked: the sensory and fluid mechanical constraints of copepods' predator-prey interactions. 	Many animals are predator and prey at the same time. This dual position represents a fundamental dilemma because gathering food often leads to increased exposure to predators. The optimization of the tradeoff between eating and not being eaten depends strongly on the sensing, feeding, and mechanisms for mobility of the parties involved. Here, I describe the mechanisms of sensing, escaping predators, and capturing prey in marine pelagic copepods. I demonstrate that feeding tradeoffs vary with feeding mode, and I describe simple fluid mechanical models that are used to quantify these tradeoffs and review observations and experiments that support the assumptions and test the predictions. I conclude by presenting a mechanistically underpinned model that predicts optimal foraging behaviors and the resulting size-scaling and magnitude of copepods' clearance rates. 
21605580	Asymmetry of behavioral responses to a human approach in young naive vs. trained horses. 	The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of training experience on young horses (Equus caballus)' lateralized responses to an approaching human. The results show that the one year old untrained horses display asymmetrical responses to an approaching human, with more negative reactions (escapes, threats) when approached from the left side, while approaches towards the right shoulder elicited more positive behaviors. On the contrary, two years old trained horses reacted equally positively to approaches and contact on both sides. Our findings support those of previous studies investigating a link between emotionality and laterality and confirm the role of the left hemisphere in the processing of novel or negative stimuli. Moreover, the data underline the impact work and training can have on this laterality in horses. 
21753058	Evidence that potential fish predators elicit the production of carapace vibrations by the American lobster. 	American lobsters (Homarus americanus) will on rare occasions produce sounds by vibrating their dorsal carapace. Although this behavior can be elicited in the laboratory by handling lobsters, the stimulus that triggers the production of sounds in the lobster's natural habitat is not known. We investigated the influence of two fish that are known to prey on lobsters, cod (Gadus morhua) and striped bass (Morone saxatilis), on the production of sounds by American lobsters. In addition, we examined the response of the same fish to the sounds the lobsters produced. Although solitary lobsters spontaneously produced sounds at a low rate of 1.2 ± 0.23 sound events per 30 min, the presence of a single cod or striped bass led to an increase in the rate of sound production (cod: 51.1 ± 13.1 events per 30 min; striped bass: 17.0 ± 7.0 events per 30 min). Most (74.6 ± 6.6%) of the 292 sound events recorded occurred when a fish came within 0.5 m of a lobster, but a fish did not have to come into contact with a lobster to elicit sounds. Immediately following the production of a sound by a lobster, fish turned and swam away significantly faster than when they encountered a lobster that did not make a sound. Moreover, after striped bass (but not cod) experienced a number of these sound events, they subsequently tended to avoid swimming close to the lobsters. These data, taken together, suggest that sound production by American lobsters may serve to deter potential fish predators. 
21078023	Size-mediated response to public cues of predation risk in a tropical stream fish. 	In order to investigate any size-dependent differences between behavioural patterns, wild-caught Hart's rivulus Rivulus hartii of varying sizes were exposed to chemical alarm cues extracted from the skin of conspecifics or heterospecific Poecilia reticulata, or a tank water control, in a series of laboratory trials. In response to conspecific alarm cues, R. hartii subjects of the range of body sizes tested exhibited consistent, size-independent antipredator behaviours that were characterized by decreased locomotory activity and foraging levels and increased refuging behaviour. Conversely, focal R. hartii demonstrated significant size-dependent trends in response to heterospecific alarm cues, with smaller individuals exhibiting antipredator responses and larger individuals shifting their behaviour to increased levels of activity consistent with a foraging, or predatory, response. These results show that the behavioural responses of individual R. hartii to publicly available chemical alarm cues from heterospecifics are mediated by the size of the receiver. 
22206992	Captive spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) arm-raise to solicit allo-grooming. 	Old World monkeys solicit allo-grooming from conspecifics. However, there are relatively few studies of allo-grooming among spider monkeys, and descriptions of allo-grooming solicitation among spider monkeys are anecdotal. In this study, eighty-one hours of video, shot over eight weeks, captured 271 allo-grooming bouts among small groups of captive spider monkeys. Six of eight monkeys made heretofore unreported arm-raises that solicited higher than normal rates of allo-grooming. Allo-grooming bout durations following arm-raises also tended to be longer than bouts not preceded by arm-raises. The efficacy of the arm-raise at soliciting allo-grooming suggests spider monkeys are capable of intentional communication. 
20825524	Colourful stripes send mixed messages to safe and risky partners in a diffuse cleaning mutualism. 	The steps by which neutral, random and/or negative biological interactions evolve into mutualistic ones remain poorly understood. Here, we study Elacatinus gobies and the 'client' fishes they clean. Colourful stripes are common to mutualist cleaners and noncleaning sister species. Blue stripes are unique to cleaners and are more conspicuous to predators than are basal yellow or green stripes. In turn, we focused on the role of colour as a potentially specialized signal. We show that cleaners may possess a chemical defence and demonstrate that stripes are sufficient to elicit client posing behaviour and to deter attack, corroborating the putative role of chemistry. Analysis of previously published records shows that yellow cleaners interact with predatory clients less often compared to green and blue cleaners. Our results highlight evolution from predator resistance to advertising with conspicuous signals. Similar trajectories, via recognizable signals to risky partners, may be common in other diffuse mutualisms. 
19592250	Blue and yellow signal cleaning behavior in coral reef fishes. 	Marine cleaning symbioses are classic examples of mutualism: cleaners remove and consume ectoparasites from &quot;client&quot; fish, while clients benefit from a reduction in ectoparasites. However, how clients recognize cleaners and decide not to eat them is unclear. Color and body pattern are thought to be important in signaling cleaning services to coral reef fish; in this study, we tested the long-held belief that cleaner fish display a blue &quot;guild&quot; coloration. Via color analytical techniques and phylogenetic comparisons, we show that cleaner fish are more likely to display a blue coloration, in addition to a yellow coloration, compared to noncleaner fish. Via theoretical vision models, we show that, from the perspective of potential signal receivers, blue is the most spectrally contrasting color against coral reef backgrounds, whereas yellow is most contrasting against blue water backgrounds or against black lateral stripes. Finally, behavioral experiments confirm that blue within the cleaner fish pattern attracts more client reef fish to cleaning stations. Cleaner fish have evolved some of the most conspicuous combinations of colors and patterns in the marine environment, and this is likely to underpin the success of the cleaner-client relationship on the reef. 
19236139	Adult play fighting and potential role of tail signals in ringtailed lemurs (Lemur catta). 	Adult strepsirrhines have been completely neglected in the study of animal play. I focused on adult play fighting and the role of tail-play as a signal in ringtailed lemurs (Lemur catta). Tail-play is performed during play fighting, when lemurs anoint or, more rarely, wave their tails toward the playmate. During the prereproductive period, male and female lemurs engaged in play fighting with comparable frequencies, as was expected to occur in monomorphic species such as L. catta. The dyads showing low aggression rates engaged most frequently in play fighting, and polyadic play was frequently performed. Signals seem to be important in avoiding escalation to real aggression, especially when the playfulness of performers can be misunderstood by recipients. Tail-play was most frequent (a) in the dyads with low grooming rates (low familiarity degree) and (b) during the most risky play sessions (polyadic ones). Thus, tail-play can be considered as a useful tool for play communication in ringtailed lemurs. 
17708538	Why do captive tufted capuchins (Cebus apella) urine wash? 	Urine washing (UW) has been observed in numerous species of prosimians and New World monkeys. The functional significance of UW in Cebidae, specifically, Cebus apella, has not been determined. The objective of our study was to test two major hypotheses related to the function of UW: (1) UW functions as a thermoregulatory mechanism, and (2) UW functions as a means of social communication related to (a) territoriality, (b) sexual encounters, or (c) intragroup aggression/agitation. We collected focal data on a captive group of 28 tufted capuchins (C. apella; July-October 2004 and February-July 2005). We found no significant correlation between UW rates and temperature, at a constant, moderate humidity level. Rates of UW were significantly greater outdoors (no conspecific neighbors) vs. indoors (conspecific neighbors). Qualitative evidence suggests a relationship between UW by the alpha male and sexual solicitations from females. UW rates associated with aggression received were significantly higher than UW rates associated with aggression given and UW rates associated with potential fear/stress. There was also a significant negative correlation between cortisol measures and UW frequencies. Our results suggest that UW does not function in thermoregulation or in territorial communication. Alternatively, our results suggest that UW may be associated with sexual encounters and receiving aggression. Additionally, further investigation is warranted to determine whether UW is used as an appeasement mechanism or as a stress reliever or as both. 
19685965	Do chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) spontaneously take turns in a reciprocal cooperation task? 	Reciprocity is considered to be an explanation for altruism toward nonkin. Although there have been many theoretical studies and reciprocity is arguably prevalent in humans, little experimental work has investigated the proximate mechanism of reciprocity in nonhuman animals. The authors tested whether pairs of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) would achieve reciprocal cooperation, that is, whether chimpanzees take turns playing donor and recipient roles in an other-rewarding token insertion task. In this task, when a chimpanzee inserts a token into a vending machine, a food reward is delivered to another chimpanzee in an adjacent booth. For 3 pairs of chimpanzees, token insertion persisted in an alternate condition, in which the participants necessarily had to insert tokens alternately, but not in a free condition, in which they freely took turns inserting tokens. In the free condition, one of the chimpanzees was observed to perform a possible solicitation toward the partner who had previously inserted fewer tokens. These findings suggest that there is some difficulty in the occurrence of reciprocal cooperation in chimpanzees. Chimpanzees, differently from humans, might play a donor's role only on the partner's request, but not spontaneously. 
16406371	Dominance behaviour and regulation of foraging in the primitively eusocial wasp Ropalidia marginata (Lep.) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). 	Ropalidia marginata is a primitively eusocial, polistine wasp widely distributed in peninsular India. In spite of its primitively eusocial status, queens of R. marginata are surprisingly docile and behaviourally non-dominant (except during the first week or so of their careers as queens). Yet they successfully maintain reproductive monopoly throughout their careers, probably through the use of pheromones. Workers exhibit dominance-subordinate interactions but these behaviours are not involved in regulating reproductive competition among the workers because workers with high dominance ranks are not necessarily the ones who replace lost queens. We have speculated and provided correlational evidence before that dominance-subordinate interactions among the workers have been co-opted in this species for the workers to regulate each other's foraging. Here, we provide experimental evidence in support of the speculation, by reducing demand for food and showing that this results in a significant decrease in the frequency of dominance-subordinate interactions among the workers. 
15922044	Announced rewards counteract the impairment of anticipatory behaviour in socially stressed rats. 	It is known that stress can influence the sensitivity to rewarding stimuli. Previous observations revealed that socially stressed rats do not display an appetitive behavioural response in anticipation of a reward. A previous study showed that this insensitivity to rewards (anhedonia) could be restored by chronic administration of an antidepressant. Several lines of evidence exist for the role of dopamine in the mechanism of action of antidepressant treatments concerning their therapeutic effect on anhedonia. Therefore, it was hypothesized that regular activation of the reward system, that involves mesolimbic dopaminergic systems, could counteract the effect of social stress on reward-sensitivity. For this, it was investigated whether a treatment of regular reward announcements could prevent the development of anhedonia. This was confirmed by the result that socially stressed rats that received this treatment were able to display anticipatory behaviour which is characterized by increased activity after presentation of a stimulus that was previously associated with a sucrose reward. Surprisingly, a non-treated socially stressed group, that did not show an anticipatory response for sucrose, did display anticipatory behaviour for another type of reward (enriched cage). It seems that, although one might assume the existence of an anhedonic state based upon the absence of anticipatory activity towards a sucrose reward, this assumption cannot be generalised to other types of reward. It will be discussed whether this might be caused by the highly rewarding properties of the enriched cage which probably has a therapeutical efficacy of its own. 
15019796	Effects of repeated aggressive encounters on approach to a female and plasma testosterone in male mice. 	Effects of repeated experience of aggression accompanied by social victories or social defeat in 10 daily agonistic confrontations on testosterone levels in and the behavioral response of CBA/Lac male mice exposed to a receptive female from behind a perforated transparent partition have been examined. Testosterone levels were not changed significantly in the mice that had consistently been victorious over 10 days (winners) or in the mice that had consistently been defeated over 10 days (losers). Losers and controls (mice that had been caged individually for 5 days) responded with increased levels of behavioral activity near the partition and elevated testosterone. Winners showed a significantly poorer behavioral and hormonal response. It is concluded that the repeated display of aggression by male mice led to a reduction in both their behavioral and neuroendocrine responses to an estrous female. 
12899188	Comparison of emotional responses in monkeys with rhinal cortex or amygdala lesions. 	Four emotionally arousing stimuli were used to probe the behavior of monkeys with bilateral ablations of the entorhinal and perirhinal cortex. The monkeys' behavioral changes were then contrasted with those observed earlier (M. Meunier, J. Bachevalier, E. A. Murray, L. Málková, &amp; M. Mishkin, 1999) in monkeys with either neurotoxic or aspiration lesions of the neighboring amygdala. Rhinal cortex ablations yielded several subtle behavioral changes but none of them resembled any of the disorders typically seen after amygdalectomies. The changes produced by rhinal damage took mainly the form of heightened defensiveness and attenuated submission and approach responses; that is, just the opposite of some of the most distinctive symptoms following amygdala damage. These findings raise the possibility that the rhinal cortex and amygdala have distinct, interactive functions in normal behavioral adaptation to affective stimuli. 
9642786	Status, age, and sex effects on performance of discrimination tasks in group-tested rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). 	To assess the relation between performance and social or demographic variables, this study group tested a captive monkey colony on visual and manual discrimination problems. Animals could choose between differently colored, sand-filled boxes, where hue signaled the initial probability of finding buried food items. Dominant animals and subadults were most successful in locating and retrieving incentives, but sex did not affect performance. Rank effects occurred without overt aggression, suggesting deference by subordinates as a mediating mechanism. Age effects may reflect changing attention patterns only evident in complex arenas where cue salience becomes diluted. Because these findings differ from studies of singly tested animals, they show that, in a social context, an individual's rank and age may define opportunities to gain or efficiently use information. 
8434073	Differential resource use, growth, and the ontogeny of social relationships in the green iguana. 	Growth rates, resource use, and ontogeny of behavior patterns were examined in captive groups of juvenile green iguanas (Iguana iguana). Four groups were housed in large arenas where supplemental heat and perch sites were limited, whereas two control groups were housed in similar arenas without limited resources. Growth, frequency and types of displays, behavioral interactions, and the use of resources were monitored. By 35-70 days of age, male hatchlings in arenas with limited resources could be classified into two groups: rapid growing dominant individuals and slow growing subordinate individuals. Growth and dominance were not correlated with size of individuals at hatching. Digestive efficiency of males was related to dominance and access to limited resources, but all lizards exhibited a similar digestive efficiency when maintained at a constant ambient temperature. Dominant males used the resources, especially supplemental heat sources, twice as often as subordinate males. The dominant/subordinate relationships and accompanying skew in body size were not evident in the control groups, or in females of any group. At 105 days, control groups were introduced to conditions with limited resources, resulting in increased aggressive interactions and divergence in growth rates. Onset of adult behavioral patterns was related to body size, and the species-specific signature display was observed in dominant males up to several months before subordinate males. These results indicate that male green iguanas establish a dominance hierarchy immediately posthatching when resources are limited, and as a consequence, both physiological and behavioral maturation are delayed in subordinate individuals. 
2062922	Breeding readiness in squirrel monkeys: female-primed females are triggered by males. 	The South American squirrel monkey (Saimiri) shows pronounced annual variations in reproductive activity. We investigated the contribution of social stimulation to breeding readiness, as reflected in behavior and gonadal hormones. A previous study indicated that formation of new heterosexual pairs can induce breeding readiness in males, but not in females. In the present study we examined the response of individually housed females to the formation of triads of unacquainted females and, subsequently, the response of these triads to the introduction of a single male. The formation of the all-female group was accompanied by a marked reduction in basal cortisol levels. Introduction of a male to such a group promptly induced breeding readiness in the females, as indicated by increased gonadal hormone production and cyclic variation in estrogen and progesterone levels. The contrasting responses of group-living or single females to a new male suggest that at least two processes are involved in the induction of breeding readiness by group formation in females. One is a &quot;priming&quot; effect resulting from interfemale stimulation: the other is a &quot;triggering&quot; effect resulting from the presence of a male. 
2045088	Behavioral and hormonal correlates of social dominance in stable and disrupted groups of male domestic fowl. 	An experiment was conducted to determine the behavioral and hormonal correlates of social dominance in stable and disrupted groups of male domestic fowl (Gallus domesticus). In addition, the relative importance of visual and auditory cues in the maintenance of dominance status in this species was assessed. Alpha roosters were removed from their six-bird home pens for 1 week, and placed in either (1) and adjacent pen in visual contact with penmates, (2) and adjacent pen where visual, but not auditory, contact was prevented, or (3) a different building where they were in visual and auditory isolation. Dominance rank, aggressive activity, and crowing frequency were intercorrelated during the premove period. There was a significant increase in both aggression and crowing among the males remaining in the home pen following removal of the alpha male, except in the treatment in which males were still in visual contact with the removed alpha, in which only aggression increased. Increases in crowing frequency were also noted in alpha males. High levels of aggression occurred when alpha males were returned except in those pens in which visual contact had been maintained. Visual cues thus appear to be more important than auditory cues alone with respect to the maintenance of dominant social status in roosters. There were no clear correlations between behavioral variables and plasma androgen or corticosterone levels in either the stable or disrupted flocks, and no consistent changes in the levels of these hormones as a result of experimental manipulation; several possible explanations for this finding are discussed. 
2161240	Competition for sucrose-pellets in triads of male Wistar rats: disinhibitory effect of individual housing in poor-performing rats. 	Within triads of male Wistar rats, some animals almost completely abstain from competition for palatable sucrose-pellets (so-called poor-performing rats). Individual housing temporarily helped these rats to behave more competitively. Such changes in the poor-performing rats' competition-scores are discussed in relation to previously described, isolation-induced alterations in serotonergic and noradrenergic neurotransmission. 
23436217	Leisure-time physical activity does not fully explain the higher body mass index in irregular-shift workers. 	To elucidate the influence of leisure-time physical activity on body mass index (BMI), appetite-related hormones, and sleep when working irregular shifts. A cross-sectional study was undertaken of 57 male truck drivers, 31 irregular-shift workers and 26 day-shift workers. Participants completed the International Physical Activity Questionnaire and were assessed for BMI. Subjects also provided a fasting blood sample for analysis of appetite-related hormones and wore an actigraphy device for seven consecutive days. Although leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) was generally low (&lt;150 min/week) in both groups, the irregular-shift workers were more physically active than day-shift workers (99 ± 166 vs. 23 ± 76 min/week, p &lt; 0.01). In spite of this, mean BMI of irregular-shift workers was 2 kg/m² greater than day-shift workers (28.4 ± 3.8 vs. 26.4 ± 3.6 kg/m², p = 0.04). Mean leptin concentration was 61 % higher in irregular-shift workers (5,205 ± 4,181 vs. 3,179 ± 2,413 pg/ml, p = 0.04). Among obese individuals, irregular-shift workers had higher leptin concentration (p &lt; 0.01) and shorter sleep duration (p = 0.01) than obese day-shift workers. Elevated BMI was associated with high leptin and low ghrelin levels in this population of irregular-shift workers. No influence of LTPA on appetite-related hormones or sleep duration was found. We conclude that moderate LTPA is insufficient to attenuate the higher BMI associated with this type of irregular-shift work in truck drivers. 
25209086	Transition: driving and exercise. 	There are many social aspects to consider at the time of transition of adolescents with epilepsy. The role of both pediatric and adult health care providers includes education and guidance within the larger framework of family, society, and country. This section focuses on driving and exercise considerations for those undergoing transition. 
24882528	Canadian Cardiovascular Society position statement on the management of thoracic aortic disease. 	This Canadian Cardiovascular Society position statement aims to provide succinct perspectives on key issues in the management of thoracic aortic disease (TAD). This document is not a comprehensive overview of TAD and important elements of the epidemiology, presentation, diagnosis, and management of acute aortic syndromes are deliberately not discussed; readers are referred to the 2010 guidelines published by the American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, American Association for Thoracic Surgery, and other stakeholders. Rather, this document is a practical guide for clinicians managing adult patients with TAD. Topics covered include size thresholds for surgical intervention, emerging therapies, imaging modalities, medical and lifestyle management, and genetics of TAD. The primary panel consisted of experts from a variety of disciplines that are essential for comprehensive management of TAD patients. The methodology involved a focused literature review with an emphasis on updates since 2010 and the use of Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation methodology to arrive at specific recommendations. The final document then underwent review by a secondary panel. This document aims to provide recommendations for most patients and situations. However, the ultimate judgement regarding the management of any individual patients should be made by their health care team. 
22406462	Health impact of motorised trips that could be replaced by walking. 	We aimed to quantify the number of women and men, in Catalonia, among those not achieving physical activity recommendations, making short motorized trips which could have been made on foot, and to estimate the annual economic benefit due to reducing mortality as a result of replacing one short, daily, motorized journey with walking. Cross-sectional study. Mobility data came from individuals &gt;17 years who reported, in the 2006 Daily Mobility Survey, having travelled on the referred working day (N = 80,552). The health economic assessment tool for walking (HEAT) from the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe was used to calculate the economic benefit. Of those not meeting recommendations, 15.6% of men (95% CI 15.2-16.1) and 13.9% of women (95% CI 13.5-14.4) would go on to meet them if they were to replace at least one short motorized trip per day by walking. If applied to the entire population of Catalonia, this change would increase up to 326,557 men (95% CI 313 373-339,740) and up to 252,509 women (95% CI 240,855-264,163) who would achieve recommendations through walking rather than driving. According to HEAT estimations, this would suppose a saving of €124,216,000 (95% CI 120,182,000-128,250,000) in men and €84,927,000 (95% CI 81,774,000-88,079,000) in women, derived from the reduction in mortality gained from walking accumulated over one year. This study demonstrates the potential of trips on foot as a source of physical activity. It also points out that both benefits for the health of the population and a huge economic benefit could have been gained through active transportation interventions. 
23635795	Revisiting the management of fatigue in multiple sclerosis in the context of rehabilitation: a narrative review of current evidence. 	Fatigue is one of the most frequently reported symptoms of multiple sclerosis, interfering with functioning and resulting in activity limitations and participation restrictions. Therefore, it is important to manage fatigue in a rehabilitation context considering not only disability associated with impaired functioning but also all the problems relevant to environmental and personal factors as defined in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). In addition to pharmacological treatment, there are many rehabilitation interventions with evidence of effectiveness in reducing fatigue and thereby facilitating improvement, particularly in body functions and structures and activities and participation components of the ICF. However, more research is required to provide evidence for effective treatment strategies in overcoming fatigue and related problems, especially in the components of contextual factors of the ICF. 
23806303	Key issues of daily life in adults with congenital heart disease. 	Increasing survival rates of patients with congenital heart disease have resulted in a new and growing patient population of adults with operated congenital heart disease. Medical professionals face the specific medical needs of these patients but must also deal with their daily life issues. Adult patients with congenital heart disease report difficulties in several areas of daily life, such as sport, employment, insurability and travel or driving. Moreover, they must have a healthy lifestyle to prevent cardiovascular complications. All these issues can be addressed in a specific educational program. In this review, we discuss the different daily life issues of adults with congenital heart disease and the preventive measures that can be proposed to improve their quality of life. 
22253325	The role of context stability and behavioural stability in the mere measurement effect: an examination across six behaviours. 	Asking about intentions and behaviour may alter future reports of health behaviours due to the stability of the behaviours (behavioural stability hypothesis), or changes in performance context (context stability hypothesis). Two studies (Ns = 116, 177) confirmed the distinction between stable and unstable behaviours and explored context stability for six health-related behaviours. Study 3 used a longitudinal intervention design in which the intervention group (N time 1 = 292, N time 2 = 149) reported their intentions and past-behaviours at time 1 while the non-intervention group (N = 118) did not. The context stability hypothesis was supported. 
23419054	Quantitative analysis of kinematics and kinetics of catchers throwing to second base. 	The catcher has the most demanding position in the games of baseball and softball with no regulations on how many throws they make during game. It was the purpose of this study to describe the kinematics and kinetics of the throwing motion in catchers when throwing down to second base. It was hypothesised that younger and older catchers would display significantly different throwing kinematics and kinetics. Thirty-eight baseball and softball catchers volunteered to participate. Twenty participants were considered younger (aged 9-14, 10.95 ± 1.76 years, 151.11 ± 15.64 cm, 47.94 ± 18.84 kg) and 18 were deemed the older group (aged 15-23, 18.11 ± 2.61 years, 170.91 ± 8.67 cm, 74.88 ± 10.74 kg). Participants received a pitch and completed five accurate throws to second base in full catching gear. The average ball speed of the older catchers was 21 ± 3.58 meters per second (47 ± 8.02 mph) while the younger catchers averaged 17.2 ± 4.0 meters per second (38.6 ± 8.96 mph). Older catchers had greater shoulder elevation at ball release and significantly greater shoulder external rotation at foot contact and shoulder maximum external rotation than younger catchers. It is clear that chronological age plays a role in the throwing mechanics observed in catchers throwing down to second base, however the effects of these differences are not fully understood (i.e., skeletal maturity, experience, strength). 
22505124	Effect of age on anthropometric and physical performance measures in professional baseball players. 	The purpose of this study was to investigate age-related changes in anthropometric and performance variables in professional baseball players. Baseball players (n = 1,157) from several professional baseball organizations were categorized into 7 cohorts based upon age. All adolescent athletes were categorized as age group 1 (AG1), whereas the next 5 groups (AG2-AG6) consisted of players 20-22, 23-25, 26-28, 29-31, and 31-34 years, respectively. The final group (AG7) comprised athletes ≥35 years. All performance assessments were part of the athlete's normal preseason training camp testing routine. Field assessments were used to analyze lower-body power, speed, agility, grip strength, and body composition. The players were heaviest between the ages of 29 and 31 (AG5), and their body mass in that age group was 10.1% (p = 0.004) greater than that of AG1. A 7.0% increase (p = 0.000) in lean body mass occurred between AG1 and AG5. No differences in 10-yd sprint times or agility were seen across any age group or position. A 2.0 seconds (p = 0.001) slower run time for the 300-yd shuttle was seen between AG4 and AG5 for all positions combined. Elevations in grip strength were seen at AG4 compared with AG1 (p = 0.001) and AG2 (p = 0.007) for all positions combined. No other differences were noted. Lower-body power was increased for all positions combined from AG1 to AG3 (p = 0.007). This pattern was similar to that observed in position players, but a 12.4% decrease (p = 0.024) in VJMP was seen between AG7 and AG5 in pitchers. Results of this study indicate that lower-body power is maintained in baseball players until the age of 29-31, whereas speed, agility, and grip strength are maintained in players able to play past the age of 35 years. Age-related differences observed in this study suggest that athletes focus on their strength and conditioning programs to extend the length of their professional careers. 
21552157	Spin on fastballs thrown by elite baseball pitchers. 	In this study, we analyzed the direction of the spin axis angles and the spin rate of baseballs pitched by elite collegiate and professional pitchers. The video image of a ball being pitched was taken from the period just before release until 200 ms after release with a high-speed video camera at a rate of 1000 frames per second. A custom-made device was used to analyze the spin axis angle and the spin rate. There were no significant differences in the direction of the spin axis angles or the spin rate between collegiate and professional pitchers. A significant correlation was obtained between spin rate and ball speed; that is, the higher the ball speed, the greater the spin rate. In addition, the spin rate deviated more across subjects than did ball speed. For all subjects, the azimuth and elevation of spin axis were 19° ± 14° and -32° ± 9°, respectively. Some of the pitchers were able to put a characteristic spin on their fastball; the nature of this spin could be related to their pitching success. 
21400344	Factors determining the spin axis of a pitched fastball in baseball. 	In this study, we wished to investigate the factors that determine the direction of the spin axis of a pitched baseball. Nineteen male baseball pitchers were recruited to pitch fastballs. The pitching motion was recorded with a three-dimensional motion analysis system (1000 Hz), and the orientations of the hand segment in a global coordinate system were calculated using Euler rotation angles. Reflective markers were attached to the ball, and the direction of the spin axis was calculated on the basis of their positional changes. The spin axis directions were significantly correlated with the orientations of the hand just before ball release. The ball is released from the fingertip and rotates on a plane that is formed by the palm and fingers; the spin axis of the ball is parallel to this plane. The lift force of the pitched baseball is largest when the angular and translational velocity vectors are mutually perpendicular. Furthermore, to increase the lift forces for the fastballs, the palm must face home plate. 
21699101	The overarm-throwing pattern among U-14 ASA female softball players: a comparative study of gender, culture, and experience. 	A developmental description of overarm-throwing characteristics of U-14female ASA softballplayers is presented here. Comparisons were made between these athletes and teens of similar age in the United States (Runion, Roberton, &amp; Langendorfe 2003) and in Germany (Ehl, Roberton, &amp; Langendorfer, 2005). A majority of the softball players demonstrated the most advanced developmental levels for the backswing foot, humerus, and forearm components. Seventy percent (n = 26) demonstrated a Level 2 trunk, while 30% (n = 11) demonstrated a differentiated trunk, Level 3. The average throwing velocity was 62.58 ft/s (19.07 m/s). Comparisons were made to girls with less throwing experience in the United States (Runion et al.) and Germany (Ehl et al.); the softball players threw with greater velocity (9.12ft/s [2.77 m/s]and 15.89 ft/s [4.84 m/s], respectively) and demonstrated superior trunk, humerus, and forearm actions. The boys from both countries threw the ball faster than the softball players. Significant chi-square analyses found the softball players had superior humeral actions (Level 3) compared to the German boys and superior forearm actions (Level 3) compared to both groups of bays. Experience seems to have an impact when comparisons among girls are made; yet, explanations for differences seen between boys and girls still remain unclear and warrant further research. 
19827504	The effects of 6-week training programs on throwing accuracy, proprioception, and core endurance in baseball. 	With a limited number of outcomes-based studies, only recommendations for strength-training and rehabilitation programs can be made. To determine the extent to which throwing accuracy, core stability, and proprioception improved after completion of a 6-week training program that included open kinetic chain (OKC), closed kinetic chain (CKC), and/or core-stability exercises. A 2 x 3 factorial design. Division III college. 19 healthy baseball athletes with a control group of 15. Two 6-week programs including OKC, CKC, and core-stabilization exercises that were progressed each week. Functional throwing-performance index, closed kinetic chain upper extremity stability test, back-extensor test, 45 degrees abdominal-fatigue test, and right- and left-side bridging test. There was no significant difference between groups. An increase was evident in all pretest-to-posttest results, with improvement ranging from 1.36% to 140%. Both of the 6-week training programs could be used to increase throwing accuracy, core stability, and proprioception in baseball. 
23439340	Measuring lateral shuffle and side cut performance. 	Lateral shuffle and side cut (SSC) movements are defensive basketball movements where movement speed is critical to performance. The purpose of this study was to compare SSC data obtained using timing lights with motion capture system data and to determine the most appropriate method for measuring SSC performance. Shuffle time data were recorded using both timing lights and a motion capture system while 9 male subjects performed 2 different SSC movement sets, with and without controlling for arm movements, which may influence performance times. Shuffle and side cut times and SSC displacements were used to calculate mean shuffle velocity for each trial. The SEs for the motion capture system were estimated for SSC times (± 4.2 milliseconds; ~0.24% of mean shuffle time) and velocities (± 5.5 mm · s; ~0.24% of mean shuffle velocity), respectively, indicating high levels of precision. Timing light movement time variability was significantly higher during the uncontrolled (SD = 42 milliseconds) when compared with the controlled (SD = 9 milliseconds, p &lt; 0.001) condition, indicating a significant reduction in variability by controlling non-performance-related variability such as arm movement. A significant positive correlation was found between SSC time and SSC displacement (r = 0.42) indicating that performance times were dependent on displacement. Furthermore, the variance in motion-captured SSC velocity was significantly smaller than the variance in velocity determined using timing lights (p &lt; 0.05). We concluded that motion-captured SSC velocity data reduced systematic errors and non-performance-related movement variability and, therefore, was better able to reflect true performance. As true performance variability in human movement provides important information, the presented method for calculating SSC velocity in this study is recommended for assessing SSC performance. 
24231129	Planned and reactive agility performance in semiprofessional and amateur basketball players. 	Research indicates that planned and reactive agility are different athletic skills. These skills have not been adequately assessed in male basketball players. To define whether 10-m-sprint performance and planned and reactive agility measured by the Y-shaped agility test can discriminate between semiprofessional and amateur basketball players. Ten semiprofessional and 10 amateur basketball players completed 10-m sprints and planned- and reactive-agility tests. The Y-shaped agility test involved subjects sprinting 5 m through a trigger timing gate, followed by a 45° cut and 5-m sprint to the left or right through a target gate. In the planned condition, subjects knew the cut direction. For reactive trials, subjects visually scanned to find the illuminated gate. A 1-way analysis of variance (P &lt; .05) determined between-groups differences. Data were pooled (N = 20) for a correlation analysis (P &lt; .05). The reactive tests differentiated between the groups; semiprofessional players were 6% faster for the reactive left (P = .036) and right (P = .029) cuts. The strongest correlations were between the 10-m sprints and planned-agility tests (r = .590-.860). The reactive left cut did not correlate with the planned tests. The reactive right cut moderately correlated with the 10-m sprint and planned right cut (r = .487-.485). The results reemphasized that planned and reactive agility are separate physical qualities. Reactive agility discriminated between the semiprofessional and amateur basketball players; planned agility did not. To distinguish between male basketball players of different ability levels, agility tests should include a perceptual and decision-making component. 
23679867	Ball possession effectiveness in men's and women's elite basketball according to situational variables in different game periods. 	The aim of the present study was to identify the importance of basketball performance indicators in predicting the effectiveness of ball possessions in men's and women's basketball, when controlling for situational variables and game periods. The sample consisted of 7234 ball possessions, corresponding to 40 games from the Spanish professional leagues. The effects of the predictor variables on successful ball possessions according to game period were analysed using binary logistic regressions. Results from men's teams show interactions with number of passes and ending player during the first five minutes, with starting and ending zone, defensive systems, screens used and possession duration during the middle thirty minutes, and there were interactions with passes used, possession duration and players involved during the last five minutes. Results from women's teams show interactions with starting and ending zone, passes used, defensive systems and ending player during the first five minutes, and with starting and ending zone, and screens used during the middle thirty minutes. The results show no interaction with situational variables in men's basketball, while league stage was important during the middle thirty minutes and last five minutes in women's basketball, whereas match status was only important during the last five minutes. 
24236380	Stereotype threat and lift effects in motor task performance: the mediating role of somatic and cognitive anxiety. 	The aim of this investigation was to replicate the stereotype threat and lift effects in a motor task in a neutral sex-typed activity, using somatic and cognitive anxiety as key mediators of these phenomena. It was hypothesized that an ingroup/outgroup social categorization based on gender would have distinctive effects for female and male participants. A total of 161 French physical education students were randomly assigned to three threat conditions--no threat, female threat, and male threat--thus leading to a 3 x 2 (threat by gender) design. The analyses revealed a stereotype lift effect on the performances for both male and female participants, as well as a stereotype threat effect only for female participants. They also indicated that somatic anxiety had a mediating effect on the performance of female participants targeted by a negative stereotype, but that it had a facilitating effect on their performance. The stereotype threat and lift effects on motor tasks were replicated in a neutral sex-typed activity and somatic anxiety seems to have a facilitating mediating effect of the relationships between the gender-conditions (control or female threat) interaction and free-throw performance. The model used to distinguish somatic and cognitive anxiety appeared to be a relevant means of explaining the stereotype threat and lift mechanisms. 
23215863	Motor adaptation in complex sports - the influence of visual context information on the adaptation of the three-point shot to altered task demands in expert basketball players. 	We examined the influence of visual context information on skilled motor behaviour and motor adaptation in basketball. The rules of basketball in Europe have recently changed, such that that the distance for three-point shots increased from 6.25 m to 6.75 m. As such, we tested the extent to which basketball experts can adapt to the longer distance when a) only the unfamiliar, new three-point line was provided as floor markings (NL group), or b) the familiar, old three-point line was provided in addition to the new floor markings (OL group). In the present study 20 expert basketball players performed 40 three-point shots from 6.25 m and 40 shots from 6.75 m. We assessed the percentage of hits and analysed the landing position of the ball. Results showed better adaptation of throwing performance to the longer distance when the old three-point line was provided as a visual landmark, compared to when only the new three-point line was provided. We hypothesise that the three-point line delivered relevant information needed to successfully adapt to the greater distance in the OL group, whereas it disturbed performance and ability to adapt in the NL group. The importance of visual landmarks on motor adaptation in basketball throwing is discussed relative to the influence of other information sources (i.e. angle of elevation relative to the basket) and sport practice. 
23113531	Effects of a shoot training programme with a reduced hoop diameter rim on free-throw performance and kinematics in young basketball players. 	The present paper investigated the effects of a shoot training programme with a reduced hoop diameter (0.35 m) rim on kinematics and performance of basketball free-throws. Eighteen young male basketball players were divided into control (CG, n = 9) and experimental (EG, n = 9) groups. Both groups undertook a 10-week training programme comprising two training sessions per week. Under fatigued conditions, each participant shot 150 free-throws in each training session, with the CG using a standard rim, and the EG a smaller rim. All other training was identical between groups. Ball release parameters, player's kinematics and mean of successful free-throws (out of 150 attempts) were determined for each participant, before and after completion of the training programme. Following training, a significant increase (P &lt; 0.05) in ball release angle, speed and height and in shoulder joint angle at release (P &lt; 0.01) was observed for the EG. Both the CG (P &lt; 0.001) and the EG (P &lt; 0.0001) showed an increase in the number of successful free throws, although the increase was greater (P &lt; 0.05) for the EG (22.7 ± 6.4 free throws) than for the CG (14.6 ± 7.8 free throws). We conclude that training with a reduced rim significantly improves free-throw performance in young basketball players. 
22561972	The effect of caffeine on maximal oxygen uptake and vertical jump performance in male basketball players. 	This study investigated whether performance enhancement from caffeine described by other researchers transfers to male basketball players. The effects of caffeine ingestion were studied in a maximal-effort test on a treadmill that was followed by a vertical-jump test. Five elite-level male basketball players completed a graded treadmill test that measured maximal oxygen uptake, blood lactate profiles, respiratory exchange ratio, and rating of perceived exertion at each 3-minute stage. After a 15-minute warm-down, the subjects performed 10 vertical rebound jumps. Each subject completed the test twice--once with a 3 mg·kg(-1) of body weight dose of caffeine and once with a placebo, with the dosage administered 60 minutes before commencement of exercise. The test was thus administered according to a double-blind protocol. No substantial trends were found between caffeine and control trials, regardless of trial order. The study showed that the specified dosage had negligible effects on the players' power and endurance performance and had no efficacy as an ergogenic aid for male basketball players. 
22996019	Performance changes in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I women basketball players during a competitive season: starters vs. nonstarters. 	The effects of playing time on performance changes were examined in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I women basketball players. Twelve basketball players (age = 20.6 ± 1.5 years; height = 178.0 ± 8.2 cm; weight = 74.1 ± 8.1 kg) were assessed before (PRE) and at the end of the regular basketball season (POST). Assessments included squat power; vertical jump (VJ) power; 20-second lower-body reaction test; 3 line drills; and subjective measures of energy, focus, fatigue, and alertness. Pre- to postseason comparisons were made between starters (28.3 ± 5.2 minutes per game) and nonstarters (NSs) (8.3 ± 5.3 minutes per game). Data were analyzed for clinical significance using an approach based on the magnitude of change. Results revealed that starters were likely to have greater increases in absolute VJ peak power and relative VJ peak power (87.9 and 90.7%, respectively) and they were likely (81.6%) to have a greater average squat power than NSs. Subjective measures of energy, focus, and alertness were possibly (72.9%), very likely (97.3%), and likely (79.2%) to be lower in starters compared with NSs, respectively. Other performance measures showed unclear differences between starters and NSs. Pearson's product-moment correlation analysis revealed significant (p &lt; 0.05) inverse correlations between playing time and Δ focus (r = -0.79) among all players. In conclusion, significant improvements in VJ performance and average squat power were seen in starters compared with NSs, despite greater decreases in energy, focus, and alertness. In this study, the monitoring of sport-specific performance changes pre and post season showed that performance measures can be maintained throughout an National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I women basketball season. 
24267664	Neural connectivity patterns underlying symbolic number processing indicate mathematical achievement in children. 	In early childhood, humans learn culturally specific symbols for number that allow them entry into the world of complex numerical thinking. Yet little is known about how the brain supports the development of the uniquely human symbolic number system. Here, we use functional magnetic resonance imaging along with an effective connectivity analysis to investigate the neural substrates for symbolic number processing in young children. We hypothesized that, as children solidify the mapping between symbols and underlying magnitudes, important developmental changes occur in the neural communication between the right parietal region, important for the representation of non-symbolic numerical magnitudes, and other brain regions known to be critical for processing numerical symbols. To test this hypothesis, we scanned children between 4 and 6 years of age while they performed a magnitude comparison task with Arabic numerals (numerical, symbolic), dot arrays (numerical, non-symbolic), and lines (non-numerical). We then identified the right parietal seed region that showed greater blood-oxygen-level-dependent signal in the numerical versus the non-numerical conditions. A psychophysiological interaction method was used to find patterns of effective connectivity arising from this parietal seed region specific to symbolic compared to non-symbolic number processing. Two brain regions, the left supramarginal gyrus and the right precentral gyrus, showed significant effective connectivity from the right parietal cortex. Moreover, the degree of this effective connectivity to the left supramarginal gyrus was correlated with age, and the degree of the connectivity to the right precentral gyrus predicted performance on a standardized symbolic math test. These findings suggest that effective connectivity underlying symbolic number processing may be critical as children master the associations between numerical symbols and magnitudes, and that these connectivity patterns may serve as an important indicator of mathematical achievement. 
24808091	Combining building and behavior models for evacuation planning. 	To help users find optimal rescue and evacuation routes, this approach uses the extended hierarchical node relation model (EHI-NRM) to represent a building's internal structure. The approach also employs the improved cellular-automata model (ICA) to consider route-choice behavior, such as spatial reasoning and communication among evacuees. 
20883154	Functionally-detected cognitive impairment in high school football players without clinically-diagnosed concussion. 	Head trauma and concussion in football players have recently received considerable media attention. Postmortem evidence suggests that accrual of damage to the brain may occur with repeated blows to the head, even when the individual blows fail to produce clinical symptoms. There is an urgent need for improved detection and characterization of head trauma to reduce future injury risk and promote development of new therapies. In this study we examined neurological performance and health in the presence of head collision events in high school football players, using longitudinal measures of collision events (the HIT(™) System), neurocognitive testing (ImPACT(™)), and functional magnetic resonance imaging MRI (fMRI). Longitudinal assessment (including baseline) was conducted in 11 young men (ages 15-19 years) participating on the varsity and junior varsity football teams at a single high school. We expected and observed subjects in two previously described categories: (1) no clinically-diagnosed concussion and no changes in neurological behavior, and (2) clinically-diagnosed concussion with changes in neurological behavior. Additionally, we observed players in a previously undiscovered third category, who exhibited no clinically-observed symptoms associated with concussion, but who demonstrated measurable neurocognitive (primarily visual working memory) and neurophysiological (altered activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex [DLPFC]) impairments. This new category was associated with significantly higher numbers of head collision events to the top-front of the head, directly above the DLPFC. The discovery of this new category suggests that more players are suffering neurological injury than are currently being detected using traditional concussion-assessment tools. These individuals are unlikely to undergo clinical evaluation, and thus may continue to participate in football-related activities, even when changes in brain physiology (and potential brain damage) are present, which will increase the risk of future neurological injury. 
24913493	The influence of clear zone size and roadside vegetation on driver behavior. 	Roadside vegetation provides numerous environmental and psychological benefits to drivers. Previous studies have shown that natural landscapes can effectively lower crash rates and cause less frustration and stress to the driver. However, run-off-the-road crashes resulting in a collision with a tree are twice as likely to result in a fatality, reinforcing the need to examine the placement of vegetation within the clear zone. This study explores the relationship between the size of the clear zone and the presence of roadside vegetation on vehicle speed and lateral position. A static evaluation, distributed electronically to 100 licensed drivers, was utilized to gather speed selections for both real and virtual roads containing four combinations of clear zone sizes and roadside vegetation densities. A case study was included in the static evaluation to investigate the presence of utility poles near the edge of the road on speed selection. Validation of the static evaluation was performed by a field data collection on the same roadways shown to participants in the evaluation. The speeds observed in the field for roadways with medium clear zone/dense vegetation or large clear zone/spare vegetation correlated with the speeds chosen by static evaluation participants. Further field data were obtained on vehicle speeds and lateral positions for additional roads demonstrating the same clear zone size/vegetation density combinations. This study successfully demonstrates the relationship between clear zone design and driver behavior, which could improve clear zone design practices and thus roadway safety. 
23414618	Neurobehavioral and hemodynamic evaluation of Stroop and reverse Stroop interference in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. 	Failure of executive function (EF) is a core symptom of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, various results have been reported and sufficient evidence is lacking. In the present study, we evaluated the characteristics of children with ADHD using the Stroop task (ST) and reverse Stroop task (RST) that reflects the inhibition function of EF. We compared children with ADHD, typically developing children (TDC), and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which is more difficult to discriminate from ADHD. A total of 10 children diagnosed with ADHD, 15 TDC, and 11 children diagnosed with ASD, all matched by age, sex, language ability, and intelligence quotient, participated in this study. While each subject performed computer-based ST and RST with a touch panel, changes in oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) were measured in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to correlate test performance with neural activity. Behavioral performance significantly differed among 3 groups during RST but not during ST. The ADHD group showed greater color interference than the TDC group. In addition, there was a negative correlation between right lateral PFC (LPFC) activity and the severity of attention deficit. Children with ADHD exhibit several problems associated with inhibition of color, and this symptom is affected by low activities of the right LPFC. In addition, it is suggested that low hemodynamic activities in this area are correlated with ADHD. 
23684120	Customization of user interfaces to reduce errors and enhance user acceptance. 	Customization is assumed to reduce error and increase user acceptance in the human-machine relation. Reconfiguration gives the operator the option to customize a user interface according to his or her own preferences. An experimental study with 72 computer science students using a simulated process control task was conducted. The reconfiguration group (RG) interactively reconfigured their user interfaces and used the reconfigured user interface in the subsequent test whereas the control group (CG) used a default user interface. Results showed significantly lower error rates and higher acceptance of the RG compared to the CG while there were no significant differences between the groups regarding situation awareness and mental workload. Reconfiguration seems to be promising and therefore warrants further exploration. 
23053229	Population variation and individual maximum size in two leech populations: energy extraction from cannibalism or niche widening? 	The theory of cannibal dynamics predicts a link between population dynamics and individual life history. In particular, increased individual growth has, in both modeling and empirical studies, been shown to result from a destabilization of population dynamics. We used data from a long-term study of the dynamics of two leech (Erpobdella octoculata) populations to test the hypothesis that maximum size should be higher in a cycling population; one of the study populations exhibited a delayed feedback cycle while the other population showed no sign of cyclicity. A hump-shaped relationship between individual mass of 1-year-old leeches and offspring density the previous year was present in both populations. As predicted from the theory, the maximum mass of individuals was much larger in the fluctuating population. In contrast to predictions, the higher growth rate was not related to energy extraction from cannibalism. Instead, the higher individual mass is suggested to be due to increased availability of resources due to a niche widening with increased individual body mass. The larger individual mass in the fluctuating population was related to a stronger correlation between the densities of 1-year-old individuals and 2-year-old individuals the following year in this population. Although cannibalism was the major mechanism regulating population dynamics, its importance was negligible in terms of providing cannibalizing individuals with energy subsequently increasing their fecundity. Instead, the study identifies a need for theoretical and empirical studies on the largely unstudied interplay between ontogenetic niche shifts and cannibalistic population dynamics. 
23048145	Effects of maternal care and selection for low mortality on tyrosine hydroxylase concentrations and cell soma size in hippocampus and nidopallium caudolaterale in adult laying hen. 	Feather pecking and cannibalism in farm-kept laying hens are damaging behaviors both in terms of animal welfare and economic loss, and a major challenge in modern poultry farming. Both rearing with a foster hen and genetic selection have been demonstrated to reduce feather pecking in laying hens. We examined the effects of rearing with a foster hen, genetic selection for low mortality from cannibalism, and interactions between both, using cellular morphology and levels of the rate-limiting enzyme in dopamine production, tyrosine hydroxylase, in the hippocampus and nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL) as a potential measure for laying hen welfare. Hens from the second generation of a sib-selection scheme line derived from a pure-bred White Leghorn line, selected for low mortality and for production characteristics, or their control line (CL) selected only for production characteristics, were housed with or without a foster Silky hen for the first 7 wk of life. Aside from the presence or absence of a foster Silky hen during the first 7 wk of life, housing conditions were identical for all hens. The hens were then sacrificed and brains were removed at 52 wk of age. Brains were sectioned and stained using a Nissl staining to reveal cell soma morphology, or using immunocytochemistry for tyrosine hydroxlase. A greater degree of lateralization in the hippocampus was observed in hens reared without a foster hen, as measured by absolute difference in cell soma size between hemispheres (P&lt;0.05). The low mortality line showed decreased concentrations of tyrosine hydroxylase in the NCL compared with the CL (P&lt;0.005). Our results indicate that morphological changes in brain induced in very early life can be detected in adult hens, and that genetic selection against mortality due to cannibalism impacts tyrosine hydroxylase in the NCL of laying hens. These observations strengthen the notion that brain measures may be useful as potential readouts for animal welfare. 
23721464	Reduced cannibalistic behavior of African catfish, Clarias gariepinus, larvae under dark and dim conditions. 	In general, African catfish shows higher survival rates in the dark conditions than in the light conditions. In this study, larval behavior of African catfish was observed under 0, 0.01, 0.1, 1, 10, and 100 lx using a CCD camera to investigate the reason why African catfish larvae show higher survival rates in dark conditions. The larvae showed significantly higher swimming activity under 0, 0.01, and 0.1 lx than that under 10 and 100 lx. The larvae also showed significantly increased aggressive behavior under 10 and 100 lx; the swimming larvae attacked resting individuals more frequently under 10 and 100 lx than under 0, 0.01, and 0.1 lx. The aggressive behavior and sharp teeth of the attacking larvae appeared to induce skin surface lesions on injured larvae. Chemical substances were then generated from the injured skin surface, and these chemical stimuli triggered cannibalistic behavior in other fish near the injured fish. The results of this study demonstrate that the higher survival rates of African catfish larvae under dark conditions are a result of inactivity and subsequent increase in chemical releasing stimuli concentrations around inactive individuals that triggers feeding behavior in nearby active catfish. Therefore, we recommend larval rearing of African catfish in dark or dim conditions, as it improves catfish survival rates. 
23321098	Effects of flour conditioning on cannibalism of T. castaneum eggs and pupae. 	Cannibalism is a very important factor regulating population dynamics of the red flour beetle. After several days of feeding, the flour becomes conditioned by the beetles, which can affect rates of cannibalism. Flour conditioning is caused by an accumulation of feces, pheromones, and ethylquinone, which is a repellent produced by the beetles. We determined the effect of five different levels of flour conditioning on cannibalism of red flour beetle eggs and pupae by adult and larval stages. Larvae had the highest rates of egg cannibalism (12 eggs eaten over the 4-d period) followed by female adults (seven eggs consumed). Adult males had the lowest rates of cannibalism with only two eggs consumed. Cannibalism of eggs by females was correlated negatively with the level of flour conditioning. There was no effect of flour conditioning on egg or pupal cannibalism by larvae or adult males. Cannibalism by adult females may decrease as the level of flour conditioning increases because females may spend less time tunneling in highly conditioned flour and more time trying to disperse to other areas that are better for oviposition. 
22882379	Cannibalism can drive the evolution of behavioural phase polyphenism in locusts. 	During outbreaks, locust swarms can contain millions of insects travelling thousands of kilometers while devastating vegetation and crops. Such large-scale spatial organization is preceded locally by a dramatic density-dependent phenotypic transition in multiple traits. Behaviourally, low-density 'solitarious' individuals avoid contact with one another; above a critical local density, they undergo a rapid behavioural transition to the 'gregarious phase' whereby they exhibit mutual attraction. Although proximate causes of this phase polyphenism have been widely studied, the ultimate driving factors remain unclear. Using an individual-based evolutionary model, we reveal that cannibalism, a striking feature of locust ecology, could lead to the evolution of density-dependent behavioural phase-change in juvenile locusts. We show that this behavioural strategy minimizes risk associated with cannibalistic interactions and may account for the empirically observed persistence of locust groups during outbreaks. Our results provide a parsimonious explanation for the evolution of behavioural plasticity in locusts. 
22537881	Sustained hydrostatic pressure tolerance of the shallow water shrimp Palaemonetes varians at different temperatures: insights into the colonisation of the deep sea. 	We investigated the tolerance of adult specimens of the shallow-water shrimp Palaemonetes varians to sustained high hydrostatic pressure (10 MPa) across its thermal tolerance window (from 5 to 27 °C) using both behavioural (survival and activity) and molecular (hsp70 gene expression) approaches. To our knowledge, this paper reports the longest elevated hydrostatic pressure exposures ever performed on a shallow-water marine organism. Behavioural analysis showed a 100% survival rate of P. varians after 7 days at 10 MPa and 5 or 10 °C, whilst cannibalism was observed at elevated temperature (27 °C), suggesting no impairment of specific dynamic action. A significant interaction of pressure and temperature was observed for both behavioural and molecular responses. Elevated pressure was found to exacerbate the effect of temperature on the behaviour of the animals by reducing activity at low temperature and by increasing activity at high temperature. In contrast, only high pressure combined with low temperature increased the expression of hsp70 genes. We suggest that the impressive tolerance of P. varians to sustained elevated pressure may reflect the physiological capability of an ancestral species to colonise the deep sea. Our results also support the hypothesis that deep-sea colonisation may have occurred during geological periods of time when the oceanic water column was warm and vertically homogenous. 
24345518	Group display in the socially monogamous Northern Double-collared Sunbird (Cinnyris reichenowi). 	Several sunbird species (Nectariniidae) exhibit group display, but the function of this behaviour still remains unclear. We test two hypotheses (reproductive tactic and joint territory defence) to explain the function of this behaviour using data gathered on Northern Double-collared Sunbirds (Cinnyris reichenowi) from the Cameroon Mountains. Sunbirds exhibited group display throughout the breeding cycle. Groups of birds were mainly comprised of neighbouring pairs aggregated at territory boundaries. The frequency of group displays varied significantly among individuals and over the breeding cycle, with the highest frequency during the pre-breeding period and the lowest during egg-laying (∼female's fertile period). Time spent on group display was significantly longer at the end of breeding. Off-territory forays were recorded for both males and females, males significantly increased the time spent on these forays during incubation. Extra-pair copulations were recorded only in five cases for females (4%) suggesting that most off-territory forays were motivated by feeding on nectar in neighbouring territories. Therefore, we suggest that the behaviour is used for joint territory defence rather than as an information centre for choosing mates for extra-pair copulations. Its function for choosing primary mates is also unlikely, because group displays were mainly observed in complete pairs. 
23899762	Sex differences and similarities in the neuroendocrine regulation of social behavior in an African cichlid fish. 	An individual's position in a social hierarchy profoundly affects behavior and physiology through interactions with community members, yet little is known about how the brain contributes to status differences between and within the social states or sexes. We aimed to determine sex-specific attributes of social status by comparing circulating sex steroid hormones and neural gene expression of sex steroid receptors in dominant and subordinate male and female Astatotilapia burtoni, a highly social African cichlid fish. We found that testosterone and 17β-estradiol levels are higher in males regardless of status and dominant individuals regardless of sex. Progesterone was found to be higher in dominant individuals regardless of sex. Based on pharmacological manipulations in males and females, progesterone appears to be a common mechanism for promoting courtship in dominant individuals. We also examined expression of androgen receptors, estrogen receptor α, and the progesterone receptor in five brain regions that are important for social behavior. Most of the differences in brain sex steroid receptor expression were due to sex rather than status. Our results suggest that the parvocellular preoptic area is a core region for mediating sex differences through androgen and estrogen receptor expression, whereas the progesterone receptor may mediate sex and status behaviors in the putative homologs of the nucleus accumbens and ventromedial hypothalamus. Overall our results suggest sex differences and similarities in the regulation of social dominance by gonadal hormones and their receptors in the brain. 
24284483	Physiological effects of L-theanine on Drosophila melanogaster. 	Green tea has been consumed as the most popular drink in East Asia for centuries, and is believed to have a wide range of health benefits. L-Theanine, the major component of the free amino acids in green tea, has been reported to display neuronal protection and tumor inhibition in vitro, but its physiological effects on animal development and behavior remain elusive. In this report, we used Drosophila melanogaster, the fruit fly, as a model organism to investigate the physiological effects of L-theanine. Flies were fed with three different concentrations of theanine as a dietary supplement after eclosion, and were examined for a variety of physiological parameters at different time points. We found theanine treatment results in significantly increased locomotion and courtship ability, and decreased resistance against wet and dry starvation in males, but not in females. Furthermore, theanine application diminished UV tolerance in females, but not in males. However, we did not perceive distinguishable effect of theanine on animal development, life span, weight, and tolerance of heat and anoxia. This work represents the first comprehensive physiological investigation of L-theanine at the whole animal level, and shall shed light on the mechanistic study of theanine in the future. 
23546383	An invisible sign stimulus: completion of occluded visual images in the Bengalese finch in an ecological context. 	An object that includes occluded parts is sometimes perceived as a complete image and this phenomenon is known as amodal or visual completion. A sign stimulus is a minimum set of information that elicits a behavior, but this notion raises questions about whether animals ever engage in the behavior when they cannot see the occluded sign stimulus, but they can visually complete it. Male Bengalese finches engage in courtship behavior toward video images of female finches. We conducted three experiments with Bengalese finches to show both sign stimuli and visual completion function in an ecological context. We used three types of visual images recorded from female finches as stimuli: the head, the body, and the whole. Results showed that male Bengalese finches showed courtship behavior toward the head-occluded stimuli whereas they did not toward the headless body image. The results imply that the males completed this occluded sign stimulus through the process of visual completion. Exposure to a sign stimulus combined with the process of visual completion may operate cooperatively to facilitate adaptive responses under conditions of limited information. 
23073845	The effects of short-term exposure to an endocrine disrupter on behavioral consistency in male juvenile and adult Siamese fighting fish. 	17α-Ethinyloestradiol (EE2) is known to impact courtship and aggression but how exposure affects the consistency with which individuals express these behaviors over time is not commonly addressed. In addition, how juvenile and adult male fish differ in levels of behavioral consistency, both before and after EE2 exposure, is unknown. To examine these questions, juvenile and adult male Siamese fighting fish were presented with a dummy male and dummy female simultaneously both before and after acute exposure to a nominal (15 ng/L) dose of EE2. Multiple trials were conducted to measure how consistent individual differences are affected by age and EE2 exposure. Both female- and male-directed behaviors decreased after short-term exposure to EE2. Juvenile and adult fish differed in the number of female-directed tail beats and bites they performed, with adult fish performing more tail beats and juvenile fish performing more bites. EE2 exposure had a greater effect on consistent individual differences in female-directed than in male-directed behaviors, which may be a byproduct of intense artificial selection for aggression in this species. Repeatability values were lower both before and after exposure in juvenile than in adult fish, suggesting that individuals become more consistent with age. This study suggests that male Siamese fighting fish vary in their sensitivity to short-term EE2 exposure and stresses the importance of examining behavior over multiple time points both within and across age classes to gain a more thorough understanding of the effects of endocrine disruptors on behavior. 
24184143	The dominant/subordinate relationship between mice modifies the approach behavior toward a cage mate experiencing pain. 	Many species display approach behavior to conspecifics. This study evaluated approach behavior exhibited by mice toward a cage mate in pain according to the social relationship between the mice. The relative dominant/subordinate relationship among three cage mates was determined using a competitive food retrieval test. Social preference of the subordinate mouse for the mid-status or dominant cage mate was tested with and without pain induced in the dominant cage mate. Social preference of the dominant mouse was similarly tested with and without pain induced in the subordinate cage mate. Subordinate mice spent more time with the dominant cage mate in pain than with the mid-status cage mate but spent a similar amount of time with dominant and mid-status cage mates that were not in pain. Dominant mice spent a similar amount of time with subordinate and mid-status cage mates regardless of pain. The time that subordinate mice spent with the dominant cage mate in pain inversely correlated with dominancy distance between the two mice. These results demonstrate that social relationship can modify perception of the pain of others. 
24157335	Differential effects of chronic fluoxetine on the behavior of dominant and subordinate naked mole-rats. 	Naked mole-rats are eusocial rodents that live in large subterranean colonies with a strict reproductive and social hierarchy. The breeding female (referred to as the queen) and 1 to 3 breeding males are the only reproductive members of the colony. Breeders are socially dominant and all other colony members are non-reproductive subordinates. The effects of manipulating the serotonergic neurotransmitter system on aggression and dominance behaviors are well studied in many species, but not in eusocial rodents like the naked mole-rat. The current study investigated how the serotonergic system influences aggressive/dominant behaviors in this species. To do this, two separate but related experiments were conducted: the effects of fluoxetine hydrochloride (FLX) on status-specific behaviors of subordinates (Experiment 1) and dominant queens (Experiment 2) were evaluated both in-colony and in a social-pairing paradigm. In accordance with our main hypothesis, chronic treatment of FLX attenuated the frequency and duration of aggression in queens, but not subordinates, when paired with an unfamiliar conspecific. Further exploration of pharmacological manipulation on status-specific behaviors of this eusocial species may elucidate the neurobiological mechanisms underlying their unique and rigid social hierarchy. 
23845323	Cortagine infused into the medial prefrontal cortex attenuates predator-induced defensive behaviors and Fos protein production in selective nuclei of the amygdala in male CD1 mice. 	Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) plays an essential role in coordinating the autonomic, endocrine and behavioral responses to stressors. In this study, we investigated the role of CRF within the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in modulating unconditioned defensive behaviors, by examining the effects of microinfusing cortagine a selective type-1 CRF receptor (CRF1) agonist, or acidic-astressin a preferential CRF1 antagonist, into the mPFC in male CD-1 mice exposed to a live predator (rat exposure test--RET). Cortagine microinfusions significantly reduced several indices of defense, including avoidance and freezing, suggesting a specific role for CRF1 within the infralimbic and prelimbic regions of the mPFC in modulating unconditioned behavioral responsivity to a predator. In contrast, microinfusions of acidic-astressin failed to alter defensive behaviors during predator exposure in the RET. Cortagine microinfusions also reduced Fos protein production in the medial, central and basomedial, but not basolateral subnuclei of the amygdala in mice exposed to the rat predatory threat stimulus. These results suggest that CRF1 activation within the mPFC attenuates predator-induced unconditioned anxiety-like defensive behaviors, likely via inhibition of specific amygdalar nuclei. Furthermore, the present findings suggest that the mPFC represents a unique neural region whereby activation of CRF1 produces behavioral effects that contrast with those elicited following systemic administration of CRF1 agonists. 
23899762	Sex differences and similarities in the neuroendocrine regulation of social behavior in an African cichlid fish. 	An individual's position in a social hierarchy profoundly affects behavior and physiology through interactions with community members, yet little is known about how the brain contributes to status differences between and within the social states or sexes. We aimed to determine sex-specific attributes of social status by comparing circulating sex steroid hormones and neural gene expression of sex steroid receptors in dominant and subordinate male and female Astatotilapia burtoni, a highly social African cichlid fish. We found that testosterone and 17β-estradiol levels are higher in males regardless of status and dominant individuals regardless of sex. Progesterone was found to be higher in dominant individuals regardless of sex. Based on pharmacological manipulations in males and females, progesterone appears to be a common mechanism for promoting courtship in dominant individuals. We also examined expression of androgen receptors, estrogen receptor α, and the progesterone receptor in five brain regions that are important for social behavior. Most of the differences in brain sex steroid receptor expression were due to sex rather than status. Our results suggest that the parvocellular preoptic area is a core region for mediating sex differences through androgen and estrogen receptor expression, whereas the progesterone receptor may mediate sex and status behaviors in the putative homologs of the nucleus accumbens and ventromedial hypothalamus. Overall our results suggest sex differences and similarities in the regulation of social dominance by gonadal hormones and their receptors in the brain. 
23981955	Experimental induction of social instability during early breeding does not alter testosterone levels in male black redstarts, a socially monogamous songbird. 	Testosterone plays an important role in territorial behavior of many male vertebrates and the Challenge Hypothesis has been suggested to explain differences in testosterone concentrations between males. For socially monogamous birds, the challenge hypothesis predicts that testosterone should increase during male-male interactions. To test this, simulated territorial intrusion (STI) experiments have been conducted, but only about a third of all bird species investigated so far show the expected increase in testosterone. Previous studies have shown that male black redstarts (Phoenicurus ochruros) do not increase testosterone during STIs or short-term male-male challenges. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether black redstarts modulate testosterone in an experimentally induced longer-term unstable social situation. We created social instability by removing males from their territories and compared the behavior and testosterone concentrations of replacement males and neighbors with those of control areas. Testosterone levels did not differ among replacement males, neighbors and control males. Injections with GnRH resulted in elevation of testosterone in all groups, suggesting that all males were capable of increasing testosterone. We found no difference in the behavioral response to STIs between control and replacement males. Furthermore, there was no difference in testosterone levels between replacement males that had expanded their territory and new-coming males. In combination with prior work these data suggest that testosterone is not modulated by male-male interactions in black redstarts and that testosterone plays only a minor role in territorial behavior. We suggest that territorial behavior in species that are territorial throughout most of their annual life-cycle may be decoupled from testosterone. 
24661130	Do stocked hatchery-reared juveniles ecologically suppress wild juveniles in Salvelinus leucomaenis? 	The dominancy of semi-wild and hatchery-reared white-spotted charr Salvelinus leucomaenis juveniles was evaluated using pair-wise enclosure tests and field stocking tests. The semi-wild S. leucomaenis originated in a hatchery, being stocked into the test stream as eyed-eggs. In the pair-wise enclosure test, the semi-wild S. leucomaenis dominated the hatchery S. leucomaenis that were of a similar standard length (L(S) ). The semi-wild S. leucomaenis were subordinate to hatchery S. leucomaenis that were &gt; 11% larger in LS . In the field stocking test, the abundance and growth of semi-wild S. leucomaenis was decreased in the presence of larger hatchery S. leucomaenis (14% larger LS ). Taken together, these results suggest that larger hatchery S. leucomaenis ecologically suppress the smaller semi-wild S. leucomaenis. Salvelinus leucomaenis juveniles that are stocked with the intention of supplementing natural populations should be &lt; 10% larger than their wild counterparts at the time of stocking to minimize their competitive advantage. The semi-wild and hatchery S. leucomaenis used in both tests were genetically similar individuals, suggesting that the differences are due to the early rearing environment of either a natural stream or hatchery. The hatchery S. leucomaenis have lower levels of aggression as a result of selection in the hatchery rearing environment. Rearing in a natural stream from the eyed-egg stage is likely to increase their lowered aggression. 
23962681	An animal model of stress-induced cardiomyopathy utilizing the social defeat paradigm. 	Stress-induced cardiomyopathy (SIC) is a form of acute heart disease triggered by extreme psychological stress. In patients who develop SIC, the outward symptoms are almost indistinguishable from acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, some important criteria differentiate patients with SIC from those with AMI. Patients with SIC: (1) experience some form of extreme psychological stress from minutes to hours before developing heart disease, (2) do not suffer from atherosclerosis or coronary artery obstruction, and 3) exhibit abnormal ballooning of the left ventricle. In the present study, the resident-intruder (RI) social defeat test was investigated as a potential rat model for stressed-induced cardiomyopathy. Adult Long-Evans rats were implanted with a biotelemetry transmitter for ECG recordings and habituated for two weeks. An intruder rat was placed in the cage of a resident rat behind a wire-mesh partition for 5 min. The partition was then removed for 5 min to allow direct contact between the intruder and resident rats. After this interval, the wire-mesh partition was replaced and the intruder rat remained behind the partition for an additional 50 min. Behavioral responses were noted and ECG recordings were collected during the entire 60-min testing period. Upon completion of the test, the intruder rat was removed from the cage of the resident rat and sacrificed. The heart was examined and blood was collected. Heart weight/body weight ratio, left ventricle/body weight ratio, heart length, plasma corticosterone levels, and plasma troponin I levels of intruder rats were significantly higher as compared to control rats. Intruder rats significantly increased their heart rate during the first 5 min of the RI test. It is concluded that the RI test to induce social defeat is a novel rodent paradigm for modeling stress-induced cardiomyopathy in the human. 
24311060	The Arena System: a novel shared touch-panel apparatus for the study of chimpanzee social interaction and cognition. 	We report on the development of a novel shared touch-panel apparatus for examining a diverse range of topics in great ape social cognition and interaction. Our apparatus-named the Arena System-is composed of a single multitouch monitor that spans across two separate testing booths, so that individuals situated in each booth have tactile access to half of the monitor and visual access to the whole monitor. Additional components of the system include a smart-film barrier able to restrict visual access between the booths, as well as two automated feeding devices that dispense food rewards to the subjects. The touch-panel, smart-film, and feeders are controlled by a PC that is also responsible for running the experimental tasks. We present data from a pilot behavioral game theory study with two chimpanzees in order to illustrate the efficacy of our method, and we suggest applications for a range of topics including animal social learning, coordination, and behavioral economics. The system enables fully automated experimental procedures, which means that no human participation is needed to run the tasks. The novel use of a touch-panel in a social setting allows for a finer degree of data resolution than do the traditional experimental apparatuses used in prior studies on great ape social interaction. 
24239868	An automated psychoacoustic testing apparatus for use in cats. 	Animal behavioral studies make a significant contribution to hearing research and provide vital information which is not available from human subjects. Animal psychoacoustics is usually extremely time consuming and labor intensive; in addition, animals may become stressed, especially if restraints or negative reinforcers such as electric shocks are used. We present a novel behavioral experimental system that was developed to allow efficient animal training in response to acoustic stimuli. Cats were required to perform a relatively simple task of moving toward and away from the device depending on whether the members of a tone pair were different or the same in frequency (go/no-go task). The experimental setup proved to be effective, with all animals (N = 7) performing at above 90% correct on an easy task. Animals were trained within 2-4 weeks and then generated a total of 150-200 trials per day, distributed within approximately 8 self initiated sessions. Data collected using this system were stable over 1 week and repeatable over long test periods (14 weeks). Measured frequency discrimination thresholds from 3 animals at 3 different reference frequencies were comparable with previously published results. The main advantages of the system are: relatively simple setup; large amounts of data can be generated without the need of researcher supervision; multiple animals can be tested simultaneously without removal from home pens; and no electric shocks or restraints are required. 
24144856	Behavioral responses of a harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) to playbacks of broadband pile driving sounds. 	The high under-water sound pressure levels (SPLs) produced during pile driving to build offshore wind turbines may affect harbor porpoises. To estimate the discomfort threshold of pile driving sounds, a porpoise in a quiet pool was exposed to playbacks (46 strikes/min) at five SPLs (6 dB steps: 130-154 dB re 1 μPa). The spectrum of the impulsive sound resembled the spectrum of pile driving sound at tens of kilometers from the pile driving location in shallow water such as that found in the North Sea. The animal's behavior during test and baseline periods was compared. At and above a received broadband SPL of 136 dB re 1 μPa [zero-peak sound pressure level: 151 dB re 1 μPa; t90: 126 ms; sound exposure level of a single strike (SELss): 127 dB re 1 μPa(2) s] the porpoise's respiration rate increased in response to the pile driving sounds. At higher levels, he also jumped out of the water more often. Wild porpoises are expected to move tens of kilometers away from offshore pile driving locations; response distances will vary with context, the sounds' source level, parameters influencing sound propagation, and background noise levels. 
23999758	Zebrafish (Danio rerio) behavioural response to bioinspired robotic fish and mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis). 	The field of ethorobotics holds promise in aiding fundamental research in animal behaviour, whereby it affords fully controllable and easily reproducible experimental tools. Most of the current ethorobotics studies are focused on the behavioural response of a selected target species as it interacts with a biologically-inspired robot in controlled laboratory conditions. In this work, we first explore the interactions between two social fish species and a robotic fish, whose design is inspired by salient visual features of one of the species. Specifically, this study investigates the behavioural response of small shoals of zebrafish interacting with a zebrafish-inspired robotic fish and small shoals of mosquitofish in a basic ecological context. Our results demonstrate that the robotic fish differentially influences the behaviour of the two species by consistently attracting zebrafish, while repelling mosquitofish. This selective behavioural control is successful in spatially isolating the two species, which would otherwise exhibit prey-predator interactions, with mosquitofish attacking zebrafish. 
24091776	Modulation of rat behaviour by using a rat-like robot. 	In this paper, we study the response of a rat to a rat-like robot capable of generating different types of behaviour (stressful, friendly, neutral). Experiments are conducted in an open-field where a rat-like robot called WR-4 is put together with live rats. The activity level of each rat subject is evaluated by scoring its locomotor activity and frequencies of performing rearing (rising up on its hind limbs) and body grooming (body cuddling and head curling) actions, whereas the degree of preference of that is indicated by the robot-rat distance and the frequency of contacting WR-4. The moving speed and behaviour of WR-4 are controlled in real-time based on the feedback from rat motion. The activity level and degree of preference of rats for each experimental condition are analysed and compared to understand the influence of robot behaviour. The results of this study show that the activity level and degree of preference of the rat decrease when exposed to a stressful robot, and increase when the robot exhibit friendly behaviour, suggesting that a rat-like robot can modulate rat behaviour in a controllable, predictable way. 
24166849	Burrowing behaviour of robotic bivalves with synthetic morphologies. 	Several bivalve species burrow into sandy sediments to reach their living position. There are many hypotheses concerning the functional morphology of the bivalve shell for burrowing. Observational studies are limited and often qualitative and should be complemented by a synthetic approach mimicking the burrowing process using a robotic emulation. In this paper we present a simple mechatronic set-up to mimic the burrowing behaviour of bivalves. As environment we used water and quartz sand contained in a glass tank. Bivalve shells were mathematically modelled on the computer and then materialized using a 3D printer. The burrowing motion of the shells was induced by two external linear motors. Preliminary experiments did not expose any artefacts introduced to the burrowing process by the set-up. We tested effects of shell size, shape and surface sculpturing on the burrowing performance. Neither the typical bivalve shape nor surface sculpture did have a clear positive effect on burrowing depth in the performed experiments. We argue that the presented method is a valid and promising approach to investigate the functional morphology of bivalve shells and should be improved and extended in future studies. In contrast to the observation of living bivalves, our approach offers complete control over the parameters defining shell morphology and motion pattern. The technical set-up allows the systematic variation of all parameters to quantify their effects. The major drawback of the built set-up was that the reliability and significance of the results was limited by the lack of an optimal technique to standardize the sediment state before experiments. 
16768617	Patterns of fos-like immunoreactivity in the brains of parent ring doves (Streptopelia risoria) given tactile and nontactile exposure to their young. 	Neuronal activation was examined by fos immunohistochemistry in ring doves (Streptopelia risoria) reunited with their young after overnight separation. In an initial study, squab-exposed parents showed more fos immunoreactivity (ir) in the preoptic area (POA) and lateral hypothalamus (LH) than squab-deprived parents. In a 2nd study, parents allowed free access to young and those separated from young by a wire mesh partition showed more fos-ir in the POA, LH, and lateral septum than box-exposed controls. Contact with young also increased fos-ir in the medial preoptic nucleus and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, but noncontact exposure did not. Conversely, nontactile squab exposure stimulated more fos-ir in the POA than did free access to young, which suggests POA involvement in appetitive aspects of parenting. 
15085530	Response to social challenge in young bonnet (Macaca radiata) and pigtail (Macaca nemestrina) macaques is related to early maternal experiences. 	Previous experience affects how young primates respond to challenging social situations. The present retrospective study looked at one aspect of early experience, the quality of the mother-infant relationship, to determine its relationship to young bonnet and pigtail macaques' responses to two social challenges: temporary maternal separation at 5-6 months and permanent transfer to an unfamiliar peer group at 16-17 months. Relationship quality was measured quantitatively on 30 macaque mother-infant pairs with the Relationship Quality Index (RQI), the ratio of relative affiliation to relative agonism as previously applied to capuchin monkeys. Infants with high RQI values had amicable mother-infant relationships and infants with low RQI values had agonistic mother-infant relationships. Young monkeys with amicable and agonistic relationships showed consistent differences in behavior before, during, and after each social challenge, supporting the hypothesis that juveniles from amicable mother-infant relationships based on the RQI coped more effectively with social challenges than did juveniles from agonistic mother-infant relationships. Results suggest 1) characteristic amicability or agonism in early mother-offspring macaque relationships has the potential to influence offspring behavior in tense social contexts and 2) the RQI is useful as one of a coordinated suite of methods for studying the development of social skills. 
9532759	Dispersal, philopatry, and genetic relatedness in a social carnivore: comparing males and females. 	A balance must be maintained between the proportion of individuals dispersing and the proportion remaining philopatric such that inbreeding and resource competition are minimized. Yet the relative importance of dispersal and philopatric behaviour is uncertain, especially for species with complex social systems. We examine the influence of dispersal on genetic relationships of a white-nosed coati (Nasua narica: Procyonidae) population from Panama. Field studies of the coati indicate a social system in which all females are highly philopatric and live in bands while all adult males become solitary at maturity, but do not disperse from the home range of their natal band. Based on analyses of multilocus DNA fingerprints, we confirm that female philopatry is the rule, long-distance dispersal is rare, and that relatedness between most bands is low. However, some new bands result from fission events and these bands retain relatively high relatedness to one another for several years. Adult males inhabiting the home range of a band are closely related to band members. In contrast, males and band members whose ranges do not overlap are unrelated or only slightly related. Adult males are also more closely related to other males whose home ranges they overlap extensively than to males whose home ranges they overlap only slightly. These results indicate that males initially disperse from their natal bands to reduce resource competition and not to avoid inbreeding. Inbreeding avoidance, if it occurs, results from more extensive range movements by males during the mating season. 
23540193	How do pigs behave before starting an aggressive interaction? Identification of typical body positions in the early stage of aggression using video labelling techniques. 	The aim of this study was to identify, quantify, and describe pre-signs of aggression in pigs and the early stages of aggressive interactions. The experiment was carried out at a commercial farm on a group of 11 male pigs weighing on average 23 kg and kept in a pen of4 m x 2.5 m. In total 8 hours were videorecorded during the first 3 days after mixing. As a result, 177 aggressive interactions were identified and labelled to find pre-sign body positions before aggressive interactions, attack positions and aggressive acts performed from these positions. A total of 12 positions were classified as pre-signs (P1-P12) and 7 of them were identified immediately at the start of aggressive interactions (P6-P12). Most common pre-sign positions were P3-pigs approaching and facing each other (24%) and P2-initiator pigs approaching from the lateral side (18%). In 80% of the cases the duration of pre-signs was 1-2 sec 72% of all aggressive interactions were short (1 to 10 sec). The most frequent attack positions were P12-inverse parallel (39.5%), P7-nose to nose, 90 degrees (19.77%) and P9-nose to head (13.5%). The most frequent aggressive acts from attack positions were head knocking (34.4%), pressing (34.4%) and biting of different body parts (29.4%). Head knocking was mostly observed in relation to P7 and P2 positions and biting was common in the P7 position. In conclusion, pigs adopt specific pre-signs and body positions before the escalation of aggressive interactions. This could be used as potential sign to identify a beginning aggression. 
24535792	Investigation of the dose-dependency of citicoline effects on nerve regeneration and functional recovery in a rat model of sciatic nerve injury. 	The aim of this study was to investigate the dose dependence of citicoline's previously-reported effects on recovery of peripheral nerve injury. Right sciatic nerves of sixty adult female Wistar Albino rats were incised and primary anastomosis was performed. Rats were then divided into four groups: Control group received 2 ml of saline intraperitoneally, while rats in C-300, C-600 and C-900 groups received 300 μmol/kg, 600 μmol/kg and 900 μmol/kg citicoline dissolved in 2 ml saline, respectively. Rats were tested for sciatic functional index (SFI) on the 4th, 8th and 12th weeks and electrophysiological recordings were obtained on the 12th week. Rats were then sacrificed to investigate nerve adhesions and perform histomorphological examinations. Our results showed that rats in C-600 and C-900 groups had significantly lesser neural adhesion and greater SFI and electrophysiological score than those in the Control and C-300 groups (p &lt; 0.05). Mean density and total number of functionally myelinated axons were significantly increased in C-900 group, while perineural scar tissue formation was reduced in all citicoline-treated groups. We conclude that citicoline exhibits dose-dependent effects on axonal regeneration and recovery without scar formation in a rat model of peripheral nerve incision and primary anastomosis. 
24637378	A low-cost method for analyzing seizure-like activity and movement in Drosophila. 	Video tracking systems have been used widely to analyze Drosophila melanogaster movement and detect various abnormalities in locomotive behavior. While these systems can provide a wealth of behavioral information, the cost and complexity of these systems can be prohibitive for many labs. We have developed a low-cost assay for measuring locomotive behavior and seizure movement in D. melanogaster. The system uses a web-cam to capture images that can be processed using a combination of inexpensive and free software to track the distance moved, the average velocity of movement and the duration of movement during a specified time-span. To demonstrate the utility of this system, we examined a group of D. melanogaster mutants, the Bang-sensitive (BS) paralytics, which are 3-10 times more susceptible to seizure-like activity (SLA) than wild type flies. Using this novel system, we were able to detect that the BS mutant bang senseless (bss) exhibits lower levels of exploratory locomotion in a novel environment than wild type flies. In addition, the system was used to identify that the drug metformin, which is commonly used to treat type II diabetes, reduces the intensity of SLA in the BS mutants. 
24553945	The hippocampal CA2 ensemble is sensitive to contextual change. 	Contextual learning involves associating cues with an environment and relating them to past experience. Previous data indicate functional specialization within the hippocampal circuit: the dentate gyrus (DG) is crucial for discriminating similar contexts, whereas CA3 is required for associative encoding and recall. Here, we used Arc/H1a catFISH imaging to address the contribution of the largely overlooked CA2 region to contextual learning by comparing ensemble codes across CA3, CA2, and CA1 in mice exposed to familiar, altered, and novel contexts. Further, to manipulate the quality of information arriving in CA2 we used two hippocampal mutant mouse lines, CA3-NR1 KOs and DG-NR1 KOs, that result in hippocampal CA3 neuronal activity that is uncoupled from the animal's sensory environment. Our data reveal largely coherent responses across the CA axis in control mice in purely novel or familiar contexts; however, in the mutant mice subject to these protocols the CA2 response becomes uncoupled from CA1 and CA3. Moreover, we show in wild-type mice that the CA2 ensemble is more sensitive than CA1 and CA3 to small changes in overall context. Our data suggest that CA2 may be tuned to remap in response to any conflict between stored and current experience. 
11682091	Methods for the behavioural phenotyping of mouse mutants. How to keep the overview. 	The number of genetically engineered mice is constantly increasing. These animals play an important role in the development of useful models for human diseases. The Mutant Mice Behaviour-network, &quot;MMB&quot;, was founded as a non-profit, international forum for presenting and discussing the behavioural phenotyping of these mice. The internet-based network will provide a standardised database that includes detailed descriptions of all parameters that might affect the behaviour of genetically engineered mice. This will lead to comprehensible and reproducible tests and, in the future, might lead to an interdisciplinary consensus on methods for mouse behavioural phenotyping. 
11566203	The Mutant Mouse Behaviour network, a medium to present and discuss methods for the behavioural phenotyping. 	The nonprofit international Mutant Mouse Behaviour network &quot;MMB&quot; was founded within the framework of the conference &quot;Behavioural Phenotyping of Mouse Mutants&quot;, February 2000, held in Cologne, Germany. It intends to be a forum for presenting and discussing all topics dealing with the behavioural phenotyping of mice. The major aim of the MMB is to support the interdisciplinary finding of a consensus on the methods and techniques used for behavioural phenotyping of mouse mutants. That means that scientist involved in the development of mouse models have to consent to the fact that a consideration of all the parameters that might affect the behaviour is necessary. Finding and establishing a consensus is a fluent process based on a continuous exchange of information. The network will provide a standardised database that includes detailed descriptions of test methods and of the relevant background parameters that might influence the behaviour of mice. Information will range from detailed descriptions of test methods, specifications of the equipment used, housing conditions, and specifications of the animals used according to the international nomenclature. The detailed descriptions will help in making behavioural tests and their results comprehensible and reproducible. A mailing list has been established to provide a platform for the continuous exchange of information between the network members. It will be a forum for discussing all topics related to behavioural phenotyping (see above). Scientists from all research areas involved are free to provide detailed information about their experimental work, and will, in return, get a quick response to their questions. Furthermore, the mailing list will be a useful medium to determine which information should be incorporated. 
9457729	The IPCS Collaborative Study on Neurobehavioral Screening. I. Background and genesis. 	Numerous events over several years culminated in recognition of the need to explicitly evaluate the nervous system as a potential target for environmental chemicals. Based on recommendations from several international expert panels, the International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) sponsored the Collaborative Study on Neurobehavioral Screening Methods. A Steering Committee was created to oversee the project, develop the testing protocol, recruit participating laboratories and review and analyze the data. The protocol specified the tests, the chemicals (supplied from a common source) and the exposure conditions (acute and repeated dosing). Test methods were based upon existing practices in toxicological screening as well as recent advances in neurotoxicity screening. Chemicals were selected to produce different profiles of neurobehavioral effects. Considerable latitude was afforded the participating laboratories in the choice of several key variables (e.g., strain of rat, testing device for motor activity assessment) that could potentially affect the results of the experiments. The approach therefore provided a standardized yet flexible protocol for evaluating the reproducibility of neurobehavioral screening data in diverse laboratory settings. 
24866493	Male Tibetan macaques'(Macaca thibetana) choice of infant bridging partners. 	Adult male Tibetan (Macaca thibetana), Barbary (M. sylvanus), and stump-tailed macaques (M. arctoides) engage in bridging, a ritualized infant-handling behavior. Previous researchers found a bias toward the use of male infants for this behavior, but its function is debated. Explanations include three hypotheses: paternal care, mating effort, and agonistic buffering. We studied a group of habituated, provisioned Tibetan macaques to test whether adult males' affiliative relationships with females predicted their use of an infant for bridging. We also examined biases for sex, age, and individual in males' choice of bridging infant. We collected data via all occurrences, focal animal, and scan methods, from August to September 2011 at the Valley of the Wild Monkeys, China. We found that male infants were significantly preferred over females for bridging, but of three male infants in the group, only one was used by all males, while one male infant was used less often than expected. Adult males had females they were significantly more likely to be proximate to and/or to groom, but these corresponded to the mother of the bridging infant for only one male. Our results are most consistent with the agonistic buffering hypothesis: lower-ranked males used the alpha male's preferred bridging infant in an attempt to regulate their interactions with the alpha. 
23783761	Observations of a daytime birthing event in wild titi monkeys (Callicebus oenanthe): implications of the male parental role. 	Behaviors displayed during birth events, including prenatal, parturition, and postpartum periods, can give insight into caretaking roles in species in which the offspring is cared for by individuals other than the mother. Titi monkeys, genus Callicebus, exhibit a pair-bonded social system along with intense male care of offspring. Here, I report the first case of a birth seen in the wild in a group of Callicebus oenanthe, a little-known species in northern Peru, and describe infant care and development during the first few months after birth. Detailed behavior during the birth sequence as well as ad libitum data postpartum were recorded on nursing and infant care behaviors, including infant carrying, infant grooming, anogenital cleaning, protection, playing, and food sharing. In the 3 h preceding and during parturition, the male remained in contact with or in close proximity to the female (&lt;1 m). The male licked and examined the newborn 3 min after parturition, carried the infant within 24 h after birth, was the main carrier of the infant, and was the predominant manual groomer of the infant during the first 4 months after birth. I argue that the male plays an integral role during the birth in order to establish his bond with the infant as well as reinforce infant care duties to the female and in predator vigilance. In light of various explanations for the exhibition of intense paternal care, I suggest that the male titi monkey provides infant care to release the female of these duties in order that she may spend more time foraging, thus potentially increasing the pair's overall reproductive output. 
23262236	Modeling paternal attentiveness: distressed pups evoke differential neurobiological and behavioral responses in paternal and nonpaternal mice. 	With the exception of parturition and lactation, male California deer mice (Peromyscus californicus) exhibit the same parental responses toward offspring as conspecific females. A closely related species, Peromyscus maniculatus, however, rarely exhibits paternal responses. In the current study, a comparative species approach was used to assess paternal responses in both Peromyscus species with varying levels of paternal experience (biological fathers, pup-exposed virgins, and pup-naïve virgins). Of special interest was the persistence of the males to direct their attention toward a distressed pup housed in a small enclosure (i.e., a barrier existed between males and pups). In addition to pup-directed responses, non-pup-directed responses such as grooming, resting and jumping were recorded. Subsequently, all animals' brains were assessed for fos-immunoreactivity (ir) in several areas previously associated with the paternal brain circuit. Overall, P. californicus exhibited more pup-directed responses as well as less fos-ir in brain areas involved in emotional integration and processing such as the insula and anterior cingulate. In addition to increased activation of emotional regulatory areas, P. maniculatus males, observed to direct their behavior away from the pup, exhibited higher fos-ir in the nucleus accumbens (involved in goal acquisition), perhaps due to a heightened motivation to avoid the pups. Interestingly, experience with pups altered the lateral septum and amygdala activation of P. maniculatus to levels similar to P. californicus biological fathers. Finally, fos-ir was increased in the medial preoptic area, involved in the maintenance of maternal behavior, in the biological fathers of both species. Thus, although biological predispositions toward pup-directed behaviors were observed in P. californicus males, evidence of a few shifts toward the paternal neural activation profile was apparent in P. maniculatus males. Specifically, modifications in fear responses and social processing may represent the cornerstones of the gradual shift from social tentativeness to social attentiveness in the presence of pups. 
23745738	Preclinical models of antipsychotic drug action. 	One of the main obstacles faced by translational neuroscience is the development of animal models of psychiatric disorders. Behavioural pharmacology studies indicate that psychedelic drugs, such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and dissociative drugs, such as phencyclidine (PCP), induce in healthy human volunteers psychotic and cognitive symptoms that resemble some of those observed in schizophrenia patients. Serotonin 5-HT2A and metabotropic glutamate 2 receptors have been involved in the mechanism of action of psychedelic and dissociative drugs. Here we review recent advances using LSD-like and PCP-like drugs in rodent models that implicate these receptors in the neurobiology of schizophrenia and its treatment. 
23809188	Disruption of thalamocortical activity in schizophrenia models: relevance to antipsychotic drug action. 	Non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonists are widely used as pharmacological models of schizophrenia due to their ability to evoke the symptoms of the illness. Likewise, serotonergic hallucinogens, acting on 5-HT(2A) receptors, induce perceptual and behavioural alterations possibly related to psychotic symptoms. The neurobiological basis of these alterations is not fully elucidated. Data obtained in recent years revealed that the NMDA receptor antagonist phencyclidine (PCP) and the serotonergic hallucinogen 1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl-2-aminopropane; DOI) produce a series of common actions in rodent prefrontal cortex (PFC) that may underlie psychotomimetic effects. Hence, both agents markedly disrupt PFC function by altering pyramidal neuron discharge (with an overall increase) and reducing the power of low frequency cortical oscillations (LFCO; &lt; 4 Hz). In parallel, PCP increased c-fos expression in excitatory neurons of various cortical areas, the thalamus and other subcortical structures, such as the amygdala. Electrophysiological studies revealed that PCP altered similarly the function of the centromedial and mediodorsal nuclei of the thalamus, reciprocally connected with PFC, suggesting that its psychotomimetic properties are mediated by an alteration of thalamocortical activity (the effect of DOI was not examined in the thalamus). Interestingly, the observed effects were prevented or reversed by the antipsychotic drugs clozapine and haloperidol, supporting that the disruption of PFC activity is intimately related to the psychotomimetic activity of these agents. Overall, the present experimental model can be successfully used to elucidate the neurobiological basis of schizophrenia symptoms and to examine the potential antipsychotic activity of new drugs in development. 
23915719	Prepubertal chronic stress and ketamine administration to rats as a neurodevelopmental model of schizophrenia symptomatology. 	Increased vulnerability to psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, has been associated with higher levels of stress. In the early development of the central nervous system, changes in function of glutamatergic N-Methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors can possibly result in the development of psychosis, cognitive impairment and emotional dysfunction in adulthood. Thus, in this study we examined the behavioural consequences of the exposure of male rats to chronic stress (postnatal days 30-60) and ketamine administration (postnatal days 41-45); both during a sensitive developmental time window. We found that the locomotor activity of both ketamine and ketamine+chronic stress groups was significantly higher compared with that of the control rats. In contrast, the locomotor activity of the chronic stress group was significantly lower compared with all other groups. Examining anhedonia in the sucrose preference test we found a significantly decreased sucrose intake in both ketamine+chronic stress and the chronic stress groups compared with the control rats. No significant differences were observed in sucrose intake between the control and the ketamine group. The object recognition test revealed that the attention to the novel object was significantly impaired in the ketamine+chronic stress group. Similarly, the ketamine+chronic stress group showed the poorest learning ability in the eight-arm radial maze, starting on the 8th day. Finally, throughout the different pre-pulse intensities, the ketamine+chronic stress group showed impaired PPI compared with all other groups. The results indicate that the combination of prepubertal onset of chronic stress and ketamine may serve as a valid novel animal model for schizophrenia-like symptoms. 
24099265	Translating the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist model of schizophrenia to treatments for cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. 	The N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonists, phencyclidine (PCP), dizocilpine (MK-801), or ketamine, given subchronically (sc) to rodents and primates, produce prolonged deficits in cognitive function, including novel object recognition (NOR), an analog of human declarative memory, one of the cognitive domains impaired in schizophrenia. Atypical antipsychotic drugs (AAPDs) have been reported to improve declarative memory in some patients with schizophrenia, as well as to ameliorate and prevent the NOR deficit in rodents following scNMDAR antagonist treatment. While the efficacy of AAPDs to improve cognitive impairment in schizophrenia (CIS) is limited, at best, and controversial, single doses of all currently available AAPDs so far tested transiently restore NOR in rodents following scNMDAR antagonist treatment. Typical antipsychotic drugs (APDs), e.g. haloperidol and perphenazine, are ineffective in this rodent model, and may be less effective as treatments of some domains of CIS. Serotonergic mechanisms, including, but not limited to serotonin (5-HT)2A and 5-HT7 antagonism, 5-HT(1A), and GABA(A) agonism, contribute to the efficacy of the AAPDs in the scNMDAR antagonist rodent models, which are relevant to the loss of GABA interneuron/hyperglutamate hypothesis of the etiology of CIS. The ability of sub-effective doses of the atypical APDs to ameliorate NOR in the scNMDAR-treated rodents can be restored by the addition of a sub-effective dose of the 5-HT(1A) partial agonist, tandospirone, or the 5-HT7 antagonist, SB269970. The mGluR2/3 agonist, LY379268, which itself is unable to restore NOR in the scNMDAR-treated rodents, can also restore NOR when given with lurasidone, an AAPD. Enhancing cortical and hippocampal dopamine and acetylcholine efflux, or both, may contribute to the restoration of NOR by the atypical APDs. Importantly, co-administration of lurasidone, tandospirone, or SB269970, with PCP, to rodents, at doses 5-10 fold greater than those acutely effective to restore NOR following scNMDAR treatment, prevents the effect of scPCP to produce an enduring deficit in NOR. This difference in dosage may be relevant to utilizing AAPDs to prevent the onset of CIS in individuals at high risk for developing schizophrenia. The scNMDAR paradigm may be useful for identifying possible means to treat and prevent CIS. 
23775300	Rivastigmine reverses cognitive deficit and acetylcholinesterase activity induced by ketamine in an animal model of schizophrenia. 	Schizophrenia is one of the most disabling mental disorders that affects up to 1 % of the population worldwide. Although the causes of this disorder remain unknown, it has been extensively characterized by a broad range of emotional, ideational and cognitive impairments. Studies indicate that schizophrenia affects neurotransmitters such as dopamine, glutamate and acetylcholine. Recent studies suggest that rivastigmine (an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor) is important to improve the cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia. Therefore, the present study evaluated the protective effect of rivastigmine against the ketamine-induced behavioral (hyperlocomotion and cognitive deficit) and biochemical (increase of acetylcholinesterase activity) changes which characterize an animal model of schizophrenia in rats. Our results indicated that rivastigmine was effective to improve the cognitive deficit in different task (immediate memory, long term memory and short term memory) induced by ketamine in rats. Moreover, we observed that rivastigmina reversed the increase of acetylcholinesterase activity induced by ketamine in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus and striatum. However, rivastigmine was not able to prevent the ketamine-induced hyperlocomotion. In conslusion, ours results indicate that cholinergic system might be an important therapeutic target in the physiopathology of schizophrenia, mainly in the cognition, but additional studies should be carried. 
23039388	Behavioral interventions in multiple sclerosis: a biopsychosocial perspective. 	Managing uncertainty is a major challenge associated with the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS). In addition to physical symptoms, neuropsychiatric symptoms are highly prevalent in this disease. Depression in particular is more common in MS than in other chronic diseases. While substantial achievements have been made in the therapy of MS and an increasing number of immunomodulatory treatments are now available, the long-term benefits of these are still a matter of debate. Importantly, while the approved therapies show good efficacy on inflammatory lesions and relapse rate, and may slow certain aspects of disease progression, improvements in function have rarely been reported. On the other hand, behavioral interventions have recently been shown to significantly improve fatigue and depression as well as motor function. In addition, recent evidence suggests that group education or face-to-face behavioral interventions may decrease inflammatory disease activity (such as relapse rate or lesion formation measured by MRI). Therefore, behavioral interventions not only ameliorate symptoms but may have the potential to modify the disease process itself. 
22864573	Social networks reveal cultural behaviour in tool-using [corrected] dolphins. 	Animal tool use is of inherent interest given its relationship to intelligence, innovation and cultural behaviour. Here we investigate whether Shark Bay bottlenose dolphins that use marine sponges as hunting tools (spongers) are culturally distinct from other dolphins in the population based on the criteria that sponging is both socially learned and distinguishes between groups. We use social network analysis to determine social preferences among 36 spongers and 69 non-spongers sampled over a 22-year period while controlling for location, sex and matrilineal relatedness. Homophily (the tendency to associate with similar others) based on tool-using status was evident in every analysis, although maternal kinship, sex and location also contributed to social preference. Female spongers were more cliquish and preferentially associated with other spongers over non-spongers. Like humans who preferentially associate with others who share their subculture, tool-using dolphins prefer others like themselves, strongly suggesting that sponge tool-use is a cultural behaviour. 
22071630	Neural correlates of giving support to a loved one. 	Social support may benefit mental and physical well-being, but most research has focused on the receipt, rather than the provision, of social support. We explored the potentially beneficial effects of support giving by examining the neural substrates of giving support to a loved one. We focused on a priori regions of interest in the ventral striatum and septal area (SA) because of their role in maternal caregiving behavior in animals. Twenty romantic couples completed a functional magnetic resonance imaging session in which the female partner underwent a scan while her partner stood just outside the scanner and received unpleasant electric shocks. Support giving (holding a partner's arm while they experienced physical pain), compared with other control conditions, led to significantly more activity in the ventral striatum, a reward-related region also involved in maternal behavior (p values &lt; .05). Similar effects were observed for the SA, a region involved in both maternal behavior and fear attenuation. Greater activity in each of these regions during support giving was associated with greater self-reported support giving effectiveness and social connection (r values = 0.55-0.64, p values &lt; .05). In addition, in line with the SA's role in fear attenuation (presumably to facilitate caregiving during stress), increased SA activity during support giving was associated with reduced left (r = -0.44, p &lt; .05) and right (r = -0.42, p &lt; .05) amygdala activity. Results suggest that support giving may be beneficial not only for the receiver but also for the giver. Implications for the possible stress-reducing effects of support giving are discussed. 
21683459	Integrating contact network structure into tuberculosis epidemiology in meerkats in South Africa: Implications for control. 	Empirical studies that integrate information on host contact patterns with infectious disease transmission over time are rare. The aims of this study were to determine the relative importance of intra-group social interactions in the transmission of tuberculosis (TB; Mycobacterium bovis infection) in a population of wild meerkats (Suricata suricatta) in South Africa, and to use this information to propose an evidence-based intervention strategy to manage this disease. Detailed behavioural observations of all members of eight meerkat groups (n=134 individuals) were made over 24 months from January 2006 to December 2007. Social network analysis of three types of interaction (aggression, foraging competitions and grooming) revealed social structure to be very stable over time. Clustering of interactions was positively correlated with group size for both aggression (r=0.73) and grooming interactions (r=0.71), suggesting that infections may spread locally within clusters of interacting individuals but be limited from infecting all members of large groups by an apparent threshold in connections between different clusters. Repeated biological sampling every three months of all members of one social group (n=37 meerkats) was undertaken to quantify individual changes in M. bovis infection status. These empirical data were used to construct a dynamic network model of TB transmission within a meerkat group. The results indicated that grooming (both giving and receiving) was more likely than aggression to be correlated with M. bovis transmission and that groomers were at higher risk of infection than groomees. Intervention strategies for managing TB in meerkats that focus on those individuals engaging in the highest amount of grooming are therefore proposed. 
24309317	Timing vocal behaviour: experimental evidence for song overlap avoidance in Eurasian wrens. 	Timing during vocal interactions can play a significant role in terms of audibility as signal overlap may lead to masking of acoustic details for both of the interacting animals as well as for third-party eavesdroppers. Here we investigated timing aspects experimentally in Eurasian wrens (Troglodytes troglodytes) using non-interactive playback. We applied a randomized overlay method incorporating the temporal pattern of singing by the focal bird to establish a null model and to test observed patterns of overlap against this null model. We used different stimulus song rates but temporal response patterns always resulted in significantly lower levels of overlap than expected by chance. The male wrens avoided overlapping by timing their song starts predominately right after the end of stimulus songs, but they did not avoid being overlapped by the stimulus songs. The territorial males typically raised their song rates during and after playback with a tendency to shorten between-song intervals while keeping song durations unchanged. Higher song rates of the playback stimuli increased the extent to which responders were being overlapped by the stimulus songs. Our data provide experimental evidence for a timing ability in Eurasian wrens by which they reduce mutual interference during vocal interactions. 
24345518	Group display in the socially monogamous Northern Double-collared Sunbird (Cinnyris reichenowi). 	Several sunbird species (Nectariniidae) exhibit group display, but the function of this behaviour still remains unclear. We test two hypotheses (reproductive tactic and joint territory defence) to explain the function of this behaviour using data gathered on Northern Double-collared Sunbirds (Cinnyris reichenowi) from the Cameroon Mountains. Sunbirds exhibited group display throughout the breeding cycle. Groups of birds were mainly comprised of neighbouring pairs aggregated at territory boundaries. The frequency of group displays varied significantly among individuals and over the breeding cycle, with the highest frequency during the pre-breeding period and the lowest during egg-laying (∼female's fertile period). Time spent on group display was significantly longer at the end of breeding. Off-territory forays were recorded for both males and females, males significantly increased the time spent on these forays during incubation. Extra-pair copulations were recorded only in five cases for females (4%) suggesting that most off-territory forays were motivated by feeding on nectar in neighbouring territories. Therefore, we suggest that the behaviour is used for joint territory defence rather than as an information centre for choosing mates for extra-pair copulations. Its function for choosing primary mates is also unlikely, because group displays were mainly observed in complete pairs. 
24365541	Object-horning in goitered gazelle: agonistic or marking behaviour? 	We studied object-horning behaviour in goitered gazelles in the natural, arid environment of Kazakhstan over a 6-year period. We found that object-horning was used by adult males mostly as a threat display during territorial conflicts. Therefore object-horning was observed most frequently in territorial single males during the rut in November-December. Object-horning, though, also had a marking effect, with the males' use of this behaviour leaving visible traces that advertized the location of preorbital and urination-defecation scent marks. Therefore, this pattern also was observed linked with preorbital marking and urination-defecation marking behaviours, especially during the rut. Goitered gazelle males chose the most abundant and eatable shrubs for object horning. In contrast to other gazelle species, object-horning in goitered gazelle was observed much more frequently and at the same rate as preorbital and urination-defecation scent markings. This, then, proved a more vigorous and aggressive level of rutting behaviour of the goitered gazelle compared to tropical gazelles, and most likely connected to the short rutting period in the studied species. We concluded, therefore, that object-horning was a manifold phenomenon that played a very important role in goitered gazelle agonistic displays, but without loosing the marking intention of this behaviour. 
22031714	The social status of the male Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) influences testis structure and gene expression. 	Dominant and territorial behaviour are known social phenomena in cichlids and social stress influences reproduction and growth. The gonadotropic hormones trigger spermatogenesis and subordinate males have typically lower levels of gonadotropins than dominant males. In this study, we compared testis morphology and gene expression of dominant and subordinate Nile tilapia males (d- and s-males) in socially stable communities. The d-males had the highest gonadosomatic index but they were not the largest animals in the majority of studied cases. Long-term d-males showed large groups of Leydig cells and hyperplasia of the tunica albuginea due to numerous cytochrome-P450-11β-hydroxylase (Cyp11b) expressing myoid cells. Increased Cyp11b expression in d-males was reflected by elevated 11-ketotestosterone plasma values. However, immunofluorescence microscopy and expression analysis of selected genes revealed that most s-males conserved their capability for spermatogenesis and are, therefore, ready for reproduction when the social environment changes. Moreover, in s-males gene expression analysis by quantitative RT-PCR showed increased transcript levels for germ line-specific genes (vasa, sox2 and dmc1) and Sertoli-specific genes (amh, amhrII and dmrt1) whereas gene expression of key factors for steroid production (sf1 and cyp11b) were reduced. The Nile tilapia is a promising model to study social cues and gonadotropic signals on testis development in vertebrates. 
25082262	Surface feeding and aggressive behaviour of diploid and triploid brown trout Salmo trutta during allopatric pair-wise matchings. 	Diploid and triploid brown trout Salmo trutta were acclimated for 6 weeks on two feeding regimes (floating and sinking). Thereafter, aggression and surface feeding response were compared between pairs of all diploid, all triploid and diploid and triploid S. trutta in an experimental stream. In each pair-wise matching, fish of similar size were placed in allopatry and rank was determined by the total number of aggressive interactions recorded. Dominant individuals initiated more aggression than subordinates, spent more time defending a territory and positioned themselves closer to the surface food source (Gammarus pulex), whereas subordinates occupied the peripheries. In cross ploidy trials, diploid S. trutta were more aggressive than triploid, and dominated their sibling when placed in pair-wise matchings. Surface feeding, however, did not differ statistically between ploidy irrespective of feeding regime. Triploids adopted a sneak feeding strategy while diploids expended more time defending a territory. In addition, we also tested whether triploids exhibit a similar social dominance to diploids when placed in allopatry. Although aggression was lower in triploid pairs than in the diploid and triploid pairs, a dominance hierarchy was also observed between individuals of the same ploidy. Dominant triploid fish were more aggressive and consumed more feed items than subordinate individuals. Subordinate fish displayed a darker colour index than dominant fish suggesting increased stress levels. Dominant triploid fish, however, appeared to be more tolerant of subordinate individuals and did not display the same degree of invasive aggression as seen in the diploid and diploid or diploid and triploid matchings. These novel findings suggest that sterile triploid S. trutta feed similarly but are less aggressive than diploid trout. Future studies should determine the habitat choice of triploid S. trutta after release and the interaction between wild fish and triploids during the breeding season prior to utilization of triploids as an alternative management strategy within freshwater fisheries. 
23800249	Insights into population ecology from long-term studies of red grouse Lagopus lagopus scoticus. 	Long-term studies have been the backbone of population ecology. The red grouse Lagopus lagopus scoticus is one species that has contributed widely to this field since the 1950s. This paper reviews the trajectory and profound impact that these studies have had. Red grouse research has combined long-term studies of marked individuals with demographic studies over wide geographical areas and replicated individual- and population-level manipulations. A main focus has been on understanding the causes of population cycles in red grouse, and in particular the relative importance of intrinsic (behaviour) and extrinsic (climate, food limitation and parasite) mechanisms. Separate studies conducted in different regions initially proposed either the nematode parasite Trichostrongylus tenuis or changes in male aggressiveness in autumn as drivers of population cycles. More recent experiments suggest that parasites are not a necessary cause for cycles and have highlighted that behavioural and parasite-mediated mechanisms are interrelated. Long-term experiments show that parasites and aggressiveness interact. Two outstanding questions remain to be tested experimentally. First, what intrinsic mechanism causes temporal variation in patterns of male aggressiveness? The current favoured mechanism is related to patterns of kin structuring although there are alternative hypotheses. Second, how do the dual, interacting mechanisms, affect population dynamics? Red grouse studies have had an important impact on the field of population ecology, in particular through highlighting: (1) the impact of parasites on populations; (2) the role of intrinsic mechanisms in cyclic dynamics and (3) the need to consider multiple, interacting mechanisms. 
23978772	An empirically based simulation of group foraging in the harvesting ant, Messor pergandei. 	We present an empirically based group model of foraging interactions in Messor pergandei, the Sonoran desert harvesting ant. M. pergandei colonies send out daily foraging columns consisting of tens of thousands of individual ants. Each day, the directions of the columns may change depending on the resource availability and the neighbor interactions. If neighboring columns meet, ants fight, and subsequent foraging is suppressed. M. pergandei colonies face a general problem which is present in many systems: dynamic spatial partitioning in a constantly changing environment, while simultaneously minimizing negative competitive interactions with multiple neighbors. Our simulation model of a population of column foragers is spatially explicit and includes neighbor interactions. We study how different behavioral strategies influence resource exploitation and space use for different nest distributions and densities. Column foraging in M. pergandei is adapted to the spatial and temporal properties of their natural habitat. Resource and space use is maximized both at the colony and the population level by a model with a behavioral strategy including learning and fast forgetting rates. 
23868682	Variability of serum markers of erythropoiesis during 6 days of racing in highly trained cyclists. 	The athlete biological passport for the fight against doping is currently based on longitudinal monitoring for abnormal changes in cellular blood parameters. Serum parameters related to altered erythropoiesis could be considered for inclusion in the passport. The aim of this study was to quantify the changes in such parameters in athletes during a period of intense exercise.12 highly trained cyclists tapered for 3 days before 6 days of simulated intense stage racing. Morning and afternoon blood samples were taken on most days and analysed for total protein, albumin, soluble transferrin receptor and ferritin concentrations. Plasma volume was determined via total haemoglobin mass measured by carbon-monoxide rebreathing. Percent changes in means from baseline and percent standard errors of measurement (analytical error plus intra-athlete variation) on each measurement occasion were estimated with mixed linear modelling of log-transformed measures. Means of all variables changed substantially in the days following the onset of racing, ranging from -13% (haemoglobin concentration) to +27% (ferritin). After the second day, errors of measurement were generally twice those at baseline. Plasma variables were affected by heavy exercise, either because of changes in plasma volume (total protein, albumin, haemoglobin), acute phase/inflammatory reactions (ferritin) or both (soluble transferrin receptor). These effects need to be taken into consideration when integrating a plasma parameter into the biological passport model for athletes. 
23909650	Doing supplements to improve performance in club cycling: a life-course analysis. 	Using qualitative life-course and pathway analysis, this article explores the beliefs that serious club cyclists have about performance improvement, and what they think are appropriate and inappropriate ways of achieving it. We interviewed 11 cyclists from suburban clubs in Melbourne, Australia, and invited them to discuss their approach to training, racing, and supplementation. We found that each of the 11 cyclists were not only committed to the sport, but also paid a keen interest in bike technology and training regimes. In addition, they believed that supplement use was integral to meeting the physical and mental demands of their sport, even at club level. They also understood that supplement use, like training regimes, followed a sequential pathway where the accumulation of capacity, know-know, and knowledge, allowed progression to the next level of performance. And, like similar studies of club cycling in Europe, this cohort of cyclists balked at using banned substances, but also believed that in order to effectively transition to the elite - that is, professional - level, some additional supplement and drug-use was essential. 
23274597	Pseudoephedrine and preexercise feeding: influence on performance. 	This study examined the influence of preexercise food intake on plasma pseudoephedrine (PSE) concentrations and subsequent high-intensity exercise. In addition, urinary PSE concentrations were measured under the same conditions and compared with the present threshold of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Ten highly trained male cyclists and triathletes (age = 30.6 ± 6.6 yr, body mass [BM] = 72.9 ± 5.1 kg, and V˙O2max = 64.8 ± 4.5 mL·kg·min; mean ± SD) undertook four cycling time trials (TT), each requiring the completion of a set amount of work (7 kJ·kg BM) in the shortest possible time. Participants were randomized into a fed or nonfed condition and orally ingested 2.8 mg·kg BM of PSE or a placebo (PLA) 90 min before exercise; in the fed trials, they consumed a meal providing 1.5 g·kg BM of CHO. Venous blood was sampled at 30, 50, and 70 min and pre-warm-up and postexercise for the analysis of plasma PSE and catecholamine concentrations, and urine was also collected for the analysis of PSE concentration. Independent of the preexercise meal, 2.8 mg·kg BM of PSE did not significantly improve cycling TT performance. The fed trials resulted in lower plasma PSE concentrations at all time points compared with the nonfed trials. Both plasma epinephrine and blood lactate concentrations were higher in the PSE compared with the PLA trials, and preexercise and postexercise urinary PSE concentrations were significantly higher than the threshold (150 μg·mL) used by WADA to determine illicit PSE use. Irrespective of the preexercise meal, cycling TT performance of approximately 30 min was not improved after PSE supplementation. Furthermore, 2.8 mg·kg BM of PSE taken 90 min before exercise, with or without food, resulted in urinary PSE concentrations exceeding the present WADA threshold. 
23838970	Acute effects of small changes in bicycle saddle height on gross efficiency and lower limb kinematics. 	The aim of the present study was to assess the acute effects of small changes in bicycle saddle height on gross efficiency (GE) and lower-limb kinematics. Well-trained cyclists (n = 14) performed a submaximal pedaling test (~70-75% of the v[Combining Dot Above]O2max) at constant cadence (90 rpm). It consisted of 3 randomized sets of 6 minutes with the preferred saddle height, 2% higher and 2% lower. Gross efficiency was significantly lower and oxygen consumption (v[Combining Dot Above]O2) was significantly higher when raising the saddle (GE = 19.9 ± 1.5%; V[Combining Dot Above]O2max = 43.8 ml·kg·min) than when lowering it (GE = 20.4 ± 1.3%; V[Combining Dot Above]O2 = 42.8 ml·kg·min). Additionally, a change of 0.8% in GE (20.6 ± 1.6% to 19.8 ± 1.6%, p &lt; 0.05) was observed when comparing the positions where the best and worst GE was obtained. A significant effect of the small changes in saddle height on lower limb kinematics was also observed (p &lt; 0.05). The differences between lower and higher saddle positions, in hip, knee, and ankle joints were an increase of extension (~4, 7, and 8°, respectively), a decrease of flexion (~3, 4, and 4°, respectively) and, consequently, an increase of the range of movement (~1, 3, and 4°, respectively). The results of the present study indicate that small changes in saddle height affected GE and lower limb kinematics The observed changes in lower limb kinematics could justify, in part, the GE changes. Further research should evaluate long-term effects of these small modifications in the seat height on GE and lower limb kinematics. 
24338100	Consistency of commercial devices for measuring elevation gain. 	To determine the consistency of commercially available devices used for measuring elevation gain in outdoor activities and sports. Two separate observational validation studies were conducted. Garmin (Forerunner 310XT, Edge 500, Edge 750, and Edge 800; with and without elevation correction) and SRM (Power Control 7) devices were used to measure total elevation gain (TEG) over a 15.7-km mountain climb performed on 6 separate occasions (6 devices; study 1) and during a 138-km cycling event (164 devices; study 2). TEG was significantly different between the Garmin and SRM devices (P &lt; .05). The between-devices variability in TEG was lower when measured with the SRM than with the Garmin devices (study 1: 0.2% and 1.5%, respectively). The use of the Garmin elevation-correction option resulted in a 5-10% increase in the TEG. While measurements of TEG were relatively consistent within each brand, the measurements differed between the SRM and Garmin devices by as much as 3%. Caution should be taken when comparing elevation-gain data recorded with different settings or with devices of different brands. 
24509507	Assessment of bilateral asymmetry in cycling using a commercial instrumented crank system and instrumented pedals. 	The accuracy of commercial instrumented crank systems for symmetry assessment in cycling has not been fully explored. Therefore, the authors' aims were to compare peak crank torque between a commercial instrumented crank system and instrumented pedals and to assess the effect of power output on bilateral asymmetries during cycling. Ten competitive cyclists performed an incremental cycling test to exhaustion. Forces and pedal angles were recorded using right and left instrumented pedals synchronized with crank-torque measurements using an instrumented crank system. Differences in right (dominant) and left (nondominant) peak torque and asymmetry index were assessed using effect sizes. In the 100- to 250-W power-output range, the instrumented pedal system recorded larger peak torque (dominant 55-122%, nondominant 23-99%) than the instrumented crank system. There was an increase in differences between dominant and nondominant crank torque as power output increased using the instrumented crank system (7% to 33%) and the instrumented pedals (9% to 66%). Lower-limb asymmetries in peak torque increased at higher power-output levels in favor of the dominant leg. Limitations in design of the instrumented crank system may preclude the use of this system to assess peak crank-torque symmetry. 
24618375	Cyclist head and facial injury risk in relation to helmet fit: a case-control study. 	We examined the effect of bicycle helmet fit and position on head and facial injuries. Cases were helmeted cyclists with a head (n=297) or facial (n=289) injury. Controls were helmeted cyclists with other injuries, excluding the neck. Participants were interviewed in seven Alberta emergency departments or by telephone; injury data were collected from charts. Missing values were imputed using chained equations and custom prediction imputation models. Compared with excellent helmet fit, those with poor fit had increased odds of head injury (odds ratio [OR] = 3.38, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.06-10.74). Compared with a helmet that stayed centred, those whose helmet tilted back (OR = 2.90, 95% CI: 1.54-5.47), shifted (OR = 1.91, 95% CI: 1.01-3.63) or came off (OR = 6.72, 95% CI: 2.86-15.82) had higher odds of head injury. A helmet that tilted back (OR = 4.81, 95% CI: 2.74-8.46), shifted (OR = 1.83, 95% CI: 1.04-3.19) or came off (OR = 3.31, 95% CI: 1.24-8.85) also increased the odds of facial injury. Our findings have implications for consumer and retail education programs. Abstract available from the publisher. 
24963841	Les lanternes rouges: the race for information about cycling-related female sexual dysfunction. 	Cycling is growing in popularity among women. As in men, it is associated with genital neuropathies and decreased sensation in female riders. However, there is a gap in research and information addressing the relationship between cycling and female sexual dysfunction (FSD) in women. To review the literature investigating pelvic floor injuries and sexual dysfunction in female cyclists. Searches in several electronic databases were conducted, and relevant articles that met the inclusion criteria were identified for critical review. The main outcome measure to be determined was the strength of the current body of evidence in published literature of a correlation between cycling-related pelvic floor injuries and FSD. Data on FSD from cycling-related injuries in women are limited. Research indicates that bicycle setup and riding equipment may be contributing factors. Women's ergonomics and physiology interact differently with the bicycle than men's. Current evidence offers insufficient foundation to recommend various effect-mitigating equipment and products. While gender-specific cycling products offer a promising direction for protecting women riders, studies addressing FSD and pelvic floor injuries in women cyclists are inadequate to indicate clear etiology or provide treatment recommendations. Current evidence is also insufficient to recommend effect-mitigating equipment and products. 
24200338	From bicycle chain ring shape to gear ratio: algorithm and examples. 	A simple model of the bicycle drive system with a non-circular front chain ring is proposed and an algorithm is devised for calculation of the corresponding Gear Ratio As a Function Of Crank Angle (GRAFOCA). It is shown that the true effective radius of the chain ring is always the perpendicular distance between the crank axis and the line through the chain segment between the chain ring and the cog. It is illustrated that the true effective radius of the chain ring at any crank angle may differ substantially from the maximum vertical distance between the crank axis and the chain ring circumference that is used as a proxy for the effective chain ring radius in several studies; in particular, the crank angle at which the effective chain ring radius is maximal as predicted from the latter approach may deviate by as much as 0.30 rad from the true value. The algorithm proposed may help in designing chain rings that achieve the desired GRAFOCA. 
25122995	Effect of chainring ovality on joint power during cycling at different workloads and cadences. 	Non-circular chainrings theoretically enhance cycling performance by increasing effective chainring diameter and varying crank velocity, but research has failed to consistently reproduce the benefits in cycling trials. The aim of this study was (1) to investigate the effect of different chainring shapes on sagittal knee joint moment and sagittal lower limb joint powers and (2) to investigate whether alterations are affected by cadence and workload. Fourteen elite cyclists cycled in six conditions (70, 90 and 110 rpm, each at 180 and 300 W), for 2 min each, using three chainrings of different ovalities (1.0-1.215). Kinematic data and pedal forces were collected. For most conditions, only the chainring with the highest ovality (1.215) was characterised by smaller sagittal knee joint moments, smaller relative sagittal knee joint power contribution and larger relative sagittal hip joint power contribution, which suggests a change from maximising efficiency to maximising power production. Effect sizes increased with higher cadences, but not with higher workload. This study has application for athletes, clinicians and sports equipment industry as a non-circular chainring can change joint-specific power generation and decrease knee joint moment, but certain ovality seems to be necessary to provoke this effect. 
24306321	Accuracy of indirect estimation of power output from uphill performance in cycling. 	To use measurement by cycling power meters (Pmes) to evaluate the accuracy of commonly used models for estimating uphill cycling power (Pest). Experiments were designed to explore the influence of wind speed and steepness of climb on accuracy of Pest. The authors hypothesized that the random error in Pest would be largely influenced by the windy conditions, the bias would be diminished in steeper climbs, and windy conditions would induce larger bias in Pest. Sixteen well-trained cyclists performed 15 uphill-cycling trials (range: length 1.3-6.3 km, slope 4.4-10.7%) in a random order. Trials included different riding position in a group (lead or follow) and different wind speeds. Pmes was quantified using a power meter, and Pest was calculated with a methodology used by journalists reporting on the Tour de France. Overall, the difference between Pmes and Pest was -0.95% (95%CI: -10.4%, +8.5%) for all trials and 0.24% (-6.1%, +6.6%) in conditions without wind (&lt;2 m/s). The relationship between percent slope and the error between Pest and Pmes were considered trivial. Aerodynamic drag (affected by wind velocity and orientation, frontal area, drafting, and speed) is the most confounding factor. The mean estimated values are close to the power-output values measured by power meters, but the random error is between ±6% and ±10%. Moreover, at the power outputs (&gt;400 W) produced by professional riders, this error is likely to be higher. This observation calls into question the validity of releasing individual values without reporting the range of random errors. 
24501145	Acute physical exercise affected processing efficiency in an auditory attention task more than processing effectiveness. 	Research on effects of acute physical exercise on performance in a concurrent cognitive task has generated equivocal evidence. Processing efficiency theory predicts that concurrent physical exercise can increase resource requirements for sustaining cognitive performance even when the level of performance is unaffected. This hypothesis was tested in a dual-task experiment. Sixty young adults worked on a primary auditory attention task and a secondary interval production task while cycling on a bicycle ergometer. Physical load (cycling) and cognitive load of the primary task were manipulated. Neither physical nor cognitive load affected primary task performance, but both factors interacted on secondary task performance. Sustaining primary task performance under increased physical and/or cognitive load increased resource consumption as indicated by decreased secondary task performance. Results demonstrated that physical exercise effects on cognition might be underestimated when only single task performance is the focus. 
24085374	Impairment of 40-km time-trial performance but not peak power output with external iliac kinking: a case study in a world-class cyclist. 	Iliac blood-flow restrictions causing painful and &quot;powerless&quot; legs are often attributed to overtraining and may develop for some time before being correctly diagnosed. In the current study, differences between actual performance parameters and performance parameters predicted from the Lamberts and Lambert Submaximal Cycle Test (LSCT) were studied in a world-class cyclist with bilateral kinking of the external iliac artery before and after surgery. Two performance-testing sessions, including a peak-power-output (PPO) test and a 40-km time trial (TT) were conducted before surgery, while 1 testing session was conducted after the surgery. Actual vs LSCT-predicted performance parameters in the world-class cyclists were compared with 82 symptom-free trained to elite male cyclists. No differences were found between actual and LSCT-predicted PPO before and after surgical intervention. However, there were differences between actual and LSCT-predicted 40-km TT time in the tests performed before the surgery (2:51and 2:55 min:s, respectively). These differences were no longer apparent in the postsurgery 40-km TT (2 s). This finding suggests that iliac blood-flow restrictions seem to mainly impair endurance performance rather than peak cycling performance. A standard PPO test without brachial ankle blood-pressure measurements might not be able to reflect iliac blood-flow restrictions. Differences between actual and LSCT-predicted 40-km TT time may assist in earlier referral to a cardiovascular specialist and result in earlier detection of iliac blood-flow restrictions. 
24088819	Olympic preparation of a world-class female triathlete. 	Detailed accounts of the training programs followed by today's elite triathletes are lacking in the sport-science literature. This study reports on the training program of a world-class female triathlete preparing to compete in the London 2012 Olympic Games. Over 50 wk, she performed 796 sessions (303 swim, 194 bike, 254 run, 45 strength training), ie, 16 ± 4 sessions/wk (mean ± SD). Swim, bike, and run training volumes were, respectively, 1230 km (25 ± 8 km/wk), 427 h (9 ± 3 h/wk), and 250 h (5 ± 2 h/wk). Training tasks were categorized and prescribed based on heart-rate values and/or speeds and power outputs associated with different blood lactate concentrations. Training performed at intensities below her individual lactate threshold (ILT), between the ILT and the onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA), and above the OBLA for swim were 74% ± 6%, 16% ± 2%, 10% ± 2%; bike 88% ± 3%, 10% ± 1%, 2.1% ± 0.2%; and run 85% ± 2%, 8.0% ± 0.3%, 6.7% ± 0.3%. Training organization was adapted to the busy competition calendar (18 events, of which 8 were Olympic-distance triathlons) and continuously responded to emerging information. Training volumes were 35-80% higher than those previously reported for elite male and female triathletes, but training intensity and tapering strategies successfully followed recommended best practice for endurance athletes. This triathlete placed 7th in London 2012, and her world ranking improved from 14th to 8th at the end of 2012. 
24235776	Variability in power output during cycling in international Olympic-distance triathlon. 	The patterns of power output in the ~1-h cycle section of Olympic-distance triathlon races are not well documented. Here the authors establish a typical cycling-race profile derived from several International Triathlon Union elite-level drafting-legal triathlon races. The authors collated 12 different race power profiles from elite male triathletes (N = 5, age 25 ± 5 y, body mass 65.5 ± 5.6 kg; mean ± SD) during 7 international races. Power output was recorded using SRM cranks and analyzed with proprietary software. The mean power output was 252 ± 33 W, or 3.9 ± 0.5 W/kg in relative terms, with a coefficient of variation of 71% ± 13%. Normalized power (power output an athlete could sustain if intensity were maintained constant without any variability) for the entire cycle section was 291 ± 29 W, or 40 ± 13 W higher than the actual mean power output. There were 34 ± 14 peaks of power output above 600 W and ~18% time spent at &gt;100% of maximal aerobic power. Cycling during Olympic-distance triathlon, characterized by frequent and large power variations including repeat supramaximal efforts, equates to a higher workload than cycling at constant power. 
23412624	The influence of hot humid and hot dry environments on intermittent-sprint exercise performance. 	To examine the effect of a hot humid (HH) compared with a hot dry (HD) environment, matched for heat stress, on intermittent-sprint performance. In comparison with HD, HH environments compromise evaporative heat loss and decrease exercise tolerance. It was hypothesized that HH would produce greater physiological strain and reduce intermittent-sprint exercise performance compared with HD. Eleven male team-sport players completed the cycling intermittent-sprint protocol (CISP) in 3 conditions, temperate (TEMP; 21.2°C ± 1.3°C, 48.6% ± 8.4% relative humidity [rh]), HH (33.7°C ± 0.5°C, 78.2% ± 2.3% rh), and HD (40.2°C ± 0.2°C, 33.1% ± 4.9% rh), with both heat conditions matched for heat stress. All participants completed the CISP in TEMP, but 3 failed to completed the full protocol of 20 sprints in HH and HD. Peak power output declined in all conditions (P &lt; .05) but was not different between any condition (sprints 1-14 [N = 11]: HH 1073 ± 150 W, HD 1104 ± 127 W, TEMP, 1074± 134; sprints 15-20 [N = 8]: HH 954 ± 114 W, HD 997 ± 115 W, TEMP 993 ± 94; P &gt; .05). Physiological strain was not significantly different in HH compared with HD, but HH was higher than TEMP (P &lt; .05). Intermittent-sprint exercise performance of 40 min duration is impaired, but it is not different in HH and HD environments matched for heat stress despite evidence of a trend toward greater physiological strain in an HH environment. 
23756830	Effects of isolated locomotor muscle fatigue on pacing and time trial performance. 	Locomotor muscle fatigue impairs exercise performance during time to exhaustion tests. However, its effect on self-regulation of power output (pacing) is unknown. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the effects of locomotor muscle fatigue on pacing and time trial performance. Ten healthy recreationally active men completed a 15-min time trial on a cycle ergometer 30 min after undergoing an eccentric fatiguing protocol designed to induce a substantial strength loss in the knee extensor muscles without inducing significant metabolic stress. This fatigue condition was compared with a control condition, using a randomly counterbalanced AB/BA crossover design. Total work completed during the 15-min cycling time trial was significantly reduced by 4.8 % in the fatigue condition compared with the control condition. This was caused by a significant reduction in power output. Rating of perceived exertion was significantly higher in the fatigue condition compared with the control condition only during the first 3 min of the time trial. Heart rate and vastus lateralis integrated electromyogram were not significantly different between the two conditions. The results show that participants with fatigued locomotor muscles reduce their pace but do not change their pacing strategy. As a result, there was a significant reduction in time trial performance. As predicted by the psychobiological model of exercise performance, a slower pace may be a behavioral response to compensate for the significant increase in perception of effort induced by locomotor muscle fatigue. 
23881116	Standardized versus customized high-intensity training: effects on cycling performance. 	To determine whether a submaximal cycling test could be used to monitor and prescribe high-intensity interval training (HIT). Two groups of male cyclists completed 4 HIT sessions over a 2-wk period. The structured-training group (SG; n = 8, VO2max = 58.4 ± 4.2 mL · min-1 · kg-1) followed a predetermined training program while the flexible-training group (FG; n = 7, VO2max = 53.9 ± 5.0 mL · min-1 · kg-1) had the timing of their HIT sessions prescribed based on the data of the Lamberts and Lambert Submaximal Cycle Test (LSCT). Effect-size calculations showed large differences in the improvements in 40-km time-trial performance after the HIT training between SG (8 ± 45 s) and FG (48 ± 42 s). Heart-rate recovery, monitored during the study, tended to increase in FG and remain unchanged in SG. The results of the current study suggest that the LSCT may be a useful tool for coaches to monitor and prescribe HIT. 
23881270	Reliability of physiological attributes and their association with stochastic cycling performance. 	To assess the reliability of a 5-min-stage graded exercise test (GXT) and determine the association between physiological attributes and performance over stochastic cycling trials of varying distance. Twenty-eight well-trained male cyclists performed 2 GXTs and either a 30-km (n = 17) or a 100-km stochastic cycling time trial (n = 9). Stochastic cycling trials included periods of high-intensity efforts for durations of 250 m, 1 km, or 4 km depending on the test being performing. Maximal physiological attributes were found to be extremely reliable (maximal oxygen uptake [VO2max]: coefficient of variation [CV] 3.0%, intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] .911; peak power output [PPO]: CV 3.0%, ICC .913), but a greater variability was found in ventilatory thresholds and economy. All physiological variables measured during the GXT, except economy at 200 W, were correlated with 30-km cycling performance. Power output during the 250-m and 1-km efforts of the 30-km trial were correlated with VO2max, PPO, and the power output at the second ventilatory threshold (r = .58-.82). PPO was the only physiological attributed measured during the GXT to be correlated with performance during the 100-km cycling trial (r = .64). Many physiological variables from a reliable GXT were associated with performance over shorter (30-km) but not longer (100-km) stochastic cycling trials. 
23921084	Training-intensity distribution during an ironman season: relationship with competition performance. 	To describe training loads during an Ironman training program based on intensity zones and observe Training-performance relationships. Nine triathletes completed a program with the same periodization model aiming at participation in the same Ironman event. Before and during the study, subjects performed ramp-protocol tests, running, and cycling to determine aerobic (AeT) and anaerobic thresholds (AnT) through gas-exchange analysis. For swimming, subjects performed a graded lactate test to determine AeT and AnT. Training was subsequently controlled by heart rate (HR) during each training session over 18 wk. Training and the competition were both quantified based on the cumulative time spent in 3 intensity zones: zone 1 (low intensity; &lt;AeT), zone 2 (moderate intensity; between AeT and AnT), and zone 3 (high intensity; &gt;AnT). Most of training time was spent in zone 1 (68% ± 14%), whereas the Ironman competition was primarily performed in zone 2 (59% ± 22%). Significant inverse correlations were found between both total training time and training time in zone 1 vs performance time in competition (r = -.69 and -.92, respectively). In contrast, there was a moderate positive correlation between total training time in zone 2 and performance time in competition (r = .53) and a strong positive correlation between percentage of total training time in zone 2 and performance time in competition (r = .94). While athletes perform with HR mainly in zone 2, better performances are associated with more training time spent in zone 1. A high amount of cycling training in zone 2 may contribute to poorer overall performance. 
24571917	Effect of recovery interventions on cycling performance and pacing strategy in the heat. 	To determine the effect of active recovery (AR), passive rest (PR), and cold-water immersion (CWI) after 90 min of intensive cycling on a subsequent 12-min time trial (TT2) and the applied pacing strategy in TT2. After a maximal test and familiarization trial, 9 trained male subjects (age 22 ± 3 y, VO2max 62.1 ± 5.3 mL · min-1 · kg-1) performed 3 experimental trials in the heat (30°C). Each trial consisted of 2 exercise tasks separated by 1 h. The first was a 60-min constant-load trial at 55% of the maximal power output followed by a 30-min time trial (TT1). The second comprised a 12-min simulated time trial (TT2). After TT1, AR, PR, or CWI was applied for 15 min. No significant TT2 performance differences were observed, but a 1-sample t test (within each condition) revealed different pacing strategies during TT2. CWI resulted in an even pacing strategy, while AR and PR resulted in a gradual decline of power output after the onset of TT2 (P ≤ .046). During recovery, AR and CWI showed a trend toward faster blood lactate ([BLa]) removal, but during TT2 significantly higher [BLa] was only observed after CWI compared with PR (P = .011). The pacing strategy during subsequent cycling performance in the heat is influenced by the application of different postexercise recovery interventions. Although power was not significantly altered between groups, CWI enabled a differently shaped power profile, likely due to decreased thermal strain. 
21436467	Relationship between performance at different exercise intensities and skeletal muscle characteristics. 	The hypothesis investigated whether exercise performance over a broad range of intensities is determined by specific skeletal muscle characteristics. Seven subjects performed 8-10 exhaustive cycle trials at different workloads, ranging from 150 to 700 W (150 min to 20 s). No relationships between the performance times at high and low workloads were observed. A relationship (P &lt; 0.05) was noticed between the percentage of fast-twitch x fibers and the exercise time at 579 ± 21 W (∼30 s; r(2) = 0.88). Capillary-to-fiber-ratio (r(2): 0.58-0.85) was related (P &lt; 0.05) to exercise time at work intensities ranging from 395 to 270 W (2.5-21 min). Capillary density was correlated (r(2) = 0.68; P &lt; 0.05) with the net rate of plasma K(+) accumulation during an ∼3-min bout and was estimated to explain 50-80% (P &lt; 0.05) of the total variance observed in exercise performances lasting ∼30 s to 3 min. The Na(+)-K(+) pump β(1)-subunit expression was found to account for 13-34% (P &lt; 0.05) during exhaustive exercise of ∼1-4 min. In conclusion, exercise performance at different intensities is related to specific physiological variables. A large distribution of fast-twitch x fibers may play a role during very intense efforts, i.e., ∼30 s. Muscle capillaries and the Na(+)-K(+) pump β(1)-subunit seem to be important determinants for performance during exhaustive high-intensity exercises lasting between 30 s and 4 min. 
23514010	Using cognitive work analysis and the strategies analysis diagram to understand variability in road user behaviour at intersections. 	In this article, an application of cognitive work analysis (CWA), using the strategies analysis diagram (SAD) method, to model performance variability in road transport, is presented. Specifically, the method was used to describe performance variability across four road user groups (drivers, cyclists, motorcyclists and pedestrians) when turning right at an urban signalised intersection. The analysis demonstrated that the method was able to identify a comprehensive range of strategies that road users can potentially use while turning right at an intersection, thereby describing a range of performance variability within intersection systems. Furthermore, the method identified constraints, disturbances, changes in circumstances and other influences on road user performance variability. It is concluded that the CWA/SAD approach was able to describe both the different ways in which activities can be executed and disturbances, situations and constraints that create performance variability. The implications of these findings for road design and intersection safety are discussed along with the benefits and drawbacks of the methodology used. Recently, the strategies analysis diagram was proposed as a method to support the cognitive work analysis framework in modelling performance variability. This article evaluated this method within a complex sociotechnical system, namely road transport. The application provided insight into performance variability across road user groups when turning right at intersections. 
23176342	Peak power output provides the most reliable measure of performance in prolonged intermittent-sprint cycling. 	The aims of this study were to determine the reliability of an intermittent-sprint cycling protocol and to determine the efficacy of one practice session on main trials. Eleven men, moderately trained team-sport athletes, completed three visits to the laboratory involving a graded-exercise test and practice session and two trials of a cycling intermittent-sprint Protocol separated by three days. Data for practice and main trials were analysed using typical error of measurement, intra-class correlation and least-products regression to determine reliability. Typical error of measurement (expressed as a coefficient of variation) and intra-class correlation for peak power output from all 20 sprints for trial 1 and trial 2 were 2.9 ± 12.8% (95% confidence interval: 2.0-5.0%) and 0.96 (95% confidence interval: 0.85-0.99), respectively. Typical errors of measurement and intra-class correlation for mean power output for all 20 sprints for trials 1 and 2 were 4.2 ± 11.9% (95% confidence interval: 2.9-7.4%) and 0.90 (95% confidence interval: 0.66-0.97), respectively. The results suggest that peak power output provides a more reliable measure than mean power output. The Cycling Intermittent-Sprint Protocol provides reliable measures of intermittent-sprint performance. 
23010605	The impact of altered task mechanics on timing and duration of eccentric bi-articular muscle contractions during cycling. 	In order to understand muscle adaptations to altered task mechanics during cycling, this study investigated the impact of altered seat height and cadence on timing and duration of gastrocnemius (GAST), biceps femoris (BF) and vastus lateralis (VL) eccentric contractions and muscle activation patterns, and cycling economy. Ten male cyclists completed 9 × 5 min of cycling at 3 seat heights and 3 cadences. Three-dimensional leg kinematics and muscle activation patterns were recorded to estimate timing of eccentric muscle contractions. Onset, offset and duration of eccentric contractions and, onset, offset and duration of muscle activation were calculated, along with cycling economy. Duration of GAST and VL eccentric contractions decreased with increasing seat height due to earlier offset of eccentric muscle contractions. Duration of BF eccentric contractions significantly increased with seat height due to a later eccentric contraction offset. Offset of GAST and BF muscle activation occurred earlier with increasing cadence. Cycling economy was significantly affected by cadence but not seat height. The results suggest that as a consequence of altered seat height, proprioceptive feedback is used to fine-tune the timing of bi-articular eccentric muscle contractions. These results may have implications for seat height self-selection. 
24404907	Transfer of momentum from different arm segments to a light movable target during a straight punch thrown by expert boxers. 	The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the reductions in momentum of punching arm segments and the impulse of the impact force when boxers throw a punch at a movable target with a mass almost equal to that of the human head. Nine male expert collegiate boxers threw a rear-hand straight punch at the target with their full effort. The reductions in momentum of the upper arm, forearm and fist plus glove of the punching arm during impact and the impulse were determined using a motion capture system and an accelerometer attached to the target. The reduction in momentum of the punching arm explained approximately 95% of the impulse: 40%, 35% and 20% for the upper arm, forearm and fist plus glove, respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficient between the peak and impulse of the impact force was 0.902. These results suggest that for boxers increasing the momentum of the punching arm rather than that of the other body segments immediately before the impact is effective at increasing the impulse of the punch into the face of an opponent. 
23121380	The development of a reliable amateur boxing performance analysis template. 	The aim of this study was to devise a valid performance analysis system for the assessment of the movement characteristics associated with competitive amateur boxing and assess its reliability using analysts of varying experience of the sport and performance analysis. Key performance indicators to characterise the demands of an amateur contest (offensive, defensive and feinting) were developed and notated using a computerised notational analysis system. Data were subjected to intra- and inter-observer reliability assessment using median sign tests and calculating the proportion of agreement within predetermined limits of error. For all performance indicators, intra-observer reliability revealed non-significant differences between observations (P &gt; 0.05) and high agreement was established (80-100%) regardless of whether exact or the reference value of ±1 was applied. Inter-observer reliability was less impressive for both analysts (amateur boxer and experienced analyst), with the proportion of agreement ranging from 33-100%. Nonetheless, there was no systematic bias between observations for any indicator (P &gt; 0.05), and the proportion of agreement within the reference range (±1) was 100%. A reliable performance analysis template has been developed for the assessment of amateur boxing performance and is available for use by researchers, coaches and athletes to classify and quantify the movement characteristics of amateur boxing. 
19964900	Characterization of motor skill based on musculoskeletal model. 	In this paper, we propose two methods to quantitatively analyze the motor skill in sports. The first method is the dimensionality reduction using the principal component analysis (PCA). The motion data, e.g. the joint angles (143-dimensional vector) or the muscle tensions (989-dimensional vector), are projected to a lower dimensional space that well represents the characteristics of original data. The similarities and differences become clear by observing the data in the low-dimensional space. The second method utilizes the joint stiffness obtained from joint kinematics and a biological muscle model. Though muscle tension data contain richer information than joint angle data, the dimension is so high that simply applying PCA does not give useful insights. Here we calculate the joint stiffness using the muscle tension data and a biological muscle model. This information represents the muscle usage skill which can not be observed only from motion data, and reflects the redundancy of the muscle tensions. We demonstrate the two methods by analyzing skilled performers' motions. 
12848388	The influence of trained peer tutoring on tutors' motivation and performance in a French boxing setting. 	The aim of this study was to examine the potential motivational and behavioural benefits of two peer tutoring programmes for tutors in a sport setting. Differences between the sexes were also explored. Thirty two college-age males and females, all novices on a French boxing task, were assigned to a 2 x 2 [sex x training type: physical practice associated with trained peer tutoring (TPT) vs physical practice associated with untrained peer tutoring (UPT)] factorial design. All participants were given six French boxing lessons of 2 h each. The TPT programme included structured methods to prepare the participants to fulfil their role of tutors, whereas the UPT programme did not. The results demonstrated that the TPT programme resulted in higher scores for coaching skills. Furthermore, interaction effects revealed that the TPT programme yielded better offensive outcomes for males and better defensive outcomes for females. Although the UPT participants expressed higher self-efficacy, no differences emerged for intrinsic motivation and causal attributions. Finally, male tutors displayed higher self-efficacy and offensive outcomes than female tutors. The results are discussed in the light of previous findings in the educational and sport psychology literature. 
24535171	Frugal cannibals: how consuming conspecific tissues can provide conditional benefits to wood frog tadpoles (Lithobates sylvaticus). 	Tadpoles show considerable behavioral plasticity. When population densities become high, tadpoles often become cannibalistic, likely in response to intense competition. Conspecific tissues are potentially an ideal diet by composition and should greatly improve growth and development. However, the potential release of alarm cues from the tissues of injured conspecifics may act to deter potential cannibals from feeding. We conducted multiple feeding experiments to test the relative effects that a diet of conspecifics has on tadpole growth and development. Results indicate that while conspecific tissues represent a better alternative to starvation and provide some benefits over low-protein diets, such a diet can have detrimental effects to tadpole growth and/or development relative to diets of similar protein content. Additionally, tadpoles raised individually appear to avoid consuming conspecific tissues and may continue to do so until they suffer from the effects of starvation. However, tadpoles readily fed upon conspecific tissues immediately when raised with competitors. These results suggest that cannibalism may occur as a result of competition rather than the specific quality of available diets, unless such diets lead to starvation. 
24044725	Inter- and intraspecific interactions in two mealybug predators Spalgis epius and Cryptolaemus montrouzieri in the presence and absence of prey. 	Spalgis epius and Cryptolaemus montrouzieri are the two potential predators of different species of mealybugs. However, the mode of their interactions is not known to use these predators together in the field. Hence, we investigated on the possible interactions i.e., cannibalism, intraguild predation (IGP) and competition between the predators in the presence and absence of prey Planococcus citri. In the presence of prey, no cannibalism and predation were observed in both S. epius and C. montrouzieri larvae. A pair of S. epius larvae consumed significantly more number of mealybugs than one S. epius/C. montrouzieri larva or a pair of C. montrouzieri larvae. The predation of S. epius larva by C. montrouzieri larva was significantly more than the predation of C. montrouzieri by S. epius. Conspecific and interspecific egg predation was absent both in S. epius and C. montrouzieri. Cannibalism in C. montrouzieri was more than that in S. epius. The study indicated that C. montrouzieri larvae can be used as an additive along with voracious S. epius larvae under abundant prey population. IGP was asymmetric between the two predators in the absence of prey. Both S. epius and C. montrouzieri larvae can maintain a stable coexistence when prey is abundantly available, however, in the complete absence of prey C. montrouzieri may dominate the guild. This study provides an insight into the possible complex inter- and intraspecific predatory phenomena in the field to use these two predators in the biological control of mealybugs. 
23537768	Combined harvesting of a stage structured prey-predator model incorporating cannibalism in competitive environment. 	In this paper, we propose a prey-predator system with stage structure for predator. The proposed system incorporates cannibalism for predator populations in a competitive environment. The combined fishing effort is considered as control used to harvest the populations. The steady states of the system are determined and the dynamical behavior of the system is discussed. Local stability of the system is analyzed and sufficient conditions are derived for the global stability of the system at the positive equilibrium point. The existence of the Hopf bifurcation phenomenon is examined at the positive equilibrium point of the proposed system. We consider harvesting effort as a control parameter and subsequently, characterize the optimal control parameter in order to formulate the optimal control problem under the dynamic framework towards optimal utilization of the resource. Moreover, the optimal system is solved numerically to investigate the sustainability of the ecosystem using an iterative method with a Runge-Kutta fourth-order scheme. Simulation results show that the optimal control scheme can achieve sustainable ecosystem. Results are analyzed with the help of graphical illustrations. 
21460557	Temperature-driven regime shifts in the dynamics of size-structured populations. 	Global warming impacts virtually all biota and ecosystems. Many of these impacts are mediated through direct effects of temperature on individual vital rates. Yet how this translates from the individual to the population level is still poorly understood, hampering the assessment of global warming impacts on population structure and dynamics. Here, we study the effects of temperature on intraspecific competition and cannibalism and the population dynamical consequences in a size-structured fish population. We use a physiologically structured consumer-resource model in which we explicitly model the temperature dependencies of the consumer vital rates and the resource population growth rate. Our model predicts that increased temperature decreases resource density despite higher resource growth rates, reflecting stronger intraspecific competition among consumers. At a critical temperature, the consumer population dynamics destabilize and shift from a stable equilibrium to competition-driven generation cycles that are dominated by recruits. As a consequence, maximum age decreases and the proportion of younger and smaller-sized fish increases. These model predictions support the hypothesis of decreasing mean body sizes due to increased temperatures. We conclude that in size-structured fish populations, global warming may increase competition, favor smaller size classes, and induce regime shifts that destabilize population and community dynamics. 
20943359	The involvement of sand disturbance, cannibalism and intra-guild predation in competitive interactions among pit-building antlion larvae. 	Competition in trap-building predators such as antlion larvae is a complex biotic interaction, potentially involving exploitation competition, sand throwing (i.e., interference competition), cannibalism and intra-guild predation. We investigated the short-term behavioral and developmental responses of the strict sit-and-wait antlion predator Myrmeleon hyalinus to sand disturbance (i.e., quantification of the impact of severe sand throwing), and to con- and hetero-specific competition by a larger sit-and-pursue antlion species Lopezus fedtschenkoi. We found that antlions subjected to sand disturbances reduced their pit construction activity and relocated less often. Furthermore, the reduction in pit construction activity was stronger among antlions subjected to disturbances prior to feeding. Almost no death occurred during the sand disturbance experiment, but as expected, disturbances caused reductions in the relative growth rates of antlions. This negative effect was stronger in the group exposed to sand disturbances prior to feeding. The presence of the sit-and-pursue competitor led to reductions both in pit construction and in relocation activities of M. hyalinus. Although the per-capita food supply was identical in both experiments, only 48% of M. hyalinus larvae survived the competition experiment, and this pattern was consistent between the con- and hetero-specific treatments. However, in the presence of hetero-specific competitors, the relative growth rate of surviving larvae was significantly lower than that measured in the presence of con-specific competitors. Our study demonstrates that investigating the different components of complex biotic interactions can markedly improve our understanding of how these different factors interact to influence the behavior and life history of organisms. 
18229851	Parents influence asymmetric sibling competition: experimental evidence with partially dependent young. 	Asymmetric sibling competition, which occurs when some siblings hatch as stronger competitors than others, is an important component of avian reproductive strategies. Here, we report two experiments on the burying beetle Nicrophorus vespilloides investigating how parents might influence the outcome of asymmetric sibling competition. In this species, as in altricial birds, different-aged offspring compete for resources provided by the parents. However, unlike altricial birds, offspring depend only partially on their parents for resources, and parents adjust the brood size directly through filial cannibalism. In the first experiment, we compared the growth and survivorship of different-aged offspring when parents could and could not influence asymmetric sibling competition. In the second experiment, we recorded behavioral interactions between different-aged offspring and parents. We found that senior offspring (early-hatched) grew faster than juniors (late-hatched) when parents were present and could influence the outcome of sibling competition, whereas seniors and juniors grew at similar rates when parents were removed. Thus, seniors benefited more than did juniors when the offspring could obtain resources by begging from the female parent. There was no difference in the survivorship of seniors and juniors. We also found that seniors and juniors spent a similar amount of time feeding from female parents, but juniors spent more time begging and were less effective at begging than seniors. Interestingly, juniors spent more time begging only as long as seniors also begged, suggesting that juniors adjusted their begging effort in response to direct competition against seniors for resources provided by parents. Our study provides novel insights into the ecological significance of asymmetric sibling competition by showing that asymmetric sibling competition took place when parents were present and offspring could obtain resources by begging. In contrast, we found no evidence of asymmetric sibling competition when parents were absent and offspring obtained resources solely by self-feeding. 
17253615	Infanticide and cannibalism in a free-ranging plurally breeding group of common marmosets (Callithrix Jacchus). 	Our study presents a detailed description of infanticide and cannibalism in a free-ranging plurally breeding group of Callithrix jacchus. The 1-month-old infant was the daughter of the dominant female, and was attacked by the group's second breeding female. Two months later, the latter gave birth to twins and appeared to have become the dominant female. These findings confirm and extend previous reports of infanticide by pregnant female marmosets, and indicate that infants of dominant breeding female, as well as those of subordinate females, are vulnerable to infanticide in plurally breeding groups. With respect to the cannibalism, this act seemed to be mainly a response to the prompt availability of food, represented by the killed infant. 
16903066	Nutritional value of cannibalism and the role of starvation and nutrient imbalance for cannibalistic tendencies in a generalist predator. 	1. Cannibalism is considered an adaptive foraging strategy for animals of various trophic positions, including carnivores. However, previous studies on wolf spiders have questioned the high nutritional value of cannibalism. We therefore analysed two different aspects of nutritional quality of conspecifics in the wolf spider Pardosaprativaga: their value for survival, growth and development; and the growth efficiency of feeding on conspecifics. We also measured the propensity for cannibalistic attacks and the consumption rate of conspecifics in an experiment where hunger level and nutrient balance were manipulated. In all experiments, cannibalism was compared with predation on fruit flies as control prey. 2. The growth experiment gave ambiguous results regarding the nutritional quality of conspecifics. Spiders on pure cannibalistic diets split into two distinct groups, one performing much better and the other much worse than spiders on fruit fly diets. We discuss the possibility that the population is dimorphic in its cannibalistic propensity, with the latter group of individuals showing a high level of inhibition against cannibalistic attacks in spite of a high nutritional value of cannibalism. 3. The food utilization experiment confirmed the high nutritional quality of conspecifics, as cannibalistic spiders had the same growth rate as spiders fed insect prey in spite of a much lower consumption rate. 4. Inhibition against cannibalistic attacks was demonstrated in medium-sized juveniles: only half of the spiders attacked a prescribed victim of 50% the size of their opponents, and the latency for those that did attack was more than half an hour, compared with a few minutes for spiders fed fruit flies. 5. Nutrient-imbalanced spiders utilized an alternative insect diet less efficiently than balanced spiders, whereas no difference was present in efficiency of utilizing conspecifics. This result indicates that spiders can remedy at least part of a nutrient imbalance through cannibalism. 6. As spiders can escape nutritional imbalance as well as restore energy reserves through cannibalism, we predicted both nutrient imbalance and hunger to stimulate cannibalism. This prediction was confirmed only with respect to hunger. Nutrient-imbalanced spiders had reduced cannibalistic consumption, perhaps due to lowered predatory aggressiveness as a result of bad condition. 
19643451	Live for the moment--Adaptations in the male genital system of a sexually cannibalistic spider (Theridiidae, Araneae). 	Monogyny in spiders culminates in extreme traits, like dramatic male self-sacrifice and emasculation of the male by the female during copulation. Here we show that monogynous males can be highly adapted for this fatal sexual behaviour. Dwarf males of the one-palped theridiid spider Tidarren argo, which are cannibalised immediately after the insertion of their single copulatory organ, stop spermiogenesis when reaching adulthood. Their testes atrophy, which might economise the energy expenditures of these males. We also found that the amount of seminal fluid produced is stored in an enlarged seminal vesicle until the single sperm induction takes place. The volume of the seminal vesicle is similar to the sperm droplet taken up into the copulatory organ (palpal organ). Sperm uptake takes much longer than in related species most likely due to the large amount of seminal fluid. As shown by histological observations males are able to fill one of the paired female sperm storage organs during copulation thereby presumably impeding subsequent charging by rival males. 
17869076	Copulatory mechanism in a sexually cannibalistic spider with genital mutilation (Araneae: Araneidae: Argiope bruennichi). 	Genitalia are among the fastest evolving morphological traits as evidenced by their common function as diagnostic traits in species identification. Even though the main function of genitalia is the successful transfer of spermatozoa, the presence of diverse structures that are obviously not necessary for this suggests that genitalia are a target of sexual selection. The male genitalia of many spider species are extremely complex and equipped with numerous sclerites, plates and spines whose functions are largely unknown. Selection on male genitalia may be particularly strong in sexually cannibalistic spiders, where mating success of males is restricted to a single female. We investigated the copulatory mechanism of the sexually cannibalistic orb weaving spider Argiope bruennichi by shock freezing mating pairs and revealed a complicated interaction between the appendices and sclerites that make up the male gonopods (paired pedipalps). The plate that covers the female genital opening (scape) is secured between two appendices of the male genital bulb, while three sclerites that bear the sperm duct are unfolded and extended into the female copulatory opening. During copulation, females attack and cannibalise the male and males mutilate their genitalia in about 80% of cases. Our study demonstrates that (i) genital coupling is largely accomplished on the external part of the female genitalia, (ii) that the mechanism requires an interaction between several non-sperm-transferring structures and (iii) that there are two predetermined breaking points in the male genitalia. Further comparative work on the genus Argiope will test if the copulatory mechanism with genital mutilation indeed is an adaptation to sexual cannibalism or if cannibalism is a female counter adaptation to male monopolisation through genital plugging. 
17061792	Reproductive behavior of Eidmanacris corumbatai Garcia (Orthoptera: Phalangopsidae). 	Adult males of Eidmanacris corumbatai Garcia have reduced tegmina without stridulatory apparatus. For this reason, they developed other means ofintra-specific communication. During courtship, the males use a combination of foreleg drumming and waving of the antennae, in addition to chemical signaling through pheromones. The females become receptive to copulation when the males expose their metanotal gland. This gland, located on the male metanotum, is also a source of substances on which females feed before receiving the spermatophore. During copulation, the female destroys the apex of the metanotal gland to gain access to the secretion released by this structure. 
16075265	No discrimination against previous mates in a sexually cannibalistic spider. 	In several animal species, females discriminate against previous mates in subsequent mating decisions, increasing the potential for multiple paternity. In spiders, female choice may take the form of selective sexual cannibalism, which has been shown to bias paternity in favor of particular males. If cannibalistic attacks function to restrict a male's paternity, females may have little interest to remate with males having survived such an attack. We therefore studied the possibility of female discrimination against previous mates in sexually cannibalistic Argiope bruennichi, where females almost always attack their mate at the onset of copulation. We compared mating latency and copulation duration of males having experienced a previous copulation either with the same or with a different female, but found no evidence for discrimination against previous mates. However, males copulated significantly shorter when inserting into a used, compared to a previously unused, genital pore of the female. 
1745671	Individual variation in the neural timing of infanticide and parental behavior in male house mice. 	In male house mice (Mus domesticus and M. musculus), the act of coital ejaculation provides a fail-safe neural signal for timing the birth of their offspring. A unique aspect of this phenomenon is the extraordinary latency that can occur between the stimulus (ejaculation) and its adaptive neural response (male mice cease killing pups and behave parentally toward them). Thus the inhibition of infanticide is routinely time-delayed for many days after mating. In the absence of mating, cohabitation with a female will not inhibit infanticide in CF-1 stock males (M. domesticus), whereas the birth of pups in the male's home cage will inhibit infanticide. But with regard to the ejaculatory phenomenon, which also includes the spontaneous reemergence of infanticide 50-60 days after mating, this entire behavioral cycle toward pups can occur in the total absence of regular time cues from a light/dark cycle following ejaculation. However, exposure to photoperiodic (L:D 12:12) or constant light (LL) accelerated the transition time from infanticide to parenting after ejaculation, while in constant dark (DD), the transition time to parenting was significantly prolonged. The time interval between ejaculation and the inhibition of infanticide, which varied among individuals first mated at 6 months of age, was repeatable when the same males were remated at 9 months of age; however, when males were again mated at 18 months of age, the time interval between ejaculation and parenting was dramatically prolonged. In general, coital ejaculation triggers a neural timing system that cannot be explained by any presently known physiological mechanism. Our results do suggest, however, that the neural timing variation observed among individuals is influenced by sex steroid exposure during late fetal development. 
23321098	Effects of flour conditioning on cannibalism of T. castaneum eggs and pupae. 	Cannibalism is a very important factor regulating population dynamics of the red flour beetle. After several days of feeding, the flour becomes conditioned by the beetles, which can affect rates of cannibalism. Flour conditioning is caused by an accumulation of feces, pheromones, and ethylquinone, which is a repellent produced by the beetles. We determined the effect of five different levels of flour conditioning on cannibalism of red flour beetle eggs and pupae by adult and larval stages. Larvae had the highest rates of egg cannibalism (12 eggs eaten over the 4-d period) followed by female adults (seven eggs consumed). Adult males had the lowest rates of cannibalism with only two eggs consumed. Cannibalism of eggs by females was correlated negatively with the level of flour conditioning. There was no effect of flour conditioning on egg or pupal cannibalism by larvae or adult males. Cannibalism by adult females may decrease as the level of flour conditioning increases because females may spend less time tunneling in highly conditioned flour and more time trying to disperse to other areas that are better for oviposition. 
22694656	Boldness in two perch populations - long-term differences and the effect of predation pressure. 	1. Populations of the same species often display different behaviours, for example, in their response to predators. The question is whether this difference is developed as part of a divergent selection caused by differences in predation pressure, or as a result of phenotypic responses to current environmental conditions. 2. Two populations of Eurasian perch were investigated over a time span of 6 years to see whether risk-taking behaviour in young-of-the-year perch were consistent across cohorts, or if behaviour varied over time with changes in predation regime. 3. Boldness was estimated in aquarium studies by looking at how the fish made trade-offs between foraging in a risky area and staying in shelter. Predation risk of each year and lake was estimated from fishing surveys, using an individual-based model calculating attack rates for cannibalistic perch. 4. The average boldness scores were consistently lower in perch from Fisksjön compared with those in Ängersjön, although the magnitude of the difference varied among years. Variance component analyses showed that differences between lakes in boldness scores only explained 12 per cent of the total variation. Differences between years were contributing at least similarly or more to the total variance, and the variation was higher in Fisksjön than in Ängersjön. 5. The observed risk-taking behaviour of young-of-the-year perch, compared across cohorts, was significantly correlated with the year-specific estimates of cannibalistic attack rates, with lower boldness scores in years with higher predation pressure. In Fisksjön, with significant changes over the years in population structure, the range of both predation risk and boldness scores was wider than in Ängersjön. 6. By following the two perch populations over several years, we have been able to show that the differences in risk-taking behaviour mainly are due to direct phenotypic responses to recent experience of predation risk. Long-term differences in behaviour among perch populations thus reflect consistent differences in predation regime rather than diverging inherent traits. 
22141888	Feeding strategy and cannibalism of the Argentine hake Merluccius hubbsi. 	The diet composition and feeding strategy of the Argentine hake Merluccius hubbsi in the San Matías Gulf were analysed in order to use this information for the sustainable management of the fishery. Merluccius hubbsi behaved as an opportunistic predator. Small M. hubbsi consumed planktonic crustaceans, whereas medium and large fish ate numerous prey taxa with low frequency of occurrence and variable specific abundance. Intra- and intercohort cannibalism were detected in all size groups and were particularly significant in large M. hubbsi. Medium-sized M. hubbsi consumed small conspecifics and large-sized M. hubbsi consumed both small and medium M. hubbsi. These results indicate that the removal of large M. hubbsi by fishing may increase the risk of overfishing by two combined effects: a direct effect of recruitment-overfishing and an indirect effect of growth-overfishing through an enhanced cannibalism of medium M. hubbsi on small M. hubbsi. Intra- and intercohort cannibalism and other trophic relationships in the M. hubbsi should therefore be considered explicitly in stock assessment models. 
21180910	Seasonal and ontogenetic variations in the diet of Cichla kelberi Kullander and Ferreira, 2006 introduced in an artificial lake in southeastern Brazil. 	The diet of Cichla kelberi introduced in an artificial lake in Leme-SP was predominantly composed of common fish species (Oreochromis niloticus and C. kelberi). In the spring and summer, the most consumed item was O. niloticus. However, cannibalism was very common for this species. The high frequencies of O. niloticus and C. kelberi reveal that this species is adapted to a seasonal cycle, feeding on the most common prey in each period of the year, with a reduction of foraging activity during the winter. The diets were different among the immature and mature individuals suggesting that there are ontogenetic differences, mainly related to prey type, such as: Ephemeroptera consumed by the immature peacock bass and fish by the mature ones, besides the size of the prey. 
21414322	Behavioral changes in the termite, Coptotermes formosanus (Isoptera), inoculated with six fungal isolates. 	The studies of pathogen-prevention behaviors of termites have focused on hygiene behavior directed only against highly virulent pathogens. Therefore, we compared behavioral changes in the subterranean termite Coptotermes formosanus following contact with entomopathogenic fungi with different levels of virulence. The fungal virulence was inferred from the daily mortality and the LD50 value in previous data. When untreated termites were allowed to contact their fungus-inoculated nestmates, mutual grooming was frequent during 30 min after inoculation. The inoculated termites were often attacked and eaten by their uninoculated nestmates, and then buried after death. Notably, there was no influence of fungal virulence on these pathogen-prevention behaviors. However, the fungal isolates and genera affected not only the frequency of the behaviors but also the horizontal transmission pattern, the number of dead individuals and the survival period before the first death following infection. 
21208508	Larval morphology of Metaphycus flavus and its role in host attachment and larval cannibalism. 	Metaphycus flavus (Howard) (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae) is a facultatively gregarious endoparasitoid of soft scales (Hemiptera: Coccidae). When it develops in superparasitised hosts, the larvae often attack and consume brood mates six or more days post oviposition. Under our laboratory conditions (25±1°C and 14 hours of light followed by 18±1°C and ten hours of darkness in 50-70% R.H.), M. flavus eggs hatched three days after oviposition. Measurements of the mandibles and tentorium indicate there are four larval instars, and M. flavus reaches the fourth instar by day six post oviposition, and pupates on day eight. Thus, cannibalism among M. flavus larvae occurs during the fourth instar. During this instar, M. flavus larvae separate from their attachment to the scale cuticle, to which they were tethered by a respiratory structure during the previous three larval instars. Once detached, they are free to move within the scale, which increases the probability of larval encounters and aggressive behaviours. Moreover, the mandibles of the fourth instar are better adapted for fighting than are those of the first three larval instars, since they are larger and more sclerotized. The cranium and mouthparts of M. flavus have four different types of sensory organs, some of which are almost certainly olfactory, an unexpected function for a larva that presumably is surrounded by an aqueous medium where gustatory sensilla would seem to be more appropriate. The cranium also bears two pairs of what appear to be secretory pores. 
24341955	Consequences of intraspecific variation in female body size in Stagmomantis limbata (Mantodea: Mantidae): feeding ecology, male attraction, and egg production. 	Body size is an important feature of organisms, influencing many components of life history and fitness, such as feeding success and reproductive output. Body size is considered especially salient for solitary predators, whose food intake hinges on individual predation success, which in turn is often driven by the relative sizes of predator and prey. The current study examined intraspecific variation in adult female length and its fitness consequences in a solitary predator, the praying mantid Stagmomantis limbata Hahn. Through a 5-yr integration of observational and experimental work in the field and captivity, we investigated the relationship between female pronotum length and prey size, diet breadth, male attraction, and measures of egg production (fecundity and ootheca mass). We found that longer females ate longer prey in the field and showed greater breadth of prey size than shorter females. Longer females did not necessarily feed at higher rates in the field, as measured by the rate of abdominal expansion. Female length failed to show significant effects on male attraction or on the incidence of cannibalism. Longer females had higher fecundity (mature eggs in body at death) and laid heavier oothecae than shorter females. In nature, longer females consistently emerged as adults earlier in the season than shorter females. Shorter female adults emerged when feeding rates were higher in the field, suggesting an incidental ecological benefit of shorter adult size. 
23025096	[Sexual behavior of Alpaida veniliae (Araneae: Araueidae)]. 	Studies in transgenic soybean crops in Buenos Aires province, Argentina, revealed that Alpaida veniliae is one of the most abundant species in the guild of orb web spiders. This species is an effective natural enemy of insect pests affecting this crop. In the present study we carried out a descriptive and quantitative analysis of sexual behavior (courtship, mating and post-mating) of A. veniliae. The spiders were collected in transgenic soybean crops located in Chivilcoy (35 degrees 01' S - 60 degrees 06' W), Buenos Aires, Argentina, and reared under laboratory conditions. Based on observations of 20 couples (with virgin females), behavioral units of male and female in terms of postures and movements, including details on duration and frequency, were described at all stages of sexual activity (courtship, mating and post-mating). Courtship exhibited the greatest number and duration of behavioral units in both sexes. Male and female had a sequence of 16 and nine units, respectively, being the frequency of repetitions of the units significantly higher in the male. Mating was brief and males used a single palp to fill only one of the female spermathecae, after which the female became unreceptive. Mating had two behavioral units in the male and only one in the female. During post-mating males had three and females two behavioral units. The average duration of the whole sexual behavior was 541.90 +/- 123.1 seconds for the male and 338.20 +/- 74.1 seconds for the female. Alpaida veniliae females rarely accept a second mating with the same or another male (remating), indicating a strict monogamy. In 46% of observed mating, the female cannibalized the male after it. Females became unattractive after mating, since stop producing sex pheromones, causing a reduction of the male vibratory courtship. The high cost of courtship, including the risk of cannibalism, would reinforce the selectivity of males towards receptive virgin females. 
21607653	Sexual behavior, cannibalism, and mating plugs as sticky traps in the orb weaver spider Leucauge argyra (Tetragnathidae). 	Unpublished field observations in Leucauge argyra, a tropical orb weaver spider, suggest the occurrence of conspicuous mating plugs that could reduce or prevent remating attempts. Otherwise, the sexual behavior of this species remains unknown. The aims of this study were to describe the courtship behavior and copulation in L. argyra and investigate mating plug formation in this species. Fourteen virgin females and 12 plugged females were exposed to up to three males and checked for mating plug formation. Of the 12 virgins that copulated, nine produced plugs (five immediately after copulation), and the five plugged females that copulated produced another mating plug immediately after copulation. We did not detect the transfer of any male substance during copulation but observed a whitish liquid emerging from female genital ducts. Plug formation was positively associated with male twanging during courtship. One virgin and four plugged females cannibalized males. In seven trials with virgins and in three trials with plugged females, the male's palp adhered to a substance that emerged from female genital ducts and spread on her genital plate. The male had to struggle energetically to free his glued palp; two of these males were cannibalized while trying to release their palps. Females seem to determine copulation duration by altering the timing of mating plug formation and through sexual cannibalism. This is the first case reported of a mating plug as a sticky trap for males. 
23769477	An exploratory study of fitness practitioner intentions toward exercise programming for individuals with multiple sclerosis. 	Increasing community practice that facilitates physical activity for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) is critical to improve health outcomes and enhance quality of life in this population. The purpose of this exploratory study was to employ the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) in order to examine beliefs, attitudes and intentions of fitness practitioners (FPs) toward working with adults with MS in community-based fitness facilities. The study also aimed to assess the relative contribution of FP attributes on the best predictor of favorable intentions to work with individuals with MS. Practitioners (N = 580) completed the Fitness Practitioner Survey via a web-based platform. The FPs' intention to work with a club member with MS was best predicted by attitudes (R = .81, R2 = .65, F6,373 = 114.46, p &lt; .001) and favorable attitude was best predicted by perceived competence (R = .52; R2 = .27, F9,338 = 14.18, p &lt; .001). Practitioners believed that, by working with a person with MS, both staff and other club members would benefit and that including an individual with MS into their practice was worth the effort. As well, the individual with MS would benefit by experiencing success, increasing functional independence, and having greater social interaction. Fitness practitioners who had more education, held various professional certifications associated with physical activity and fitness, and had prior positive quality experiences working with diverse populations reported higher perceived competence. 
23174550	Getting beyond the plateau: bridging the gap between rehabilitation and community-based exercise. 	Rehabilitation specialists have a unique opportunity to serve as the drivers of change in promoting the use of exercise facilities by people with newly acquired disabilities. Identifying programs that are effective and sustainable for extending recovery in a community-based exercise facility after rehabilitation may reduce the risk of secondary health complications and optimize health and function. This article describes an approach for closing the gap between inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation and the use of community-based exercise facilities by people with disabilities. Extending recovery from rehabilitation to community-based exercise requires a transitional setting (eg, hospital-based fitness facilities and specialized fitness centers and programs for people with disabilities) that provides greater support and supervision in teaching individuals with disabilities (and, when necessary, their caregivers) how to exercise safely and effectively and access the programs, equipment, and services available in these facilities. With the shortened amount of rehabilitation time that many patients are given after acquiring a disability or being treated for a new health condition, community-based exercise facilities and the fitness professionals who are employed in them must become part of the rehabilitation continuum and obtain additional training to better serve the needs of people with newly acquired disabilities who are leaving rehabilitation. 
20940637	The current state of personal training: managers' perspectives. 	Fitness managers play an integral role in the day-to-day operation of the facilities in which they work. One of the most critical responsibilities is that of hiring, training, and supervising personal trainers. Research studies have identified a number of qualities and competencies that an effective exercise leader is required to have, but there is little scholarly work addressing managers' attitudes surrounding the performance of personal trainers. Using focus group methodology, managers of personal trainers were recruited to provide viewpoints related to desirable qualities of personal trainers and opinions regarding certification and academic preparation. Responses of the participants were transcribed, coded, and analyzed for themes. Two global themes, Selection Rationale and Negative Characteristics, emerged. Selection Rationale consisted of qualities that influence a manager's decision to hire a particular trainer (e.g., physique, education, social skills). Negative characteristics referred to qualities considered unethical or unprofessional (e.g., sexual comments, misuse of power) and the consequences of those behaviors (e.g., loss of clients, potential for litigation). The results suggest that undergraduate exercise science programs devote additional time toward the development of the affective qualities of future fitness trainers. Managers also recommended licensure for employees. 
16731450	CDE and non-CDE dietitians' knowledge of exercise and content of exercise programs for older adults with type 2 diabetes. 	To study differences between non-certified diabetes educator registered dietitians (non-CDE-RDs) and certified diabetes educator registered dietitians (CDE-RDs) in the design and content of programs to promote physical activity in older adults with type 2 diabetes. The Exercise Teaching Questionnaire was used to assess knowledge of and promotion of physical activity. Surveys were sent to CDE-RDs and non-CDE-RDs in Florida, California, and Texas. Ninety-four CDE-RDs and 73 non-CDE-RDs completed the study. The independent variable was CDE status. The dependent variables were knowledge, design, content, and total exercise scores. Two-way ANOVA's tested for Knowledge, Design, and Content scores by RD status and one of the following: years practicing in diabetes education, state, and practice setting. The exercise Knowledge, Design and Content scores were significantly (P &lt; .001) higher in the CDE-RDs compared to those of the non-CDE-RDs. The results of this study indicate that education and experience play a key role in the design and content of programs to promote physical activity in older adults. Therefore, the results raise the question of the role the dietitian and nutrition educator should play in the promotion of physical activity in older adults. 
16268003	A study of a structured exercise program with members of an ICCD Certified Clubhouse: program design, benefits, and implications for feasibility. 	Individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) have significantly greater risk of comorbid health problems and premature death, and there is need for interventions that can improve physical fitness and overall health. Accordingly, a study was conducted which evaluated the effectiveness of a structured physical exercise program that was developed as part of a wellness project in an ICCD Certified Clubhouse. Seventeen clubhouse members completed a 16-week program with evidence of significant improvement in aerobic capacity and perceived mental health as well as positive trends in perceived improvements in physical and social functioning. Qualitative data indicated satisfaction with the program by all participants, especially the value of group support, while also highlighting the need for greater attention to nutrition as part of a future program. Moreover, the study found that a structured exercise program can be successfully provided to members of an ICCD Certified Clubhouse. 
11912798	The role of the certified diabetes educator in telephone counseling. 	This paper describes a telephone-based, outcomes-focused approach to diabetes education provided by certified diabetes educators (CDEs). Random chart audits were conducted to evaluate the scope of practice and effectiveness of telephone-based interventions provided by CDEs to people with diabetes. Four case studies and a sample prevention case are used to illustrate the role of telephone-based CDEs in providing diabetes education. Counseling provided by CDEs helped to identify potential barriers and strategies for making lifestyle behavioral changes. Telephone-based counseling is a brief, effective, ongoing intervention that gives patients with diabetes immediate access to CDEs who provide education to support lifestyle behavioral changes. 
10706206	Attitudes and perceptions of fitness professionals regarding obesity. 	The purpose of this study was to assess perceptions of exercise professionals regarding obesity. A three page, 25-item survey was mailed to a random sample of 500 certified Health Fitness Instructors, Exercise Test Technologists, and Exercise Specialists from a certification list provided by the American (College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). The return rate was 66%. Most exercise professionals (74%) supervised or worked directly with obese clients in an exercise/fitness setting. The majority of exercise professionals believed that normal weight is very important to a person's health, that physical activity is very important in the treatment of obesity, that they should be role models by maintaining normal weight, that they are obligated to counsel obese persons concerning the health risks of obesity, that they are very competent to prescribe exercise programs for weight loss, and that counseling obese persons on exercise for weight loss is professionally gratifying. The majority of exercise professionals also believed sedentary lifestyles, poor eating behavior, excessive calorie consumption, and psychological problems play a major role in most obesity. Exercise professionals reported that they received most of their information on weight control from textbooks, college classes, scientific journals, workshops/seminars, and past experience. 
23160811	The behavioral and neural effect of emotional primes on intertemporal decisions. 	Research on intertemporal behavior has emphasized trait-like variance. However, recent studies have begun to explore situational factors that affect intertemporal preference. In this study, we examined the associations between emotional primes and both behavior and brain function during intertemporal decision making. Twenty-two participants completed a dual task in which they were required to make intertemporal choices while holding an expressive face in memory. From trial-to-trial, the facial expression varied between three alternatives: (i) fearful, (ii) happy and (iii) neutral. Brain activity was recorded using functional magnetic resonance imaging for 16 participants. Behavioral data indicated that fearful (relative to happy) faces were associated with greater preference for larger but later rewards. During observation of fearful faces, greater signal change was observed in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. During subsequent decision making, the fear prime was associated with greater signal increase in structures including the posterior sector of the anterior cingulate cortex. Individual differences in this activity correlated with the magnitude of the priming effect on behavior. These findings suggest that incidental emotions affect intertemporal choice. Increased farsightedness after the fear prime may be explained by an 'inhibition spillover' effect. 
24961247	Early differential processing of material images: Evidence from ERP classification. 	Investigating the temporal dynamics of natural image processing using event-related potentials (ERPs) has a long tradition in object recognition research. In a classical Go-NoGo task two characteristic effects have been emphasized: an early task independent category effect and a later task-dependent target effect. Here, we set out to use this well-established Go-NoGo paradigm to study the time course of material categorization. Material perception has gained more and more interest over the years as its importance in natural viewing conditions has been ignored for a long time. In addition to analyzing standard ERPs, we conducted a single trial ERP pattern analysis. To validate this procedure, we also measured ERPs in two object categories (people and animals). Our linear classification procedure was able to largely capture the overall pattern of results from the canonical analysis of the ERPs and even extend it. We replicate the known target effect (differential Go-NoGo potential at frontal sites) for the material images. Furthermore, we observe task-independent differential activity between the two material categories as early as 140 ms after stimulus onset. Using our linear classification approach, we show that material categories can be differentiated consistently based on the ERP pattern in single trials around 100 ms after stimulus onset, independent of the target-related status. This strengthens the idea of early differential visual processing of material categories independent of the task, probably due to differences in low-level image properties and suggests pattern classification of ERP topographies as a strong instrument for investigating electrophysiological brain activity. 
23712666	The cognitive and neural basis of option generation and subsequent choice. 	Decision-making research has thoroughly investigated how people choose from a set of externally provided options. However, in ill-structured real-world environments, possible options for action are not defined by the situation but have to be generated by the agent. Here, we apply behavioral analysis (Study 1) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (Study 2) to investigate option generation and subsequent choice. For this purpose, we employ a new experimental task that requires participants to generate options for simple real-world scenarios and to subsequently decide among the generated options. Correlational analysis with a cognitive test battery suggests that retrieval of options from long-term memory is a relevant process during option generation. The results of the fMRI study demonstrate that option generation in simple real-world scenarios recruits the anterior prefrontal cortex. Furthermore, we show that choice behavior and its neural correlates differ between self-generated and externally provided options. Specifically, choice between self-generated options is associated with stronger recruitment of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex. This impact of option generation on subsequent choice underlines the need for an expanded model of decision making to accommodate choice between self-generated options. 
24275010	Acute stress-induced cortisol elevations mediate reward system activity during subconscious processing of sexual stimuli. 	Stress is thought to alter motivational processes by increasing dopamine (DA) secretion in the brain's &quot;reward system&quot;, and its key region, the nucleus accumbens (NAcc). However, stress studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), mainly found evidence for stress-induced decreases in NAcc responsiveness toward reward cues. Results from both animal and human PET studies indicate that the stress hormone cortisol may be crucial in the interaction between stress and dopaminergic actions. In the present study we therefore investigated whether cortisol mediated the effect of stress on DA-related responses to -subliminal-presentation of reward cues using the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), which is known to reliably enhance cortisol levels. Young healthy males (n = 37) were randomly assigned to the TSST or control condition. After stress induction, brain activation was assessed using fMRI during a backward-masking paradigm in which potentially rewarding (sexual), emotionally negative and neutral stimuli were presented subliminally, masked by pictures of inanimate objects. A region of interest analysis showed that stress decreased activation in the NAcc in response to masked sexual cues (voxel-corrected, p&lt;05). Furthermore, with mediation analysis it was found that high cortisol levels were related to stronger NAcc activation, showing that cortisol acted as a suppressor variable in the negative relation between stress and NAcc activation. The present findings indicate that cortisol is crucially involved in the relation between stress and the responsiveness of the reward system. Although generally stress decreases activation in the NAcc in response to rewarding stimuli, high stress-induced cortisol levels suppress this relation, and are associated with stronger NAcc activation. Individuals with a high cortisol response to stress might on one hand be protected against reductions in reward sensitivity, which has been linked to anhedonia and depression, but they may ultimately be more vulnerable to increased reward sensitivity, and addictions. Future studies investigating effects of stress on reward sensitivity should take into account the severity of the stressor and the individual cortisol response to stress. 
24899706	Lasting impact of regret and gratification on resting brain activity and its relation to depressive traits. 	Obtaining lower gains than rejected alternatives during decision making evokes feelings of regret, whereas higher gains elicit gratification. Although decision-related emotions produce lingering effects on mental state, neuroscience research has generally focused on transient brain responses to positive or negative events, but ignored more sustained consequences of emotional episodes on subsequent brain states. We investigated how spontaneous brain activity and functional connectivity at rest are modulated by postdecision regret and gratification in 18 healthy human subjects using a gambling task in fMRI. Differences between obtained and unobtained outcomes were manipulated parametrically to evoke different levels of regret or gratification. We investigated how individual personality traits related to depression and rumination affected these responses. Medial and ventral prefrontal areas differentially responded to favorable and unfavorable outcomes during the gambling period. More critically, during subsequent rest, rostral anterior and posterior cingulate cortex, ventral striatum, and insula showed parametric response to the gratification level of preceding outcomes. Functional coupling of posterior cingulate with striatum and amygdala was also enhanced during rest after high gratification. Regret produced distinct changes in connectivity of subgenual cingulate with orbitofrontal cortex and thalamus. Interestingly, individual differences in depressive traits and ruminations correlated with activity of the striatum after gratification and orbitofrontal cortex after regret, respectively. By revealing lingering effects of decision-related emotions on key nodes of resting state networks, our findings illuminate how such emotions may influence self-reflective processing and subsequent behavioral adjustment, but also highlight the malleability of resting networks in emotional contexts. 
24196025	Delay and probability discounting of multiple commodities in smokers and never-smokers using multiple-choice tasks. 	The purpose of the present study was to investigate temporal and probabilistic discounting in smokers and never-smokers, across a number of commodities, using a multiple-choice method. One hundred and eighty-two undergraduate university students, of whom 90 had never smoked, 73 were self-reported light smokers (&lt;10 cigarettes/day), and 17 were heavy smokers (10+cigarettes/day), completed computerized batteries of delay and probability discounting questions pertaining to a total of eight commodities and administered in a multiple-choice format. In addition to cigarettes, monetary rewards, and health outcomes, the tasks included novel commodities such as ideal dating partner and retirement income. The results showed that heavy smokers probability discounted commodities at a significantly shallower rate than never-smokers, suggesting greater risk-taking. No effect of smoking status was observed for delay discounting questions. The only commodity that was probability discounted significantly less than others was 'finding an ideal dating partner'. The results suggest that probability discounting tasks using the multiple-choice format can discriminate between non-abstaining smokers and never-smokers and could be further explored in the context of behavioral and drug addictions. 
24556205	Ventral medial prefrontal cortex inactivation impairs impulse control but does not affect delay-discounting in rats. 	Maladaptive levels of impulsivity are found in several neuropsychiatric disorders, such as ADHD, addiction, aggression and schizophrenia. Intolerance to delay-of-gratification, or delay-discounting, and deficits in impulse control are dissociable forms of impulsivity top-down controlled by the prefrontal cortex, with the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) suggested to be critically involved. The present study used transient inactivation of the rats' vmPFC via bilateral microinfusion of the GABAA receptor agonist muscimol (0.05, 0.5 μg/0.3 μl) to analyse its relevance for impulse control in a 5-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT) and delay-discounting in a Skinner box. Intra-vmPFC injection of low-dose muscimol impaired impulse control indicated by enhanced premature responding in the 5-CSRTT, while flattening the delay-dependent shift in the preference of the large reward in the delay-discounting task. Likewise, high-dose muscimol did not affect delay-discounting, though raising the rate of omissions. On the contrary, 5-CSRTT performance was characterised by deficits in impulse and attentional control. These data support the behavioural distinction of delay-discounting and impulse control on the level of the vmPFC in rats. Reversible inactivation with muscimol revealed an obvious implication of the vmPFC in the modulation of impulse control in the 5-CSRTT. By contrast, delay-discounting processes seem to be regulated by other neuronal pathways, with the vmPFC playing, if at all, a minor role. 
23512299	Predictors of return rate discrimination in slot machine play. 	The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which accurate estimates of payback percentages and volatility combined with prior learning, enabled players to successfully discriminate between multi-line/multi-credit slot machines that provided differing rates of reinforcement. The aim was to determine if the capacity to discriminate structural characteristics of gaming machines influenced player choices in selecting 'favourite' slot machines. Slot machine gambling history, gambling beliefs and knowledge, impulsivity, illusions of control, and problem solving style were assessed in a sample of 48 first year undergraduate psychology students. Participants were subsequently exposed to a choice paradigm where they could freely select to play either of two concurrently presented PC-simulated slot machines programmed to randomly differ in expected player return rates (payback percentage) and win frequency (volatility). Results suggest that prior learning and cognitions (particularly gambler's fallacy) but not payback, were major contributors to the ability of a player to discriminate volatility between slot machines. Participants displayed a general tendency to discriminate payback, but counter-intuitively placed more bets on the slot machine with lower payback percentage rates. 
24417209	Dimensions of impulsive behavior and treatment outcomes for adolescent smokers. 	Adolescent cigarette smoking rates remain a significant public health concern, and as a result there is a continued need to understand factors that contribute to an adolescent's ability to reduce or quit smoking. Previous research suggests that impulsive behavior may be associated with treatment outcomes for smoking. The current research (N = 81) explored 3 dimensions of impulsive behavior as predictors of treatment response from a social-cognitive type program for adolescent smokers (i.e., Not On Tobacco; N-O-T). Measures included laboratory assessments of delay discounting, sustained attention, and behavioral disinhibition. A self-report measure of impulsivity was also included. Adolescent smokers who had better sustained attention were more likely to reduce or quit smoking by the end of treatment. No other measures of impulsivity were significantly associated with treatment response. From these findings, an adolescent smoker's ability to sustain attention appears to be an important behavioral attribute to consider when implementing smoking cessation programs such as N-O-T. 
23042736	Selective involvement by the medial orbitofrontal cortex in biasing risky, but not impulsive, choice. 	Separate regions of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) have been implicated in mediating different aspects of cost-benefit decision-making in humans and animals. Anatomical and functional imaging studies indicate that the medial (mOFC) and lateral OFC may subserve dissociable functions related to reward and decision-making processes, yet the majority of studies in rodents have focused on the lateral OFC. The present study investigated the contribution of the rat mOFC to risk and delay-based decision-making, assessed with probabilistic and delay-discounting tasks. In well-trained rats, reversible inactivation of the mOFC increase a risky choice on the probabilistic discounting task, irrespective of whether the odds of obtaining a larger/risky reward decreased (100-12.5%) or increased (12.5-100%) over the course of a session. The increase in risky choice was associated with enhanced win-stay behavior, wherein rats showed an increased tendency to choose the risky option after being rewarded for the risky choice on a preceding trial. In contrast, mOFC inactivation did not alter delay discounting. These findings suggest that the mOFC plays a selective role in decisions involving reward uncertainty, mitigating the impact that larger, probabilistic rewards exert on subsequent choice behavior. This function may promote the exploration of novel options when reward contingencies change. 
23916512	Experience of action depends on intention, not body movement: an experiment on memory for mens rea. 	How do we know whether our own actions were voluntary or involuntary? Intentional theories of sense of agency suggest that we consciously perceive the intentions that accompany our actions, but reconstructive theories suggest that we perceive our actions only through the body movements and other effects that they produce. Intentions would then be mere confabulations, and not bona fide experiences. Previous work on voluntary action has focused on immediate experiences of authorship, and few studies have considered memory for voluntary actions. We devised an experiment in which both voluntary action and involuntary movement always occurred at the same time, but could either involve the same hand (congruent condition), or different hands (incongruent condition). When signals from the voluntary and involuntary movements involved different hands, they could therefore potentially interfere in memory. We found that recall of a voluntary action was unaffected by an incongruent involuntary movement. In contrast, recall of an involuntary movement was strongly influenced by an incongruent voluntary action. Our results demonstrate an &quot;intentional capture&quot; of body movement by voluntary actions, in support of intentional theories of agency, but contrary to reconstructive theories. When asked to recall both actions and movements, people's responses are shaped by memory of what they intended to do, rather than by how their body moved. 
24231129	Planned and reactive agility performance in semiprofessional and amateur basketball players. 	Research indicates that planned and reactive agility are different athletic skills. These skills have not been adequately assessed in male basketball players. To define whether 10-m-sprint performance and planned and reactive agility measured by the Y-shaped agility test can discriminate between semiprofessional and amateur basketball players. Ten semiprofessional and 10 amateur basketball players completed 10-m sprints and planned- and reactive-agility tests. The Y-shaped agility test involved subjects sprinting 5 m through a trigger timing gate, followed by a 45° cut and 5-m sprint to the left or right through a target gate. In the planned condition, subjects knew the cut direction. For reactive trials, subjects visually scanned to find the illuminated gate. A 1-way analysis of variance (P &lt; .05) determined between-groups differences. Data were pooled (N = 20) for a correlation analysis (P &lt; .05). The reactive tests differentiated between the groups; semiprofessional players were 6% faster for the reactive left (P = .036) and right (P = .029) cuts. The strongest correlations were between the 10-m sprints and planned-agility tests (r = .590-.860). The reactive left cut did not correlate with the planned tests. The reactive right cut moderately correlated with the 10-m sprint and planned right cut (r = .487-.485). The results reemphasized that planned and reactive agility are separate physical qualities. Reactive agility discriminated between the semiprofessional and amateur basketball players; planned agility did not. To distinguish between male basketball players of different ability levels, agility tests should include a perceptual and decision-making component. 
24913485	Analysis of driver speeds under night driving conditions using a driving simulator. 	Accident statistics demonstrate that there should be a greater focus on nighttime driving to improve our knowledge of driver behavior under poor lighting conditions. However, the current geometric design criteria do not take into account driving at night. Moreover, studies that propose predictive models of operating speed only consider daytime driving conditions. This study compares driver speed behavior during daytime and nighttime driving and models operating speeds and speed differentials, identifying significant factors that influence speed behavior under different lighting conditions. The research was carried out using a driving simulator for a section of an existing two-lane rural road composed of 39 tangent-curve configurations. Speed profiles were recorded for 40 drivers under simulated daytime and nighttime driving conditions. New predictive speed models, differentiated for daytime and nighttime driving, are proposed that highlight the effects of different geometric predictors under different visibility conditions. Specifically, predictive models for operating speed on curves identified the inverse of the radius and the deflection angle of the curve as predictors under both driving conditions. For speed differentials based on the 85th percentile for maximum speed reduction (85 MSR), we found that the inverse of the approaching tangent length and of the curve radius significantly explained the dependent variable in both cases, with a higher dependence of nighttime 85 MSR on the curve geometry than on the tangent length. Tangent length had a significant effect on operating speed for independent tangents only for the daytime model, whereas the inverse of the previous radius was confirmed as a predictor for both visibility conditions. This research may influence design considerations for nighttime driving by providing evidence of the effects of nighttime conditions on driver speed choices and road safety. 
24269938	Grapheme-color synesthesia interferes with color perception in a standard Stroop task. 	This study examined the proposed automatic and involuntary nature of synesthetic experiences in grapheme-color synesthetes by comparing behavioral and blood-oxygen level dependent (BOLD) responses in a synesthetic and a standard version of the Stroop task. Clear interference effects in terms of slower reaction times and stronger BOLD responses in the rostral cingulate zone (RCZ) were found in synesthetes performing the synesthetic version of the Stroop task. Surprisingly, less interference was found in synesthetes compared with controls performing the standard Stroop task. This smaller interference effect, expressed as the difference in reaction time between incongruent and neutral stimuli, was explained in terms of experienced interference during the neutral condition of the Stroop task in synesthetes. This was confirmed by stronger BOLD responses in the RCZ for synesthetes specifically in the neutral condition. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to show different performance of synesthetes in a standard Stroop task and the presented data can be seen as strong evidence for the automatic and involuntary nature of synesthetic experiences. 
23206559	The influence of urban design on neighbourhood walking following residential relocation: longitudinal results from the RESIDE study. 	The design of urban environments has the potential to enhance the health and well-being of residents by impacting social determinants of health including access to public transport, green space and local amenities. Commencing in 2003, RESIDE is a longitudinal natural experiment examining the impact of urban planning on active living in metropolitan Perth, Western Australia. Participants building homes in new housing developments were surveyed before relocation (n = 1813; 34·6% recruitment rate); and approximately 12 months later (n = 1437). Changes in perceived and objective neighbourhood characteristics associated with walking following relocation were examined, adjusted for changes in demographic, intrapersonal, interpersonal and baseline reasons for residential location choice. Self-reported walking was measured using the Neighbourhood Physical Activity Questionnaire. Following relocation, transport-related walking declined overall (p &lt; 0.001) and recreational walking increased (p &lt; 0.001): access to transport- and recreational destinations changed in similar directions. However, in those with increased access to destinations, transport-related walking increased by 5.8 min/week for each type of transport-related destination that increased (p = 0.045); and recreational walking by 17.6 min/week for each type of recreational destination that increased (p = 0.070). The association between the built environment and recreational walking was partially mediated by changes in perceived neighbourhood attractiveness: when changes in 'enjoyment' and 'attitude' towards local walking were removed from the multivariate model, recreational walking returned to 20.1 min/week (p = 0.040) for each type of recreational destination that increased. This study provides longitudinal evidence that both transport and recreational-walking behaviours respond to changes in the availability and diversity of local transport- and recreational destinations, and demonstrates the potential of local infrastructure to support health-enhancing behaviours. As neighbourhoods evolve, longer-term follow-up is required to fully capture changes that occur, and the impact on residents. The potential for using policies, incentives and infrastructure levies to enable the early introduction of recreational and transport-related facilities into new housing developments warrants further investigation. 
22217568	Destination and route attributes associated with adults' walking: a review. 	Increasing adults' physical activity through environmental initiatives that promote walking as a public health priority. To this end, evidence relevant to the urban planning and transport sectors is required. This review synthesized findings on destination and route attributes associated with utilitarian and recreational walking. A literature search was conducted in April 2011 using Web of Science, PubMed, Transport Research Information Services, GEOBASE, and SPORTDiscus. Environmental attributes were classified into the domains of utilitarian and recreational destinations (presence, proximity, quality) and route (sidewalks, connectivity, aesthetics, traffic, safety). Forty-six studies examining associations of these attributes with utilitarian and/or recreational walking were identified. Specific destination and route attributes associated with each type of walking were summarized. Adults' utilitarian walking was consistently associated with presence and proximity of retail and service destinations (in 80% of the studies reviewed). It was also associated with functional aspects of routes (sidewalks and street connectivity) in 50% of studies. Recreational walking was associated with presence, proximity, and quality of recreational destinations (35% of studies) and route aesthetic (35% of studies). Both types of walking were found unrelated to route safety and traffic in most studies. There is consistent evidence that better access to relevant neighborhood destinations (e.g., local stores, services, transit stops) can be conducive to adults' utilitarian walking. Some evidence also suggests that availability of sidewalks and well-connected streets can facilitate utilitarian walking. To better inform initiatives to promote adults' walking in the planning and transport sectors, future studies need to examine how accessible such destinations should be, as well as the effect of the quality of recreational destinations. 
18517022	A comparative study of physiological strain of underground coal miners in India. 	Ninety-eight healthy underground coal miners aged between 23-58 years were studied during their activity period. Physiological strain of different category of miners in terms of heart rate was monitored continuously with heart rate monitor that revealed the tasks as heavy to very heavy for them. Oxygen consumption was measured directly by using oxylog-2 machine that corresponded to metabolic costs for different activities ranging from 4.96 kcal/min to 5.47 kcal/min. The mean relative aerobic strain varied from 47.4%-56.8%--depicting acceptable level of physical strain was well encroached by the miners who irrespective of ages and categories showed poor recovery responses. This entails that miners are exerting themselves beyond their capacities where inevitably older workforce face the maximum burden. 
23324697	When the job is boring: the role of boredom in organizational contexts. 	The present study investigates the role of boredom within the Job Demands-Resources model. Although empirical evidence suggests that the incidence of boredom at work is widespread, the study of job boredom remains neglected today. Data were collected from 269 mass-retail workers, by means of structured face-to-face interviews. Results of multiple mediation analyses partially supported our hypotheses. Boredom mediates the relationship between transformational leadership, low learning opportunities and general dysphoria, while work engagement mediates the relationship between transformational leadership, low learning opportunities and job satisfaction as well as general dysphoria. Taken together, our results confirm the suitability of conceptualizing boredom within the JD-R model and contribute to the ongoing conceptualization of both the boredom literature and the JD-R literature. 
23658426	Does transfer of work from a public sector organisation to a commercial enterprise without staff reductions increase risk of long-term sickness absence among the staff? A cohort study of laboratory and radiology employees. 	Privatisations of public sector organisations are not uncommon, and some studies suggest that such organisational changes may adversely affect employee health. In this study, we examined whether transfer of work from public sector hospital units to commercial enterprises, without major staff reductions, was associated with an increased risk of long-term sickness absence among employees. A cohort study of 962 employees from four public hospital laboratory and radiology units in three hospitals which were privatised during the follow-up and 1832 employees from similar units without such organisational changes. Records of new long-term sick leaves (&gt;90 days) were obtained from national health registers and were linked to the data. Mean follow-up was 9.2 years. Age- and sex-adjusted HR for long-term sickness absence after privatisation was 0.83 (95% CI 0.68 to 1.00) among employees whose work unit underwent a change from a public organisation to a commercial enterprise compared with employees in unchanged work units. Further adjustments for occupation, socioeconomic status, type of job contract, size of residence and sick leaves before privatisation had little impact on the observed association. A sensitivity analysis with harmonised occupations across the two groups replicated the finding (multivariable adjusted HR 0.92 (0.70-1.20)). In this study, transfer of work from public organisation to commercial enterprise did not increase the risk of long-term sickness absence among employees. 
23201285	Perceived value of a community supported agriculture (CSA) working share. The construct and its dimensions. 	This article presents two studies that investigate what specifically constitutes perceived value of a CSA working share (PVWS) and how they relate to the PVWS construct. The first study conducts in-depth interviews with 46 working share members to uncover the distinct dimensions of the PVWS. The second study uses exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and partial least squares (PLSs) on survey data from 129 working share members to empirically examine the dimensionality and the nature of the relationship between the dimensions and the PVWS construct. The findings indicate that the PVWS construct conforms to the structure of a formative second-order factor model consisting of five dimensions: functional value, emotional value, social value, epistemic value, and educational value for children. Managerial implications for CSA farmers and research implications of the findings are discussed. 
23599482	A business view on U.S. education. 	Business leaders depend on an education system capable of providing a workforce able to compete in a global marketplace. As a partner in education reform, the business community advocates for an increased focus on helping schools connect students more effectively to the world of work through hands-on problem-solving activities and practical experiences. 
22216477	Occupational health and safety of merchant seafarers from Kiribati and Tuvalu. 	Intensifying international competition in the shipping industry in response to global pressures makes seafarers' jobs increasingly difficult. Challenging conditions in ship employment are problematic, particularly in a development context where home communities' dependence on seafarers' income is high and social protection is low. Qualitative fieldwork revealed that seafarers from Kiribati and Tuvalu endure exceptionally lengthy work periods at sea to remain competitive. Absence from home while working in constrained and mobile spaces with multinational crews, frequent security controls and speedy turnarounds impacting on sleep deprivation and decreased shore time have implications for physical and emotional health and can become safety matters. Hence, there is a growing need to address mechanisms to protect seafarers from the physical and emotional effects of global demands in the shipping industry. 
22228854	Business mergers and acquisitions and the risk of mental disorders: a population-based study. 	Mergers and acquisitions (M&amp;A) activities are increasing and may negatively affect workers mental health. However, the impact of M&amp;A on the risk of developing a mental disorder, rather than psychiatric symptoms, has not been investigated. The objectives of this study were to estimate and compare the 12-month incidence of depressive and anxiety disorders in workers who had and who had not experienced M&amp;A in the last year. Employees aged 25 and 64 years old were randomly selected from the community and were followed for 1 year (n=3280). Questions about their experience in M&amp;A in the past 12 months were asked. WHO's Composite International Diagnostic Interview-Auto 2.1 was used to assess depressive and anxiety disorders. The 12-month prevalence and 1-year incidence of mental disorders were estimated and compared in relation to M&amp;A. Participants who were exposed to M&amp;A had a significant higher 1-year incidence of generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) (6.7%) than the unexposed (2.4%). They were not different in the incidence of major depressive disorder. The exposed participants were 2.8 times more likely to have had a GAD than others and were about 2.4 times more likely to have developed any anxiety disorders over 1 year. M&amp;A may lead to increased risk of GAD, which may, in return, evolve into major depression. Governments, employers and health professionals should be aware of this and work out plans to reduce the negative health outcomes of M&amp;A. 
20140483	Workplace health understandings and processes in small businesses: a systematic review of the qualitative literature. 	Small businesses (SBs) play an important role in global economies, employ half of all workers, and pose distinct workplace health problems. This systematic review of qualitative peer-reviewed literature was carried out to identify and synthesize research findings about how SB workplace parties understand and enact processes related to occupational health and safety (OHS). The review was conducted as part of a larger mixed-method review and in consultation with stakeholders. A comprehensive literature search identified 5067 studies. After screening for relevance, 20 qualitative articles were identified. Quality assessment led to 14 articles of sufficient quality to be included in the meta-ethnographic findings synthesis. This review finds that SBs have distinctive social relations of work, apprehensions of workplace risk, and legislative requirements. Eight themes were identified that consolidate knowledge on how SB workplace parties understand OHS hazards, how they manage risk and health problems, and how broader structures, policies and systems shape the practice of workplace health in SBs. The themes contribute to 'layers of evidence' that address SB work and health phenomena at the micro (e.g. employer or worker behavior), meso (e.g. organizational dynamics) and macro (e.g. state policy) levels. This synthesis details the unique qualities and conditions of SBs that merit particular attention from planners and occupational health policy makers. In particular, the informal workplace social relations can limit workers' and employers' apprehension of risk, and policy and complex contractual conditions in which SBs are often engaged (such as chains of subcontracting) can complicate occupational health responsibilities. This review questions the utility of SB exemptions from OHS regulations and suggests a legislative focus on the particular needs of SBs. It considers ways that workers might activate their own workplace health concerns, and suggests that more qualitative research on OHS solutions is needed. It suggests that answers to the SB OHS problems identified in this review might lie in third party interventions and improved worker representation. 
23896776	A study of the validity of the Japanese Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale (JNCATS) utilizing sequential analysis: a second analysis of mother-child teaching interaction. 	The measurement of early mother-child relationship and interaction is a critical issue for infant mental health. The Nursing Child Assessment Teaching Scale (NCATS) has been regarded as one of the most effective assessment tools. A Japanese version (JNCATS) has been developed and its reliability was reported. The purpose of the present study was to show evidence for the validity of the JNCATS by utilizing micro analysis and sequential analysis of 53 mother-child interactions. Micro analysis is a second-by-second analysis of mother and child behavioral streams. Sequential analysis is a technique to detect mutual and contingent aspects of interaction. Variables obtained from these two methods were: a) probabilities of coding categories, and b) log odds ratios of contingency codes, whose correlations with JNCATS scores were examined. Some weak and medium correlations were found (p &lt; .05). It was suggested that these two methods and the JNCATS could capture similar features of mother-child interaction, which provides evidence for the validity of the JNCATS. 
23527490	Interdyad differences in early mother-infant face-to-face communication: real-time dynamics and developmental pathways. 	A microgenetic research design with a multiple case study method and a combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses was used to investigate interdyad differences in real-time dynamics and developmental change processes in mother-infant face-to-face communication over the first 3 months of life. Weekly observations of 24 mother-infant dyads with analyses performed dyad by dyad showed that most dyads go through 2 qualitatively different developmental phases of early face-to-face communication: After a phase of mutual attentiveness, mutual engagement begins in Weeks 7-8, with infant smiling and cooing bidirectionally linked with maternal mirroring. This gives rise to sequences of positive feedback that, by the 3rd month, dynamically stabilizes into innovative play routines. However, when there is a lack of bidirectional positive feedback between infant and maternal behaviors, and a lack of permeability of the early communicative patterns to incorporate innovations, the development of the mutual engagement phase is compromised. The findings contribute both to theories of relationship change processes and to clinical work with at-risk mother-infant interactions. 
24118710	Selective and faithful imitation at 12 and 15 months. 	Research on imitation in infancy has primarily focused on what and when infants imitate. More recently, however, the question why infants imitate has received renewed attention, partly motivated by the finding that infants sometimes selectively imitate the actions of others and sometimes faithfully imitate, or overimitate, the actions of others. The present study evaluates the hypothesis that this varying imitative behavior is related to infants' social traits. To do so, we assessed faithful and selective imitation longitudinally at 12 and 15 months, and extraversion at 15 months. At both ages, selective imitation was dependent on the causal structure of the act. From 12 to 15 months, selective imitation decreased while faithful imitation increased. Furthermore, infants high in extraversion were more faithful imitators than infants low in extraversion. These results demonstrate that the onset of faithful imitation is earlier than previously thought, but later than the onset of selective imitation. The observed relation between extraversion and faithful imitation supports the hypothesis that faithful imitation is driven by the social motivations of the infant. We call this relation the King Louie Effect: like the orangutan King Louie in The Jungle Book, infants imitate faithfully due to a growing interest in the interpersonal nature of interactions. 
24165367	Linguistic and pragmatic skills in toddlers with cochlear implant. 	An increasing number of deaf children received cochlear implants (CI) in the first years of life, but no study has focused on linguistic and pragmatic skills in children with CI younger than 3 years of age. To estimate the percentage of children who had received a CI before 2 years of age whose linguistic skills were within the normal range; to compare linguistic skills of children implanted by 12 months of age with children implanted between 13 and 26 months of age; and to describe the relationship among lexical, grammar and pragmatic skills. The participants consisted of children who were included on the patient lists of the Service of Audio-Vestibology of the Circolo Hospital in Varese, Italy, and met the following criteria: chronological age between 18 and 36 months; CI activated between 8 and 30 months of age; absence of other reported deficits; hearing parents; and not less than 6 months of CI experience. Language development was evaluated through MacArthur-Bates CDI; pragmatic skills (assertiveness and responsiveness) were evaluated through the Social Conversational Skills Rating Scale. The scores obtained were transformed into z-scores and compared with normative data. The relationship among lexical, grammar and pragmatic skills were tested using Spearman Rho correlations. Children with CI were divided into groups based on the age at CI activation and the differences between the two groups were tested using the Student's t-test. Data from 23 deaf children were collected. Fewer than half of the children were within the normal range for lexical production and use of sentences; more than one-third of them fell below the normal range for both lexical and grammar skills. No significant difference was found in vocabulary size or early grammar skills when comparing children who received the CI by 12 months of age with those implanted during the second year of life. Despite the strong relationship among lexical, grammar and pragmatic skills, the delays found for grammar and pragmatic skills were greater than expected based on the vocabulary size. Age at diagnosis of hearing loss was the only predictor of vocabulary size. CI may provide deaf children with a good opportunity to develop language skills, but severe difficulties in early social experiences and interaction mediated by language still remain. Delays in these aspects suggest that interventions improving pragmatic skills are recommended even on very young children with CI. 
23906941	Socially guided attention influences infants' communicative behavior. 	For effective prelinguistic communication, infants must be able to direct their attention, vocalizations, and nonverbal gestures in social interactions. The purpose of our study was to examine how different styles of caregiver responses influenced infant attentional and communicative behavior in social interactions, based on prior studies that have shown influences of responsiveness on attention, language and cognitive outcomes. Infants were exposed to redirective and sensitive behavior systematically using an ABA design to examine real-time changes in infants' behavior as a function of caregiver responses. During the two baseline &quot;A&quot; periods, caregivers were instructed to play as they would at home. During the social response &quot;B&quot; period, caregivers were instructed to respond sensitively to infants' behavior on one visit and redirectively on the other visit. Results demonstrated that when caregivers behaved redirectively, infants shifted their attention more frequently and decreased the duration of their visual attention. Caregiver responses also resulted in changes in vocal and gesture production. Infants decreased their production of caregiver-directed vocalizations, gestures, and gesture-vocal combinations during in the redirective condition. Results suggest that caregiver sensitive responding to infants' attentional focus may be one influence on infants' attentional and prelinguistic communicative behavior. 
23891731	Early socio-communicative forms and functions in typical Rett syndrome. 	Rett syndrome (RTT) is a severe neurological disorder characterized by a developmental regression in motor and speech-language domains. There is, however, limited research on socio-communicative development of affected children before the onset of regression. We analyzed audio-video recordings made by parents of six 9- to 12-month old girls later diagnosed with typical RTT, applying the Inventory of Potential Communicative Acts (IPCA) to identify early communicative forms and functions. Each girl used at least one communicative form (e.g., body movement, eye gaze, or vocalizations) to gain attention and answer, but none were observed to make choices or request information. Varying numbers of children were observed to perform other communicative functions according to the IPCA including social convention, rejecting or requesting an object. Non-verbal forms (e.g., reaching, moving closer, eye contact, smiling) were more common than non-linguistic verbal forms (e.g., unspecified vocalizations, pleasure vocalizations, crying). (Pre-)linguistic verbal forms (e.g., canonical or variegated babbling, proto-words) were not used for communicative purposes. These data suggest that atypical developmental patterns in the socio-communicative domain are evident prior to regression in young individuals later diagnosed with RTT. 
23499323	Beyond rational imitation: learning arbitrary means actions from communicative demonstrations. 	The principle of rationality has been invoked to explain that infants expect agents to perform the most efficient means action to attain a goal. It has also been demonstrated that infants take into account the efficiency of observed actions to achieve a goal outcome when deciding whether to reenact a specific behavior or not. It is puzzling, however, that they also tend to imitate an apparently suboptimal unfamiliar action even when they can bring about the same outcome more efficiently by applying a more rational action alternative available to them. We propose that this apparently paradoxical behavior is explained by infants' interpretation of action demonstrations as communicative manifestations of novel and culturally relevant means actions to be acquired, and we present empirical evidence supporting this proposal. In Experiment 1, we found that 14-month-olds reenacted novel arbitrary means actions only following a communicative demonstration. Experiment 2 showed that infants' inclination to reproduce communicatively manifested novel actions is restricted to behaviors they can construe as goal-directed instrumental acts. The study also provides evidence that infants' reenactment of the demonstrated novel actions reflects epistemic motives rather than purely social motives. We argue that ostensive communication enables infants to represent the teleological structure of novel actions even when the causal relations between means and end are cognitively opaque and apparently violate the efficiency expectation derived from the principle of rationality. This new account of imitative learning of novel means shows how the teleological stance and natural pedagogy--two separate cognitive adaptations to interpret instrumental versus communicative actions--are integrated as a system for learning socially constituted instrumental knowledge in humans. 
24216083	Selfish mothers? An empirical test of parent-offspring conflict over extended parental care. 	Parent-offspring conflict (POC) theory is an interesting conceptual framework for understanding the dynamics of parental care. However, this theory is not easy to test empirically, as exact measures of parental investment in an experimental set-up are difficult to obtain. We have used free-ranging dogs Canis familiaris in India, to study POC in the context of extended parental care. We observed females and their pups in their natural habitat for the mother's tendency to share food given by humans with her pups in the weaning and post-weaning stages. Since these dogs are scavengers, and depend largely on human provided food for their sustenance, voluntary sharing of food by the mother with her pups is a good surrogate for extended parental care. Our behavioural observations convincingly demonstrate an increase of conflict and decrease of cooperation by the mother with her offspring over given food within a span of 4-6 weeks. We also demonstrate that the competition among the pups in a litter scales with litter size, an indicator of sib-sib competition. 
22009168	Conversation analysis at work: detection of conflict in competitive discussions through semi-automatic turn-organization analysis. 	This study proposes a semi-automatic approach aimed at detecting conflict in conversations. The approach is based on statistical techniques capable of identifying turn-organization regularities associated with conflict. The only manual step of the process is the segmentation of the conversations into turns (time intervals during which only one person talks) and overlapping speech segments (time intervals during which several persons talk at the same time). The rest of the process takes place automatically and the results show that conflictual exchanges can be detected with Precision and Recall around 70% (the experiments have been performed over 6 h of political debates). The approach brings two main benefits: the first is the possibility of analyzing potentially large amounts of conversational data with a limited effort, the second is that the model parameters provide indications on what turn-regularities are most likely to account for the presence of conflict. 
24925178	Fit to dance survey: a comparison with dancesport injuries. 	The Fit to Dance survey has been conducted twice previously, in 1993 and 2002, without dancesport participants. The purpose of this present online survey was to supplement a comparison of dancesport against the earlier results. The current study had a greater percentage of male respondents than previous studies (43% vs 24% and 26%). The dancesport participants were older (28% at 40+ yrs vs 3% and 1%) and more likely to have normal (69% vs 57%) to overweight BMI (18% vs 2%). Dancesport participants spent more time in various non-dancing conditioning activities than previous surveys (5.2 ± 3.9 hrs SD vs 1.9 ± 2.5 and 2.2 ± 2.7). Muscles and joints were the most common type of injury in all the surveys. The knee was the top injury site in this survey, with lower back in previous surveys. The main perceived cause of injury was repetitive movements, whereas fatigue and overwork were cited in the previous surveys. Physiotherapists were the most common type of medical professionals from whom the dancers sought treatment for their injuries in all surveys. The first survey included recommendations that the present survey results agree with, including: dancers should be physically fit, dancers should warm up and cool down, dancers should never have to work in unsuitable environments, and dancers should receive immediate high-quality treatment for injuries. 
23752279	Performance and recovery: stress profiles in professional ballroom dancers. 	Like other athletes, ballroom dancers often compete in short time in different countries under condition of high stress, subjecting them to risk of injury and burnout. In the present study, we measured the aerobic and anaerobic capacities (both during dance and during a simulated ballroom competition), agility, hand and abdominal strength, jumping capacity, flexibility, and balance in 16 top-level couples of ballroom dancers (8 males, 8 females). The in-season level of perceived stress and recovery was assessed using the Rest Q 76 questionnaire, and the relationship with aerobic and anaerobic capacity and with the other tests was studied. Our results show a very high level of aerobic/anaerobic fitness in this population, as well as a high level of stress in males. Balance and experience (age of the subjects) appear to be key characteristics linked to the position in the IDSF World Ranking (world ranking points = 8.67 x age + 5.86 x balance + 1174.65; R2 = 0.740). Emotional stress (r = 0.83, p = 0.04), social stress (r = 0.72, p = 0.032), and sleep quality (r = 0.92, p = 0.001) scales of the Rest Q appear also to be linked with balance but only in females. 
23752280	A bibliographic review of medicine and science research in dancesport. 	DanceSport is the competitive form of ballroom dancing, and even though it has more participants worldwide than ballet and modern dance, there is less peer-reviewed research. A review was conducted to identify all relevant literature to help researchers and clinicians gain an enhanced understanding of dancesport. Eight databases were searched, with 34 articles found in topics including participation motives, psychology, exercise physiology, fitness training, injuries and injury prevention, biomechanics, menstrual dysfunction, and substance use. Our results indicate that researchers have been inconsistently recording and reporting anthropometric and dancesport data; for example, 31 studies separated participants by gender, 21 included the competition classification of dancers, 19 reported which style of dancesport participants competed in, and 13 described the participants as a dance couple. Common injuries affected the neck, shoulder, spine, knee, lower leg, and foot. Dancesport is in the very heavy to extremely heavy category in energy expenditure (mean heart rate: male 175.2 ± 10.7, female 178.6 ± 8.6 bpm) and utilizes both aerobic and anaerobic energy systems. Alpha-beta and heart rate variability intervention techniques are reported to successfully enhance performance in dancers. Dancesport participants also appear less likely to smoke cigarettes, but have little knowledge about anti-doping rules. During events, professionals danced farther (30 m) and faster (0.3 m/sec) than junior dancers. Female competitors were more likely to be eumenorrheic. Dancesport is a physically and mentally demanding competitive sport, but there is a need to standardize measurements in future studies to allow comparison. 
22951517	Lower stress system activity and higher peripheral inflammation in competitive ballroom dancers. 	Although regular physical exercise is beneficial for health, competitive ballroom dancers anecdotally report increased disease susceptibility. This study aims to uncover possible biological mechanisms and pathways that may lead to higher disease susceptibility in a population of otherwise healthy young athletes. Experienced ballroom dancers and healthy controls provided blood and saliva samples in order to assess diurnal cortisol and alpha-amylase (sAA) output as well as inflammatory parameters interleukin (IL)-6 and C-reactive protein (CRP). We found diurnal cortisol and sAA output to be significantly lower in dancers. Additionally, higher levels in IL-6 but not in CRP were shown in dancers. Dancers described themselves as being more anxious and reported more physical health complaints. Competitive ballroom dancers show evidence for hypoactivity in stress systems and peripheral inflammation along with more self-reported physical complaints. Therefore, competitive ballroom dancing represents a chronic stressor that can lead to important functional consequences. It remains to be investigated whether these alterations are causally related to health. 
21774749	Anorexia athletica in pre-professional ballet dancers. 	Competitive sport has been under increasing discussion as a possible favourable factor in the development of eating disorders among children and adolescents. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of sport-specific eating disorders, in line with the concept of anorexia athletica. This prospective field study included one experimental group and two control groups (disease and healthy). Fifty-two pre-professional ballet dancers aged 13-20 years were tested for clinical eating disorders, anorexia athletica criteria, eating disorder related psychopathology and self-concept, and were compared with 52 patients with anorexia nervosa and 44 non-athletic controls of the same age. The study was conducted using semi-structured interviews as well as self-report questionnaires. A clinical eating disorder diagnosis was made in 1.9% of the ballet dancers versus 0% of the high school students; anorexia athletica was diagnosed in 5.8% of the dancers versus 2.3% of the students. Ballet dancers scored lower than patients with anorexia nervosa with regard to eating disorder related psychopathology and higher than the patients with regard to self-concept. We conclude that more sensitive tools to differentiate between sport-specific (eating) patterns, anorexia athletica and clinically relevant eating disorders are needed, especially for aesthetic sports such as ballet. It remains an important goal to identify athletes with symptoms of anorexia athletica irrespective of their physique and/or sport. 
21703084	Performance anxiety experiences of professional ballet dancers: the importance of control. 	Performance anxiety research abounds in sport psychology, yet has been relatively sparse in dance. The present study explores ballet dancers' experiences of performance anxiety in relation to: 1. symptom type, intensity, and directional interpretation; 2. experience level (including company rank); and 3. self-confidence and psychological skills. Fifteen elite ballet dancers representing all ranks in one company were interviewed, and qualitative content analysis was conducted. Results revealed that cognitive anxiety was more dominant than somatic anxiety, and was unanimously interpreted as debilitative to performance. Somatic anxiety was more likely to be interpreted as facilitative, with the majority of dancers recognizing that a certain amount of anxiety could be beneficial to performance. Principal dancers suffered from higher intensities of performance anxiety than corps de ballet members. Feeling out of control emerged as a major theme in both the experience of anxiety and its interpretation. As a result, prevention or handling of anxiety symptoms may be accomplished by helping dancers to feel in control. Dancers may benefit from education about anxiety symptoms and their interpretation, in addition to psychological skills training incorporating cognitive restructuring strategies and problem-focussed coping to help increase their feelings of being in control. 
21294035	Dual-task effect on postural control in high-level competitive dancers. 	We investigated balance in 33 competitive dancers (17 females, 16 males) and 22 controls (17 females, 5 males) (age 16-27 years) on a force plate in two conditions: single task (quiet stance) and dual task (with a concurrent mental task). Balance was evaluated using centre-of-pressure shift (sway) variability, mean speed, frequency, and sample entropy. The effect of the dual task in the medio-lateral plane was comparable in both groups, decreasing sway variability (P &lt; 0.05) and increasing mean speed (P &lt; 0.001), frequency, and sample entropy (P &lt; 0.001), showing that the participants effectively increased the level of automaticity. In the antero-posterior plane, the dual task also increased sway frequency and sample entropy (P &lt; 0.01) in dancers without affecting their standing performance. In contrast, postural control in non-dancers was vulnerable to reduced cognitive investment, which adversely interfered with baseline performance. There were very high correlations between sway sample entropy and frequency in each group, plane, and task (r = 0.92-0.98, P &lt; 0.001), indicating that both parameters may measure the same characteristic of postural control and that higher sway frequency may play an important role in protecting stability in dual tasking. The postural control of dancers and non-dancers appears to be similar, although dancing seems to facilitate the increased level of automatic control in the antero-posterior plane. 
24184143	The dominant/subordinate relationship between mice modifies the approach behavior toward a cage mate experiencing pain. 	Many species display approach behavior to conspecifics. This study evaluated approach behavior exhibited by mice toward a cage mate in pain according to the social relationship between the mice. The relative dominant/subordinate relationship among three cage mates was determined using a competitive food retrieval test. Social preference of the subordinate mouse for the mid-status or dominant cage mate was tested with and without pain induced in the dominant cage mate. Social preference of the dominant mouse was similarly tested with and without pain induced in the subordinate cage mate. Subordinate mice spent more time with the dominant cage mate in pain than with the mid-status cage mate but spent a similar amount of time with dominant and mid-status cage mates that were not in pain. Dominant mice spent a similar amount of time with subordinate and mid-status cage mates regardless of pain. The time that subordinate mice spent with the dominant cage mate in pain inversely correlated with dominancy distance between the two mice. These results demonstrate that social relationship can modify perception of the pain of others. 
24040845	Gene-environment interplay in the link of friends' and nonfriends' behaviors with children's social reticence in a competitive situation. 	This study used a genetically informed design to assess the effects of friends' and nonfriends' reticent and dominant behaviors on children's observed social reticence in a competitive situation. Potential gene-environment correlations (rGE) and gene-environment interactions (GxE) in the link between (a) friends' and nonfriends' behaviors and (b) children's social reticence were examined. The sample comprised 466 twin children (i.e., the target children), each of whom was assessed in kindergarten together with a same-sex friend and two nonfriend classmates of either sex. Multilevel regression analyses revealed that children with a genetic disposition for social reticence showed more reticent behavior in the competitive situation and were more likely to affiliate with reticent friends (i.e., rGE). Moreover, a higher level of children's reticent behavior was predicted by their friends' higher social reticence (particularly for girls) and their friends' higher social dominance, independently of children's genetic disposition. Children's social reticence was also predicted by their nonfriends' behaviors. Specifically, children were less reticent when male nonfriends showed high levels of social reticence in the competitive situation, and this was particularly true for children with a genetic disposition for social reticence (i.e., GxE). Moreover, children genetically vulnerable for social reticence seemed to foster dominant behavior in their female nonfriend peers (i.e., rGE). In turn, male nonfriends seemed to be more dominant as soon as the target children were reticent, even if the target children did not have a stable genetic disposition for this behavior. 
23519643	Prior fighting experience increases aggression in Syrian hamsters: implications for a role of dopamine in the winner effect. 	Winning an aggressive encounter enhances the probability of winning future contests. This phenomenon, known as the winner effect, has been well studied across vertebrate species. While numerous animal models have been developed to study the winner effect in the laboratory setting, large variation in experimental design, choice of species, and housing conditions have resulted in conflicting reports on the behavioral outcomes. The Syrian hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) presents as a novel species with face validity to study the effects of repeated fighting on subsequent agonistic encounters. After a 14-day training period, &quot;trained fighter&quot; hamsters displayed elevated fighting behaviors characterized by more intense and severe displays of aggression along with increased displays of dominant postures compared to naïve residents with no prior social experience. To determine whether these phenotypic changes in fighting behavior reflect alterations in neurochemistry, brains of aggressive and naïve hamsters were examined for changes in dopaminergic innervation in key regions known to control social and motivational behavior. Interestingly, changes in tyrosine hydroxylase, the rate limiting enzyme for dopamine production, were observed in brain regions within the social decision-making network. These increases in aggression observed after repeated winning may reflect a learned behavior resulting from increases in neurotransmitter activity which serve to reinforce the behavior. The data implicate the presence of a winner effect in hamsters and provide evidence for a neural mechanism underlying the changes in aggressive behavior after repeated agonistic encounters. 
22563670	How do therapists ally with adolescents in family therapy? An examination of relational control communication in early sessions. 	Sequential analyses examined associations between the working alliance and therapist-adolescent communication patterns in 10 Spanish cases of brief conjoint family therapy. Early sessions with strong versus problematic alliances, rated by observers, were selected for coding of relational control communication patterns. No differences were found in the frequency of exchanges, but competitive responding by the therapists (reflecting an interpersonal struggle for control) was significantly more likely in problematic alliance sessions than in strong alliance sessions. Cases in which the adolescent's alliance with the therapist remained positive from Session 1 as compared with Session 3 showed a decrease in the likelihood of competitive symmetry. Notably, when the quality of the alliance deteriorated over time, the therapists were increasingly more likely to respond to the adolescents' domineering messages in a competitive manner. Results underscore the need to avoid competitive responding in order to ally with adolescents in conjoint family treatment. 
22526114	Testosterone dynamics during encounter: role of emotional factors. 	This study attempts to develop a new theory to explain the varying dynamics of testosterone levels in dominant (winners) and subordinate (losers) males, both pre- and post-encounter. The crux of our new theory consists of the following four theses: (1) the strengthening of testosterone synthesis is a result of not only the existence of challenges, but also of a positive mood before an encounter that is associated with the anticipation of a victory; (2) in situations where the anticipation of victory is present but the positive mood is absent, no rise in testosterone levels will occur; (3) testosterone acts as a &quot;pleasure&quot; hormone and usually releases in situations where the individual achieves or anticipates possible satisfaction; (4) an increased release of testosterone to the blood not only decreases anxiety but also elevates the mood, which increases animal's/human's assertiveness and consequently aggressiveness. 
22649245	Prefrontal neurons represent winning and losing during competitive video shooting games between monkeys. 	Humans and animals must work to support their survival and reproductive needs. Because resources are limited in the natural environment, competition is inevitable, and competing successfully is vitally important. However, the neuronal mechanisms of competitive behavior are poorly studied. We examined whether neurons in the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) showed response sensitivity related to a competitive game. In this study, monkeys played a video shooting game, either competing with another monkey or the computer, or playing alone without a rival. Monkeys performed more quickly and more accurately in the competitive than in the noncompetitive games, indicating that they were more motivated in the competitive than in the noncompetitive games. LPFC neurons showed differential activity between the competitive and noncompetitive games showing winning- and losing-related activity. Furthermore, activities of prefrontal neurons differed depending on whether the competition was between monkeys or between the monkey and the computer. These results indicate that LPFC neurons may play an important role in monitoring the outcome of competition and enabling animals to adapt their behavior to increase their chances of obtaining a reward in a socially interactive environment. 
24275004	Salivary testosterone change following monetary wins and losses predicts future financial risk-taking. 	While baseline testosterone has recently been implicated in risk-taking in men, less is known about the effects of changing levels of testosterone on financial risk. Here we attempt to influence testosterone in men by having them win or lose money in a chance-based competition against another male opponent. We employ two treatments where we vary the amount of money at stake so that we can directly compare winners to losers who earn the same amount, thereby abstracting from income effects. We find that men who experience a greater increase in bioactive testosterone take on more risk, an association that remains when controlling for whether the participant won the competition. In fact, whether subjects won the competition did not predict future risk. These results suggest that testosterone change, and thus individual differences in testosterone reactivity, rather than the act of winning or losing, influence financial risk-taking. 
24580661	Risk-taking behaviour may explain high predation mortality of GH-transgenic common carp Cyprinus carpio. 	The competitive ability and habitat selection of juvenile all-fish GH-transgenic common carp Cyprinus carpio and their size-matched non-transgenic conspecifics, in the absence and presence of predation risk, under different food distributions, were compared. Unequal-competitor ideal-free-distribution analysis showed that a larger proportion of transgenic C. carpio fed within the system, although they were not overrepresented at a higher-quantity food source. Moreover, the analysis showed that transgenic C. carpio maintained a faster growth rate, and were more willing to risk exposure to a predator when foraging, thereby supporting the hypothesis that predation selects against maximal growth rates by removing individuals that display increased foraging effort. Without compensatory behaviours that could mitigate the effects of predation risk, the escaped or released transgenic C. carpio with high-gain and high-risk performance would grow well but probably suffer high predation mortality in nature. 
24071530	Subthalamic stimulation modulates self-estimation of patients with Parkinson's disease and induces risk-seeking behaviour. 	Patients with Parkinson's disease with deep brain stimulation in the subthalamic nucleus postoperatively often display higher impulsivity and therefore may experience difficulties in social interactions. Here, we examined social interactions of patients with Parkinson's disease with and without deep brain stimulation in the subthalamic nucleus in competitive situations. We hypothesized altered self-estimation and risk-seeking behaviour in this patient group induced by deep brain stimulation in the subthalamic nucleus. To test the hypothesis, an experimental setting was used in which participants performed a calculation task and chose their preferred compensation. Based on their actual calculation performance, more patients with Parkinson's disease with deep brain stimulation chose a competitive tournament compensation. Assuming rational behaviour, this self-selection pattern reflects increased risk tolerance. Since patients who performed in the lowest quartile chose the tournament option, the data suggest that deep brain stimulation in the subthalamic nucleus results in a loss of the correct reference frame against which patients with Parkinson's disease evaluate their performance. The stimulation-induced combination of overestimation of their own performance, increased risk-taking, and preference for competitive environments despite poor performance is likely to impact considerably on the patients' social and work life. 
23131472	Street racing video games and risk-taking driving: An Internet survey of automobile enthusiasts. 	The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among risky driving attitudes, self-perceptions as a risky driver, playing of &quot;drive'em up&quot; (which rewarded players for frequent traffic and other violations) and &quot;circuit&quot; racing video games as well as self-reported risky driving through a web-based survey of car and racing club members in relation to a socio-cognitive model of the effects of racing video game playing. An Internet questionnaire was developed and included: (1) self-perceptions as a risky driver scales (Driver Thrill Seeking and Competitive Attitude Toward Driving); (2) attitudes regarding street racing; (3) street racing video game playing, and (4) self-reported risky driving (Risk-Taking Driving Scale). A sequential logistic regression was performed entering age and driving exposure as control variables in the first block, self-perceptions as a risky driver in the second block, attitudes in the third block and playing &quot;drive'em up&quot; and &quot;circuit&quot; racing games in the last block to examine their effects on self-reported risk-taking driving. A total of 503 survey respondents were included in the analyses and only 20% reported any risk-taking driving. Higher score on the Competitive Attitude Toward Driving Scale, more positive attitudes toward street racing, and more frequent reported playing of &quot;drive'em up&quot; video games were associated with higher odds on the self-reported Risk-Taking Driving Scale. However, the Driver Thrill Seeking Scale and &quot;circuit&quot; video game playing failed to predict self-reported risk-taking driving. Self-perceptions as a risky driver, positive attitudes toward risky driving and &quot;drive'em up&quot; street-racing games, but not &quot;circuit&quot; racing games, are associated with increased risk-taking driving. These findings are congruent with experimental studies in which games that reward driving violations increased risk taking, suggesting that risk taking may be a function of type of street racing game played by affecting self-perceptions as a risky driver. 
22947990	Competitive disadvantage makes attitudes towards rape less negative. 	Evolutionary theorists have argued that perceived competitive disadvantage may lead to more positive evaluation of, and greater likelihood of engaging in, risky and antisocial behavior. However, experimental studies have not yet examined the effects of competitive disadvantage on perceptions of rape. In the current study, we created a manipulation of perceived competitive status to test its effects on beliefs about rape. In one condition, participants were made to feel disadvantaged relative to male peers in terms of financial, physical, and intellectual power, whereas in the other condition they were made to feel advantaged. Participants were 120 heterosexual male undergraduate students. The manipulation was effective; compared to participants in the advantage condition, those in the disadvantage condition rated themselves as significantly worse off financially, shorter, in worse physical shape, and as having lower course marks than the average male student at the university. Compared to perceived competitive advantage, perceived disadvantage led to less negative attitudes towards rape. However, perceived competitive status did not significantly affect justifications and excuses for rape. Future studies using similar experimental manipulations can complement correlational studies and may contribute to greater clarity, precision, and sophistication of research and theory on the role of competitive disadvantage in rape. 
21243518	Volatility, house edge and prize structure of gambling games. 	This study used simulations to examine the effect of prize structure on the outcome volatility and the number of winners of various game configurations. The two most common prize structures found in gambling games are even money payoff games (bet $1; win $2) found on most table games and multilevel prizes structures found in gambling machine games. Simulations were set up to examine the effect of prize structure on the long-term outcomes of these games. Eight different prize structures were compared in terms of the number of winners and volatility. It was found that the standard table game and commercial gambling machines produced fairly high numbers of short term winners (1 h), but few long term winners (50 h). It was found that the typical even money game set up produced the lowest level of volatility. Of the multilevel prize structures examined, the three simulations based on commercial gambling machines were the least volatile. The results are examined in terms of the pragmatics of game design. 
23962563	Effect of rapid modulation of circulating plasma testosterone concentration on begging, aggressive behavior and competition for food in black-headed gull (Larus ridibundus) chicks. 	Sibling competition mediated by begging behavior is extremely common in avian species and recent studies have highlighted the role of endogenous testosterone in regulating such phenomenon. However, current literature depicts an inconsistent pattern in altricial vs. semi-precocial species, with stimulating versus inhibitory effects of the hormone respectively. This is possibly due to a difference in the methodology of hormone treatment (short-term moderate dose versus a long-term stronger elevation, respectively) between the studies performed so far. In this study, we induced short-term moderate peaks in plasma testosterone levels, as applied in altricial bird species, and assessed the effects of our manipulation on begging, competitive and aggressive behavior in black-headed gull (Larus ridibundus) chicks, a semi-precocial species. Our results suggest that, unlike in altricial songbirds, temporary increase of plasma testosterone concentration suppresses begging and enhances aggressiveness towards intruders. However, it also increases aggression and the chances of getting priority while scrambling with nest mates to gain access to food. Thus, the inconsistencies in the hormonal control of begging behavior observed between altricial vs. semi-precocial birds seem real and perhaps related to species differences in complexity of the display and the nature of competition. These may be elucidated by future comparative studies. 
22845831	With a little help from my kin: barn swallow nestlings modulate solicitation of parental care according to nestmates' need. 	In altricial species, offspring competing for access to limiting parental resources (e.g. food) are selected to achieve an optimal balance between the costs of scrambling for food, the benefits of being fed and the indirect costs of subtracting food to relatives. As the marginal benefits of acquiring additional food decrease with decreasing levels of need, satiated offspring should be prone to favour access to food by their needy kin, thus enhancing their own indirect fitness, while concomitantly reducing costs of harsh competition with hungry broodmates. We tested this prediction in feeding trials of barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) nestlings by comparing begging behaviour and food intake of two similar-sized nestmates, one of which was food-deprived (FD). Non-food-deprived (NFD) offspring modulated begging intensity depending on their nestmate's need: when competing with FD nestmates, NFD nestlings reduced both the intensity and frequency of begging displays compared to themselves in the control trial before food deprivation. Hence, NFD nestlings reduced their competitiveness to the advantage of FD nestmates, which obtained more feedings and showed a threefold larger increase in body mass. Moderation of individual selfishness can therefore be adaptive in the presence of a needier kin, because the indirect fitness benefits of promoting its condition can outweigh the costs of forgoing being fed, and because it limits the cost of begging escalation against a vigorous competitor. 
21735224	Body condition, hormonal correlates and consequences for survival in common tern chicks. 	Although sibling competition in avian species has been extensively studied, the proximate mechanisms remain largely unknown. Recent research proposed that steroid hormones, in particular testosterone (T) and corticosterone (CORT), might play a role either in promoting competitive behavioral displays or in response to chronic nutritional stress accompanied by a sustained competitive situation. Here, we examine body condition, endogenous T levels and fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGM) as non-invasive measures of CORT in sibling broods of wild common tern chicks (Sterna hirundo) during three post-natal developmental stages. In this species, distinct within-brood size asymmetries are imposed by an asynchronous hatching interval, and sexes show slightly different growth patterns. First-hatched (a-)chicks were in better condition than their later-hatched sibling (b-chick). FGM levels inversely covaried with condition and were elevated at the end of pre-fledging development. T levels of a- and b-chicks changed with age, although the direction of the changes differed, with b-chicks eventually having higher levels than their older siblings. Survival to fledging was not associated with FGM but with T levels, which tended to be higher in surviving chicks. Our results are discussed with regard to how plasticity in steroid hormones could be involved in mediating sibling competition in common terns. 
19461218	Sibling violence silenced: rivalry, competition, wrestling, playing, roughhousing, benign. 	In this article, sibling violence and the silence surrounding it is explicated through professional literature and research findings, exemplars from clinical practice, and statistics. Theoretical positions and discourse analysis have been used to help explain how regular broken bones, bruises, lacerations, and verbal humiliation can be minimized as normal sibling rivalry or roughhousing, which does not cause serious consequences. Nursing should be on the front lines of ending practices of violence. Recognizing sibling violence as such is part of this work and is a social justice issue. 
24184143	The dominant/subordinate relationship between mice modifies the approach behavior toward a cage mate experiencing pain. 	Many species display approach behavior to conspecifics. This study evaluated approach behavior exhibited by mice toward a cage mate in pain according to the social relationship between the mice. The relative dominant/subordinate relationship among three cage mates was determined using a competitive food retrieval test. Social preference of the subordinate mouse for the mid-status or dominant cage mate was tested with and without pain induced in the dominant cage mate. Social preference of the dominant mouse was similarly tested with and without pain induced in the subordinate cage mate. Subordinate mice spent more time with the dominant cage mate in pain than with the mid-status cage mate but spent a similar amount of time with dominant and mid-status cage mates that were not in pain. Dominant mice spent a similar amount of time with subordinate and mid-status cage mates regardless of pain. The time that subordinate mice spent with the dominant cage mate in pain inversely correlated with dominancy distance between the two mice. These results demonstrate that social relationship can modify perception of the pain of others. 
24015691	Longitudinal stability of social competence indicators in a Portuguese sample: Q-sort profiles of social competence, measures of social engagement, and peer sociometric acceptance. 	This study examines the temporal stability (over 3 years) of individual differences in 3 domains relevant to preschool children's social competence: social engagement/motivation, profiles of behavior and personality attributes characteristic of socially competent young children, and peer acceptance. Each domain was measured with multiple indicators. Sociometric status categories (Asher &amp; Dodge, 1986) and reciprocated friendships were derived from sociometric data. Composites for social competence domains were significantly associated across all time points. Within age-periods, social competence domains were associated with both sociometric and friendship status categories; however, neither sociometric status nor reciprocated friendships were stable over time. Nevertheless, analyses examining the social competence antecedents to reciprocated friendship at age-4 and age-5 suggested that more socially competent children in the prior year were more likely to have a reciprocated friendship in the current year. Popular and rejected sociometric status categories were also associated with social competence indicators in prior years, but this was most clearly seen at age-5. 
24040845	Gene-environment interplay in the link of friends' and nonfriends' behaviors with children's social reticence in a competitive situation. 	This study used a genetically informed design to assess the effects of friends' and nonfriends' reticent and dominant behaviors on children's observed social reticence in a competitive situation. Potential gene-environment correlations (rGE) and gene-environment interactions (GxE) in the link between (a) friends' and nonfriends' behaviors and (b) children's social reticence were examined. The sample comprised 466 twin children (i.e., the target children), each of whom was assessed in kindergarten together with a same-sex friend and two nonfriend classmates of either sex. Multilevel regression analyses revealed that children with a genetic disposition for social reticence showed more reticent behavior in the competitive situation and were more likely to affiliate with reticent friends (i.e., rGE). Moreover, a higher level of children's reticent behavior was predicted by their friends' higher social reticence (particularly for girls) and their friends' higher social dominance, independently of children's genetic disposition. Children's social reticence was also predicted by their nonfriends' behaviors. Specifically, children were less reticent when male nonfriends showed high levels of social reticence in the competitive situation, and this was particularly true for children with a genetic disposition for social reticence (i.e., GxE). Moreover, children genetically vulnerable for social reticence seemed to foster dominant behavior in their female nonfriend peers (i.e., rGE). In turn, male nonfriends seemed to be more dominant as soon as the target children were reticent, even if the target children did not have a stable genetic disposition for this behavior. 
24501142	Observation interventions as a means to manipulate collective efficacy in groups. 	The purpose of this multistudy investigation was to examine observation as an intervention for the manipulation of individual collective efficacy beliefs. Study 1 compared the effects of positive, neutral, and negative video footage of practice trials from an obstacle course task on collective efficacy beliefs in assigned groups. The content of the observation intervention (i.e., positive, neutral, and negative video footage) significantly influenced the direction of change in collective efficacy (p &lt; .05). Study 2 assessed the influence of content familiarity (own team/sport vs. unfamiliar team/sport) on individual collective efficacy perceptions when observing positive footage of competitive basketball performance. Collective efficacy significantly increased for both the familiar and unfamiliar conditions postintervention, with the largest increase for the familiar condition (p &lt; .05). The studies support the use of observation as an intervention to enhance individual perceptions of collective efficacy in group-based activities. The findings suggest that observations of any group displaying positive group characteristics are likely to increase collective efficacy beliefs; however, observation of one's own team leads to the greatest increases. 
23988871	Past and future implications of near-misses and their emotional consequences. 	The Reflection and Evaluation Model (REM) of comparative thinking predicts that temporal perspective could moderate people's emotional reactions to close counterfactuals following near-misses (Markman &amp; McMullen, 2003). The experiments reported in this paper tested predictions derived from this theory by examining how people's emotional reactions to a near-miss at goal during a football match (Experiment 1) or a close score in a TV game show (Experiment 2) depended on the level of perceived future possibility. In support of the theory it was found that the presence of future possibility enhanced affective assimilation (e.g., if the near-miss occurred at the beginning of the game the players who had nearly scored were hopeful of future success) whereas the absence of future possibility enhanced affective contrast (e.g., if the near-miss occurred at the end of the game the players who had nearly scored were disappointed about missing an opportunity). Furthermore the experiments built upon our theoretical understanding by exploring the mechanisms which produce assimilation and contrast effects. In Experiment 1 we examined the incidence of present-oriented or future-oriented thinking, and in Experiment 2 we examined the mediating role of counterfactual thinking in the observed effect of proximity on emotions by testing whether stronger counterfactuals (measured using counterfactual probability estimates) produce bigger contrast and assimilation effects. While the results of these investigations generally support the REM, they also highlight the necessity to consider other psychological mechanisms (e.g., social comparison), in addition to counterfactual thinking, that might contribute to the emotional consequences of near-miss outcomes. 
24079297	Reading people's minds from emotion expressions in interdependent decision making. 	How do people make inferences about other people's minds from their emotion displays? The ability to infer others' beliefs, desires, and intentions from their facial expressions should be especially important in interdependent decision making when people make decisions from beliefs about the others' intention to cooperate. Five experiments tested the general proposition that people follow principles of appraisal when making inferences from emotion displays, in context. Experiment 1 revealed that the same emotion display produced opposite effects depending on context: When the other was competitive, a smile on the other's face evoked a more negative response than when the other was cooperative. Experiment 2 revealed that the essential information from emotion displays was derived from appraisals (e.g., Is the current state of affairs conducive to my goals? Who is to blame for it?); facial displays of emotion had the same impact on people's decision making as textual expressions of the corresponding appraisals. Experiments 3, 4, and 5 used multiple mediation analyses and a causal-chain design: Results supported the proposition that beliefs about others' appraisals mediate the effects of emotion displays on expectations about others' intentions. We suggest a model based on appraisal theories of emotion that posits an inferential mechanism whereby people retrieve, from emotion expressions, information about others' appraisals, which then lead to inferences about others' mental states. This work has implications for the design of algorithms that drive agent behavior in human-agent strategic interaction, an emerging domain at the interface of computer science and social psychology. 
24275004	Salivary testosterone change following monetary wins and losses predicts future financial risk-taking. 	While baseline testosterone has recently been implicated in risk-taking in men, less is known about the effects of changing levels of testosterone on financial risk. Here we attempt to influence testosterone in men by having them win or lose money in a chance-based competition against another male opponent. We employ two treatments where we vary the amount of money at stake so that we can directly compare winners to losers who earn the same amount, thereby abstracting from income effects. We find that men who experience a greater increase in bioactive testosterone take on more risk, an association that remains when controlling for whether the participant won the competition. In fact, whether subjects won the competition did not predict future risk. These results suggest that testosterone change, and thus individual differences in testosterone reactivity, rather than the act of winning or losing, influence financial risk-taking. 
23978772	An empirically based simulation of group foraging in the harvesting ant, Messor pergandei. 	We present an empirically based group model of foraging interactions in Messor pergandei, the Sonoran desert harvesting ant. M. pergandei colonies send out daily foraging columns consisting of tens of thousands of individual ants. Each day, the directions of the columns may change depending on the resource availability and the neighbor interactions. If neighboring columns meet, ants fight, and subsequent foraging is suppressed. M. pergandei colonies face a general problem which is present in many systems: dynamic spatial partitioning in a constantly changing environment, while simultaneously minimizing negative competitive interactions with multiple neighbors. Our simulation model of a population of column foragers is spatially explicit and includes neighbor interactions. We study how different behavioral strategies influence resource exploitation and space use for different nest distributions and densities. Column foraging in M. pergandei is adapted to the spatial and temporal properties of their natural habitat. Resource and space use is maximized both at the colony and the population level by a model with a behavioral strategy including learning and fast forgetting rates. 
24184143	The dominant/subordinate relationship between mice modifies the approach behavior toward a cage mate experiencing pain. 	Many species display approach behavior to conspecifics. This study evaluated approach behavior exhibited by mice toward a cage mate in pain according to the social relationship between the mice. The relative dominant/subordinate relationship among three cage mates was determined using a competitive food retrieval test. Social preference of the subordinate mouse for the mid-status or dominant cage mate was tested with and without pain induced in the dominant cage mate. Social preference of the dominant mouse was similarly tested with and without pain induced in the subordinate cage mate. Subordinate mice spent more time with the dominant cage mate in pain than with the mid-status cage mate but spent a similar amount of time with dominant and mid-status cage mates that were not in pain. Dominant mice spent a similar amount of time with subordinate and mid-status cage mates regardless of pain. The time that subordinate mice spent with the dominant cage mate in pain inversely correlated with dominancy distance between the two mice. These results demonstrate that social relationship can modify perception of the pain of others. 
24468213	Information gathering during contests: the relationship between lateralisation and contestant behaviour during fallow deer fights. 	One class of model relating to animal contest behaviour assumes that individuals gather information concerning their opponents' competitive ability; these models argue that such a process allows contestants to avoid engaging in dangerous fighting behaviour with a superior opponent. The brain hemispheres of vertebrates are lateralised in that they are specialised for processing different type of information. Within the context of the current study, we might expect that lateralisation would play a role in facilitating the assessment of opponent quality; nevertheless, the degree of lateralisation shown by individuals can vary suggesting that contest behaviour might also vary based on the ability to process information about competitor quality. The current study tests this hypothesis by predicting that the duration that individuals engage in fighting and the rate of aggressive contest actions should decrease as lateralisation increases. There was a positive relationship between two laterality indices and the duration spent in antler contact; thus lateralised individuals experienced greater time costs. Further, lateralised individuals also experienced a greater disparity in contest actions: there was a negative relationship between lateralisation and the difference in the mean number of backward pushes achieved during fights. When only opponent signal rate was considered there was no effect of lateralisation, therefore, there is support for a mutual assessment process. These results suggest that information gathering via lateral displays may be disadvantageous to lateralised individuals during escalated fighting. 
24472325	Effects of social defeat on sleep and behaviour: importance of the confrontational behaviour. 	We studied the short- and long-term effects of a double social defeat (SD) on sleep parameters, EEG power, behaviour in the open field emergence test, corticosterone responsiveness, and acoustic startle responses. Pre-stress levels of corticosterone were assessed before all rats were surgically implanted with telemetric transmitters for sleep recording, and allowed 3weeks of recovery. Rats in the SD group (n=10) were exposed to 1hour SD on two consecutive days, while control rats (n=10) were left undisturbed. Telemetric sleep recordings were performed before SD (day -1), day 1 post SD, and once weekly for 3weeks thereafter. The open field emergence test was performed on day 9 and weekly for 2weeks thereafter. Blood samples for measures of corticosterone responsiveness were drawn after the last emergence test (day 23). Acoustic startle responses were tested on day 24 post SD. Overall, SD rats as a group were not affected by the social conflict. Effects of SD seemed, however, to vary according to the behaviours that the intruder displayed during the social confrontation with the resident. Compared to those SD rats showing quick submission (SDS, n=5), SD rats fighting the resident during one or both SD confrontations before defeat (SDF, n=5) showed more fragmented slow wave sleep, both in SWS1 and SWS2. They also showed longer latency to leave the start box and spent less time in the open field arena compared to SDS rats. In the startle test, SDF rats failed to show response decrement at the lowest sound level. Our results indicate that how animals behave during a social confrontation is more important than exposure to the SD procedure itself, and that rapid submission during a social confrontation might be more adaptive than fighting back. 
24120551	Testosterone dynamics and psychopathic personality traits independently predict antagonistic behavior towards the perceived loser of a competitive interaction. 	Few studies have investigated the influence of changes in testosterone on subsequent competitive, antagonistic behavior in humans. Further, little is known about the extent to which such effects are moderated by personality traits. Here, we collected salivary measures of testosterone before and after a rigged competition. After the competition, participants were given the opportunity to act antagonistically against the competitor (allocate a low honorarium). We hypothesized that changes in testosterone throughout the competition would predict antagonistic behavior such that greater increases would be associated with the allocation of lower honorariums. Further, we investigated the extent to which personality traits related to psychopathy (fearless dominance, FD; self-centered impulsivity, SCI; and coldheartedness) moderated this relationship. In men (n=104), greater increases in testosterone and greater FD were associated with more antagonistic behavior, but testosterone concentrations did not interact with personality measures. In women (n=97), greater FD and SCI predicted greater antagonistic behavior, but there were no significant endocrine predictors or interactions with personality measures. In a secondary set of analyses, we found no support for the dual-hormone hypothesis that the relationship between baseline testosterone concentrations and behavior is moderated by cortisol concentrations. Thus, results are consistent with previous findings that in men, situation-specific testosterone reactivity rather than baseline endocrine function is a better predictor of future antagonistic behavior. The results are discussed with respect to the Challenge Hypothesis and the Biosocial Model of Status, and the possible mechanisms underlying the independent relations of testosterone and personality factors with antagonistic behavior. 
23523743	Women's intercollegiate athletic competition: cortisol, testosterone, and the dual-hormone hypothesis as it relates to status among teammates. 	Recent research suggests that testosterone and cortisol jointly regulate dominance motivation and, perhaps, the status relationships that are affected by it. For this article, the results of six different studies of women's intercollegiate athletic competition were combined to give a sample size of almost ninety women for whom we had before- and after-competition values for salivary cortisol and testosterone for at least one and sometimes two competitions. For many of these women, we had surveys that allowed us to assess their status with teammates. In no matter what sport (soccer, softball, volleyball, and tennis) levels of salivary cortisol and testosterone increased when women participated in athletic competition. Salivary levels of C and T appear to rise in parallel during competition and increases in levels of one hormone are significantly related to increases in the other. Salivary levels of these hormones typically decreased for teammates who did not play but watched the competition from the sidelines. For women who played in two competitions, individual differences in the positive effect of competition on cortisol and testosterone were conserved from one competition to the next, affirming the personal consistency of endocrine responses to competition. Status with teammates was positively related to before-competition levels of testosterone, but only for women with relatively low before-competition levels of cortisol. This result provides novel support for the &quot;dual-hormone hypothesis&quot; as it relates to predicting social status in women's athletic teams - natural social groups of individuals who know each other and whose social hierarchy has evolved over the course of practice and play for at least one and, in some cases, several years of intercollegiate athletic competition. 
24184773	Food availability and competition do not modulate the costs of Plasmodium infection in dominant male canaries. 	Understanding the different factors that may influence parasite virulence is of fundamental interest to ecologists and evolutionary biologists. It has recently been demonstrated that parasite virulence may occur partly through manipulation of host competitive ability. Differences in competitive ability associated with the social status (dominant or subordinate) of a host may determine the extent of this competition-mediated parasite virulence. We proposed that differences between subordinate and dominant birds in the physiological costs of infection may change depending on the level of competition in social groups. We observed flocks of domestic canaries to determine dominant or subordinate birds, and modified competition by providing restricted (high competition) or ad libitum food (low competition). Entire flocks were then infected with either the avian malaria parasite, Plasmodium relictum or a control. Contrary to our predictions we found that the level of competition had no effect on the outcome of infection for dominant or subordinate birds. We found that dominant birds appeared to suffer greater infection mediated morbidity in both dietary treatments, with a higher and more sustained reduction in haematocrit, and higher parasitaemia, than subordinates. Our results show that dominance status in birds can certainly alter parasite virulence, though the links between food availability, competition, nutrition and virulence are likely to be complex and multifaceted. 
22605365	Virtual and live social facilitation while exergaming: competitiveness moderates exercise intensity. 	Grounded in social facilitation theory, this study compared the impact on exercise intensity of a virtual versus a live competitor, when riding a virtual reality-enhanced stationary bike (&quot;cybercycle&quot;). It was hypothesized that competitiveness would moderate effects. Twenty-three female college students were exposed to three conditions on a cybercycle: solo training, virtual competitor, and live competitor. After training without a competitor (solo condition for familiarization with equipment), participants competed against a virtual avatar or live rider (random order of presentation). A repeated-measures analysis revealed a significant condition (virtual/live) by competitiveness (high/low) interaction for exercise intensity (watts). More competitive participants exhibited significantly greater exercise intensity when competing against a live versus virtual competitor. The implication is that live competitors can have an added social facilitation effect and influence exercise intensity, although competitiveness moderates this effect. 
19725315	An analysis of home advantage in the top two Spanish professional football leagues. 	This study examines the effect of the points system on home advantage in the two top Spanish professional football divisions between the 1980-1981 and 2006-2007 seasons. From 1980-81, teams were awarded 2 points for a win. This was increased to 3 points starting in 1995-1996. Lower home advantage was expected with the 3-point system as a consequence of encouraging more attacking play from away teams. The results of an analysis of 20,992 games showed no significant differences in home advantage values between the First Division (66.3% before and 62.1% after the 3-point system) and the Second Division (65.6% before and 59.5% after). Nevertheless, there was a significant decrease in home advantage in both the First and Second Divisions after the introduction of the 3-point system. The results were compared with two similar studies of professional football in England. 
19184138	Does inequity aversion depend on a frustration effect? A test with capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella). 	Brosnan and de Waal (Nature 425:297-299, 2003) reported that if a witness monkey saw a model monkey receive a high-value food, the witness was more inclined to reject a previously acceptable, but low-value food. Later work demonstrated that this alleged inequity aversion might be due to frustration induced by switching subjects from their role as models receiving a high-value food to the role of witnesses receiving a low-value food. In the present study, pairs of female capuchins exchanged a token for either a high- or a low-value food without switching their model-witness roles. Witnesses could exchange a token for a low-value food after an adjacent model had exchanged a token for the same food (Equity Condition) or for a high-value food (Inequity Condition). Failure- and latency-to-exchange measures showed that witnesses were unaffected by the food type offered to models (no inequity aversion). Moreover, models were unaffected by their history of food type offered (no frustration). These results join earlier work suggesting that alleged inequity effects depend on frustration-induction procedures. Furthermore, inequity effects sometimes fail to emerge because frustration induction in nonhuman primates is labile. 
18340032	Creating your own hostile environment: a laboratory examination of trait aggressiveness and the violence escalation cycle. 	A dyadic interactive aggression paradigm tested hypotheses from the General Aggression Model about how trait aggressiveness can create behaviorally hostile social environments. Pairs of college student participants competed in a modified reaction time task in which they repeatedly delivered and received each other's punishments. The trait aggressiveness of both participants influenced the punishment intensities (aggression level) set by each member of the dyad on later trials. Furthermore, there was a pattern of escalation from early to later trials. These trait aggressiveness effects (both self and partner) on later aggressive behavior were largely mediated by partner aggression levels during early trials. Results also suggested two aggressive motives--hostile and instrumental--resulted from high partner aggression during early trials and these motives partially mediated the effects of trait aggressiveness and of early trial aggression on later aggressive behavior. 
17475617	Psychological mechanisms underlying the Köhler motivation gain. 	Sometimes group work conditions lead to motivation gains rather than to social loafing. Two theoretical explanations for the Köhler motivation gain effect are identified, one stressing social comparison and a second stressing the indispensability of one's effort to the group. The results of three new experiments are reported. Experiment 1 suggested that both explanations are valid and contribute to the Köhler effect. Prior studies suggested that there might be gender differences in the relative importance of these two explanatory processes. Experiment 2 confirmed this suggestion. In Experiment 3, the gender difference was eliminated by priming women with a goal (viz., competition) presumed to be chronically more important to men. It is argued that the relative importance of these two motivational processes will depend on the immediate and chronic importance attached to more personal (viz., to achieve a favorable social comparison) versus collective (viz., to contribute to one's group) goals. 
16570883	Developing a game plan for good sportsmanship. 	It is widely believed in the United States that competition is beneficial for youngsters. However, the media are full of examples of players, fans, and coaches whose behavior veers out of control. There have been well-documented examples of youth in livestock competitions illegally medicating show animals to make them appear calmer, officials biasing their rulings toward a team that will take the most fans to a playoff game, and team rivalries that have become so caustic as to be dangerous for competitors and fans. A university extension and its partners created a program called &quot;Great Fans. Great Sports.&quot; in order to teach the kinds of behaviors we wish to instill among all who are involved in competitions. It requires entire communities to develop and implement plans for enhancing sportsmanship in music, debate, drama, 4-H, and other arenas, as well as sports. The goal is to make good sportsmanship not the exception but the norm. The authors provide anecdotal evidence that &quot;Great Fans. Great Sports.&quot; is having a positive impact on the attitudes and behaviors of competitors, fans, and communities. 
24413968	Responses of elite road motorcyclists to racing in tropical conditions: a case study. 	Anecdotal reports suggest that elite road motorcyclists suffer from high core body temperatures and physiological and perceptual strain when competing in hot conditions. Four male non-heat-acclimatized elite motorcyclists (3 Superbike, 1 Supersport) had their gastrointestinal temperature, heart rate, and respiratory rate measured and recorded throughout practice, qualifying, and race sessions of an Australian Superbike and Supersport Championship round contested in tropical conditions. Physiological strain was calculated during the sessions, and fluid-balance measures were taken during practice and qualifying. Rider thermal sensation was assessed immediately postsession. Mean ambient temperature and relative humidity were 29.5-30.2°C and 64.5-68.7%, respectively, across the sessions. Gastrointestinal temperature rose from 37.6°C to 37.7°C presession at a median rate of 0.035°C, 0.037°C ,and 0.067°C/min during practice, qualifying, and race sessions to reach medians of 38.9°C, 38.8°C, and 39.1°C postsession, respectively. The peak postsession gastrointestinal temperature was 39.8°C. Median heart rates were ~164, 160, and 177 beats/min during the respective practice, qualifying, and race sessions, contributing to median physiological strain of 5.5, 5.6, and 6.2 across the sessions. Sweat rates were 1.01 and 0.90 L/h during practice and qualifying sessions, while rider thermal sensation was very hot after each session. This investigation confirms that elite road motorcyclists endure moderate to high physiological strain during practice, qualifying, and race sessions, exhibiting more-rapid rates of body-heat storage, higher core body temperatures, and higher physiological and perceptual strain than their stock-car-racing counterparts when competing in tropical conditions. 
24414034	Influence of physical contact on pacing strategies during game-based activities. 	Repeated sprinting incorporating tackles leads to greater reductions in sprint performance than repeated sprinting alone. However, the influence of physical contact on the running demands of game-based activities is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine whether the addition of physical contact altered pacing strategies during game-based activities. Twenty-three elite youth rugby league players were divided into 2 groups. Group 1 played the contact game on day 1 while group 2 played the noncontact game; 72 h later they played the alternate game. Each game consisted of offside touch on a 30 × 70-m field, played over two 8-min halves. Rules were identical between games except the contact game included a 10-s wrestle bout every 50 s. Microtechnology devices were used to analyze player movements. There were greater average reductions during the contact game for distance (25%, 38 m/min, vs 10%, 20 m/min; effect size [ES] = 1.78 ± 1.02) and low-speed distance (21%, 24 m/min, vs 0%, 2 m/s; ES = 1.38 ± 1.02) compared with the noncontact game. There were similar reductions in high-speed running (41%, 18 m/min, vs 45%, 15 m/min; ES = 0.15 ± 0.95). The addition of contact to game-based activities causes players to reduce low-speed activity in an attempt to maintain high-intensity activities. Despite this, players were unable to maintain high-speed running while performing contact efforts. Improving a player's ability to perform contact efforts while maintaining running performance should be a focus in rugby league training. 
24434079	Influence of pacing manipulation on performance of juniors in simulated 400-m swim competition. 	To date, there has been limited research examining the influence of pacing pattern (PP) on middle-distance swimming performance. As such, the purpose of the current study was to examine the influence of PP manipulation on 400-m freestyle swimming performance. 15 front-crawl swimmers (5 female, 10 male; age 18 ± 2 y) performed 3 simulated 400-m swimming events. The initial trial was self-selected pacing (PPSS). The following 2 trials were performed in a counterbalanced order and required participants to complete the first 100 m more slowly (PPSLOW: 4.5% ± 2.2%) or quickly (PPFAST: 2.4% ± 1.6%) than the PPSS trial. 50-m split times were recorded during each trial. Overall performance time was faster in PPSS (275.0 ± 15.9 s) than in PPFAST (278.5 ± 16.4 s, P = .05) but not significantly different from PPSLOW (277.5 ± 16.2 s, P = .22). However, analysis for practical relevance revealed that pacing manipulation resulted in a &quot;likely&quot; (&gt;88.2%) decrease in performance compared with PPSS. Moderate manipulation of the starting speed during simulated 400-m freestyle races seems to affect overall performance. The observed results indicate that PPSS is optimal in most individuals, yet it seems to fail in some swimmers. Future research should focus on the identification of athletes possibly profiting from manipulations. 
24436350	Hormonal and neuromuscular responses to high-level middle- and long-distance competition. 	The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of high-level competition on salivary free cortisol, countermovement jump (CMJ), and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and the relationships between these fatigue indicators in a group of elite middle- and long-distance runners. The salivary free cortisol levels and CMJ height of 10 high-level middle- and long-distance runners (7 men, 3 women; age 27.6 ± 5.1y) competing in 800-m, 1500-m, 3000-m, or 5000-m events in the 2013 Spanish National Championships were measured throughout a 4-wk baseline period, then again before and after their respective races on the day of the competition. Athletes' RPE was also measured after their races. Cortisol increased significantly after the race compared with the value measured 90 min before the race (+98.3%, g = 0.82, P &lt; .05), while CMJ height decreased significantly after the race (-3.9%, g = 0.34, P &lt; .05). The decrease in CMJ height after the race correlates significantly with the postcompetition cortisol increase (r = .782, P &lt; .05) and the RPE assessment (r = .762, P &lt; .01). Observed differences in CMJ height correlate significantly with salivary free cortisol levels and RPE of middle- and long-distance runners. These results show the suitability of the CMJ for monitoring multifactorial competition responses in high-level middle- and long-distance runners. 
24509704	A descriptive analysis of internal and external loads for elite-level tennis drills. 	Planning tennis sessions accentuating physical development requires an understanding of training load (TL). The aims were to describe the external and internal TL of drills and analyze relationships between ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), TL, and other measures. Fourteen elite-level junior tennis athletes completed 259 individual drills. Six coaches helped devise classifications for all drills: recovery/defensive, open pattern, accuracy, 2-on-1 open, 2-on-1 net play, closed technical, point play, and match play. Notational analysis on stroke and error rates was performed postsession. Drill RPE and mental exertion were collected postdrill, while heart rate (HR) was recorded continuously. Recovery/defensive, open pattern, and point play were significantly greater than closed technical drills (P &lt; .05) for RPE and mental exertion, as were accuracy drills and match play (P &lt; .05). Recovery/defensive, open-pattern, accuracy, and 2-on-1 open drills had higher stroke rates than match play (P &lt; .05). Error rates of closed technical drills were significantly higher than for open pattern, 2-on-1 drills, point play, and match play (P &lt; .05). No HR differences were observed (P &gt; .05) between categories. Substantial correlations existed for drill RPE and TL with mental exertion (r &gt; .62) for several categories. TL was substantially correlated with total strokes (r &gt; .65), while HR and stroke and error rates were in slight to moderate agreement with RPE and TL (r &lt; .51). Recovery/defensive drills are highest in physiological stress, making them ideal for maximizing physicality. Recovery/defensive drills compromised training quality, eliciting high error rates. In contrast, 2-on-1 net-play drills provided the lowest error rates, potentially appropriate for error-amelioration practice. Open-pattern drills were characterized by significantly higher stroke rates, suggesting congruence with high-repetition practice. Finally, with strong relationships between physical and mental perception, mental exertion may complement currently used monitoring strategies (TL and RPE). 
24533492	Interpersonal coordination tendencies supporting the creation/prevention of goal scoring opportunities in futsal. 	Research on 1vs1 sub-phases in team sports has shown how one player coordinates his/her actions with his/her opponent and the location of a target/goal to attain performance objectives. In this study, we extended this approach to analysis of 5vs5 competitive performance in the team sport of futsal to provide a performance analysis framework that explains how players coordinate their actions to create/prevent opportunities to score goals. For this purpose, we recorded all 10 futsal matches of the 2009 Lusophony Games held in Lisbon. We analysed the displacement trajectories of a shooting attacker and marking defender in plays ending in a goal, a goalkeeper's save, and a defender's interception, at four specific moments during performance: (1) assisting attacker's ball reception and (2) moment of passing, (3) shooter's ball reception, and (4), shot on goal. Statistical analysis showed that when a goal was scored, the defender's angle to the goal and to the attacker tended to decrease, the attacker was able to move to the same distance to the goal alongside the defender, and the attacker was closer to the defender and moving at the same velocity (at least) as the defender. This study identified emergent patterns of coordination between attackers and defenders under key competitive task constraints, such as the location of the goal, which supported successful performance in futsal. 
24444221	The effects of relaxing music for anxiety control on competitive sport anxiety. 	This investigation examined the effects of relaxing music for anxiety control on measures of competitive state anxiety and the performance of a simple motor skill. Seventy-two undergraduate students volunteered to participate in the study. Participants were informed that they would be required to partake in a sport competition, possibly with an audience present, and possibly whilst being filmed. Participants were randomly allocated to one of three intervention conditions, listening to relaxing music for anxiety control, listening to non-relaxing music or a no music control. During the 10-minute intervention period, measures of anxiety (CSAI-2R, subjective relaxation and HR) were taken on three occasions (baseline, pre-intervention and post-intervention). Repeated measures MANOVA showed that all three interventions provoked significant reductions in competitive state anxiety. Condition had no impact upon any of the DVs. These results suggest that listening to relaxing music for anxiety control was no more effective at reducing competitive state anxiety than non-relaxing music or a period of silence. ES, mean difference and 90% CI data did however provide some support for the application of relaxing music for anxiety control. There were no between-condition differences in motor task performance. 
24085306	Physiological and anthropometric progression in an international oarsman: a 15-year case study. 	In this case study, a world-class rower was followed over a period of 15 y in which he evolved from junior to professional athlete. An incremental exercise test and a 2000-m ergometer test were performed each year in the peak period of the season starting at the age of 16 y. In addition, the training logs of 1 y each as a junior and a senior rower were recorded and analyzed. Maximal oxygen uptake (VO(2max)), maximal power output (P(max)), and power output at 4 mmol/L blood lactate concentration increased until the age of 27 and then stabilized at 30 y at 6.0 ± 0.2 L/min, 536 ± 15 W, and 404 ± 22 W, respectively. At the age of 27-28 y the rower also had a career-best 2000-m ergometer test (5'58″) and on-water performance with a 4th place at the Olympic Games (2008) in Beijing and World Championships (2009). At the age of 23 y, the rower trained a total of 6091 km in 48 wk. Of the total training time, 15.4% consisted of general training practices, 23.4% resistance training, and 61.2% specific rowing training. The on-water performance in the World Championships and Olympic Games corresponded closely to the evolution in the rower's physiological profile and 2000-m ergometer performance. The long-term build-up program resulted in an increase in the physiological parameters up to the age of 27 y and resulted in a 4th position at the 2008 Olympic Games at a body mass of only 86 kg. 
24533517	Home advantage in Greek football. 	Home advantage as it relates to team performance at football was examined in Superleague Greece using nine seasons of game-by-game performance data, a total of 2160 matches. After adjusting for team ability and annual fluctuations in home advantage, there were significant differences between teams. Previous findings regarding the role of territorial protection were strengthened by the fact that home advantage was above average for the team from Xanthi (P =0.015), while lower for teams from the capital city Athens (P =0.008). There were differences between home and away teams in the incidence of most of the 13 within-game match variables, but associated effect sizes were only moderate. In contrast, outcome ratios derived from these variables, and measuring shot success, had negligible effect sizes. This supported a previous finding that home and away teams differed in the incidence of on-the-ball behaviours, but not in their outcomes. By far the most important predictor of home advantage, as measured by goal difference, was the difference between home and away teams in terms of kicked shots from inside the penalty area. Other types of shots had little effect on the final score. The absence of a running track between spectators and the playing field was also a significant predictor of goal difference, worth an average of 0.102 goals per game to the home team. Travel distance did not affect home advantage. 
24533518	Characteristics of an 'effective' tackle outcome in Six Nations rugby. 	Rugby is a full contact sport that frequently comprises of tackle situations between two or more players. At present there is no research available that has quantified the defining elements that lead to 'effective' tackle outcomes in matches or whether they factor in the success or failure of teams. The purpose of this study was to understand the actions of the tackler during contact with the ball-carrier and relate them to the 'effectiveness' of the tackle outcome, during rugby match play. Matches (n=15) from the 2007 Six Nations Tournament were analysed. 'Effective' tackling was assessed with regards to the territorial change of the ball-carrier from the point of contact with the tackler to completion of the tackle, and characterised in terms of the tackler's body position, the angle at which the tackler approached the tackle and the outcome. The 'less effective' tackle is 34% more prevalent (P&lt;0.001) than the 'effective' tackle during match play. Winning teams were involved in fewer tackle situations and made 3% more 'effective' tackles and 4% fewer 'less effective' tackles than losing teams. 'Effective' tackle outcomes were found to have a greater percentage of the player's torso leaning forward and oblique angle approaches to the ball-carrier. The difference in the frequency of upright and back foot characteristics differentiated winning from losing teams. This was the first study to describe the characteristics of an 'effective' tackle outcome and serves as a basis from which further research can be done on the tackle situation. 
23978772	An empirically based simulation of group foraging in the harvesting ant, Messor pergandei. 	We present an empirically based group model of foraging interactions in Messor pergandei, the Sonoran desert harvesting ant. M. pergandei colonies send out daily foraging columns consisting of tens of thousands of individual ants. Each day, the directions of the columns may change depending on the resource availability and the neighbor interactions. If neighboring columns meet, ants fight, and subsequent foraging is suppressed. M. pergandei colonies face a general problem which is present in many systems: dynamic spatial partitioning in a constantly changing environment, while simultaneously minimizing negative competitive interactions with multiple neighbors. Our simulation model of a population of column foragers is spatially explicit and includes neighbor interactions. We study how different behavioral strategies influence resource exploitation and space use for different nest distributions and densities. Column foraging in M. pergandei is adapted to the spatial and temporal properties of their natural habitat. Resource and space use is maximized both at the colony and the population level by a model with a behavioral strategy including learning and fast forgetting rates. 
23939458	Mating enhances the probability of winning aggressive encounters in male lobster cockroaches. 	In the present study, we report that contact with isolated female antenna significantly increases both the pheromone 3-hydroxy-2-butanone (3H-2B) release and the hemolymph JH III level in all examined aggressive posture-adopting (AP) and NP (non-AP-adopting) socially naïve males, with significantly faster concomitant pre-mating wing-raising behavior in AP as compared to NP males. 3H-2B release and JH III level were significantly increased after mating in both AP and NP males. A positive correlation was observed between mating experience and dominant status. Furthermore, mated-AP males initiated fights more rapidly and fought for a significantly longer duration than mated-NP males; retention with the paired female for 24h did not affect this increase. JH III level and 3H-2B release were significantly increased in dominant males as compared to subordinates. These results suggest that prior mating experience in invertebrates may enhance aggression in subsequent male-male encounters, with accompanying physiological (hormone and pheromone) responses. 
23994066	Phenotypic plasticity in response to breeding density in tree swallows: an adaptive maternal effect? 	Territorial animals breeding in high-density environments are more likely to engage in aggressive competition with conspecifics for resources necessary for reproduction. In many avian species, increased competition among breeding females results in increased testosterone concentrations in egg yolks. Generally, elevated yolk testosterone increases nestling growth, competitive behaviors, and bold behavioral traits. However, few studies provide an environmental context with which to examine the potential adaptive benefits of these phenotypic changes. In this study, tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) breeding density was altered to modify levels of social competition and yolk testosterone. We measured nestling growth, competitive ability, and breathing rate in response to a stressor using a partial cross-foster design. Females breeding at high-density experienced more aggressive, competitive interactions and their eggs had higher testosterone concentrations. Nestlings that hatched in high-density environments grew faster and displayed more competitive behaviors and a higher breathing rate response to a stressor regardless of post-hatching density. Our study demonstrates that phenotypic plasticity occurs in response to yolk testosterone variation resulting from different breeding densities. These findings suggest that naturally-induced maternal effects prepare offspring for competitive environments, supporting the idea that maternal effects are adaptive. 
22947779	Indirect peer aggression in adolescence and reproductive behavior. 	Evolutionary psychologists have suggested that indirect aggression during adolescence is a strategy to compete with same-sex peer rivals for resources, status, and mating opportunities. We collected survey data on 143 young adults to determine retrospectively, the amount of indirect aggressive behavior they perpetrated and the amount of indirect victimization they experienced in middle school and high school. We also collected information about reproductive opportunities such as age at first sexual intercourse and number of lifetime sex partners to determine whether aggression or victimization could be used to predict measures of reproductive opportunity. We performed a principal components analysis to develop factors from 16 aggression and victimization variables. Results indicate that females who reported indirect aggression toward peers had earlier ages at first sexual intercourse and females who were more victimized in adolescence experienced later ages at first sexual intercourse. We discuss these results in terms of intrasexual competition and evolutionary theory. 
22078475	Evolutionary aspects of aggression the importance of sexual selection. 	Aggressive behaviors in animals, for example, threat, attack, and defense, are commonly related to competition over resources, competition over mating opportunities, or fights for survival. In this chapter, we focus on aggressive competition over mating opportunities, since this competition explains much of the distribution of weaponry and large body size, but also because this type of competition sheds light on the sex skew in the use of violence in mammals, including humans. Darwin (1871) termed this type of natural selection, where differences in reproductive success are caused by competition over mates, sexual selection. Not all species have a pronounced competition over mates, however. Instead, this aspect of sociality is ultimately determined by ecological factors. In species where competition over mates is rampant, this has evolutionary effects on weaponry and body size such that males commonly bear more vicious weapons and are larger than females. A review of sexual selection in mammals reveals how common aggressive competition over mating opportunities is in this group. Nearly half of all mammal species exhibit male-biased sexual size dimorphism, a pattern that is clearly linked to sexual selection. Sexual selection is also common in primates, where it has left clear historical imprints in body mass differences, in weaponry differences (canines), and also in brain structure differences. However, when comparing humans to our closest living primate relatives, it is clear that the degree of male sexual competition has decreased in the hominid lineage. Nevertheless, our species displays dimorphism, polygyny, and sex-specific use of violence typical of a sexually selected mammal. Understanding the biological background of aggressive behaviors is fundamental to understanding human aggression. 
18186514	Intrafamilial resource competition and mate competition shaped social-group-specific natal dispersal in the 18th and 19th century Krummhörn population. 	We describe the natal dispersal patterns of the Krummhörn population as the outcome of intrafamilial competition. Depending on the affiliation with a specific social group and the sex of the individual, this competition is driven by different factors and obeys a different functional logic: The dispersal patterns of the daughters of landless workers allow a mate competition scenario to be detected, whereas the dispersal behavior of the children of farmers (especially of the sons) is driven by a resource competition scenario. 
21967429	Male-female coevolution in the wild: evidence from a time series in artemia franciscana. 	Sexual conflicts are ubiquitous in nature and are expected to lead to an antagonistic coevolution between the sexes. This coevolutionary process is driven by selection on sexually antagonistic traits that can either be directional or fluctuating. In this study, we used dormant cysts of Artemia franciscana, collected in the same population in three different years over a 23-year period (corresponding to ∼160 generations in this system), to investigate male-female coevolution in natural conditions over time. We performed a cross experiment study where reproduction of females mated to males from the past, present, or future was monitored until death. In agreement with a model of &quot;fluctuating selection,&quot; we found that females survived better and had longer interbrood intervals when mated with their contemporary males compared to when mated with males from the future or the past. However, female weekly and lifetime reproductive successes displayed no differences between contemporary and noncontemporary matings. Finally, the coevolutionary patterns (&quot;arms race dynamics&quot; or &quot;fluctuating selection dynamics&quot;) possibly acting on female relative fitness could not be discriminated. This study is the first direct demonstration that the process of male-female coevolution, previously revealed by experimental evolution in laboratory artificial conditions, can occur in nature on a short evolutionary time scale. 
23462320	Program Obesity Zero (POZ)--a community-based intervention to address overweight primary-school children from five Portuguese municipalities. 	Results of the WHO European Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative indicated that on average one out of four primary-school children is overweight or obese. Portugal presented one of the highest prevalences of obesity. Childhood obesity prevention and treatment should be a top priority. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Program Obesity Zero (POZ), a multi-component, community-, family- and school-based childhood obesity intervention. Parents and children attended four individual nutrition and physical activity counselling sessions, a one-day healthy cooking workshop and two school extracurricular sessions of nutrition education. Waist circumference, BMI, physical activity level, sedentary behaviours, and nutrition and physical activity knowledge, attitudes and behaviour were assessed at baseline and after 6 months. Diet was assessed using two 24 h recalls, at baseline and at 6 months. Five Portuguese municipalities and local communities. Two hundred and sixty-six overweight children (BMI ≥ 85th percentile) aged 6-10 years, from low-income families in five Portuguese municipalities, were assigned to the intervention. Children showed reductions in waist circumference (-2.0 cm; P &lt; 0.0001), mean BMI (-0.7 kg/m2; P &lt; 0.0001) and BMI-for-age percentile (-1.7; P &lt; 0.0001) at 6 months. Overall, children's intake of fruit and vegetables was &lt;400 g/d throughout the intervention. After 6 months, higher fibre consumption and an apparent decrease in sugary soft drinks intake to a quarter of that observed at baseline (mean intake: 198 ml/d at baseline), with improvements in physical activity levels and screen time &lt;2 h/d, were also observed. The findings suggested that POZ is a promising intervention programme, at municipality level, to tackle childhood overweight and obesity. 
23167423	Health behavior after a multiprofessional intervention and training for ongoing volunteer-based community health programme intervention in the North-East of Thailand: what changed and what not? 	This qualitative research within the project entitled &quot;Multiprofessional Intervention and training for Ongoing Volunteer-based Community Health Programs in the Northeast of Thailand (MITV-NET) &quot; was aimed at explaining changes of health behavior of community people in the Northeast after the intervention. The participants comprised 15 community volunteers and 27 villagers. Data were collected by indepth interview, focus group discussion, participation and non-participation observation, and note taking. Analyses were conducted in parallel with data collection, through content and comparative analysis. It was found that the health behavior fell into 2 categories: easy-to-change and difficult-to-change. The former involved fun activities joined by community people that improved their health or made them recover from illnesses after a short period without becoming addicted. These activities could be done by themselves, for example, exercising and cooking. The difficult-to- change health behavior is habitual, for example, chewing betel nuts or eating uncooked food. The following factors were found affecting behavioral changes: 1) underlying disease; 2) enjoyment in doing activities; 3) habitual behaviour; 4) improved health in a short period; 5) ability of community leaders and volunteers; and 6) community health-supporting resources. It is suggested that improving people's health requires cooperation of community people through fun activities and some initial external support. People who persist in bad habits should be encouraged to stop by showing them health deteriorating effects. 
22717179	Making tortillas without lard: Latino parents' perspectives on healthy eating, physical activity, and weight-management strategies for overweight Latino children. 	Latinos are among the most overweight racial/ethnic groups of US children. The study aim was to identify parents' perspectives on healthy eating, physical activity, and weight-management strategies for overweight Latino children. Four focus groups were conducted of Mexican immigrant, Mexican-American, Puerto Rican, and other Latino families with overweight children. Parents were asked 33 questions and sampled four healthy substitutes for traditional Latino foods, including multigrain enchiladas and brown rice. Nineteen parents were interviewed in the focus groups. The children?s median body mass index was 23; 60% had a body mass index ?95th percentile. Parents identified 22 themes regarding the most important things parents can do to help overweight children lose weight, including encouragement, not making the child feel left out, the whole family eating healthy, and the parent setting a good example. Parents identified 17 themes regarding the most important things overweight children can do to help themselves lose weight, including eating healthier, limiting portion size and second helpings, drinking more water, increased physical activity, decreased screen time, children educating themselves at school, asking parents for help, and participating in interventions that include the whole family. Challenges to getting kids to exercise included expense, time constraints, and neighborhood safety. Parents were open to integrating healthy substitutes into traditional Latino meals/snacks, and found them palatable. One mother stated, &quot;We have to keep our traditional foods, but realize that we can make them more nutritious.&quot; Parents reported their children would accept high-fiber foods and low-fat dairy. In designing effective weight-management interventions for overweight Latino children, the study findings may prove useful in identifying healthy, well-accepted foods and beverages; agreeable physical activities; suitable targets for reducing inactivity; and efficacious strategies for enhancing traditional foods and meals so that there is an increased likelihood of healthy diet and weight loss. Parental input on the most important things that children and parents can do to help children lose weight and on challenges faced in trying to get children to exercise might provide valuable guidance in devising effective, evidence-based interventions that are likely to be adhered to. 
22367258	Salud Para Su Carozón--a Latino promotora-led cardiovascular health education program. 	Salud Para Su Carozón is a culturally sensitive, community-based program to increase heart healthy knowledge and behaviors among Latinos. Promotoras were trained using a 10-session manual to teach participants from 7 communities about heart disease risk factors and skills to achieve heart healthy behaviors. In 435 participants with pre-to-post self-reported data, there were increases in physical activity outside of work (57%-78%), heart health knowledge (49%-76%), and confidence in preparing heart healthy meals (66%-81%) (all Ps &lt; .001). Results suggest that promotoras can provide effective health education to improve heart health risk behaviors in select Latino communities. 
20660151	Development of the Oxford Hills Healthy Moms Project using a social marketing process: a community-based physical activity and nutrition intervention for low-socioeconomic-status mothers in a rural area in Maine. 	A physical activity and nutrition community intervention called the Oxford Hills Healthy Moms (OHHM) Project was developed using a multifaceted social marketing process, including review of state surveillance results, key informant interviews, and a survey and focus group discussions with low-socioeconomic-status (low-SES) mothers. This formative work was used to make key decisions on the selection of the intervention region, segmentation of the audience, and design of intervention strategies addressing multiple levels of the socioecological model. The OHHM Project aims to increase fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity levels among low-SES mothers in the Oxford Hills region of Maine. The OHHM Project includes five components: (a) physical activity buddy program, (b) cooking club with education, (c) fruit and vegetable discount buying club with education, (d) increased access to produce vendors, and (e) increased access to places for physical activity. 
20651100	Outcomes from a culturally tailored diabetes prevention program in Hispanic families from a low-income school: Horton Hawks Stay Healthy (HHSH). 	The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of a minimal, tailored diabetes prevention program for families that could be delivered in elementary school settings. Families were eligible for the program if they had at least one child aged 8 to 12 years old attending the elementary school who was at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus. Families attended ten 90-minute sessions with exercise, cooking demonstrations, and healthy lifestyle lessons. Height, weight, and self-reported behavior were assessed in parents and height and weight in children before and after classes. A total of 82 parents (2% men, 98% women) and 62 children (47% boys and 53% girls) enrolled in the program across 3 replications. Parents had an average weight loss from baseline to the end of the program of 1.5 lb (P = .05). There was a large increase in the number of parents who self-reported engaging in leisure-time physical activity as a result of participating in the program (14% vs 64%; P &lt; .01). There were no changes in children's body mass index percentile or z score as a result of the program. Delivering a diabetes prevention program in an elementary school setting was effective for increasing diabetes-related knowledge, chronic disease awareness, and self-reported healthy behavior in low-income Spanish-speaking families. 
24216083	Selfish mothers? An empirical test of parent-offspring conflict over extended parental care. 	Parent-offspring conflict (POC) theory is an interesting conceptual framework for understanding the dynamics of parental care. However, this theory is not easy to test empirically, as exact measures of parental investment in an experimental set-up are difficult to obtain. We have used free-ranging dogs Canis familiaris in India, to study POC in the context of extended parental care. We observed females and their pups in their natural habitat for the mother's tendency to share food given by humans with her pups in the weaning and post-weaning stages. Since these dogs are scavengers, and depend largely on human provided food for their sustenance, voluntary sharing of food by the mother with her pups is a good surrogate for extended parental care. Our behavioural observations convincingly demonstrate an increase of conflict and decrease of cooperation by the mother with her offspring over given food within a span of 4-6 weeks. We also demonstrate that the competition among the pups in a litter scales with litter size, an indicator of sib-sib competition. 
23943272	Natural cooperators: food sharing in humans and other primates. 	The study of cooperation is rich with theoretical models and laboratory experiments that have greatly advanced our knowledge of human uniqueness, but have sometimes lacked ecological validity. We therefore emphasize the need to tie discussions of human cooperation to the natural history of our species and its closest relatives, focusing on behavioral contexts best suited to reveal underlying selection pressures and evolved decision rules. Food sharing is a fundamental form of cooperation that is well-studied across primates and is particularly noteworthy because of its central role in shaping evolved human life history, social organization, and cooperative psychology. Here we synthesize available evidence on food sharing in humans and other primates, tracing the origins of offspring provisioning, mutualism, trade, and reciprocity throughout the primate order. While primates may gain some benefits from sharing, humans, faced with more collective action problems in a risky foraging niche, expanded on primate patterns to buffer risk and recruit mates and allies through reciprocity and signaling, and established co-evolving social norms of production and sharing. Differences in the necessity for sharing are reflected in differences in sharing psychology across species, thus helping to explain unique aspects of our evolved cooperative psychology. 
24034958	Early supplementary feeding among central African foragers and farmers: a biocultural approach. 	The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for six months, yet this recommendation has proven difficult to implement. Here, we examine the nature of and influences on early supplementation (ES) in light of current evidence regarding evolved human caregiving patterns (cooperative breeding). We utilize a biocultural approach, which takes into consideration that infant feeding is influenced by an array of evolutionary, physiological, structural, ecological, and cultural factors. The research is cross-cultural, conducted among the Aka foragers and Ngandu farmers in the Central African Republic. We explore emic perspectives of ES as well as infant characteristics and socioecological factors that, when combined with evidence of human care patterns, offers a more holistic understanding of early infant feeding. We employ a mixed-methods approach, utilizing qualitative interview and quantitative focal-follow behavioral observation data, collected from 2009 to 2012. Results indicate that foragers introduce ES earlier than farmers; nevertheless, only a small proportion of Ngandu mothers EBF. Maternal and non-maternal caregiver ES patterns are predicted by different factors. Maternal ES is associated with infant age, while non-maternal ES is associated with maternal labor activities and the infant's caregiving network. Non-maternal ES, but not maternal ES, reduces breastfeeding. Results suggest that neither subsistence ecology nor maternal labor patterns fully explain the timing of ES. However, cooperative caregiving, infant mortality risk, and cultural models of caregiving offer insights into why foragers commence ES so early. We discuss the implications of ES on weaning age, inter-birth intervals, and fertility. Throughout our evolutionary history and today, non-maternal caregivers were and are essential participants in childcare and provisioning, yet are rarely viewed as active participants in early infant feeding. Consideration of evolved caregiving patterns and the role of others in feeding practice will enhance public health outreach. 
22536917	Teamwork, pleasure and bargaining in animal social behaviour. 	Intimate behaviour between animals is hypothesized to enable teamwork. The pleasure experienced in grooming, preening, dancing, mating and singing in synchrony is hypothesized to motivate participants to coordinate actions directed towards a shared goal that enhances each individual's fitness. This cooperative behaviour evolves as a mutual direct benefit, not as altruism. Teamwork leads to an equilibrium set of returns to the participants that may be modelled as a Nash bargaining solution instead of as the more familiar Nash equilibrium. The dynamics leading to that equilibrium may be modelled based on joint action instead of the more familiar individualistic action. Confusions by Binmore (J. Evol. Biol. 2010; 23: 1351) about this hypothesis are corrected. 
23503771	Kinematics fingerprints of leader and follower role-taking during cooperative joint actions. 	Performing online complementary motor adjustments is quintessential to joint actions since it allows interacting people to coordinate efficiently and achieve a common goal. We sought to determine whether, during dyadic interactions, signaling strategies and simulative processes are differentially implemented on the basis of the interactional role played by each partner. To this aim, we recorded the kinematics of the right hand of pairs of individuals who were asked to grasp as synchronously as possible a bottle-shaped object according to an imitative or complementary action schedule. Task requirements implied an asymmetric role assignment so that participants performed the task acting either as (1) Leader (i.e., receiving auditory information regarding the goal of the task with indications about where to grasp the object) or (2) Follower (i.e., receiving instructions to coordinate their movements with their partner's by performing imitative or complementary actions). Results showed that, when acting as Leader, participants used signaling strategies to enhance the predictability of their movements. In particular, they selectively emphasized kinematic parameters and reduced movement variability to provide the partner with implicit cues regarding the action to be jointly performed. Thus, Leaders make their movements more &quot;communicative&quot; even when not explicitly instructed to do so. Moreover, only when acting in the role of Follower did participants tend to imitate the Leader, even in complementary actions where imitation is detrimental to joint performance. Our results show that mimicking and signaling are implemented in joint actions according to the interactional role of the agent, which in turn is reflected in the kinematics of each partner. 
23005374	Conditional imitation might promote cooperation under high temptations to defect. 	In this paper we introduce a conditional imitation rule into an evolutionary game, in which the imitation probabilities of individuals are determined by a function of payoff difference and two crucial parameters μ and σ. The parameter μ characterizes the most adequate goal for individuals and the parameter σ characterizes the tolerance of individuals. By using the pair approximation method and numerical simulations, we find an anomalous cooperation enhancement in which the cooperation level shows a nonmonotonic variation with the increase of temptation. The parameter μ affects the regime of the payoff parameter which supports the anomalous cooperation enhancement, whereas the parameter σ plays a decisive role on the appearance of the nonmonotonic variation of the cooperation level. Furthermore, to give explicit implications for the parameters μ and σ we present an alterative form of the conditional imitation rule based on the benefit and the cost incurred to individuals during strategy updates. In this way, we also provide a phenomenological interpretation for the nonmonotonic behavior of cooperation with the increase of temptation. The results give a clue that a higher cooperation level could be obtained under adverse environments for cooperation by applying the conditional imitation rule, which is possible to be manipulated in real life. More generally, the results in this work might point out an efficient way to maintain cooperation in the risky environments to cooperators. 
22288442	Attention-seeking during caregiver unavailability and collaboration at age 2. 	Several theoretical approaches have discussed the role of children's expectations of their parent's responsiveness in explaining motivation to collaborate in acquiring skills. This study attempted to measure these expectations in 102 toddlers (M age = 26.4 months) through observations of attention-seeking (A-S) behaviors during caregiver's restricted availability. Child collaboration was coded during skill-learning tasks (imitation and block building), and parent responsiveness was observed during dyadic activities. Different A-S styles emerged, supporting the existence of both positive and negative expectations of responsiveness. A-S quality statistically mediated the link between parent responsiveness and child collaborative outcomes, even after controlling for temperament and mood. This is the first study to show that toddlers' expectations are a plausible mechanism linking parent responsiveness to child collaboration. 
22289109	The essential role of ritual in the transmission and reinforcement of social norms. 	Social norms are communally agreed upon, morally significant behavioral standards that are, at least in part, responsible for uniquely human forms of cooperation and social organization. This article summarizes evidence demonstrating that ritual and ritualized behaviors are essential to the transmission and reinforcement of social norms. Ritualized behaviors reliably signal an intentional mental state giving credibility to verbal expressions while emotionally binding people to each other and group-based values. Early ritualized infant-caregiver interactions and the family routines and rituals that emerge from them are primary mechanisms for transmitting social norms vertically from parent to offspring, while adult community rituals are a primary mechanism by which norms are reinforced horizontally within the community. 
25191773	Clinical correlates of global functioning in obese treatment seeking persons with binge eating disorder. 	In recent years, research has called for an increased emphasis on clinical outcomes that are meaningful to patients with binge eating disorder (BED). This cross-sectional study examined the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) and its relation to clinical and demographic factors in BED patients. Thirty-two patients (28 women and 4 men) with BED (age = 41.1 ± 10.7; body mass index = 38.9 ± 5.8) seeking treatment to a weekly multidisciplinary programme at the UPC KU Leuven, Campus Kortenberg in Belgium, were asked to participate at intake. All participants were assessed with the GAF scale, completed the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI), the Body Attitude Test (BAT), the Symptoms Checklist-90, the Baecke Physical Activity Questionnaire (BPAQ), and performed a 6 minute walk test. The GAF-score (55.9 ± 13.9) was only significantly associated with the BPAQ score (7.0 ± 1.4) (r = 0.383, p = 0.03) and the BAT score (63.9 ± 16.1) (r=-0.443, p = 0.011). The regression model including both of these variables explained 25.3% of the variability in the GAF-score. This study highlights the value of clinicians assessing physical activity and body image in patients with BED. Research is needed to elucidate whether incorporating body image treatments and physical activity in the care of patients with BED can promote global functioning. 
23751170	Our actions in my mind: motor imagery of joint action. 	How do people imagine performing actions together? The present study investigated motor imagery of joint actions that requires integrating one's own and another's part of an action. In two experiments, individual participants imagined jumping alone or jointly next to an imagined partner. The joint condition required coordinating one's own imagined actions with an imagined partner's actions to synchronize landing times. We investigated whether the timing of participants' own imagined jumps would reflect the difference in jump distance to their imagined partner's jumps. The results showed that participants' jump imagery was indeed modulated to achieve coordination with an imagined task partner, confirming prior findings from a performance task. Moreover, when manipulating both target distance and target size, the same violation of Fitts' law reported for individual jumping was present in imagery of joint jumping. These findings link research on motor imagery and joint action, demonstrating that individuals are able to integrate simulations of different parts of a joint action. 
24714332	Development of a National Physical Activity Plan for the United States. 	Efforts to increase population levels of physical activity are increasingly taking the form of strategic plans at national, state/regional, and local levels. The processes employed for developing such plans have not been described previously. The purpose of this article is to chronicle the processes employed in and lessons learned from developing the US National Physical Activity Plan (NPAP). The Coordinating Committee oversaw development of the NPAP. Key steps in the process included creating a private-public coalition based in the private sector, organizing the NPAP around 8 societal sectors, reviewing the evidence base for promotion of physical activity in each sector, conducting a national conference to initiate development of the NPAP's core content, ensuring broad participation in developing and refining the NPAP, and launching the NPAP through a press event that attracted national attention. The 3-year effort to develop the NPAP was guided by a private-public collaborative partnership involving private sector organizations and government agencies. Launched in May 2010, the NPAP included more than 250 evidence-based recommendations for changes to policy and practice at the national, state, and local levels across 8 societal sectors. 
24714333	Local adaptation of the National Physical Activity Plan: creation of the Active Living Plan for a Healthier San Antonio. 	Physical inactivity and related health consequences are serious public health threats. Effective strategies to facilitate and support active-living opportunities must be implemented at national, state, and local levels. San Antonio, Texas, health department officials launched the Active Living Council of San Antonio (ALCSA) to engage the community in developing a 3- to 5-year plan to promote active living. A steering committee set preliminary ALCSA aims and established a multisector membership structure modeled after the US National Physical Activity Plan (NPAP). ALCSA adopted governance standards, increased knowledge of physical activity and health, and engaged in an 18-month collaborative master plan writing process. ALCSA selected overarching strategies and evidence-based strategies for each societal sector and adapted strategies to the local context, including tactics, measures of success, and timelines. Community and expert engagement led to a localized plan reflecting national recommendations, the Active Living Plan for a Healthier San Antonio. Multisector collaborations among governmental agencies and community organizations, which were successfully developed in this case to produce the first-ever local adaptation of the NPAP, require clearly defined expectations. Lessons learned in ALCSA's organizational and plan development can serve as a model for future community-driven efforts to increase active living. 
24714334	ActiveWV: a systematic approach to developing a physical activity plan for West Virginia. 	Modeled after the National Physical Activity Plan (NPAP), ActiveWV 2015: The West Virginia Physical Activity Plan was developed to provide strategic direction for physical activity promotion within the state. The purpose of this manuscript is to describe the systematic approach taken in developing ActiveWV. Plan development began with establishing capacity and leadership among key stakeholders representing all societal sectors. A multiphase, statewide decision-making process allowed for input across sectors and geographic regions. The process results identified five priority areas that served as the conceptual framework for ActiveWV. Sector teams, comprised of key organization stakeholders across the eight sectors, finalized the sector-specific strategies and tactics using the NPAP evidence-based recommendations, results from a formalized strategic process, and the teams' expertise and experience. ActiveWV was officially released on January 19, 2012 at the State Capitol in Charleston, West Virginia. Community events throughout the state surrounded the release and celebrated West Virginia Physical Activity Day. Ongoing implementation and dissemination efforts are underway at state and local levels. As the NPAP calls for states and communities to develop plans that meet the needs of their particular context, other states may find the lessons learned from West Virginia helpful in the development process. 
24084399	Interorganizational relationships in the Heart and Stroke Foundation's Spark Together for Healthy Kids™: insights from using network analysis. 	The Heart and Stroke Foundation's Spark Together for Healthy Kids™ (Spark) is a multiyear initiative in Ontario, Canada, that takes a population approach to obesity prevention. It focuses on creating healthy environments by improving access to healthy foods and physical activity, with an emphasis on strengthening the advocacy capacity of organizations and citizens. Consistent with the complexity of the intervention, the evaluation of Spark applied systems concepts and methods to test the utility of network analysis as a method for evaluation, and to inform collaborations of organizations involved in programs and advocacy. Relationships among organizations from different sectors and jurisdictional levels with a focus on school community environments were of particular interest. Interorganizational network analysis was used to understand these relationships, including the role of the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Findings revealed a niche brokering role for the Heart and Stroke Foundation and other provincial and national organizations, and the importance of these brokers for engaging local and regional organizations. Findings also reinforced the importance of a mixed methods approach to network analysis, and the potential value of the analysis for scientific and practical purposes. 
23364305	National policy on physical activity: the development of a policy audit tool. 	Physical inactivity is a leading risk factor for noncommunicable disease worldwide. Increasing physical activity requires large scale actions and relevant, supportive national policy across multiple sectors. The policy audit tool (PAT) was developed to provide a standardized instrument to assess national policy approaches to physical activity. A draft tool, based on earlier work, was developed and pilot-tested in 7 countries. After several rounds of revisions, the final PAT comprises 27 items and collects information on 1) government structure, 2) development and content of identified key policies across multiple sectors, 3) the experience of policy implementation at both the national and local level, and 4) a summary of the PAT completion process. PAT provides a standardized instrument for assessing progress of national policy on physical activity. Engaging a diverse international group of countries in the development helped ensure PAT has applicability across a wide range of countries and contexts. Experiences from the development of the PAT suggests that undertaking an audit of health enhancing physical activity (HEPA) policy can stimulate greater awareness of current policy opportunities and gaps, promote critical debate across sectors, and provide a catalyst for collaboration on policy level actions. The final tool is available online. 
23669540	Sibling cooperation influences the age of nest leaving in an altricial bird. 	In altricial birds, siblings raised within a nest usually leave the nest within hours of each other, despite often differing considerably in age. The youngest members of the brood are typically underdeveloped at this time and less likely than their older siblings to survive outside the nest, yet they risk abandonment if they do not fledge with their older siblings. Nest leaving is usually initiated by the older offspring, which may delay this process to provide more time for their younger siblings to mature, increasing the younger siblings' postfledging survival and their own inclusive fitness. We tested this hypothesis in a population of house wrens Troglodytes aedon and found that broods with broad age spans among siblings had longer nestling periods than broods with narrow age spans and that delayed fledging improves the survival and reproductive prospects of younger siblings, although at a potential cost to future siblings. We also manipulated age spans through cross-fostering and found that older foster nestlings postponed fledging when raised with younger broodmates, as predicted if the age of younger nestlings determines the time of fledging. Our results support kin-selection theory and demonstrate that the exact time of fledging is attributable, in part, to sib-sib interactions. 
23448885	Does the risk of sperm competition help explain cooperation between reproductive competitors? A study in the ocellated wrasse (Symphodus ocellatus). 	Although cooperating individuals may gain benefits, they risk being cheated by their allies. Therefore, to understand the persistence of cooperation by mutual benefits, it is important to document both the potential benefits of cooperation and the risks of cheating. We experimentally examined evidence of cooperation in the ocellated wrasse (Symphodus ocellatus), a fish species with males that exercise three reproductive strategies: satellite and sneaker males attempt to parasitically spawn in the nests of nesting males. Nesting males have been hypothesized to tolerate satellites as a result of satellite aid in defense against sneaker males and help in courting females. Here, we provide evidence that cooperation between reproductive competitors may arise in response to sperm competition from other males. After we experimentally removed satellites, nesting males had more sneakers at their nest and experienced a higher rate of sneaking when they spawned (increased sperm competition risk). When we experimentally distracted nesting males to prevent their acting aggressively toward satellites, satellites spawned with females and ate eggs in the nest. Our results suggest that nesting males and satellites gain fitness benefits of reduced direct reproductive and sperm competition through cooperation. However, nesting males risk losing paternity, while satellites experience increased aggression and must invest in aggression themselves (i.e., they act aggressively toward sneakers). 
24345518	Group display in the socially monogamous Northern Double-collared Sunbird (Cinnyris reichenowi). 	Several sunbird species (Nectariniidae) exhibit group display, but the function of this behaviour still remains unclear. We test two hypotheses (reproductive tactic and joint territory defence) to explain the function of this behaviour using data gathered on Northern Double-collared Sunbirds (Cinnyris reichenowi) from the Cameroon Mountains. Sunbirds exhibited group display throughout the breeding cycle. Groups of birds were mainly comprised of neighbouring pairs aggregated at territory boundaries. The frequency of group displays varied significantly among individuals and over the breeding cycle, with the highest frequency during the pre-breeding period and the lowest during egg-laying (∼female's fertile period). Time spent on group display was significantly longer at the end of breeding. Off-territory forays were recorded for both males and females, males significantly increased the time spent on these forays during incubation. Extra-pair copulations were recorded only in five cases for females (4%) suggesting that most off-territory forays were motivated by feeding on nectar in neighbouring territories. Therefore, we suggest that the behaviour is used for joint territory defence rather than as an information centre for choosing mates for extra-pair copulations. Its function for choosing primary mates is also unlikely, because group displays were mainly observed in complete pairs. 
24140461	Does mating prevent monogamous males from seeking other females? A study in prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster). 	Male prairie voles form pair bonds under laboratory conditions, but show a variety of mating tactics in nature. We tested them in the laboratory to determine if their decision to reproduce with a single or multiple females is related to how they process sensory information from females. Three groups of mated males were tested for their attentiveness toward two females and their odors. Males given a choice to investigate a box holding their mate or a box holding a sexually receptive female spent more time with the box of the sexually receptive female than that of their mate. Similar results were found when females were removed and replaced by their odors. However, males did not attend preferentially to the sexually receptive female under all circumstances. When given a choice between a sexually unreceptive and a sexually receptive female, males did not display a difference in their attentiveness. Furthermore, males tested in presence of their mate were more attentive to the odor of the sexually receptive female than males tested in presence of a sexually unreceptive female. The data suggest that access to the mate's sensory cues may influence male's decision to seek females other than his mate. 
23950024	Courtship behavior of Zaprionus indianus (Gupta) (Diptera: Drosophilidae) from populations colonizing South America. 	We describe for the first time the sexual behavior and the courtship song of males of the African fly Zaprionus indianus (Gupta), a recent invader of South America. The male courtship song is formed by monocyclic pulses and the courtship behavior is simple when compared to that of species of Drosophila. Two interpulse interval (IPI) distributions were observed: pre-mounting and mounting. No significant difference was observed between the pre-mounting IPIs of males that descended from three geographical populations from South America. We also observed the songs produced by females and the homosexual behavior exhibited by males. A sequence of bursts is produced by females as a refusal signal against males, while males emit a characteristic song that identifies sex genus, which differs from the courtship song. The short courtship and mating latencies recorded reveal vigorous males and receptive females, respectively. 
23571707	Copulatory behavior in a pholcid spider: males use specialized genitalic movements for sperm removal and copulatory courtship. 	Sexual selection may operate on pre-copulatory, copulatory, and post-copulatory traits. An example of a copulatory target of sexual selection is the genitalic movements a male performs during copulation. These movements may function either to prevent sperm competition or to influence a female's fertilization decision. Here we investigated how copulation duration, pedipalp movements, and abdominal movements that males of the pholcid spider Holocnemus pluchei produce during copulation influence sperm removal and/or patterns of successful sperm transfer. We compared mating events with virgin and mated females for differences in copulatory and post-copulatory behavior. We expected longer copulation duration, longer pedipalp movement duration, and more complex and frequent pedipalp and abdominal movements when males mated with mated females compared to virgin females. Except for abdominal movements, our results corroborated these predictions. Furthermore, when we investigated mating events with mated females, we observed sperm mass ejection from the female gonopore and physical removal of sperm by males' procursi. Females with interrupted second mating events showed a significant reduction of stored sperm masses compared to females with completed mating events. We suggest that males use alternating pedipalp movements to remove most of the rival sperm stored by mated females prior to sperm transfer. Copulation duration and pedipalp movements can be further used to transfer sperm and/or as a form of genitalic copulatory courtship. 
23382023	Copulatory and agonistic behavior in Syrian hamsters following social defeat. 	Syrian hamsters are highly aggressive animals that reliably defend their home territory. After social defeat, however, hamsters no longer defend their home cage but instead display submissive and defensive behavior toward an intruder, a response that we have termed conditioned defeat. Plasma testosterone is significantly reduced in Syrian hamsters following repeated defeat suggesting that social defeat might also impair copulatory behavior. The present study aimed to determine whether copulatory behavior in male Syrian hamsters is suppressed following repeated social defeats and additionally whether exposure to a hormone-primed stimulus female after social defeat reduces the behavioral response to defeat. Hamsters were paired with an aggressive opponent for one or nine defeats using a resident-intruder model, while controls were placed into the empty cage of a resident aggressor. On the day after the last treatment, half of the hamsters were paired with a receptive female for 10 min. There were no significant differences in the copulatory behavior of defeated versus non-defeated hamsters, and the opportunity to copulate had no effect on subsequent conditioned defeat testing, as defeated animals displayed significantly more submissive behavior than did non-defeated animals. The current data suggest that conditioned defeat is not necessarily a maladaptive response to social stress, at least in terms of reproductive behavior, but may instead represent a viable behavioral strategy adopted by losing animals following social defeat. Further, these data indicate that conditioned defeat is relatively persistent and stable, as the opportunity to copulate does not reduce the subsequent display of submissive behavior. 
22405778	Effects of apomorphine on mating behavior, flank marking and aggression in male hamsters. 	In male rats, the dopamine agonist apomorphine (APO) generally facilitates copulatory behavior. However, disruptive effects of high APO doses have been reported. These have been interpreted in diverse ways, as products of a dopaminergic system that inhibits sexual behavior or as consequences of APO's stimulation of competing responses. To test the generality of these effects, we observed APO's impact on copulatory behavior in male hamsters. Several effects were observed, all attributable to a relatively high dose and involving the disruption of male behavior. More unexpectedly, APO treatment caused males to attack estrous stimulus females in the course of these tests. To clarify these effects, we observed the effects of APO on flank marking, a type of scent marking closely allied to aggression and dominance in hamsters. Treatment reliably decreased the latency of marking. It also increased the rate of marking when appropriate measures were taken to prevent this effect from being obscured by drug-induced cheek pouching. Together, these results confirm and extend APO's well-known ability to increase aggression. Further, they suggest that APO-induced aggression can intrude into other contexts so as to disrupt, or possibly facilitate, other forms of social behavior. 
12131378	A causative factor of copulatory disorder in rats following social stress. 	We investigated the causative role of testosterone in copulatory disorder and the expression of c-fos messenger (m)RNA in the medial preoptic area in rats after social stress. To generate copulatory disorder rats in the experimental defeated group were attacked by residents for 10 minutes daily for 7 consecutive days (social stress). We then investigated the effect of repeat defeat on the frequency of mounting behavior and plasma testosterone levels. The effects of testosterone replacement and/or apomorphine (100 microg./kg. subcutaneously), a dopamine receptor agonist, on the frequency of mounting behavior were also studied. After experiencing social stress the brain area within the medial preoptic area was removed for analysis of c-fos and androgen receptor mRNA expression. Real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was done to analyze gene expression. Rats in the defeated group showed a reduced frequency of mounting behavior and a decrease in plasma testosterone levels compared with values in control rats (p &lt;0.01). After testosterone replacement the frequency of mounting behavior became significantly higher than that of socially stressed rat (p &lt;0.05) but did not achieve control levels. The frequency of mounting behavior by socially stressed rats after apomorphine treatment was significantly higher than that of vehicle treated rats (p &lt;0.05) but the frequency produced by the combination of testosterone replacement and apomorphine injection did not achieve control levels. After the social stress experience c-fos mRNA expression was significantly increased compared with that in control rats (p &lt;0.05). The expression of androgen receptor mRNA was not affected by social stress. Testosterone replacement significantly reduced the expression of c-fos mRNA in the medial preoptic area (p &lt;0.05). Our results indicate that a reduction in plasma testosterone may have a causative role in copulatory disorder induced by social stress. Changes in c-fos mRNA expression in the medial preoptic area correlated with copulatory disorder and, thus, they are suitable for monitoring that disorder. 
10773745	Organization and activation of sexual and agonistic behavior in the leopard gecko, Eublepharis macularius. 	Gonadal sex is determined by the temperature experienced during incubation in the leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius). Furthermore, both factors, incubation temperature and gonadal sex, influence adult sexual and agonistic behavior in this species. Yet it is unclear whether such differences in behavior are irreversibly organized during development or are mediated by differences in hormone levels in adulthood. To address this question, we gonadectomized adult females and males generated from a female-biased (30 degrees C) and a male-biased (32.5 degrees C) incubation temperature and treated them with equivalent levels of various sex steroids. We found that 17beta-estradiol (E(2)) activated sexual receptivity in females but not males, suggesting an organized sex difference in behavioral sensitivity to E(2). There were also organized and activated sex differences in attractivity to stimulus males. Although females were more attractive than males when treated with E(2), both sexes were equally unattractive when treated with dihydrotestosterone (DHT) or testosterone (T). Likewise, sex differences in aggressive and submissive behavior were organized and activated. Attacks on stimulus males were activated by T in males but not in females. In contrast, hormones did not influence flight behavior in males but did affect female submissiveness. Overall, males also evoked more attacks by stimulus males than did females. Nevertheless, females and males treated with androgens evoked more attacks than animals of the same sex that were treated with cholesterol or E(2). Incubation temperature had some weak effects on certain behaviors and no effect on others. This suggests that temperature effects in gonadally intact geckos may be due primarily to differences in circulating levels of hormones in adulthood. We conclude that gonadal sex has both organizational and activational effects on various behaviors in the leopard gecko. 
9398592	A brain of her own: a neural correlate of song assessment in a female songbird. 	The song control region in the avian forebrain is a series of discrete, interconnected nuclei mediating song learning and production. It has been studied in males or in species where both sexes sing. Little is known about the neural correlates of song perception in nonsinging females, often the intended recipients of song. We studied cowbirds (Molothrus ater), a species in which only males sing but in which females discriminate between males on the basis of song. We focused on nucleus lMAN because it has been implicated in early song acquisition, a stage relevant to both sexes to choose among competing acoustic models. We found that volume of lMAN was monomorphic in cowbirds. Moreover, the volume and neuronal number of female lMAN were positively correlated with selectivity of copulatory responding. The results provide strong evidence of nonsinging female's use of &quot;song&quot; control nuclei for song perception without the possibility of song production. 
8153174	Effects of chronically high doses of the anabolic androgenic steroid, testosterone, on intermale aggression and sexual behavior in male rats. 	To determine if chronic exposure to high doses of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) increase aggression and sexual activity in gonadally intact rats, we administered SC injections of testosterone propionate (TP: 1 mg) or propylene glycol (PG: as a vehicle control) three times per week for 10 consecutive weeks. Weekly tests for male copulation were conducted by pairing each male with a sexually receptive female in a glass arena and recording various parameters of copulation. Chronic treatment with TP did not alter any parameter of male copulation including ejaculation and post ejaculatory interval. Sexually experienced males were tested once per week for intermale aggression in a neutral environment. For aggression tests, each experimental animal was placed into an arena with an opponent male for 15 min. The opponent, a gonadally intact male, was used only for the purpose of the aggression test. Frequencies of dominance, submissive, threat, and fight postures, as well as approaches were scored for each animal. TP-treated males did not differ in body weight from PG-treated males, suggesting that the increased aggression was not due to increased body mass. The results of this study show that chronic exposure to the anabolic androgenic steroid, testosterone, potentiates male aggressive response patterns but does not alter male sexual behavior or body weight. 
8294122	Neonatal testicular suppression with a GnRH agonist in rhesus monkeys: effects on adult endocrine function and behavior. 	Male rhesus monkeys secrete adult levels of androgen for 3 months postnatally. The role of this neonatal testicular secretion in sexual development was investigated by suppressing luteinizing hormone (LH) and testosterone (T) in neonatal male rhesus (n = 6) by administering a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (Ag) for the first 4 months of postnatal life. Controls (n = 4) received vehicle. Six years later, endocrine function and sexual behavior were examined with ovariectomized females (n = 6) receiving periodic estradiol (E2) treatment during the breeding and nonbreeding seasons. During the breeding season, there were no differences between Ag-treated and control males in levels of LH and T or in frequency of copulatory behavior. However, Ag-treated males masturbated less frequently than controls when the females were not on E2. During the nonbreeding season, Ag-treated males had lower T levels than controls when the females were not receiving E2 and copulated less when the females received E2, even though T levels were comparable. During both E2 and non-E2 treatments, Ag-treated males secreted less T per unit of LH than controls. Neonatal Ag treatment had no effect on social rank. These data demonstrate that neonatal testicular suppression, or the Ag treatment itself, altered systems regulating sexual motivation and neuroendocrine control of these males and suggest that the early neonatal period in male rhesus monkeys is another point when the developing central nervous system is sensitive to the organizing actions of androgens. 
24345518	Group display in the socially monogamous Northern Double-collared Sunbird (Cinnyris reichenowi). 	Several sunbird species (Nectariniidae) exhibit group display, but the function of this behaviour still remains unclear. We test two hypotheses (reproductive tactic and joint territory defence) to explain the function of this behaviour using data gathered on Northern Double-collared Sunbirds (Cinnyris reichenowi) from the Cameroon Mountains. Sunbirds exhibited group display throughout the breeding cycle. Groups of birds were mainly comprised of neighbouring pairs aggregated at territory boundaries. The frequency of group displays varied significantly among individuals and over the breeding cycle, with the highest frequency during the pre-breeding period and the lowest during egg-laying (∼female's fertile period). Time spent on group display was significantly longer at the end of breeding. Off-territory forays were recorded for both males and females, males significantly increased the time spent on these forays during incubation. Extra-pair copulations were recorded only in five cases for females (4%) suggesting that most off-territory forays were motivated by feeding on nectar in neighbouring territories. Therefore, we suggest that the behaviour is used for joint territory defence rather than as an information centre for choosing mates for extra-pair copulations. Its function for choosing primary mates is also unlikely, because group displays were mainly observed in complete pairs. 
23921557	Behavioral correlates of extra-pair copulation in Indri indri. 	Active pursuit of extra-pair mating has been reported for Indri indri, the socially monogamous largest living lemur. This study, conducted in a mountain rainforest in eastern Madagascar, presents the first evidence for extra-pair mating of indri and discusses the alternative mating strategy and alteration of the social, territorial, spatial, and vocal behavior of the adult female of a group of wild indris. Further studies may investigate whether extra-pair copulation is an attempt to breed with a partner of superior quality and thus lead to extra-pair paternity. If so, it could potentially play a role in maintaining genetic variability within a population. 
24140461	Does mating prevent monogamous males from seeking other females? A study in prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster). 	Male prairie voles form pair bonds under laboratory conditions, but show a variety of mating tactics in nature. We tested them in the laboratory to determine if their decision to reproduce with a single or multiple females is related to how they process sensory information from females. Three groups of mated males were tested for their attentiveness toward two females and their odors. Males given a choice to investigate a box holding their mate or a box holding a sexually receptive female spent more time with the box of the sexually receptive female than that of their mate. Similar results were found when females were removed and replaced by their odors. However, males did not attend preferentially to the sexually receptive female under all circumstances. When given a choice between a sexually unreceptive and a sexually receptive female, males did not display a difference in their attentiveness. Furthermore, males tested in presence of their mate were more attentive to the odor of the sexually receptive female than males tested in presence of a sexually unreceptive female. The data suggest that access to the mate's sensory cues may influence male's decision to seek females other than his mate. 
24344967	Observation of intra-group and extra-group copulation and reproductive characters in free ranging groups of western black crested gibbon (Nomascus concolor jingdongensis). 	Black crested gibbons (Nomascus concolor) are 1 of only 3 gibbon species that have been observed in long-term polygynous groups, but their mating behavior and reproductive characters have never been reported. Based on population monitoring over 7 years and direct observation for 26 months of the study groups in Wuliang Mountain, central Yunnan, we describe for the first time the copulation behavior and breeding pattern of free-ranging western black crested gibbons. The gestation period of black crested gibbons is estimated to be between 6 and 7 months. The average breeding interval is 3.5 years, with infant independence at approximately 2.5 years. We observed 2 intra-group copulations and 5 extra-group copulations. Copulations were initiated when a female gave a 'solicitation' gesture. When a male made any mating attempt, the female might refuse it. These results demonstrate direct female mate choice. Both male and female gibbons dispersed from their natal groups and sometimes replaced paired adults in other groups. We observed no evidence of infanticide during inter-group conflicts or after replacement of adults. Together with extra-group copulations, these phenomena indicate a flexible social organization and complex mating system. We also observed a male-biased sex ratio among offspring. More genetic work is necessary to describe the effects of inter-group copulation and the genetic diversity of this population. 
23174754	Deficits in male sexual behavior in adulthood after social instability stress in adolescence in rats. 	There is increasing evidence that exposure to stressors in adolescence has long-lasting effects on emotional and cognitive behavior, but little is known as to whether reproductive functions are affected. We investigated appetitive and consummatory aspects of sexual behavior in male rats that were exposed to chronic social instability stress (SS, n=24) for 16 days in mid-adolescence compared to control rats (CTL, n=24). Over five sexual behavior test sessions with a receptive female, SS rats made fewer ejaculations (p=0.02) and had longer latencies to ejaculation (p=0.03). When only data from rats that ejaculated in the fifth session were analyzed, SS rats (n=18) had reduced copulatory efficiency (more mounts and intromissions before ejaculation) compared to CTL rats (n=19) (p=0.004), and CTL rats were twice as likely as SS rats to make more than one ejaculation in the fifth session (p=0.05). Further, more CTL (14/24) than SS (5/25) rats ejaculated in four or more sessions (p=0.05). SS rats had lower plasma testosterone concentrations than CTL rats (p=0.05), but did not differ in androgen receptor, estrogen receptor alpha, or Fos immunoreactive cell counts in the medial preoptic area. The groups did not differ in a partner preference test administered between the fourth and fifth sexual behavior session. The results suggest that developmental history contributes to individual differences in reproductive behavior, and that stress exposures in adolescence may be a factor in sexual sluggishness. 
23403563	Evidence for tactical concealment in a wild primate. 	Theory predicts that cheating individuals should alter their behaviour to avoid detection, yet empirical data for such 'deceptive' behaviour (and its putative consequence-punishment) is almost entirely absent from the literature. This dearth of evidence, particularly among primates, limits our understanding of the evolution of deception and punishment. Here, we quantify deception and punishment in a reproductive context in wild geladas (Theropithecus gelada). Individuals involved in extra-pair copulations (9% of observed copulations) exhibited behaviour consistent with tactical deception: they were less likely to vocalize and more likely to copulate when the cuckolded male was a sizable distance away (&gt;20 m). Further, many extra-pair copulations (∼20%) elicited post-copulatory aggression-likely, punishment-from cuckolded males. This rare empirical evidence of both tactical concealment and retaliatory aggression offers a potential model system for examining the co-occurrence of deception and punishment in natural settings. 
23145634	The vocal repertoire of the Key Largo woodrat (Neotoma floridana smalli). 	The Key Largo woodrat (Neotoma floridana smalli) is an endangered rodent endemic to the island of Key Largo, FL. There is little information on vocal communication in this species and descriptions of the acoustic structure of calls are lacking. A captive breeding program was established as part of the recovery plan for the species, providing the opportunity to investigate the vocal repertoire and acoustic structure of calls in both wild and captive contexts. Audio and video recordings were conducted at the Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Key Largo and at Disney's Animal Kingdom(®). Analysis of the acoustic structure of calls resulted in four provisional call types: &quot;Tonal calls&quot; consisted of &quot;ultrasonic vocalizations&quot; (40 kHz fundamental frequency, F(0)), &quot;high squeaks&quot; (10 kHz F(0)), and &quot;squeaks&quot; (1.8 kHz F(0)). &quot;Noisy,&quot; broadband calls known as &quot;raspy&quot; vocalizations did not exhibit fundamental frequencies, but contained several prominent spectral peaks (from 9 to 40 kHz). The social contexts of vocal production showed that all four call types were associated with pup need or interactions between pups and dams, and that raspy vocalizations were associated with courtship and copulation. Adults without pups exhibited little or no vocal activity, which may result from solitary lifestyles and predator avoidance. 
24345518	Group display in the socially monogamous Northern Double-collared Sunbird (Cinnyris reichenowi). 	Several sunbird species (Nectariniidae) exhibit group display, but the function of this behaviour still remains unclear. We test two hypotheses (reproductive tactic and joint territory defence) to explain the function of this behaviour using data gathered on Northern Double-collared Sunbirds (Cinnyris reichenowi) from the Cameroon Mountains. Sunbirds exhibited group display throughout the breeding cycle. Groups of birds were mainly comprised of neighbouring pairs aggregated at territory boundaries. The frequency of group displays varied significantly among individuals and over the breeding cycle, with the highest frequency during the pre-breeding period and the lowest during egg-laying (∼female's fertile period). Time spent on group display was significantly longer at the end of breeding. Off-territory forays were recorded for both males and females, males significantly increased the time spent on these forays during incubation. Extra-pair copulations were recorded only in five cases for females (4%) suggesting that most off-territory forays were motivated by feeding on nectar in neighbouring territories. Therefore, we suggest that the behaviour is used for joint territory defence rather than as an information centre for choosing mates for extra-pair copulations. Its function for choosing primary mates is also unlikely, because group displays were mainly observed in complete pairs. 
23921557	Behavioral correlates of extra-pair copulation in Indri indri. 	Active pursuit of extra-pair mating has been reported for Indri indri, the socially monogamous largest living lemur. This study, conducted in a mountain rainforest in eastern Madagascar, presents the first evidence for extra-pair mating of indri and discusses the alternative mating strategy and alteration of the social, territorial, spatial, and vocal behavior of the adult female of a group of wild indris. Further studies may investigate whether extra-pair copulation is an attempt to breed with a partner of superior quality and thus lead to extra-pair paternity. If so, it could potentially play a role in maintaining genetic variability within a population. 
18571171	Are hotshots always hot? A longitudinal study of hormones, behavior, and reproductive success in male marine iguanas. 	Polygynous lek-mating systems are characterized by high reproductive skew, with a small number of males gaining a disproportionate share of copulations. In lekking species, where female choice drives male mating success and patterns of reproductive skew, female preferences for 'good genes' should lead to preferred males having high reproductive success in all years. Here we investigate whether these 'hotshot' males have steroid hormone patterns that are consistent over time (between two mating seasons), and whether hormone levels consistently predict display behavior. We test these questions in the Galápagos marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus), a lekking vertebrate with high male reproductive skew. We found that male mating success and testosterone levels were not consistent across years. The most successful males showed an inverse relationship in copulation success between years. Similarly, territorial males that had high testosterone in one year had low levels in the next. Across years, testosterone was strongly associated with head-bob display, suggesting that this steroid plays a key role in mate attraction. These results suggest that female marine iguanas are not choosing the same 'hotshot' males in every year, but instead base their reproductive decisions on male behavioral traits that are hormonally mediated and variable across years. By using testosterone to regulate their costly display behaviors male marine iguanas appear to have a mechanism that allows them to adjust their reproductive effort depending on extrinsic and/or intrinsic factors. 
15356857	Proximate mechanisms of reproductive monopolization in male moustached tamarins (Saguinus mystax). 	In moustached tamarin (Saguinus mystax) groups, the single breeding female mates polyandrously with most or all nonrelated adult males. Nonetheless, paternity is monopolized in many groups by a single male. No evidence for male endocrine suppression has been found in this species. The proximate mechanisms of monopolization thus remain poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible impact of agonistic interactions and mate-guarding on the monopolization of paternity in male moustached tamarins. Furthermore, we evaluated the likely costs of these behaviors, and whether olfactory cues might be used for its timing. We used behavioral data on proximity, agonistic interactions, time budgets, and scent-marking behavior to answer these questions. While direct agonistic competition does not play a prominent role, fertile females were consorted in some periods by one male, the sire of the previous and next litter. Consorting was instigated nearly exclusively by the male. It probably occurred during the female's periods of highest fertility, and thus likely functions as mate-guarding. The timing of the consortship was probably guided by olfactory cues in the female's scent marks. While we did not obtain direct evidence for energy costs in terms of increased energy expenditure or decreased food intake, we found that consorting males are more conspicuous and therefore may be more vulnerable to predators. 
15085279	The effect of vegetation density on male mate guarding and extra-territorial forays in the yellow-breasted chat (Icteria virens). 	Extra-pair paternity is widely documented in birds, but the behaviors that lead to extra-pair copulations (EPCs) have been less well studied, particularly in territorial songbirds. We studied the behaviors associated with extra-territorial forays (ETFs) and male mate guarding in a socially monogamous, but genetically promiscuous, neotropical migrant passerine, the yellow-breasted chat (Icteria virens). Focal observations and radiotelemetry revealed that both males and females engaged in ETFs. 65% of the females in our study engaged in at least one foray onto a neighboring territory. 50% of males also were observed engaging in ETFs, but males were much more conspicuous during these intrusions compared to females. Females preferred to remain close to the ground in areas where vegetation was the densest. Female behavior was difficult to observe during ETFs but females sometimes interacted with neighboring extra-pair males. Males attempted to guard their mates by remaining close to them and following them during extra-territorial intrusions. We observed instances in which a male attacked his mate and appeared to herd her back to his territory. However a male's ability to maintain close proximity to his mate was significantly and negatively correlated with vegetation density. Our results suggest that the behaviors which lead to extra-pair encounters are influenced by the behavior of all participants and are modified by the characteristics of the habitat. 
14676951	Mating success and fidelity to territories in a fallow deer lek: a female removal experiment. 	A lek is a clump of male territories that females visit only for mating; it is quite a rare mating system among mammals. As we wanted to investigate the role of past male mating success on their fidelity to lek territories, we displaced fallow deer females by a lek (Lek A), i.e. we removed the resources for rutting males. They moved to a new area followed by some of the territorial males ('mobile' males) where they established a new lek (Lek B). Other males ('faithful' males) stayed on Lek A. The former had lower mating success and dominance ranking in the early, undisturbed part of the rut. After disturbance, the MS of faithful males was much reduced, while that of mobile males was higher on Lek B than it had been on Lek A. We then disturbed Lek B. Females returned to Lek A, and the mating success of faithful males reverted to its original level. Past mating success was the main factor predicting whether a male was faithful or mobile. We illustrated for the first time the importance of past experience in promoting lek fidelity; this experiment gives an insight into the mechanisms leading to the traditional use of leks. 
7716751	[The sexual behavior of the African ostrich (Struthio camelus)]. 	The African ostrich (Struthio camelus) is different from other birds not only because it is a running bird (Ratitae), but also because it urinates and the male bird has a penis. On a specialized farm in Israel the sexual behaviour of ostriches was studied. Courtship behaviour and mating have a very refined pattern. The copulation, which starts with an immission of the penis and ends with an orgasm, lasts about one minute. Most of the copulations take place during the morning morning hours. Occasionally, female ostriches demonstrate courtship behaviour to other females. Sometimes female ostriches mount other females as in the case of copulation. 
24345518	Group display in the socially monogamous Northern Double-collared Sunbird (Cinnyris reichenowi). 	Several sunbird species (Nectariniidae) exhibit group display, but the function of this behaviour still remains unclear. We test two hypotheses (reproductive tactic and joint territory defence) to explain the function of this behaviour using data gathered on Northern Double-collared Sunbirds (Cinnyris reichenowi) from the Cameroon Mountains. Sunbirds exhibited group display throughout the breeding cycle. Groups of birds were mainly comprised of neighbouring pairs aggregated at territory boundaries. The frequency of group displays varied significantly among individuals and over the breeding cycle, with the highest frequency during the pre-breeding period and the lowest during egg-laying (∼female's fertile period). Time spent on group display was significantly longer at the end of breeding. Off-territory forays were recorded for both males and females, males significantly increased the time spent on these forays during incubation. Extra-pair copulations were recorded only in five cases for females (4%) suggesting that most off-territory forays were motivated by feeding on nectar in neighbouring territories. Therefore, we suggest that the behaviour is used for joint territory defence rather than as an information centre for choosing mates for extra-pair copulations. Its function for choosing primary mates is also unlikely, because group displays were mainly observed in complete pairs. 
21975189	Short-term exposure to an endocrine disruptor affects behavioural consistency in male threespine stickleback. 	It has been established that exposure to xenooestrogens can have profound effects on reproductive and aggressive behaviours in aquatic organisms. Studies on the effects of 17α-ethinyloestradiol (EE2) on behaviour, however, rarely examine these effects over multiple trials, across time, or across contexts. In addition, it is possible that individuals vary in their sensitivity to EE2 and individuals may differ in the degree to which their behaviour is affected. The study of consistent individual differences in behaviour has grown in popularity in recent years perhaps because of the evolutionary questions this behavioural variation raises. Adult male threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) from an anadromous population repeatedly received the simultaneous presentation of a dummy male and dummy female conspecific both before and after exposure to a short-term, nominal (15 ng L(-1)) concentration of 17α-ethinyloestradiol (EE2). These before and after measures were then compared against one another as well as against responses of males in a control group that was not exposed to EE2. Courtship, aggression, and nesting behaviours were all affected by EE2 exposure. In addition, behavioural consistency over trials was markedly reduced after EE2 exposure, as shown by lower repeatability values in the after exposure measures and in weaker correlations between the before and after exposure measures in the EE2 group compared to the control group. This suggests that male threespine stickleback vary in their sensitivity to EE2. This study is one of the first to examine the effects of short-term EE2 exposure on behaviour across trials and has important implications for population-level fitness consequences of xenooestrogens. 
20691185	Should I stay or should I go? Hormonal control of nest abandonment in a long-lived bird, the Adélie penguin. 	According to life-history theory, long-lived birds should favor their survival over the current reproductive attempt, when breeding becomes too costly. In seabirds, incubation is often associated with spontaneous long-term fasting. Below a threshold in body reserves, hormonal and metabolic shift characteristics of a switch from lipid to protein utilization (phase III, PIII) occur. These metabolic changes are paralleled by nest abandonment and stimulation of refeeding behavior. Parental behavior is then under control of two hormones with opposite effects: corticosterone (CORT) and prolactin which stimulate foraging and incubation behavior, respectively. The aim of this study was to determine the respective role of these two hormones in nest abandonment by Adélie penguins. To this end, plasma hormone levels were measured before egg-laying and at departure from the colony (i.e. when birds were relieved by their partner or abandoned their nest), and related to nutritional state and incubation success. We found that males abandoning their nest in PIII presented high CORT levels and low prolactin levels. Interestingly, males which presented high plasma levels of prolactin in PIII did not abandon. We show that although CORT is the first hormone to be affected by prolonged energy constraints, the combined effects of high CORT and low prolactin levels are necessary for parents to favor self-maintenance and abandon the nest. We provide insights into time-course changes of the endocrine profile as PIII proceeds and report that reaching proteolytic late fasting is not sufficient to induce nest abandonment in a long-lived bird. 
20060601	An endocrine disrupting chemical changes courtship and parental care in the sand goby. 	Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are a diverse group of compounds that can mimic, block or modulate the synthesis of natural hormones. They are known to cause impairment of reproduction of aquatic organisms at very low concentrations. The aim of this study was to examine how exposure from 10 to 31 days to 17alpha-ethinyl estradiol (EE2, 41 ng L(-1)) affects the courtship and parental care behaviour of male sand gobies (Pomatoschistus minutus). The sand goby exhibits a polygynous mating system, where males compete for females and provide paternal care. First, male courtship performance towards a stimulus female was recorded with video camera. Secondly, after the male had received eggs his parental care behaviour was video recorded. In addition to behavioural endpoints, we measured the expression of hepatic vitellogenin (Vtg) and zona radiata protein (Zrp) mRNA, as well as common somatic indices. Our study shows that exposure to EE2 affected male fanning behaviour during both courtship and parental care. Interestingly, small exposed males increased their courtship fanning to similar levels as larger control males. However, during parental care egg fanning was not related to male size, and all exposed males fanned more than control males. The EE2-exposure induced Vtg and Zrp mRNA expression in males and decreased hepatosomatic index (HSI), and increased gonadosomatic index (GSI). Females prefer males that fan more, which will favour the small EDC exposed males. This may lead to mating that favours males that are not strong enough to tend the eggs until they hatch, thus decreasing the reproductive success of individuals. 
19576897	Sand goby (Pomatoschistus minutus) males exposed to an endocrine disrupting chemical fail in nest and mate competition. 	Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are a widely studied group of chemicals that interfere with the endocrinology of organisms. So far, few studies have demonstrated the effect of EDCs on the reproductive behavior of aquatic wildlife. Here we show that sand goby males' (Pomatoschistus minutus) success in mating competition greatly decreases after an exposure for 7 to 24 days to 17alpha-ethinyl estradiol (EE2, measured concentration 4 ng L(-1)). The sand goby exhibits a polygynous mating system with male parental care, in which males compete for nest sites and females. The aim of this study was to test how EE2 exposure affects the ability of males to compete for breeding resources, i.e. nest sites and mates. First, EE2 exposed males competed over a nest site against a non-exposed, control male of the same size. Secondly, we examined male courtship behavior and female mate preferences for EE2 exposed males and similar-sized non-exposed, control males. In addition to the behavioral experiments we determined the zona radiata protein (Zrp) mRNA gene expression and measured morphometric indicators of sexual maturation. Our study revealed that EE2 treated males were not able to acquire or defend a nest site. Additionally, EE2 treated males spent significantly less time in active courtship and nest leading behavior than control males. As a result, females clearly preferred to mate with control males. However, we found no significant differences in Zrp mRNA expression or the morphometric indicators between treatments. Our study illustrates that exposure to this EDC can greatly reduce the chances of an individual reproducing successfully. Moreover, it demonstrates that severe behavioral effects can be seen before any effects are detectable at the molecular or morphometric level. 
24345518	Group display in the socially monogamous Northern Double-collared Sunbird (Cinnyris reichenowi). 	Several sunbird species (Nectariniidae) exhibit group display, but the function of this behaviour still remains unclear. We test two hypotheses (reproductive tactic and joint territory defence) to explain the function of this behaviour using data gathered on Northern Double-collared Sunbirds (Cinnyris reichenowi) from the Cameroon Mountains. Sunbirds exhibited group display throughout the breeding cycle. Groups of birds were mainly comprised of neighbouring pairs aggregated at territory boundaries. The frequency of group displays varied significantly among individuals and over the breeding cycle, with the highest frequency during the pre-breeding period and the lowest during egg-laying (∼female's fertile period). Time spent on group display was significantly longer at the end of breeding. Off-territory forays were recorded for both males and females, males significantly increased the time spent on these forays during incubation. Extra-pair copulations were recorded only in five cases for females (4%) suggesting that most off-territory forays were motivated by feeding on nectar in neighbouring territories. Therefore, we suggest that the behaviour is used for joint territory defence rather than as an information centre for choosing mates for extra-pair copulations. Its function for choosing primary mates is also unlikely, because group displays were mainly observed in complete pairs. 
24239504	An eye for beauty: lateralized visual stimulation of courtship behavior and mate preferences in male zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata. 	Research on intersexual selection focuses on traits that have evolved for attracting mates and the consequences of mate choice. However, little is known about the cognitive and neural mechanisms that allow choosers to discriminate among potential mates and express an attraction to specific traits. Preferential use of the right eye during lateral displays in zebra finches, and lateralized expression of intermediate early genes in the left hemisphere during courtship led us to hypothesize that: (1) visual information from each eye differentially mediates courtship responses to potential mates; and (2) the ability to discriminate among mates and prefer certain mates over others is lateralized in the right eye/left hemisphere system of zebra finch brains. First, we exposed male zebra finches to females when using left, right or both eyes. Males courted more when the right eye was available than when only the left eye was used. Secondly, male preference for females - using beak color to indicate female quality - was tested. Right-eyed and binocular males associated with and courted orange-beaked more than gray-beaked females; whereas left-eyed males showed no preference. Lateral displays and eye use in male zebra finches increase their attractiveness and ability to assess female quality, potentially enhancing reproductive success. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: CO3 2013. 
24414453	High chemical diversity in a wasp pheromone: a blend of methyl 6-methylsalicylate, fatty alcohol acetates and cuticular hydrocarbons releases courtship behavior in the Drosophila parasitoid Asobara tabida. 	Wasps of genus Asobara, a larval parasitoid of Drosophila, have become model organisms for the study of host-parasite interactions. However, little is known about the role of pheromones in locating mates and courtship behavior in this genus. In the present study, we aimed to identify the female courtship pheromone in Asobara tabida. The chemical compositions of solvent extracts from male and female wasps were analyzed by GC/MS. These extracts, fractions thereof, and synthetic pheromone candidates were tested for their activity in behavioral bioassays. The results demonstrate that the courtship pheromone of A. tabida is characterized by a remarkable chemical diversity. A multi-component blend of female-specific compounds including methyl 6-methylsalicylate (M6M), fatty alcohol acetates (FAAs), and cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) released male courtship behavior. Using a combinatory approach that included both purified natural products and synthetic analogs, it was shown that none of the three chemical classes alone was sufficient to release a full behavioral response in males. However, a blend of M6M and FAAs or combinations of one or both of these with female-derived CHCs resulted in wing-fanning responses by males comparable to those elicited by the crude extract of females. Thus, components from all three chemical classes contribute to the bioactivity of the pheromone, but none of the elements plays a key role or is irreplaceable. The fact that one of the FAAs, vaccenyl acetate, is also used as a kairomone by Asobara females to locate Drosophila hosts suggests that a pre-existing sensory responsiveness to vaccenyl acetate might have been involved in the evolution of the female sex pheromone in Asobara. 
24369389	An oral male courtship pheromone terminates the response of Nasonia vitripennis females to the male-produced sex attractant. 	Sex pheromones are crucial for mate finding in many animals. Long-range attraction, mate recognition, and the elicitation of sexual receptiveness during courtship are typically mediated by different compounds. It is widely unknown, however, how the different components of a species' pheromone system influence each other. Here, we demonstrated in the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis that females quickly cease to respond to the male sex attractant after they contact a male's oral secretion during courtship. We used this behavioral switch to monitor the fractionation of head extracts from male wasps for identification of the bioactive compounds as a blend of ethyl oleate, ethyl linoleate, and ethyl α-linolenate. This is the first identification of a cephalic courtship pheromone in parasitic Hymenoptera. Plasticity in pheromone-mediated sexual behavior of female insects has hitherto been attributed to the transfer of bioactive proteinaceous molecules with the male ejaculate. The pheromone interaction reported here sheds new light on the sexual communication of insects by showing that the sex pheromone response of females can be terminated by males independent of sperm transfer. 
24997775	Sexual selection and the physiological consequences of habitat choice by a fiddler crab. 	In mid-Atlantic salt marshes, reproductively active male sand fiddler crabs, Uca pugilator, use a single greatly enlarged major claw as both a weapon to defend specialized breeding burrows from other males and an ornament to attract females for mating. During the summer breeding season, females strongly prefer to mate with males controlling burrows in open areas high on the shore. Food availability decreases while temperature and desiccation stress increase with increasing shore height, suggesting that the timing and location of fiddler crab mating activity may result in a potential trade-off between reproductive success and physiological condition for male crabs. We compared thermal preferences in laboratory choice experiments to body temperatures of models and living crabs in the field and found that from the perspective of a fiddler crab, the thermal environment of the mating area is quite harsh relative to other marsh microhabitats. High temperatures significantly constrained fiddler crab activity on the marsh surface, a disadvantage heightened by strongly reduced food availability in the breeding area. Nevertheless, when the chance of successfully acquiring a mate was high, males accepted a higher body temperature (and concomitantly higher metabolic and water loss rates) than when the chances of mating were low. Likewise, experimentally lowering costs by adding food and reducing thermal stress in situ increased fiddler crab waving display levels significantly. Our data suggest that fiddler crabs can mitigate potential life history trade-offs by tuning their behavior in response to the magnitude of both energetic and non-energetic costs and benefits. 
24239504	An eye for beauty: lateralized visual stimulation of courtship behavior and mate preferences in male zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata. 	Research on intersexual selection focuses on traits that have evolved for attracting mates and the consequences of mate choice. However, little is known about the cognitive and neural mechanisms that allow choosers to discriminate among potential mates and express an attraction to specific traits. Preferential use of the right eye during lateral displays in zebra finches, and lateralized expression of intermediate early genes in the left hemisphere during courtship led us to hypothesize that: (1) visual information from each eye differentially mediates courtship responses to potential mates; and (2) the ability to discriminate among mates and prefer certain mates over others is lateralized in the right eye/left hemisphere system of zebra finch brains. First, we exposed male zebra finches to females when using left, right or both eyes. Males courted more when the right eye was available than when only the left eye was used. Secondly, male preference for females - using beak color to indicate female quality - was tested. Right-eyed and binocular males associated with and courted orange-beaked more than gray-beaked females; whereas left-eyed males showed no preference. Lateral displays and eye use in male zebra finches increase their attractiveness and ability to assess female quality, potentially enhancing reproductive success. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: CO3 2013. 
23948469	Mate preference in the painted goby: the influence of visual and acoustic courtship signals. 	We tested the hypothesis that females of a small vocal marine fish with exclusive paternal care, the painted goby, prefer high parental-quality mates such as large or high-condition males. We tested the effect of male body size and male visual and acoustic courtship behaviour (playback experiments) on female mating preferences by measuring time spent near one of a two-choice stimuli. Females did not show preference for male size but preferred males that showed higher levels of courtship, a trait known to advertise condition (fat reserves). Also, time spent near the preferred male depended on male courtship effort. Playback experiments showed that when sound was combined with visual stimuli (a male confined in a small aquarium placed near each speaker), females spent more time near the male associated with courtship sound than with the control male (associated with white noise or silence). Although male visual courtship effort also affected female preference in the pre-playback period, this effect decreased during playback and disappeared in the post-playback period. Courtship sound stimuli alone did not elicit female preference in relation to a control. Taken together, the results suggest that visual and mainly acoustic courtship displays are subject to mate preference and may advertise parental quality in this species. Our results indicate that visual and acoustic signals interplay in a complex fashion and highlight the need to examine how different sensory modalities affect mating preferences in fish and other vertebrates. 
24458640	Risky ripples allow bats and frogs to eavesdrop on a multisensory sexual display. 	Animal displays are often perceived by intended and unintended receivers in more than one sensory system. In addition, cues that are an incidental consequence of signal production can also be perceived by different receivers, even when the receivers use different sensory systems to perceive them. Here we show that the vocal responses of male túngara frogs (Physalaemus pustulosus) increase twofold when call-induced water ripples are added to the acoustic component of a rival's call. Hunting bats (Trachops cirrhosus) can echolocate this signal by-product and prefer to attack model frogs when ripples are added to the acoustic component of the call. This study illustrates how the perception of a signal by-product by intended and unintended receivers through different sensory systems generates both costs and benefits for the signaler. 
24299137	One doll fits all: validation of the Leiden Infant Simulator Sensitivity Assessment (LISSA). 	Children vary hugely in how demanding of their caregivers they are. This creates differences in demands on parents during observation, making the comparison of sensitivity between parents difficult. It would therefore be of interest to create standard situations in which all caregivers are faced with the same level of demand. This study developed an ecologically valid but standardized setting using an infant simulator with interactive features, the Leiden Infant Simulator Sensitivity Assessment (LISSA). The infant simulator resembles a real infant in appearance and it produces crying sounds that are life-like. The simulator begins with fussing and progresses to more intense crying in case of no care or inappropriate care. It responds by being calm again if appropriate care is given. One hundred and eighty-one female participants took care of the infant simulator for two evenings and in a 30 min lab session with increasing competing demands. Sensitive parenting behavior during the lab session was coded with the Ainsworth Sensitivity Scale. Sensitivity ratings covered the whole range of the scale (1-9), and were stable across settings (free play, competing demands). Sensitivity was related to an increase of positive affect during caretaking, and insensitivity was related to intended harsh caregiving response during a computerized cry paradigm. Sensitivity was unrelated to social desirability and self-reported quality of care given to the infant simulator. We discuss the potentials of the infant simulator for research on sensitive parenting, for preventive interventions, and for clinical practices. 
23398034	Do therapists cry in therapy? The role of experience and other factors in therapists' tears. 	The subject of therapist's crying in therapy (TCIT) has been virtually ignored in the literature, with only 1 qualitative dissertation and 3 case studies devoted to the topic. This mixed-method survey study explored therapists' experiences with and attitude toward TCIT. Six hundred eighty-four U.S. psychologists and trainees filled out the survey online, revealing that 72% of therapists report having cried in therapy in their role as therapist. Data analysis indicated that the act of crying in therapy has less to do with personality or demographic factors (i.e., Big Five traits, empathy, sex) and more to do with the unique aspects of the therapy itself and the therapist's identity in the therapeutic context (theoretical orientation, clinical experience, affective tone of the session). Clinicians with more experience, who are older, cried more in therapy than novice clinicians, despite lower crying frequency in daily life, suggesting that more experienced therapists feel more comfortable allowing themselves to experience and/or express such emotions in therapy sessions. Psychodynamic therapists reported slightly higher rates of TCIT than cognitive-behavioral therapists despite no differences in crying in daily life. Despite significant differences in crying rates in daily life, male and female clinicians report similar rates of TCIT. Data regarding the relationship between TCIT and Big Five personality traits, empathy, and perceived consequences of TCIT are reported. 
23333868	The neural and hormonal bases of human parental care. 	As parents in modern western societies face increasing pressures that strain their ability to provide quality childcare, it is important to consider the neural and hormonal bases of sensitive and nurturing parenting. The topic has been explored systematically in non-human animals, and these studies have yielded a rich source of hypotheses for human studies. Considerable evidence links oxytocin (OT) with sensitive caregiving in both men and women, and with stimulatory infant contact in men and affectionate infant contact in women. Testosterone, on the other hand, decreases in men who become involved fathers, and testosterone may interfere with aspects of paternal care. In neuroimaging studies, exposing parents to child stimuli activates neural systems involved in understanding others' facial expressions (the putative mirror neuron system), others' feelings (anterior insula and thalamocingulate regions) and others' thoughts (dorsomedial prefrontal cortex), as well as reward systems involved in approach-related motivation (ventral tegmental area, substantia nigra, ventral striatum and medial orbitofrontal cortex), and systems involved with emotion regulation (lateral prefrontal cortex). There is some evidence that this activity can be attenuated in mothers who do not breastfeed, and mothers with post-partum depression, perhaps due in part to lower levels of OT exposure. On the other hand, there is evidence suggesting that high levels of oxytocin (OT) may enhance activation in some of these systems. For example, OT may stimulate dopamine release in the ventral striatum, rendering child stimuli more rewarding. A few recent studies have gone beyond merely describing neural correlates to establishing the functional significance of activation patterns by linking them with observed maternal behavior outside the scanner. The results of these studies suggest that there may be an optimal range of activation within certain neural systems, neither too high nor too low, that supports appropriate parenting. There is also mounting evidence that the very structure of the human brain is altered by the cognitive challenges inherent in learning how to parent. Given that human mothers typically receive help with childrearing, it will be important to begin studying the neural and hormonal bases of alloparental care, with a particular emphasis on fathers due to their increasing involvement in childcare in modern western societies. 
23041281	Empathy and distress: two distinct but related emotions in response to infant crying. 	This study examined a largely overlooked, yet potentially important, association between empathy and distress in cry responding. The cry stimulus included a 1-min-long video clip of a 4-week-old, crying, male infant. Participants reported their dispositional empathy and distress, perceived aversiveness of the cry stimulus, response emotions, and intention to intervene with the crying infant. Empathy and distress covaried positively both in disposition and in cry responding. Response empathy and distress were related to their corresponding dispositional emotions, but response empathy was also related to dispositional distress. Perceived aversiveness interacted with response distress in predicting response empathy. Both response empathy and distress appeared to be important determinants of intention to intervene. Overall, empathy and distress in response to infant crying appeared more closely related than previously thought. Implications concerning the regulation of emotions in cry responding are discussed. 
22644113	Empathic-like responding by domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) to distress in humans: an exploratory study. 	Empathy covers a range of phenomena from cognitive empathy involving metarepresentation to emotional contagion stemming from automatically triggered reflexes. An experimental protocol first used with human infants was adapted to investigate empathy in domestic dogs. Dogs oriented toward their owner or a stranger more often when the person was pretending to cry than when they were talking or humming. Observers, unaware of experimental hypotheses and the condition under which dogs were responding, more often categorized dogs' approaches as submissive as opposed to alert, playful or calm during the crying condition. When the stranger pretended to cry, rather than approaching their usual source of comfort, their owner, dogs sniffed, nuzzled and licked the stranger instead. The dogs' pattern of response was behaviorally consistent with an expression of empathic concern, but is most parsimoniously interpreted as emotional contagion coupled with a previous learning history in which they have been rewarded for approaching distressed human companions. 
22465324	Common and differential brain responses in men and women to nonverbal emotional vocalizations by the same and opposite sex. 	Nonverbal emotional vocalizations are one of the most elementary ways of communicating in humans. We examined the impact of sex differences on neural responses to laughter and crying produced by the same and opposite sex. Thirty subjects (15 women) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging during a sex identification task for laughter, crying, and neutral voices. The parahippocampal gyrus was involved in both men and women while hearing laughter of the same sex, suggesting greater positive emotional processing and greater attention toward emotional context in response to laughter of the same sex than of the opposite sex. The posterior cingulate was involved in both men and women while hearing crying of the opposite sex, suggesting that empathic processing may occur more in response to crying of the opposite sex than of the same sex. Furthermore, brain responses to crying of the opposite sex seem to reflect upon men's efforts to perform emotional regulation and women's empathic concerns. 
22059840	Face the noise: embodied responses to nonverbal vocalizations of discrete emotions. 	Extensive prior research has shown that the perception of an emotional facial expression automatically elicits a corresponding facial expression in the observer. Theories of embodied emotion, however, suggest that such reactions might also occur across expressive channels, because simulation is based on integrated motoric and affective representations of that emotion. In the present studies, we examined this idea by focusing on facial and experiential reactions to nonverbal emotion vocalizations. In Studies 1 and 2, we showed that both hearing and reproducing vocalizations of anger, disgust, happiness, and sadness resulted in specific facial behaviors, as well as congruent self-reported emotions (Study 2). In Studies 3 and 4, we showed that the inhibition of congruent facial actions impaired listeners' processing of emotion vocalizations (Study 3), as well as their experiences of a concordant subjective state (Study 4). Results support the idea that cross-channel simulations of others' states serve facilitative functions similar to more strict imitations of observed expressive behavior, suggesting flexibility in the motoric and affective systems involved in emotion processing and interpersonal emotion transfer. We discuss implications for embodiment research and the social consequences of expressing and matching emotions across nonverbal channels. 
22077187	Sex differences in newborn interaction with mother or father during skin-to-skin contact after Caesarean section. 	To investigate differences between the breast-seeking and crying behaviour of girls and boys in skin-to-skin contact (SSC) with their mother or their father after Caesarean section as well as the point-in-time for the first breastfeeding and to compare mothers' and fathers' interactive behaviour with their newborn girl or boy. Twenty girls and 17 boys were randomized to 25 min of SSC with one or the other parent immediately after birth. The interaction was videotaped. Girls started rooting movements earlier than boys in SSC with either parent (p = 0.027). Infants started to breastfeed significantly earlier if having been in SSC with mothers compared with SSC with fathers during the first 5-30 min (p = 0.018). Girls cried more than boys in SSC with either parent (p = 0.02). Mothers used more touching behaviour towards their newborn infant than fathers (p = 0.001). Mothers touched girls less than boys (p = 0.038). Fathers directed less speech towards girls compared with boys (p = 0.042). Early mother-infant SSC immediately after Caesarean section should be promoted until the occurrence of the first breastfeed. If the mother is unable to provide SSC immediately after birth, the father-infant SSC is a valuable alternative because it enhances paternal interaction. 
22001872	Baby cries and nurturance affect testosterone in men. 	Testosterone (T) is generally theorized within a trade-off framework that contrasts parenting and low T with competitive challenges and high T. Paradoxically, baby cues increase T, prompting questions of whether T or its behavioral expression has been mischaracterized. We tested 55 men using a novel interactive infant doll paradigm, and results supported our hypotheses: We showed for the first time that baby cries do decrease T in men, but only when coupled with nurturant responses. In contrast, baby cries uncoupled from nurturant responses increased T. These findings highlight the need to partition infant cues and interactions into nurturant versus competitive-related contexts to more accurately conceptualize T, as per the Steroid/Peptide Theory of Social Bonds. This experiment also supports the utility of this paradigm for studying effects of infant interactions on hormonal responses, which may provide critical insights into ameliorating the darker sides of caregiving (e.g. anger, frustration, violence) and enhancing the positive sides (e.g. intimacy, nurturance, reward). 
20887535	Onset of vocal interaction between parents and newborns in skin-to-skin contact immediately after elective cesarean section. 	Cesarean section is associated with delayed mother-infant interaction because neither the mother nor the father routinely maintains skin-to-skin contact with the infant after birth. The aim of the study was to explore and compare parent-newborn vocal interaction when the infant is placed in skin-to-skin contact either with the mother or the father immediately after a planned cesarean section. A total of 37 healthy infants born to primiparas were randomized to 30 minutes of skin-to-skin contact either with fathers or mothers after an initial 5 minutes of skin-to-skin contact with the mothers after birth. The newborns' and parents' vocal interaction were recorded on a videotape and audiotape. The following variables were explored: newborns' and parents' soliciting, newborns' crying and whining, and parental speech directed to the other parent and to the newborn. Newborns' soliciting increased over time (p=0.032). Both fathers and mothers in skin-to-skin contact communicated more vocally with the newborn than did fathers (p=0.003) and mothers (p=0.009) without skin-to-skin contact. Fathers in skin-to-skin contact also communicated more with the mother (p=0.046) and performed more soliciting responses than the control fathers (p=0.010). Infants in skin-to-skin contact with their fathers cried significantly less than those in skin-to-skin contact with their mothers (p=0.002) and shifted to a relaxed state earlier than in skin-to-skin contact with mothers (p=0.029). Skin-to-skin contact between infants and parents immediately after planned cesarean section promotes vocal interaction. When placed in skin-to-skin contact and exposed to the parents' speech, the infants initiated communication with soliciting calls with the parents within approximately 15 minutes after birth. These findings give reason to encourage parents to keep the newborn in skin-to-skin contact after cesarean section, to support the early onset of the first vocal communication. 
19550259	Out of the abyss of colic: a view through the fathers' eyes. 	To elucidate the experience of fathers living with a colicky infant. Interpretive phenomenology using in-depth interviews with 10 fathers of colicky infants. Reiterative interview reading, repeated meaning unit sorting, going back to the literature, and discussions gave way to emerging themes. The overall experience is one of &quot;falling into and arising from the crying abyss together as a family.&quot; Four themes emerged: (a) falling in, (b) hitting bottom, (c) weaving strands to make a rope, and (d) climbing out. From their stories, fathers provide insight useful to nurses assisting families of colicky infants through a very difficult time. Nurses should talk to fathers directly about the possibility of colic, and teach both parents what it is, how long it usually lasts, and what can be done about it. Anticipatory guidance as well as discussion about colic during newborn health visits can help parents to vocalize their feelings, and learn what actions to take when the stress of colic becomes overwhelming. 
19564275	Paternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy are related to excessive infant crying. 	Excessive infant crying, or infantile colic, is a common and often stress-inducing problem for parents that can ultimately result in child abuse. From previous research it is known that maternal depression is related to excessive crying, but so far little is known about the influence of paternal depression. In a prospective, population-based study, we obtained information on both maternal and paternal depressive symptoms at 20 weeks of pregnancy by using the Brief Symptom Inventory. Parental depressive symptoms were related to excessive crying in 4426 two-month-old infants. The definition of excessive crying was based on the widely used Wessel's criteria (ie, crying &gt;3 hours for &gt;3 days in the past week). After adjustment for depressive symptoms of the mother and relevant confounders, we found a 1.29 (95% confidence interval: 1.09-1.52) higher risk of excessive infant crying per SD of paternal depressive symptoms. Our findings indicate that paternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy might be a risk factor for excessive infant crying. This finding could be related to genetic transmission, interaction of a father with lasting depressive symptoms with the infant, or related indirectly through contextual stressors such as marital, familial, or economic distress. 
17542814	Skin-to-skin care with the father after cesarean birth and its effect on newborn crying and prefeeding behavior. 	Previous reports have shown that skin-to-skin care immediately after vaginal birth is the optimal form of care for full-term, healthy infants. Even in cases when the mother is awake and using spinal analgesia, early skin-to-skin contact between her and her newborn directly after cesarean birth might be limited for practical and medical safety reasons. The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of skin-to-skin contact on crying and prefeeding behavior in healthy, full-term infants born by elective cesarean birth and cared for skin-to-skin with their fathers versus conventional care in a cot during the first 2 hours after birth. Twenty-nine father-infant pairs participated in a randomized controlled trial, in which infants were randomized to be either skin-to-skin with their father or next to the father in a cot. Data were collected both by tape-recording crying time for the infants and by naturalistic observations of the infants' behavioral response, scored every 15 minutes based on the scoring criteria described in the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS). The primary finding was the positive impact the fathers' skin-to-skin contact had on the infants' crying behavior. The analysis of the tape recordings of infant crying demonstrated that infants in the skin-to-skin group cried less than the infants in the cot group (p&lt;0.001). The crying of infants in the skin-to-skin group decreased within 15 minutes of being placed skin-to-skin with the father. Analysis of the NBAS-based observation data showed that being cared for on the father's chest skin-to-skin also had an impact on infant wakefulness. These infants became drowsy within 60 minutes after birth, whereas infants cared for in a cot reached the same stage after 110 minutes. Rooting activity was more frequent in the cot group than in the skin-to-skin group (p&lt;0.01), as were sucking activities (p&lt;or=0.001) and overall duration of wakefulness (p&lt;0.01). The infants in the skin-to-skin group were comforted, that is, they stopped crying, became calmer, and reached a drowsy state earlier than the infants in the cot group. The father can facilitate the development of the infant's prefeeding behavior in this important period of the newborn infant's life and should thus be regarded as the primary caregiver for the infant during the separation of mother and baby. 
12296876	Excessively crying infant in the family: mother-infant, father-infant and mother-father interaction. 	We studied mother-infant, father-infant and mother-father interaction in 32 families with an excessively crying infant and in 30 control families. The group with excessive criers was divided further into subgroups of severe colic (n=13) and moderate colic (n=19). The three dyads of the family were video-recorded when the infants were an average of 5 weeks old. The assessment was carried out during the infant's feeding, nappy change and discussion between the parents. During the assessment, only four infants were crying. The Parent Child Early Relational Assessment Scale and the Beavers Scale were used. The main findings suggest that both parents of colicky infants had less optimal parent-child interaction compared with the control parents. The problems in the interaction were most pronounced between the fathers and infants in the severe colic group. The father-infant interaction was less optimal in 13 items of 65 (20%) in the severe colic group, in one item of 65 (2%) in the moderate colic group and in none of the items in the control group. The mother-infant interaction was less optimal in six items out of 65 (9%) in the severe colic group, in three items out of 65 (5%) in the moderate colic, and in none of the items in the control group. Severely colicky infants were also less competent in interacting with their parents. In addition, interaction between the parents was more often dysfunctional in the severe colic group. The problems in early family interaction may threaten the well-being of families with excessively crying infants and they therefore deserve special attention from the health care professionals. 
10921438	Attention to infants in the first year. 	The time spent by 158 infants in contact with their carers at 6, 13, 26 and 52 weeks was reviewed prospectively. Periods of contact in the categories of (1) physical care, (2) holding the crying or sleeping infant, and (3) playing and interacting with the infant were recorded using 24-h log diaries completed by the mother. The mean total carer contact time over a 24-h day did not change significantly in the first year, varying between 6.5 and 73 h. Between 6 and 52 weeks, time spent by the mother in physical care declined significantly from 207 to 143 min and in holding the crying or sleeping infant from 61 to 17 min (P &lt; 0.05 and 0.0001 respectively). There were no significant changes in the amount of time spent in playing and interacting with the infant over the first year by the mother and father, the time being on average 52.7 and 25.0 min respectively. Play and interaction with a non-parental carer increased significantly from 14 to 69 min (P &lt; 0.0001). Relationships between infant size and holding became weaker as the infant became older. Infant gender, socioeconomic status and duration of breast-feeding did not influence infant contact time. 
23366136	Asphyxia screening kit. 	Infant asphyxia is a condition due to insufficient oxygen intake suffered by newborn babies. A 4 to 9 million occurrences of infant asphyxia are reported each year by WHO. Early diagnosis of asphyxia is important to avoid complications such as damage to the brain, organ and tissue that could lead to fatality. This is possible with the automation of screening of infant asphyxia. Here, a non-invasive Asphyxia Screening Kit is developed. It is a Graphical User Interface that automatically detects asphyxia in infants from early birth to 6 months from their cries and displays the outcome of analysis. It is built with Matlab GUI underlied with signal processing algorithms, capable of achieving a classification accuracy of 96.03%. Successful implementation of ASK will assist to screen infant asphyxia for reference to clinicians for early diagnosis. In addition, ASK also provides an interface to enter patient information and images to be integrated with existing Hospital Information Management System. 
22087925	Segmentation of expiratory and inspiratory sounds in baby cry audio recordings using hidden Markov models. 	The paper describes an application of machine learning techniques to identify expiratory and inspiration phases from the audio recording of human baby cries. Crying episodes were recorded from 14 infants, spanning four vocalization contexts in their first 12 months of age; recordings from three individuals were annotated manually to identify expiratory and inspiratory sounds and used as training examples to segment automatically the recordings of the other 11 individuals. The proposed algorithm uses a hidden Markov model architecture, in which state likelihoods are estimated either with Gaussian mixture models or by converting the classification decisions of a support vector machine. The algorithm yields up to 95% classification precision (86% average), and its ability generalizes over different babies, different ages, and vocalization contexts. The technique offers an opportunity to quantify expiration duration, count the crying rate, and other time-related characteristics of baby crying for screening, diagnosis, and research purposes over large populations of infants. 
20582383	Assessment of pain expression in infant cry signals using empirical mode decomposition. 	The presence of decoupling, i.e. the absence of coupling between fundamental frequency variation and intensity contour during phonetic crying, and its extent, reflects the degree of maturation of the central nervous system. The aim of this work was to evaluate whether Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) is a suitable technique for analyzing infant cries. We hereby wanted to assess the existence and extent of decoupling in term neonates and whether an association between decoupling (derived from EMD) and clinical pain expression could be unveiled. To assess decoupling in healthy term neonates during procedural pain, 24 newborns were videotaped and crying was recorded during venous blood sampling. Besides acoustic analysis, pain expression was quantified based on the Modified Behavioral Pain Scale (MBPS). Fundamental frequency and the intensity contour of the cry signals were extracted by applying the EMD to the data, and the correlation between the two was studied. Based on data collected in healthy term neonates, correlation coefficients varied between 0.39 and 0.83. The degree of decoupling displayed extended variability between the neonates and also in different cry bouts in a crying sequence within an individual neonate. When considering the individual ratio between the mean correlation of cry bouts during a crying sequence and their standard deviation, there seems to be a positive trend with increasing MBPS value. This might indicate that higher stressed subjects have less consistency in the investigated acoustic cry features, concluding that EMD has potential in the assessment of infant cry analysis. 
20096511	Decoupling between fundamental frequency and energy envelope of neonate cries. 	The presence of decoupling, i.e. the absence of coupling between fundamental frequency variation and energy envelope during phonetic crying, and its extent, reflects the degree of maturation of the central nervous system. We hereby wanted to assess the existence and extent of decoupling in term neonates (neurodevelopmental relevance) and whether an association between decoupling and clinical pain expression could be unveiled (clinical relevance). To assess decoupling in healthy term neonates during procedural pain, newborns were videotaped and crying was recorded during venous blood sampling. Besides acoustic analysis, pain expression was quantified based on the Modified Behavioral Pain Scale (MBPS). 47 healthy term neonates underwent venous blood puncture at the 3rd day of life. Beside the MBPS score, the correlation coefficients were calculated between the fundamental frequency variation and energy envelope of the cries. Based on data collected in 47 healthy term neonates, correlation coefficients varied between 0.20 and 0.68. The degree of decoupling displayed extensive variability between the neonates and also in different cry bouts in a crying sequence within an individual neonate. A negative association was found between MBPS value and decoupling (r(2)=-0.12), the same as for the intra-subject variability although less extensive (r(2)=-0.02). Decoupling only relates weakly with the amount of distress in 3day old newborns, even though a great intra-subject variability is present. This study suggests that there is no evidence of extensive decoupling as the newborn still has to fully develop the control of larynx and abdominal muscles. 
18368431	Classification of cries of infants with cleft-palate using parallel hidden Markov models. 	This paper addresses the problem of classification of infants with cleft palate. A hidden Markov model (HMM)-based cry classification algorithm is presented. A parallel HMM (PHMM) for coping with age masking, based on a maximum-likelihood decision rule, is introduced. The performance of the proposed algorithm under different model parameters and different feature sets is studied using a database of cries of infants with cleft palate (CLP). The proposed algorithm yields an average of 91% correct classification rate in a subject- and age-dependent experiment. In addition, it is shown that the PHMM significantly outperforms the HMM performance in classification of cries of CLP infants of different ages. 
19163314	Non-invasive distress evaluation in preterm newborn infants. 	With the increased survival of very preterm infants, there is a growing concern for their developmental outcomes. Infant cry characteristics reflect the development and possibly the integrity of the central nervous system. In this paper, relationships between fundamental frequency (F(0)) and vocal tract resonance frequencies (F(1)-F(3)) are investigated for a set of preterm newborns, by means of a multi-purpose voice analysis tool (BioVoice), characterised by high-resolution and tracking capabilities. Also, first results about possible distress occurring during cry in preterm newborn infants, as related to the decrease of central blood oxygenation, are presented. To this aim, a recording system (Newborn Recorder) has been developed, that allows synchronised, non-invasive monitoring of blood oxygenation and audio recordings of newborn infant's cry. The method has been applied to preterm newborns at the Intensive Care Unit, A.Meyer Children Hospital, Firenze, Italy. 
17720255	The melody of crying. 	As the speech of a normal hearing and a deaf person are different, author expects differences between the crying sound of normal hearing and hard-of-hearing infants as well. In this study the author determined by computerized algorithms the melody of 2762 crying sounds from 316 infants, and compared the results between infants with hearing disorders and normal hearing. The analysis of the crying sounds is aimed to work out a new, cheaper hearing screening method, which would give a new potential to the early detection of hearing disorders. All the applied steps were developed by automatic, computer-executed methods providing reproducible, objective results in contradistinction to some previous studies, which had applied manual methods and reached subjective results. Several possible ways for digital signal processing of the infant cry are discussed. A novel melody shape classification system was created to obtain a more precise distribution of the melodies by their shapes. The system determined 77 different categories, where the first 20 categories covered the 95% of the melodies. The applied methods were created and tested in a huge number of melodies. 
17416157	On learning, representing, and generalizing a task in a humanoid robot. 	We present a programming-by-demonstration framework for generically extracting the relevant features of a given task and for addressing the problem of generalizing the acquired knowledge to different contexts. We validate the architecture through a series of experiments, in which a human demonstrator teaches a humanoid robot simple manipulatory tasks. A probability-based estimation of the relevance is suggested by first projecting the motion data onto a generic latent space using principal component analysis. The resulting signals are encoded using a mixture of Gaussian/Bernoulli distributions (Gaussian mixture model/Bernoulli mixture model). This provides a measure of the spatio-temporal correlations across the different modalities collected from the robot, which can be used to determine a metric of the imitation performance. The trajectories are then generalized using Gaussian mixture regression. Finally, we analytically compute the trajectory which optimizes the imitation metric and use this to generalize the skill to different contexts. 
17416158	Correspondence mapping induced state and action metrics for robotic imitation. 	This paper addresses the problem of body mapping in robotic imitation where the demonstrator and imitator may not share the same embodiment [degrees of freedom (DOFs), body morphology, constraints, affordances, and so on]. Body mappings are formalized using a unified (linear) approach via correspondence matrices, which allow one to capture partial, mirror symmetric, one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one, and many-to-many associations between various DOFs across dissimilar embodiments. We show how metrics for matching state and action aspects of behavior can be mathematically determined by such correspondence mappings, which may serve to guide a robotic imitator. The approach is illustrated and validated in a number of simulated 3-D robotic examples, using agents described by simple kinematic models and different types of correspondence mappings. 
17416159	A developmental roadmap for learning by imitation in robots. 	In this paper, we present a strategy whereby a robot acquires the capability to learn by imitation following a developmental pathway consisting on three levels: 1) sensory-motor coordination; 2) world interaction; and 3) imitation. With these stages, the system is able to learn tasks by imitating human demonstrators. We describe results of the different developmental stages, involving perceptual and motor skills, implemented in our humanoid robot, Baltazar. At each stage, the system's attention is drawn toward different entities: its own body and, later on, objects and people. Our main contributions are the general architecture and the implementation of all the necessary modules until imitation capabilities are eventually acquired by the robot. Also, several other contributions are made at each level: learning of sensory-motor maps for redundant robots, a novel method for learning how to grasp objects, and a framework for learning task description from observation for program-level imitation. Finally, vision is used extensively as the sole sensing modality (sometimes in a simplified setting) avoiding the need for special data-acquisition hardware. 
17416160	Incremental learning of tasks from user demonstrations, past experiences, and vocal comments. 	Since many years the robotics community is envisioning robot assistants sharing the same environment with humans. It became obvious that they have to interact with humans and should adapt to individual user needs. Especially the high variety of tasks robot assistants will be facing requires a highly adaptive and user-friendly programming interface. One possible solution to this programming problem is the learning-by-demonstration paradigm, where the robot is supposed to observe the execution of a task, acquire task knowledge, and reproduce it. In this paper, a system to record, interpret, and reason over demonstrations of household tasks is presented. The focus is on the model-based representation of manipulation tasks, which serves as a basis for incremental reasoning over the acquired task knowledge. The aim of the reasoning is to condense and interconnect the data, resulting in more general task knowledge. A measure for the assessment of information content of task features is introduced. This measure for the relevance of certain features relies both on general background knowledge as well as task-specific knowledge gathered from the user demonstrations. Beside the autonomous information estimation of features, speech comments during the execution, pointing out the relevance of features are considered as well. The results of the incremental growth of the task knowledge when more task demonstrations become available and their fusion with relevance information gained from speech comments is demonstrated within the task of laying a table. 
23896042	Implications of dairy systems on enteric methane and postulated effects on total greenhouse gas emission. 	The effects of feeding total mixed ration (TMR) or pasture forage from a perennial sward under a management intensive grazing (MIG) regimen on grain intake and enteric methane (EM) emission were measured using chambers. Chamber measurement of EM was compared with that of SF6 employed both within chamber and when cows grazed in the field. The impacts of the diet on farm gate greenhouse gas (GHG) emission were also postulated using the results of existing life cycle assessments. Emission of EM was measured in gas collection chambers in Spring and Fall. In Spring, pasture forage fiber quality was higher than that of the silage used in the TMR (47.5% v. 56.3% NDF; 24.3% v. 37.9% ADF). Higher forage quality from MIG subsequently resulted in 25% less grain use relative to TMR (0.24 v. 0.32 kg dry matter/kg milk) for MIG compared with TMR. The Fall forage fiber quality was still better, but the higher quality of MIG pasture was not as pronounced as that in Spring. Neither yield of fat-corrected milk (FCM) which averaged 28.3 kg/day, nor EM emission which averaged 18.9 g/kg dry matter intake (DMI) were significantly affected by diet in Spring. However, in the Fall, FCM from MIG (21.3 kg/day) was significantly lower than that from TMR (23.4 kg/day). Despite the differences in FCM yield, in terms of EM emission that averaged 21.9 g/kg DMI was not significantly different between the diets. In this study, grain requirement, but not EM, was a distinguishing feature of pasture and confinement systems. Considering the increased predicted GHG emissions arising from the production and use of grain needed to boost milk yield in confinement systems, EM intensity alone is a poor predictor of the potential impact of a dairy system on climate forcing. 
24468428	Change in milk production after treatment against gastrointestinal nematodes according to grazing history, parasitological and production-based indicators in adult dairy cows. 	To investigate future tools for targeted selective treatment against gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) in adult dairy cows, we evaluated herd and individual cow factors associated with the post-treatment milk production (MP) response over time. A field trial involving 20 pasturing dairy herds in Western France was conducted in autumn 2010 and autumn 2011. In each herd, lactating cows were randomly allocated to a treatment group (fenbendazole) (623 cows), or a control group (631 cows). Daily cow MP was recorded from 2 weeks before until 10 to 14 weeks after treatment. Individual serum anti-Ostertagia antibody levels (expressed as ODR), pepsinogen levels, faecal egg count (FEC), and bulk tank milk ODR were measured at the time of treatment. Moreover, in each herd, information regarding heifers' grazing and treatment history was collected to assess the Time of Effective Contact (TEC, expressed in months) with GIN infective larvae before the first calving. TEC was expected to reflect the development of immunity against GIN, and TEC=8 months was a cautious threshold over which the resistance to re-infection was expected to be established. Daily MP averaged by week was analyzed using linear mixed models with three nested random effects (cow within herd and herd within year). The overall treatment effect was significant but slight (maximum=+0.85 kg/d on week 6 after treatment), and the evolution of treated cows' MP differed significantly according to several factors. At the herd level, cows from low-TEC herds responded better than cows from high-TEC (≥ 8 months) herds; cows from herds in which the percentage of positive FEC was &gt;22.6% (median value) responded better than those from herds where it was lower. At the individual cow level, primiparous cows, cows with days in milk (DIM) &lt; or = 100 at the time of treatment, and cows with low individual ODR (&lt; or = 0.38) responded better than multiparous cows, cows with DIM&gt;100, and cows with higher ODR, respectively. These results highlight the variability of the treatment response, suggesting that whole herd anthelmintic treatment are not always appropriate, and propose promising key criteria for targeted selective treatment for GIN in dairy cows. Particularly, the TEC is an original criterion which lends support for a simultaneous on-farm qualitative analysis of grazing management factors. 
23989878	Influence of experience on intake and feeding behavior of dairy sheep when offered forages from woody plants in a multiple-choice situation. 	A satisfactory intake of novel low-quality forages by ruminants may require previous experience with this feed. Therefore, this study tested in sheep whether experience with forages from woody plants had an influence on feed intake, feeding behavior, and nutrient supply when offered in a multiple-choice arrangement. Two sheep experiments were conducted, 1 in Syria (Mediterranean region; Exp. 1) and the other in Switzerland (Central Europe; Exp. 2), that investigated 5 and 6 woody test plants, respectively. In Exp. 1, the test plants were Artemisia herba-alba, Atriplex leucoclada, Haloxylon articulatum, Noaea mucronata, and Salsola vermiculata. In Exp. 2, Betula pendula, Castanea sativa, and Juglans regia were used in addition to A. leucoclada, H. articulatum, and S. vermiculata (the plants most consumed in Exp. 1). In each experiment, 12 lactating sheep (Awassi sheep in Exp. 1 and East Friesian Milk sheep in Exp. 2) were allocated to 2 groups (&quot;experienced&quot; and &quot;naïve&quot;). Experienced sheep subsequently were familiarized with each test plant during a learning period of binary choices (1 test plant vs. barley straw) for 4 h in the morning for 7 d each. The naïve group received only straw. During the rest of the day, a basal diet composed of barley straw (ad libitum) and concentrate was offered to both groups. For the 2 wk following the learning period, the sheep were subjected to feeding of the basal diet to avoid carryover effects of the last offered test plant. In the following multiple-choice period, both groups were allowed to select from all test plants during 4 h in the morning for 14 d. Forage intake after 4 and 24 h and feeding behavior during the first 30 min of the test feeding were assessed. Milk yield and composition were measured at the end of the multiple-choice period. Nutrient intake was calculated using feed intake measurements and compositional analyses. Only in Exp. 2, group differences (P &lt; 0.05) were found on d 1 of the multiple-choice period. The experienced sheep consumed more total forage, straw, OM, NDF, ADF, and ADL (nutrients without concentrate). However, across the entire multiple-choice period, there were no differences (P ≥ 0.05) in forage and nutrient intake, feeding behavior, and milk yield and composition between the groups in both experiments. This suggests that sheep can quickly adapt to previously unknown woody feeds of varying origin and quality offered as dried supplements. 
23660144	Associations between herd-level feeding management practices, feed sorting, and milk production in freestall dairy farms. 	The challenges associated with group-housed dairy cows include within-herd variability in nutrient consumption and milk production, which may be related to feeding management. The objective of this observational study was to examine the association of herd-level feeding management factors, feed sorting, and milk production. Twenty-two freestall herds with an average lactating herd size of 162±118 cows, feeding total mixed rations, were each studied for 7 consecutive days in summer and winter. In cases of multiple feeding groups within a herd, the highest producing group of cows with an even distribution of days in milk and parity was selected for this study. The average group size studied was 83±31 cows. The average study group consisted of cows 187±47 days in milk, with a parity of 2.3±0.6, consuming 24.3±2.6kg of dry matter, with an average group-level yield of 34.3±6kg of milk/d, 3.7±0.3% milk fat, and 3.2±0.18% milk protein. Milk production parameters, including yield, fat, and protein, were recorded through regular Dairy Herd Improvement milk testing. A survey of feeding management practices and barn characteristics was administered on each farm. The amounts of feed offered and refused were recorded and sampled daily to assess dry matter intake (DMI) and particle size distribution. Feeding twice per day compared with once per day was associated with an average increase of 1.42kg of DMI, 2.0kg of milk yield, and less sorting against long ration particles (&gt;19mm). Every 2% group-level selective refusal (sorting) of long particles was associated with 1kg/d of reduction in milk yield. A 10cm/cow increase in feed bunk space was associated with a 0.06-percentage-point increase in group-average milk fat and a 13% decrease in group-average somatic cell count. These results support that herd-level management practices to promote feed access, such as increased feeding frequency and bunk space, may improve DMI and promote more balanced nutrient intake and greater milk production. 
23664348	The motivation of dairy cows for access to pasture. 	Several factors influence whether dairy cattle prefer to be indoors or at pasture, including weather conditions and milk yield, but it is unclear how motivated cows are for access to pasture. One way to measure motivation is to require the animal to work (e.g., walk different distances) for access to a resource. This study investigated whether pasture access located 60, 140, or 260m from the indoor housing would affect the proportion of time dairy cows spent at pasture. Thirty-two Holstein-Friesian dairy cows were used during the study, which took place in the United Kingdom from May to July 2010. The experiment consisted of four 18-d experimental periods, with 8 cows in each period, which were further divided into 2 groups of 4 cows. Following a training period, the cows were randomly allocated to distances of 60, 140, or 260m to pasture over three 4-d measurement periods. A video camera was used to record time spent indoors and outdoors 24h/d, and manual behavior observations (0700 to 2200h) took place 6 times during each period to record how the cows spent their time in each location. The video data showed that cows spent, on average, 57.8% (±3.44) of their time outside (either at pasture or on the track). One-sample t-tests revealed that this value was different from 0% (t=16.80), 50% (t=2.26), and 100% (t=-12.28). Analysis of the percentage time spent outside revealed that distance did not influence nighttime pasture use (2100 to 0430h; F2,8=0.16; 81.0% vs. 81.0% vs. 76.7%, for 60m vs. 140m vs. 260m, respectively). In contrast, during the day (0700 to 2100h; from behavior observations), time spent at pasture declined as distance increased; that is, cows spent more time at pasture when they had to walk 60m (F2,80=10.09) than when they had to walk 140 or 260m (45.3% vs. 27.4% vs. 21.2%, respectively). Time spent at pasture decreased on rainy days (y=-1.0672x + 59.646, R(2)=0.09, n=48d), but the indoor temperature-humidity index (THI), the outdoor THI, and body condition score did not influence time spent outside. Under the climatic conditions of the current study in the United Kingdom, cows had a partial preference for pasture, which was influenced by distance to pasture during daytime but not at night. This shows that dairy cows were more motivated to access pasture at night compared with during the day. 
23684042	Lameness detection based on multivariate continuous sensing of milk yield, rumination, and neck activity. 	The objective of this study was to develop and validate a mathematical model to detect clinical lameness based on existing sensor data that relate to the behavior and performance of cows in a commercial dairy farm. Identification of lame (44) and not lame (74) cows in the database was done based on the farm's daily herd health reports. All cows were equipped with a behavior sensor that measured neck activity and ruminating time. The cow's performance was measured with a milk yield meter in the milking parlor. In total, 38 model input variables were constructed from the sensor data comprising absolute values, relative values, daily standard deviations, slope coefficients, daytime and nighttime periods, variables related to individual temperament, and milk session-related variables. A lame group, cows recognized and treated for lameness, to not lame group comparison of daily data was done. Correlations between the dichotomous output variable (lame or not lame) and the model input variables were made. The highest correlation coefficient was obtained for the milk yield variable (rMY=0.45). In addition, a logistic regression model was developed based on the 7 highest correlated model input variables (the daily milk yield 4d before diagnosis; the slope coefficient of the daily milk yield 4d before diagnosis; the nighttime to daytime neck activity ratio 6d before diagnosis; the milk yield week difference ratio 4d before diagnosis; the milk yield week difference 4d before diagnosis; the neck activity level during the daytime 7d before diagnosis; the ruminating time during nighttime 6d before diagnosis). After a 10-fold cross-validation, the model obtained a sensitivity of 0.89 and a specificity of 0.85, with a correct classification rate of 0.86 when based on the averaged 10-fold model coefficients. This study demonstrates that existing farm data initially used for other purposes, such as heat detection, can be exploited for the automated detection of clinically lame animals on a daily basis as well. 
23726421	Effect of feeding according to energy balance on performance, nutrient excretion, and feeding behavior of early lactation dairy cows. 	The objectives of this study were to evaluate 2 feeding strategies for early lactation cows on performance and efficiency of nutrient utilization. Fifty-eight Holsteins cows were blocked by parity and production during the pretreatment period and then randomly assigned at 21 d postpartum to a control diet [n=29; 16.2% crude protein, 1.64 Mcal of net energy for lactation (NE(L)), 22% starch, and 19% forage neutral detergent fiber (NDF)] or a diet with caloric density manipulated weekly (precision diet; n=29; 16.2% crude protein; 1.59 to 1.68 NE(L); 18 to 26% starch; and 16 to 22% forage NDF) to promote a calculated positive energy balance of 5 Mcal/day. Diets were fed as total mixed rations and precision cows had their diets adjusted individually once a week, by feeding additional grain supplementation from 0 to 25% of daily dry matter (DM) offered, according to the energy balance of the preceding week. Energy balance was calculated daily and then averaged weekly. The study lasted from wk 3 to 19 postpartum, and nutrient digestibility, rumen fluid composition, urinary output, estimates of microbial protein synthesis, and feeding behavior were evaluated between wk 9 and 13 postpartum. Compared with controls, precision cows had similar DM intake (24.3 kg/d), but NE(L) intake tended to be greater primarily between wk 4 and 8 postpartum. Yields of milk (45.2 vs. 41.9 kg/d), milk components, 3.5% fat-corrected milk (44.0 vs. 40.8 kg/d), and energy-corrected milk (43.4 vs. 40.2) were all greater for precision than control cows, resulting in greater energy-corrected milk production per kilogram of diet DM consumed (1.79 vs. 1.72). Precision cows produced more milk calories per kilogram of metabolic weight (0.227 vs. 0.213 Mcal of NE(L)/kg), although the amount of consumed calories partitioned into milk (82.3%) and measures of energy status did not differ between treatments throughout the study. Glucose concentrations were greater throughout the day in precision cows compared with controls at 6 wk, but not 13 wk postpartum. Apparent digestibility of nutrients, composition of rumen fluid, mean and low rumen pH, and estimated rumen microbial N synthesis remained mostly unaltered by treatments. Although precision cows produced more milk true protein, measures of efficiency of dietary N use were not influenced by treatment. On wk 13 postpartum, precision cows consumed a diet with longer NDF particles, which resulted in a tendency for greater intake of NDF &gt;8mm because of less sorting against the long particles than control cows. Meal pattern differed with treatment, and precision cows consumed feed more sparsely throughout the day, spent more time ruminating lying, and had similar meal duration (mean of 36.3 min/meal) compared with control cows, but smaller meal size (3.33 vs. 3.64 kg/meal). Results from the current study indicate that allocating dietary resources according to the individual needs of cows based on energy balance improves lactation performance compared with feeding a single total mixed ration, despite similar average nutrient intake between treatments. Improvements in performance are likely related to allocation of calories based on the needs of the cow and on shifts of feeding behavior that might favor intake of smaller meals. 
23769368	Gradual cessation of milking reduces milk leakage and motivation to be milked in dairy cows at dry-off. 	The effects of gradual versus abrupt cessation of milking at dry-off in dairy cows are not well understood, but gradually reducing milk production in human mothers is known to reduce discomfort and milk leakage. This study compared the effects of abrupt versus gradual cessation of milking on milk leakage and dairy cow behavior. Holstein dairy cows were housed in groups of 6 and randomly assigned to either abrupt milk cessation (i.e., dry-off on d 0) or gradual milk cessation (i.e., skipped milkings beginning on d 0; dry-off on d 5). Four replicates were performed over time, for a total of 24 cows (mean ± SD; parity=2.3±1.2; milk production the day before d 0=24±5 kg/d). Intramammary antibiotic, internal teat sealer, and external teat sealant were administered at dry-off. Measurements were taken from d -3 to 8 relative to dry-off. Three periods were identified for behavior data: baseline (d -3 to 1), period 1 (abrupt cows dry, gradual cows milking; d 0-4), and period 2 (all cows dry; d 5-8). Lying time was recorded with data loggers. Video scan samples (5-min intervals) were used to measure feeding time and motivation to be milked (i.e., standing at the pen's exit gate). Milk leakage was monitored every 20 min during the 2-h period following the milking times of 0500 and 1500 h after complete cessation of milking (period 1 for abrupt vs. period 2 for gradual). Composite milk samples were taken before dry-off (d -1, 0, and 5) and at the start of the next lactation (colostrum, 24h and 7-10 d postcalving) to determine somatic cell score (SCS) and conduct bacteriological examinations in clinical mastitis cases. Regardless of treatment, dry-off resulted in reduced lying time [14.1 vs. 13.2h/d; standard error of the difference (SED)=0.2], reduced lying bouts (10.7 vs. 8.3 bouts/d; SED=0.2), increased lying bout duration (1.4 vs. 1.7h/bout; SED=0.03) and increased feeding time (5.0 vs. 5.9h/d; SED=0.2). Compared with baseline, the odds of standing at the gate increased for abrupt cows (period 1: odds ratio=6.2; 95% CI: 2.7-14.4; and period 2: odds ratio=5.2; 95% CI: 1.8-14.6). No increase in time spent standing at the gate was noted in gradual cows. Frequency of leakage was greater in abrupt versus gradual cows (75 vs. 27%). Although the gradual treatment showed an increase in SCS over the 5 d of reduced milking frequency, both treatments showed an increase in SCS at calving and both returned to pre-experiment levels within 7 to 10 d after calving. This work demonstrates that gradually reducing milking frequency in high-producing cows results in reduced time spent anticipating milking and reduced milk leakage after dry-off. 
23587381	Growing dairy heifers prefer supplementary long straw when fed a nutrient-dense ration in a limited amount. 	The objective of this study was to determine whether limit-fed heifers will choose to consume long particles, rather than short, of a low-nutritive feedstuff to ameliorate rumen function and meet foraging needs. Ten Holstein heifers 261.6 ± 39.2 (mean ± SD) d of age were exposed to each of 2 dietary treatments, in a random order, over 2 successive 7-d treatment periods (4-d adaptation period and a 3-d data collection period) using a crossover design. The treatments were (1) a provision of long particle oat straw (85% of particles&gt;8mm; LS) and (2) provision of short particle oat straw (45% of particles &gt;8mm; SS). Both treatments were offered following consumption of a limit-fed, nutrient-dense total mixed ration fed at 2.05% of body weight. Following each 7-d period, heifers were given access to both types of straw during an additional 2-d preference period; individual intakes were recorded daily. Feeding and lying behavior were recorded during the last 3d of each treatment period. Ruminal temperature was recorded during the last 3d of each treatment period using a telemetric acquisition system and rumen boluses. Dry matter intake of both the total mixed ration (6.3 kg/d) and straw (0.36 kg/d) was similar between treatments. Heifers fed LS spent more time feeding (197.7 vs. 175.2 min/d) throughout the day than heifers fed SS due to the increase in time required to consume long particles in the LS (59.8 vs. 34.2 min/d). Daily lying time (974.7 min/d) and time spent standing without eating (278.9 min/d) was similar between treatments. The preference period showed a strong preference ratio for LS rather than SS (preference ratio=0.83), with heifers consuming 0.43 ± 0.2 kg/d of LS and 0.07 ± 0.1 kg/d of SS (mean ± SD). Heifers maintained similar mean (38.3°C), minimum (35.1°C), and maximum (38.9°C) rumen temperature across treatments. The amount of time that rumen temperature was elevated over 38.6°C, 39.0°C, and 39.4°C was similar between treatments. In conclusion, heifers will consume similar amounts of supplementary long or short straw if provided to them alongside of a limit-fed TMR. Limit-fed heifers do, however, show a clear preference for LS when offered the choice, suggesting that they find LS to be more satisfactory for achieving rumen fill or meeting their behavioral foraging needs. 
23466327	Evaluation of ad libitum acidified milk replacer programs for dairy calves. 	Due to renewed interest in feeding acidified milk replacer (MR) for ad libitum consumption within North America, two 112-d trials were conducted using Holstein calves obtained from one dairy farm at 2 to 3 d of age. In trial 1, a 27% crude protein (whey protein), 17% fat MR powder was reconstituted with water to 14% solids and fed at 0.66 kg of dry matter (DM) per day for 42 d (CON) or acidified to pH 4.2 using citric acid and offered 24h/d for d 0 to 35, then switched to 0.66 kg of DM without acid per d for 7 d (A4). In trial 2, the same MR was fed as CON, ad libitum pH 5.2 MR offered from 0600 to 0800 h and 1600 to 1800 h for d 0 to 21 (R5), ad libitum pH 5.2 MR offered 24h/d for d 0 to 35 (A5), and ad libitum pH 4.2 MR offered 24h/d for d 0 to 35 (A4). After the ad libitum period, calves on R5, A5, and A4 were switched to CON until d 42. Growth measures were made until d 112 in each trial. Data from each trial were analyzed as a completely randomized design with repeated measurements over time using an autoregressive type 1 covariance structure when appropriate. In each trial, calves fed CON had lower average daily gain (ADG) from 0 to 42 d and greater ADG from 42 to 56 d than calves fed the other treatments. In both trials, ADG from 0 to 56 d and 56 to 112 d were not greater for A4 or A5 versus CON. From 56 to 112 d in trial 2, ADG was greater for R 0025 versus A5. Some calves completely rejected the MR at pH 4.2. Calves consumed more of the MR at pH 5.2 than 4.2. Calves fed A4 in trial 1 and treatments A5 and A4 in trial 2 consumed &gt;95% of their MR between 0600 to 0800 h and 1600 to 1800 h. Time spent standing did not differ by treatment in trial 1 and increased from 312 to 332 min/d from d 6 to 56. Under the conditions of these trials, results to 112 d showed no advantage to feeding calves MR acidified to pH 4.2 or 5.2 ad libitum from 0 to 35 d with gradually weaning by 42 d compared with calves fed the control MR fed at 0.66 kg of DM/d. Additionally, when calves were fed MR ad libitum, they consumed &gt;95% of the MR between 0600 to 0800 h and 1600 to 1800 h and standing behavior was not greatly affected. 
23677907	Influence of ankle injury on muscle activation and postural control during ballet grand plié. 	Ballet deep squat with legs rotated externally (grand plié) is a fundamental movement for dancers. However, performing this task is a challenge to ankle control, particularly for those with ankle injury. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate how ankle sprains affect the ability of postural and muscular control during grand plié in ballet dancers. Thirteen injured dancers and 20 uninjured dancers performed a 15 second grand plié consisting of lowering, squatting, and rising phases. The lower extremity motion patterns and muscle activities, pelvic orientation, and center of pressure (COP) excursion were measured. In addition, a principal component analysis was applied to analyze waveforms of muscle activity in bilateral medial gastrocnemius, peroneus longus, and tibialis anterior. Our findings showed that the injured dancers had smaller pelvic motions and COP excursions, greater maximum angles of knee flexion and ankle dorsiflexion as well as different temporal activation patterns of the medial gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior. These findings suggested that the injured dancers coped with postural challenges by changing lower extremity motions and temporal muscle activation patterns. 
24013285	Isokinetic strength profiles of thigh muscles of modern dancers in relation to their experience level. 	The aim of this study was to determine maximal voluntary peak torque (PT), PT% body weight (PT%BW), total work (TW), and hamstring/quadriceps ratio (HQR) for bilateral and unilateral thigh muscle strength during isokinetic muscle contractions in modern dancers in relation to their experience level. Twenty-two female dancers were divided into two groups: intermediate dancers (ID, n=11) and advanced dancers (AD, n=11). Strength tests were performed using the Biodex System-III Pro Multijoint System isokinetic dynamometer to determine three joint angular velocities (60, 180, 300°/s). During extension, ADs exhibited higher ratios in the HQR (p=0.016) on right leg at 300°/s, IDs generated greater TW (p=0.042), and within groups, there was a significant left-to-right difference in the HQR at 300°/s for ADs (p=0.042). During flexion, within groups, the ADs exhibited significant differences between legs for both PT (p=0.026) and PT%BW (p=0.022) at 300°/s. For both groups, the average HQR in all angular velocities was not within the recommended range, which is required to prevent injuries; at the same time, unilateral muscular imbalances existed. Lower extremities of ADs exhibited asymmetric strength patterns at a certain level. Further research should be done to confirm the findings of this pilot study. 
23498352	Physical therapy rehabilitation strategies for dancers: a qualitative study. 	This was a qualitative study utilizing a phenomenological approach. The purpose was to determine what rehabilitation strategies physical therapists use with dancers and to discuss techniques for implementing these strategies from both the dancer's and the physical therapist's perspectives. Self-administered questionnaires were sent via email to dancers and physical therapists. Purposeful sampling was done through use of a criterion sampling method that required participants to have experienced dancer rehabilitation. Data were correlated to find common strategies and to encourage modification of current approaches. Physical therapists returned 29 surveys, while dancers returned eight. Five themes were identified in the areas of: 1. evaluation, 2. dance modification, 3. interventions, 4. education, and 5. communication. The conclusion of this study was that successful rehabilitative strategies involve ongoing evaluation that incorporates knowledge of dance technique and performance, dance-centered movement modification that is clearly defined, and an understanding of dance lingo. 
22869325	Urban Latino children's physical activity levels and performance in interactive dance video games: effects of goal difficulty and goal specificity. 	To examine the effects of different levels of goal specificity and difficulty on Latino children's performance and physical activity (PA) levels in an after-school program incorporating an interactive dance program (Dance Dance Revolution [DDR]; Konami Corporation). Comparison study. Rose Park Elementary School, Salt Lake City, Utah. Ninety-eight Latino children in the first through sixth grades, aged 7 to 13 years. After the pretest, the participants were randomly assigned into 1 of the following 3 goal-setting conditions: (1) easy, (2) difficult, and (3) best effort (hereinafter referred to as do-your-best goal). Participants' PA levels were measured using piezoelectric pedometers, and steps per minute were used as the outcome variable. Participants' total points for their dance on television screens were retrieved as their performance scores. These outcome variables were assessed again 8 weeks later (posttest score). The multivariate analysis of covariance yielded a significant main effect for the goal-setting condition. Follow-up tests revealed that children who set specific (easy or difficult) goals had significantly greater increased PA levels (mean scores, 10.34 for easy and 22.45 for difficult) and DDR performance (0.011 for easy and 0.67 for difficult) than those in the do-your-best group (0.83 for PA and 0.17 for performance). In addition, children's increased PA levels in the difficult-goal group were significantly higher than those in the easy-goal group. The easy- and difficult-goal groups show a significant improvement on DDR performance. The difficult- goal group also displays the highest improvement on PA levels. Strategies to enhance children's DDR performance and PA levels are discussed in relation to the extant goal-setting literature. 
22390951	Differences in segmental coordination and postural control in a multi-joint dance movement: développé arabesque. 	Analysis of skill at multiple points on the learning continuum provides insight into how complex limb and postural organization is modified with extended practice. Dancers at three skill levels were compared performing a domain-specific movement (développé arabesque) to identify motor control parameters underlying skill acquisition of a sequential multi-joint trunk and extremity movement. It was hypothesized that general organization would be similar between groups, but that segmental coordination and postural control would differ with skill level. Twenty-seven expert, advanced, and intermediate dancers performed six repetitions of an arabesque sequence with the right limb. Data were acquired with a five-camera motion analysis system. Differences between groups in pelvis and gesture limb displacement, joint coordination patterns, and variability were determined using ANOVA with post hoc comparisons where applicable. Subjects displayed similar movement organization and timing. Differences were found in postural pelvic control and intra- and inter-limb coordination. These differences were most apparent during the arabesque phase. Control of the pelvis appears to be a key area that requires prolonged practice to master. 
22687719	Effects of expertise and auditory guidance on traditional dance performance. 	This study investigated how the dancer's level of expertise and the type of auditory guidance provided influence the kinematic profile of the lower limbs during traditional dance performance. Ten experts in traditional Greek dance (age: 25±3.29 years, five males and five females) and eleven novice participants (age: 26.45±3.88 years, six males and five females), all Greek natives, performed a series of Greek and Irish dance steps with auditory guidance of the metrics (verbal counting) and the music of the respective dances. An electromagnetic tracking system sampled (at 100 Hz) the angular displacement of the two lower legs about the Mediolateral axis during dance performance. Segment rotations were analyzed in the time and frequency domain. Expert dancers displayed significantly lower variability of lower leg rotation and stronger interlimb coupling when compared to novice performers. In novice performers, the power of the lower limb angular displacement extended to higher frequencies when dance performance was guided by music compared to metrical guidance. The addition of music and the origin of the dance interfered with performance for novices but not experienced dancers. Kinematic analysis of the lower limbs may open a new window for the investigation of learning and auditory guidance effects on dance performance. 
22169385	Intra- and inter-foot coordination in quiet standing: footwear and posture effects. 	Intra-foot coordination between center of pressure (COP) of the ball and heel of the foot in single leg standing and inter-foot coordination of the right and left foot during bipedal stance was examined as a function of postural stance (two legs, one leg, and toe postures), footwear (barefoot, different area based high heel shoes) and postural training (ballet group and regular exercising group). Young adult females performed three 20s trials in each postural condition. In general, the traditional variability measures of COPnet motion increased under the less stable postural support conditions and ballet dancers had better balance in single leg standing. Regularity analysis revealed a negative relation between the variability of foot coupling (both intra- and inter-foot) and the standard deviation of COPnet that was mediated by the interaction of shoe support and postural stance. The findings show that shoe support and postural stance modulate collective postural motion (COPnet) through the adaptability of the coupling of foot dynamics. 
23304994	Nitrogen narcosis and emotional processing during compressed air breathing. 	Previous studies on nitrogen narcosis have focused on how it affects behavior, performance, and cognitive function. However, little is known about the effects of nitrogen narcosis on the emotional processing of external stimuli. We presented 20 volunteers with images from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) and categorized as unpleasant, neutral, or pleasant, while sitting in a hyperbaric chamber at the surface (101,3kPa) and at 39 m equivalent depth (496.4 kPa). The participants rated the images along three affective dimensions: valence (intrinsic attractiveness or aversiveness of a stimuli), arousal, and dominance. In the valence dimension there was no significant effect of increased pressure or interaction between increased pressure and image category. There was a significant interaction between image category and the pressure at which the images were viewed in the arousal dimension. The mean arousal rating score for unpleasant stimuli was 0.5 point (on a 9-point scale) lower at hyperbaric conditions and equal arousal rating score for neutral stimuli in general. The absence of any effect of pressure in the valence dimension suggests that divers have no impairment in their ability to determine the pleasantness or unpleasantness of different stimuli. Furthermore, this study suggests that the effects of nitrogen narcosis on the emotional processing of external stimuli are primarily evident in the arousal dimension. Although differences in arousal ratings were relatively small in magnitude, even a small alteration in emotional response to external stimuli might be important in the context of deep diving. 
11338053	An assessment of perfusion deficits in decompression illness using 99Tcm HMPAO SPET and statistical parametric mapping. 	The aim of this study was to use statistical parametric mapping (SPM) to investigate differences in the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) of decompression illness (DCI) and non-diving control subjects. Twenty DCI subjects were imaged using 99Tcm hexamethylproplylene amine oxime (HMPAO) single photon emission tomography (SPET) within days of their incident of DCI, and on a second occasion between 2 and 27 months after their DCI event. SPM was used to make a comparison between decompression illness studies and a second group of non-diving control studies for both early and late imaging of DCI. A paired comparison of early and late imaging was also performed testing for correlation between time of imaging and changes in the rCBF pattern. The comparison between control subjects and early imaging of decompression illness showed a large, significant (P = 0.002), irregularly shaped, multi-focal area of reduced uptake in the left occipito-parieto-temporal region of the brain. Comparisons between control and repeat decompression illness imaging studies showed two areas of reduced uptake. The first was similar to that found in the initial comparison although it was less significant (P = 0.035). The second region was similar but contra-lateral to the first region with significance P &lt; 0.001. An attempt to correlate any changes in rCBF with the time that elapsed between each set of imaging found no areas of significant correlation. 99Tcm HMPAO SPET images of decompression illness display areas of reduced perfusion, which persist in the majority of cases. 
9529286	Use of significance image to determine patterns of cortical blood flow abnormality in pathological and at-risk groups. 	The purpose of this work was to determine whether certain pathological groups and other groups at risk for neurological damage exhibited distinctive patterns of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) abnormality. HMPAO SPECT images obtained from six groups of subjects were compared with a normal cortical rCBF atlas, based on multivariate, voxel-by-voxel methods. In each case, a significance image was outputted, highlighting voxels with deficits of &gt; or =3 s.d. of normal. Abnormal patterns were examined for the six groups, which comprised a further 40 normal volunteers, 18 diver controls, 50 divers with decompression illness (DCI), 34 boxers, 23 schizophrenics and 21 subjects with Alzheimer's disease. The percentages of abnormal cortical voxels for each group were 0.41%, 0.53%, 1.38%, 1.05%, 0.56% and 2.24%, respectively. The percentages of images in each group with at least one lesion of 10 or more connected abnormal voxels and at least 10 lesions of two or more connected voxels, respectively, were 8% and 8% (normal volunteers), 17% and 11% (diver controls), 38% and 38% (divers with DCI), 41% and 29% (boxers), 26% and 13% (schizophrenics) and 90% and 48% (subjects with Alzheimer's disease). This suggests that multiple small lesions are as common as single large lesions for divers with DCI but not for patients with Alzheimer's disease or schizophrenia. Large lesions are located predominantly in the parietal and inferior temporal regions for Alzheimer's disease, in the parietal and occipital regions for divers with DCI and boxers and in the inferior frontal region for schizophrenia. It appears that the groups considered here do have different rCBF patterns and that the significance image is a useful way of demonstrating this fact. 
8895907	A voxel-by-voxel multivariate analysis of cerebral perfusion defects in divers with 'bends'. 	Past analysis of dysbaric-induced cerebral perfusion defects, demonstrated by 99Tcm-hexamethylpropylene amine oxime (99Tcm-HMPAO) single photon emission tomography in divers using quantitative and/or univariate techniques, has resulted i considerable controversy regarding the significance of these lesions compared to those seen in control subjects, correlations with clinical findings and the role of 99Tcm-HMPAO as a prognostic indicator in decompression sickness. We tried to address these problems by using a multivariate approach to a voxel-by-voxel analysis, involving the use of principal components, to determine ranges of normality in 50 reference controls. In subsequent images, abnormality was defined as 10 spatially connected voxels at an appropriate significance level of three standard deviations. The images of 50 divers with clinically diagnosed 'bends' were compared with those of a further 40 normal population controls with no previous history of loss of consciousness, head injury or dysbarism. The results showed that 19 of 50 divers with 'bends' and 3 of 40 population controls had significant perfusion defects, representing a significant difference between divers with dysbarism and population controls at the level P &lt; 0.002. It is concluded that dysbarism causes significant cerebral cortical perfusion defects in affected divers both in 'silent' and symptomatic (clinically correlated) areas. 
8965187	Decompression illness in sports divers detected with technetium-99m-HMPAO SPECT and texture analysis. 	Diving for sport and recreation has increased in recent years, resulting in more incidences of diving illness. Therefore, we studied potential use of regional cerebral blood flow SPECT imaging with 99mTc-HMPAO in the management of divers who have experienced decompression illness (DCI). A group of ten sports divers who had no experience of DCI were compared with ten sports divers who had experienced at least one episode of DCI. Transaxial SPECT images were first compared objectively using a first-order texture measure and then subjectively using a receiver operator characteristic (ROC) experiment. Experienced observers were asked to rate images subjectively in terms of the images' textural appearance. Both these techniques showed that there is a statistically significant difference between the two groups and the images produced by the DCI divers were generally more coarsely patchy when compared to the non DCI divers. The quantitative texture technique proved significantly better in identifying divers with DCI than the visual analysis by observers using ROC curves. Differences between the cerebral blood flow patterns of sports divers who have experienced DCI and sports divers who have no experience of DCI can be detected using 99mTc-HMPAO SPECT and a texture analysis technique. 
8749142	3-D eye movement measurements on four Comex's divers using video CCD cameras, during high pressure diving. 	Previous studies have shown the vulnerability of the vestibular system regarding barotraumatism (1) and deep diving may induce immediate neurological changes (2). These extreme conditions (high pressure, limited examination time, restricted space, hydrogen-oxygen mixture, communication difficulties etc.) require adapted technology and associated fast experimental procedure. We were able to solve these problems by developing a new system of 3-D ocular movements on line analysis by means of a video camera. This analyser uses image processing and forms recognition software which allows non-invasive video frequency calculation of eye movements including torsional component. As this system is immediately ready for use, we were able to realize the subsequent examinations in a maximum time of 8 min for each diver: oculomotor tests including saccadic, slow and optokinetic traditional automatic measurements; vestibular tests regarding spontaneous and positional nystagmus, and reactional nystagmus to the pendular test. For pendular induced nystagmus we used appropriate head positions to stimulate separately the lateral and the posterior semicircular canal, and we measured the gain by operating successively in visible light and complete darkness. Recordings were done during a simulated onshore dive to an ambient pressure corresponding to a depth of 350 m. The above examinations were completed on the first and last days by caloric tests with the same video system analyser. The results of the investigations demonstrated perfect tolerance of the oculomotor and vestibular systems of these 4 divers thus fulfilling the preventive conditions defined by Comex Co. We were able to overcome the limitations due to low cost PC computer operation and cameras (necessity of adaptation to pressure, focus difficulties and direct light exposure eye reflexions). We still have on line accurate measurements even on the torsional component of the eye movement. Due to this technological efficiency we also present some mathematical aspects of the software. 
24986722	Complex tactile performance in low visibility: the effect of nitrogen narcosis. 	In a task-environment where visibility has deteriorated, individuals rely heavily on tactile performance (perception and manipulation) to complete complex tasks. When this happens under hyperbaric conditions, factors like nitrogen narcosis could influence a person's ability to successfully complete such tasks. To examine the effect of nitrogen narcosis on a complex neuropsychological task measuring tactile performance at a pressure of 608 kPa (6 atm abs), in the absence of visual access to the task. In a prospective cross-over study, 139 commercial divers were tested in a dry chamber at 101.3 kPa and 608 kPa. They completed the Tupperware Neuropsychological Task (TNT) of tactile performance without visual access to the task, and completed questionnaires to provide psychological and biographical data, which included trait anxiety and transient mood states, as well as formal qualifications and technical proficiency. A significant decrement (9.5%, P &lt; 0.001) in performance on the TNT at depth was found, irrespective of the sequence of testing. Generally, neither the psychological nor biographical variables showed any significant effect on tactile performance. Tactile performance on the surface was a good indicator of performance at depth. These findings have practical implications for professional diving where conditions of low visibility during deeper diving occur. Recommendations are made towards managing potential impairments in tactile performance, such as pre-dive practical learning ('rehearsal') as an aid to successful completion of tasks. 
23078513	Do the kinematics of a baulked take-off in springboard diving differ from those of a completed dive. 	Consistency and invariance in movements are traditionally viewed as essential features of skill acquisition and elite sports performance. This emphasis on the stabilization of action has resulted in important processes of adaptation in movement coordination during performance being overlooked in investigations of elite sport performance. Here we investigate whether differences exist between the movement kinematics displayed by five, elite springboard divers (age 17 ± 2.4 years) in the preparation phases of baulked and completed take-offs. The two-dimensional kinematic characteristics of the reverse somersault take-off phases (approach and hurdle) were recorded during normal training sessions and used for intra-individual analysis. All participants displayed observable differences in movement patterns at key events during the approach phase; however, the presence of similar global topological characteristics suggested that, overall, participants did not perform distinctly different movement patterns during completed and baulked dives. These findings provide a powerful rationale for coaches to consider assessing functional variability or adaptability of motor behaviour as a key criterion of successful performance in sports such as diving. 
22272517	Measuring manual dexterity and anxiety in divers using a novel task at 35-41 m. 	Nitrogen narcosis has a detrimental impact on the manual dexterity of divers and prior research has suggested that this impairment may be magnified by anxiety. Preliminary findings of the effects of depth (i.e., narcosis) and subjective anxiety on a novel test of manual dexterity are presented. There were 45 subjects who were given a test of manual dexterity once in shallow water (1-10 m/3-33 ft) and once in deep water (35-41 m/115-135 ft). Subjective anxiety was concurrently measured in 33 subjects who were split into 'non-anxious' and 'anxious' groups for each depth condition. Subjects took significantly longer (seconds) to complete the manual dexterity task in the deep (mean = 52.8; SD = 12.1) water compared to the shallow water (mean = 46.9; SD = 8.4). In addition, anxious subjects took significantly longer to complete the task in the deep water (mean = 48.6; SD = 6.8) compared to non-anxious subjects (mean = 53.2; SD = 9.9), but this was not the case in the shallow water. This selective effect of anxiety in deep water was taken as evidence that anxiety may magnify narcotic impairments underwater. It was concluded that the test of manual dexterity was sensitive to the effects of depth and will be a useful tool in future research. 
21721353	Neuropsychological deficits in scuba divers: an exploratory investigation. 	To investigate whether divers with varying levels of experience and without a history of reported decompression sickness (DCS) show neuropsychometric alterations possibly as a result of so-called repetitive &quot;silent&quot; paradoxical gas embolisms. Using reaction time as a psychometric measure, 17 experienced military divers (ED, logging between 150 and 1,200 diving hours) and eight very experienced military divers (VED, logging between 2,800 and 9,800 diving hours) with no decompression sickness (DCS) in their medical histories were compared to 23 healthy controls without any diving history, matched as closely as possible with respect to age for the two diving groups. Motor reaction time, decision reaction time and error rates were measured during completion of both simple and complex reaction time tasks. Compared to their control group, VED showed significantly higher motor reaction times on both tasks and significantly higher decision reaction times in the complex task. ED were not found to be different from their respective controls. No changes in performance quality in terms of increased errors were observed in any of the tasks for either diving group. The findings support the proposed possibility that minimal cerebral lesions occur after diving even without DCS. Further studies with this highly selective population of very experienced divers using more elaborate neurocognitive and neuromotor tasks seem warranted. 
19767003	Determining effective subject-specific strength levels for forward dives using computer simulations of recorded performances. 	This study used optimisation procedures in conjunction with an 8-segment torque-driven computer simulation model of the takeoff phase in springboard diving to determine appropriate subject-specific strength parameters for use in the simulation of forward dives. Kinematic data were obtained using high-speed video recordings of performances of a forward dive pike (101B) and a forward 2 1/2 somersault pike dive (105B) by an elite diver. Nine parameters for each torque generator were taken from dynamometer measurements on an elite gymnast. The isometric torque parameter for each torque generator was then varied together with torque activation timings until the root mean squared (RMS) percentage difference between simulation and performance in terms of joint angles, orientation, linear momentum, angular momentum, and duration of springboard contact was minimised for each of the two dives. The two sets of isometric torque parameters were combined into a single set by choosing the larger value from the two sets for each parameter. Simulations using the combined set of isometric torque parameters matched the two performances closely with RMS percentage differences of 2.6% for 101B and 3.7% for 105B. Maximising the height reached by the mass centre during the flight phase for 101B using the combined set of isometric parameters and by varying torque generator activation timings during takeoff resulted in a credible height increase of 38 mm compared to the matching simulation. It is concluded that the procedure is able to determine appropriate effective strength levels suitable for use in the optimisation of simulated forward rotating dive performances. 
18608829	The &quot;coherent majority average&quot; for juries' evaluation processes. 	I propose a method to synthesize the performance scores for artistic sports such as rhythmic gymnastics, figure skating, synchronized swimming, and diving by taking into account inter-judge variability, while maintaining all the reliable scores. This procedure is based on the assumption that the majority of the scores in each event are reliable and they relate well to those scores that are closest to them. The method consists of putting scores in order and considering clusters of m consecutive scores, where m is the number of judges making up the simple majority. For each cluster, the difference between the highest and the lowest score is calculated. In cases where the minimum difference is positive, the arithmetic mean of those scores that belong to clusters where the difference is minimal is computed. In cases where the minimum difference is zero (i.e. if the majority of judges unanimously assign the same score), then the set of the scores to consider within the mean is extended to those scores that are very near to those of the majority of the judges. A comparison between the actual evaluation procedures and the proposed model is provided. 
18648112	Path analysis of self-efficacy and diving performance revisited. 	The Feltz (1982) path analysis of the relationship between diving efficacy and performance showed that, over trials, past performance was a stronger predictor than self-efficacy of performance. Bandura (1997) criticized the study as statistically &quot;overcontrolling&quot; for past performance by using raw past performance scores along with self-efficacy as predictors of performance. He suggests residualizing past performance by regressing the raw scores on self-efficacy and entering them into the model to remove prior contributions of self-efficacy imbedded in past performance scores. To resolve this controversy, we reanalyzed the Feltz data using three statistical models: raw past performance, residual past performance, and a method that residualizes past performance and self-efficacy. Results revealed that self-efficacy was a stronger predictor of performance in both residualized models than in the raw past performance model. Furthermore, the influence of past performance on future performance was weaker when the residualized methods were conducted. 
18341139	Front- or rear-weighted track start or grab start: which is the best for female swimmers? 	The aim of this study was to compare three competitive swimming starts (grab, rear-weighted track, and front-weighted track). The starts were compared in terms of time and instantaneous horizontal velocity, both at take-off from the block and at 5 m from the wall. Twenty US college female swimmers performed three trials of each of the three randomly ordered starts. Swimmers left the block significantly sooner using the front-weighted track start (0.80 s) than the other two starts (both 0.87 s; P &lt; 0.001). In the rear-weighted track start, however, the athletes left the blocks with significantly higher horizontal velocity than in the grab or front-weighted track start (3.99 vs. 3.87 and 3.90 m/s, respectively; each P &lt; 0.001). By 5 m, the front-weighted track start maintained its time advantage over the grab start (2.19 vs. 2.24s; P = 0.008) but not the rear-weighted track start (2.19 vs. 2.21 s; P = 0.336). However, the rear-weighted track start had a significant advantage over the front-weighted track start in terms of instantaneous horizontal velocity at 5 m (2.25 vs. 2.18 m/s; P = 0.009). Therefore, the rear-weighted track start had a better combination of time and velocity than the front-weighted track start. There was also a trend for the rear-weighted track start to have higher velocity at 5 m than the grab start, although this did not reach statistical significance (2.25 vs. 2.20 m/s; P = 0.042). Overall, these results favour the rear-weighted track start for female swimmers even though most of the athletes had little or no prior experience with it. Additional research is needed to determine whether males would respond similarly to females in these three different swimming starts. 
17497574	Neuroendocrine and psychological assessment in a guinness 10 days scuba dive. 	This study was designed to evaluate physiological and psychological stress parameters in 2 professional trained scuba divers, using a unique physiopathologic model, offered by the guinness 240 hours scuba dive. Two scuba dive masters have spent 240 hours at 6 - 8 meters depth (26.4 ft) in Ponza Island water (Italy). Blood samples were collected daily in the underwater bell; samples were carried out of water in waterproof bags. Breath samples were collected, measuring ethylene release. Psychological assessment was performed using the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Zung self-rating depression scale. In the studied subjects, cortisol and prolactin showed physiological pulsatile secretion. Breath ethylene didn't exceed normal values. At the start of the study, no subjects showed high levels of state anxiety, trait anxiety and current depression. Psychometric scales scores remained steady during the diving period and no subjects showed anxiety and/or depression and/or panic symptoms during the time of observation. The present study shows that, although the long-time diving, well trained professional divers did not develop anxiety and/or depression. No subject discontinued the diving due to occurred psychological disorders or systemic events. The present report shows that the long-term diving permanence is possible, at least in well trained scuba divers. 
22498695	Plasticity of boldness in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss: do hunger and predation influence risk-taking behaviour? 	Boldness, a measure of an individual's propensity for taking risks, is an important determinant of fitness but is not necessarily a fixed trait. Dependent upon an individual's state, and given certain contexts or challenges, individuals may be able to alter their inclination to be bold or shy in response. Furthermore, the degree to which individuals can modulate their behaviour has been linked with physiological responses to stress. Here we attempted to determine whether bold and shy rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, can exhibit behavioural plasticity in response to changes in state (nutritional availability) and context (predation threat). Individual trout were initially assessed for boldness using a standard novel object paradigm; subsequently, each day for one week fish experienced either predictable, unpredictable, or no simulated predator threat in combination with a high (2% body weight) or low (0.15%) food ration, before being reassessed for boldness. Bold trout were generally more plastic, altering levels of neophobia and activity relevant to the challenge, whereas shy trout were more fixed and remained shy. Increased predation risk generally resulted in an increase in the expression of three candidate genes linked to boldness, appetite regulation and physiological stress responses - ependymin, corticotrophin releasing factor and GABA(A) - but did not produce a significant increase in plasma cortisol. The results suggest a divergence in the ability of bold and shy trout to alter their behavioural profiles in response to internal and exogenous factors, and have important implications for our understanding of the maintenance of different behavioural phenotypes in natural populations. 
21970968	Effects of chronic social defeat stress on MAP kinase cascade. 	Chronic psychological and social stress can cause psychiatric disorders in humans. In this study, we analyzed the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade in the hippocampus of chronically socially defeated rats. The rats that were subjected to social defeat every day for 5 weeks showed physiological and behavioral changes, including a reduced rate of weight gain, enlarged adrenal glands, and increased immobility in the forced swim test without concomitant changes in locomotor activity in the open field test. Altered body weight and enlarged adrenal glands are typical symptoms of human depression. Prolonged immobility in the forced swim test indicates behavioral despair, a well-established index of depression. Because the MAPK cascade plays a pivotal role in depression, we quantified the expression of these molecules in the hippocampus of chronically defeated rats using western blot analysis. We found that phospho-MAPK kinases 1/2 (MEK1/2) and phospho-extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) were decreased, whereas MAPK phosphatase-1 (MKP-1) was increased in the hippocampus of chronically defeated rats compared to the control group. These results were consistent with findings in depressed patients and other animal models of depression. In conclusion, our findings suggest that chronic psychosocial stress in Wistar rats induced depression-like behavior and downregulated the MAPK cascade in the hippocampus. 
19929310	Heightened muscle tension and diurnal hyper-vigilance following exposure to a social defeat-conditioned odor cue in rats. 	Patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) exhibit exaggerated daytime muscle tension as well as nocturnal sleep disturbances. Yet, these physiological and behavioral features of the disorder are little studied in animal models of PTSD. Accordingly, the present studies were designed to assess alterations in muscle tension and diurnal hyper-vigilance resulting from exposure to a social defeat stressor paired with an olfactory stimulus, which was then used as a reminder of stressor exposure. In the first series of experiments, rats presented with an olfactory cue paired previously with a single social defeat exhibited a significant increase in muscle tension 4 weeks following defeat. In the second series of experiments, an olfactory cue paired previously with a single social defeat induced a significant increase in locomotor activity among quiescent rats 4 weeks following stressor exposure. The present results thus support the a priori hypotheses that novel physiological and behavioral hallmarks of PTSD can be documented in an animal model of the disorder and that the present overt signs of reactive hyper-vigilance can be triggered by reintroduction of an olfactory stimulus present at the time of initial trauma exposure. 
24184143	The dominant/subordinate relationship between mice modifies the approach behavior toward a cage mate experiencing pain. 	Many species display approach behavior to conspecifics. This study evaluated approach behavior exhibited by mice toward a cage mate in pain according to the social relationship between the mice. The relative dominant/subordinate relationship among three cage mates was determined using a competitive food retrieval test. Social preference of the subordinate mouse for the mid-status or dominant cage mate was tested with and without pain induced in the dominant cage mate. Social preference of the dominant mouse was similarly tested with and without pain induced in the subordinate cage mate. Subordinate mice spent more time with the dominant cage mate in pain than with the mid-status cage mate but spent a similar amount of time with dominant and mid-status cage mates that were not in pain. Dominant mice spent a similar amount of time with subordinate and mid-status cage mates regardless of pain. The time that subordinate mice spent with the dominant cage mate in pain inversely correlated with dominancy distance between the two mice. These results demonstrate that social relationship can modify perception of the pain of others. 
22720949	Dairy cow feeding space requirements assessed in a Y-maze choice test. 	The effect of proximity to a dominant cow on a low-ranking cow's willingness to feed was assessed using choice tests. The main aim of the experiment was to determine the feeding space allowance at which the majority of subordinate cows would choose to feed on high-palatability food (HPF) next to a dominant cow rather than feeding alone on low-palatability food (LPF). Thirty Holstein-Friesian cows were used in the study. Half of the cows were trained to make an association between a black bin and HPF and a white bin and LPF, and the other half were trained with the opposite combination. Observations of pair-wise aggressive interactions were observed during feeding to determine the relative social status of each cow. From this, dominant and subordinate cows were allocated to experimental pairs. When cows had achieved an HPF preference with an 80% success rate in training, they were presented with choices using a Y-maze test apparatus, in which cows were offered choices between feeding on HPF with a dominant cow and feeding on LPF alone. Four different space allowances were tested at the HPF feeder: 0.3, 0.45, 0.6, and 0.75 m. At the 2 smaller space allowances, cows preferred to feed alone (choices between feeding alone or not for 0.3- and 0.45-m tests were significantly different). For the 2 larger space allowances, cows had no significant preferences (number of choices for feeding alone or with a dominant). Given that low-status cows are willing to sacrifice food quality to avoid close contact with a dominant animal, we suggest that the feeding space allowance should be at least 0.6m per cow whenever possible. However, even when space allowances are large, it is clear that some subordinate cows will still prefer to avoid proximity to dominant individuals. 
21291915	Social stress reduces forebrain cell proliferation in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). 	Compared to mammals, teleost fish have a very high rate of adult brain cell proliferation. Still little is known about how this process is regulated in comparative models, and what its functional implications are. We investigated the effect of stressful social interaction on brain cell proliferation in size matched rainbow trout pairs after the formation of stable social hierarchies. After 4 days of interaction, socially subordinate fish displayed common signs of chronic stress including reduced feeding behaviour, elevated plasma cortisol levels, and up-regulated brain stem 5-HT activity. The number of newborn cells in the telencephalon was quantified using immunohistochemistry for the exogenously administered S-phase marker BrdU. Subordinate fish had 40% fewer BrdU-positive telencephalic cells compared to isolated controls, while dominant individuals showed a non-significant tendency towards reduced cell proliferation. Cell proliferation in subordinate animals correlated negatively with aggression received immediately after hierarchy formation, indicating that the level of cell division suppression is related to the severity of the social stressor. These findings are comparable to findings in mammalian models of psychosocial stress, indicating that the suppressive effect of social stress on brain cell proliferation is conserved, and thus likely confers adaptive benefits throughout the vertebrate subphylum. 
19378408	Group composition affects male reproductive partitioning in a cooperatively breeding cichlid. 	Individuals within groups of cooperatively breeding species may partition reproduction, with the dominant pair often taking the largest share. The dominant's ability to reproductively control subordinates may depend on differences in competitive ability, due to, e.g. body size differences, but may also depend on the number of same-sex competitors inside the group. We tested experimentally whether subordinates reproduce more when these subordinates are large or when a second subordinate of the same sex need to be controlled by the dominants, using the cooperatively breeding cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher. Dominant pairs were assisted by a large and a small unrelated subordinate; sexes of these fish were varied in a full-factorial design (giving four treatments). Dominant males lost significantly more parentage to the large subordinate male when a small subordinate male was also present, compared to when a small subordinate female was present. However, subordinate paternity was generally low and did not significantly curb total dominant male reproductive output, which was more affected by the sizes and numbers of reproductive females present inside his group. Dominant female maternity, clutch sizes and total output did not depend on the treatments. Subordinate-subordinate reproduction was virtually absent (one out of 874 offspring). Female subordinates were more likely to provide care for their own broods. In contrast, male subordinates did not adjust their level of care to their parentage. Variability in female subordinate alloparental brood care was particularly high, with females showing more care than males in general. We also detected effects of growth rate and food ration on parentage independent of the treatments, most notably: (i) a trade-off between dominant male growth rate and paternity; (ii) a decrease in dominant male paternity with increasing food ration; (iii) a positive effect of growth rate on paternity in small males. We conclude that dominant males should be sensitive to the number and sizes of subordinate males present in their group, particularly when these subordinates are not helpful or grow fast, and food is plentiful. Dominant females should be less sensitive, because female subordinates do not appear to impose reproductive costs and can be helpful through alloparental brood care. 
17645948	Reduction of dominant or submissive behaviors as models for antimanic or antidepressant drug testing: technical considerations. 	Technical variants of mania and depression models that were based on dominant-submissive relationships (DSR) have been analyzed and compared in the present paper. In these paradigms, one animal of a pair developed the behavioral trait of dominance while the other submissiveness in a food competition test after repeated interactions in a specially designed apparatus. Data collection methods and timelines have been compared in variants of the DSR-based models. In addition, different selection criteria to assign dominant or submissive status to animals and two different scoring systems were evaluated. The importance of the selection criteria for DSR stability has been emphasized. Our data showed that (1) only animals selected with the strict criteria form clear dominant and submissive relationships that hold throughout the study period, (2) submissive animals were influenced by fluoxetine and dominant animals were influenced by sodium valproate similarly in pairs scored by human observer and by a video-tracking system. These studies indicate that the model variant using stringent selection criteria and automatic scoring was the most reliable for use in depression-related studies. 
20060021	The effects of chronic social defeat stress on mouse self-grooming behavior and its patterning. 	Stress induced by social defeat is a strong modifier of animal anxiety and depression-like phenotypes. Self-grooming is a common rodent behavior, and has an ordered cephalo-caudal progression from licking of the paws to head, body, genitals and tail. Acute stress is known to alter grooming activity levels and disrupt its patterning. Following 15-17 days of chronic social defeat stress, grooming behavior was analyzed in adult male C57BL/6J mice exhibiting either dominant or subordinate behavior. Our study showed that subordinate mice experience higher levels of anxiety and display disorganized patterning of their grooming behaviors, which emerges as a behavioral marker of chronic social stress. These findings indicate that chronic social stress modulates grooming behavior in mice, thus illustrating the importance of grooming phenotypes for neurobehavioral stress research. 
19236139	Adult play fighting and potential role of tail signals in ringtailed lemurs (Lemur catta). 	Adult strepsirrhines have been completely neglected in the study of animal play. I focused on adult play fighting and the role of tail-play as a signal in ringtailed lemurs (Lemur catta). Tail-play is performed during play fighting, when lemurs anoint or, more rarely, wave their tails toward the playmate. During the prereproductive period, male and female lemurs engaged in play fighting with comparable frequencies, as was expected to occur in monomorphic species such as L. catta. The dyads showing low aggression rates engaged most frequently in play fighting, and polyadic play was frequently performed. Signals seem to be important in avoiding escalation to real aggression, especially when the playfulness of performers can be misunderstood by recipients. Tail-play was most frequent (a) in the dyads with low grooming rates (low familiarity degree) and (b) during the most risky play sessions (polyadic ones). Thus, tail-play can be considered as a useful tool for play communication in ringtailed lemurs. 
18076884	Social stressors and coping mechanisms in wild female baboons (Papio hamadryas ursinus). 	We examined the social correlates of fecal glucocorticoid (GC) levels in wild female baboons during a period of social and demographic stability. Females' GC levels were not affected by individual attributes such as number of kin or dominance rank, nor could we detect any significant seasonal effects. Instead, GC levels were influenced by behavioral attributes that varied between individuals and within individuals across time. Pregnant and cycling females who received high rates of aggression had higher GC levels than others. In contrast, pregnant and cycling females who received grunts - vocal signals of benign intent - at high frequencies from dominant females had lower GC levels than females who received grunts at lower frequencies. Lactating females showed the opposite trend, apparently as a consequence of the high rate of grunting and intense, unsolicited attention that their infants received from others. All females experienced lower GC levels in months when they concentrated their grooming among a small number of partners than when their grooming was more evenly distributed among many partners. Although GC levels in female baboons are most strongly influenced by events that directly affect their reproductive success, subtle social factors associated with the loss of predictability and control also seem to exert an effect. Loss of control may be mitigated if a female is able to predict others' intentions - for example, if others grunt to her to signal their intentions - and if she is able to express some preference over the timing and identities of her grooming partners. 
15341426	Biobehavioural correlates of hand preference in free-ranging female primates. 	In this research we examined biological and behavioural correlates of handedness in a subject cohort of 41 free-ranging young female rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Specifically, we examined relationships between handedness and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of the monoamine metabolites 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) and homovanillic acid (HVA), plasma concentrations of the hormones cortisol and adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), prolactin, and multiple indices of social behaviour, including proximity to other animals, grooming, submission, and aggression. Handedness was determined through systematic observation of animals reaching for food in their unrestricted home environment. We found a population-level bias for left-hand use in this cohort of young females. The frequency of right versus left hand use was positively correlated with CSF 5-HIAA, plasma cortisol concentrations, the frequency of submissive behaviour, and with the frequency of bouts in which animals received low-level aggression. The positive correlation between right versus left hand use, submissive behaviour, and received aggression found here in females contrasts with the negative correlation among these same variables that we have previously reported in rhesus males. We conclude that these results may be explicable in terms of sex-based differences in rhesus life-history patterns, and that the influence of the serotonergic system on patterns of male aggression, social behaviour, and handedness, and the associations between handedness and social behaviour found previously among males may not be generalised to female rhesus macaques. 
9160621	Primate displacement activities as an ethopharmacological model of anxiety. 	Using a within-subject cross-over, vehicle-controlled design, we investigated the acute effects of benzodiazepine receptor ligands with different mechanisms of action on the displacement activities (scratching, self-grooming, and body shake) of seven male macaques living in social groups. Our aim was to test the discriminative validity of displacement activities as an ethopharmacological model of anxiety. Subjects were given i.m. lorazepam (0.10, 0.20, 0.25 mg/ kg) and FG 7142 (0.1, 0.3, 1.0 mg/kg). The frequency of displacement activities was decreased by the anxiolytic lorazepam and increased by the anxiogenic FG 7142 in a dose-dependent manner. Displacement activities were apparently more sensitive to anxiolytic treatment than other behavior patterns indicative of an anxiety state (i.e., visual scanning of the social environment and fear responses directed to dominant males). These results suggest that primate displacement activities are a valid ethopharmacological model of anxiety. 
9071402	Social stress, depression, and brain dopamine in female cynomolgus monkeys. 	Socially subordinate adult female cynomolgus monkeys are hypercortisolemic, the targets of aggression, fearful, vigilant, receive little positive affiliative contact, exhibit pathological behaviors indicating anxiety, and are disengaged in the social events around them. Subordinates also have altered dopaminergic activity that may be due to decreased D2 receptor binding. Dopaminergic activity indices were more closely associated with affiliative than agonistic behaviors. 
23359436	Glycerol administration before endurance exercise: metabolism, urinary glycerol excretion and effects on doping-relevant blood parameters. 	Glycerol is prohibited as a masking agent by the World Anti-Doping Agency and a urinary threshold has recently been recommended. However, little is known about urinary glycerol excretion after exercise, when (1) exogenous glycerol is metabolized increasingly and (2) endogenous glycerol levels are elevated. The purpose of the placebo-controlled cross-over study was to determine the effects of pre-exercise glycerol administration on glycerol metabolism, urinary excretion, and selected blood parameters. After administration of glycerol (G; 1.0 g/kg body weight (BW) + 25 ml fluid/kg BW) or placebo (P; 25 ml fluid/kg), 14 cyclists exercised 90 min at 60% VO2max . Samples were taken at 0 h (before administration), 2.5 h (before exercise), 4 h (after exercise) and 6.5 h and additional urine samples were collected until 24 h. Exercise increased endogenous plasma glycerol (0.51 ± 0.21 mmol/l) but peak concentrations were much higher in G (2.5 h: 15.6 ± 7.8 mmol/l). Urinary glycerol increased rapidly (58,428 ± 71,084 µg/ml after 2.5 h) and was significantly higher than in P until 13.6 ± 0.9 h (p &lt; 0.01). In comparison with placebo administration, G caused significantly greater changes in plasma volume and haemoglobin concentrations after 2.5 h. BW and urine production were significantly different between P and G after 2.5 h and post-exercise. Despite exercise-induced increases in endogenous glycerol in the control group, urinary excretion remained well below the previously recommended threshold. In addition, exercise-related glycerol degradation did not appear to negatively affect the detection of exogenously administered glycerol. 
23608056	The effect of a period of intensive exercise on the isoform test to detect growth hormone doping in sports. 	The major objective of this study was to investigate the effects of several days of intense exercise on growth hormone (hGH) testing using the World Anti-Doping Agencies hGH isoform differential immunoassays. Additionally the effects of circadian variation and exercise type on the isoform ratios were also investigated. 15 male athletes performed a simulated nine day cycling stage race. Blood samples were collected twice daily over a period of 15 days (stage race+three days before and after). hGH isoforms were analysed by the official WADA immunoassays (CMZ Assay GmbH). All measured isoform ratios were far below the WADA decision limits for an adverse analytical finding. Changes in the isoform ratios could not be clearly connected to circadian variation, exercise duration or intensity. The present study demonstrates that the hGH isoform ratios are not significantly affected by exercise or circadian variation. We demonstrated that heavy, long term exercise does not interfere with the decision limits for an adverse analytical finding. 
23888586	[Exercise addiction]. 	Socially valorised, sport like other forms of behaviour, can take on an addictive aspect. A review of the English and French literatures from 1979 to 2012 was conducted, using PubMed, Google Scholar, EMBASE, and PsycInfo, using the following key words alone or combined :sport, dependence, exercise, addiction. Exercise dependence is defined as a craving for physical activity that leads to extreme exercise intensity and generates physiological and psychological symptoms. Measurement scales have been proposed to make the diagnosis. No epidemiological studies have examined the prevalence of exercise dependence in the general population, although some studies suggest a frequency ranging from 10 to 80%. Disorders begin with a search for pleasure in physical effort, which then gives way to an obsession for sport resulting in a need to practice a sport more and more frequently and intensely. This addiction is more common among alcohol and illicit drug addicts than among the general population, while the rate of eating disorders can reach 40%. Personality traits most often associated are perfectionism, extraversion, and sensation seeking, while possible links between sporting activity and intensive doping will be discussed. 
21477205	No change in hemoglobin mass after 40 days of physical activity in previously untrained adults. 	A high hemoglobin mass (Hb(mass)) is associated with a high maximum aerobic power (VO(2max)), however, the extent to which Hb(mass) is influenced by training is currently unclear. Accordingly, this study monitored changes in Hb(mass) and VO(2max) in 12 previously untrained adults (aged 18-25 years) following 40 days of regular physical activity. Hb(mass) and VO(2max) were assessed at the start and end of a 40-day physical activity program, which comprised of approximately 40 min of daily, moderate-intensity physical activity. Relative VO(2max) increased by 11.3%, yet there was no significant change in relative Hb(mass) (1.7%) and body mass (0.2%) during the 40-day period. There was a significant correlation between Hb(mass) and VO(2max) at the start of the study (r=0.58, P=0.05), but not between the change in relative VO(2max) and the change in relative Hb(mass) (r=-0.07, P=0.83). Our results support the concept of relative stability in Hb(mass) with approximately 1 month of moderate-intensity physical activity suggesting that Hb(mass) may be used for talent identification and possibly for anti-doping purposes. 
22430368	Andrological aspects of physical exercise and sport medicine. 	Appropriate physical activity is one of the bases of healthy lifestyle. In fact, physical exercise and playing sport may be associated with both improvements and injury to both general and reproductive health. A biologically normal testosterone secretion appears fundamental in males to guarantee both a physiological exercise adaptation and safe sport participation. The reproductive system is highly sensitive to the effects of exercise-related stress and the reproductive hormones may both increase and decrease after different acute or chronic exercises. Exercise and sport participation may positively or negatively influence andrological health status depending on the type, intensity and duration of performed physical activity and on individual health status. In addition, prohibited substances administration (e.g. androgenic-anabolic steroids, and so forth) in competitive and non-competitive athletes represents the main cause of iatrogenic andrological diseases. Preventing and treating andrological problems in active healthy and unhealthy individuals is as important as promoting a correct lifestyle. Physicians need to be educated on the relationships between the male reproductive system and sport participation and on the great role of the pre-participation physical examination in the prevention of andrological diseases. 
22868795	Laboratory medicine and sports: between Scylla and Charybdis. 	Laboratory medicine is complex and contributes to the diagnosis, therapeutic monitoring and follow-up of acquired and inherited human disorders. The regular practice of physical exercise provides important benefits in heath and disease and sports medicine is thereby receiving growing focus from almost each and every clinical discipline, including laboratory medicine. Sport-laboratory medicine is a relatively innovative branch of laboratory science, which can provide valuable contributions to the diagnosis and follow-up of athletic injuries, and which is acquiring a growing clinical significance to support biomechanics and identify novel genomics and &quot;exercisenomics&quot; patterns that can help identify specific athlete's tendency towards certain types of sport traumas and injuries. Laboratory medicine can also provide sport physicians and coaches with valuable clues about personal inclination towards a certain sport, health status, fitness and nutritional deficiencies of professional, elite and recreational athletes in order to enable a better and earlier prediction of sport injuries, overreaching and overtraining. Finally, the wide armamentarium of laboratory tests represents the milestone for identifying cheating athletes in the strenuous fight against doping in sports. 
22706938	Spurious Hb mass increases following exercise. 	Sensitivity of the Athlete Blood Passport for blood doping could be improved by including total haemoglobin mass (Hb(mass)), but this measure may be unreliable immediately following strenuous exercise. We examined the stability of Hb(mass) following ultra-endurance triathlon (3.8 km swim, 180 km bike, 42.2 km run). 26 male sub-elite triathletes, 18 Racers and 8 Controls, were tested for Hb(mass) using CO re-breathing, twice 1-5 days apart. Racers were measured before and 1-3 h after the triathlon. Controls did no vigorous exercise on either test day. Serum haptoglobin concentration and urine haemoglobin concentration were measured to assess intravascular haemolysis. There was a 3.2% (p&lt;0.01) increase in Racers' Hb(mass) from pre-race (976 g ± 14.6%, mean ±% coefficient of variation) to post-race (1 007 g ± 13.8%), as opposed to a - 0.5% decrease in Controls (pre-race 900 g ± 13.9%, post-race 896 g ± 12.4%). Haptoglobin was - 67% (p&lt;0.01) reduced in Racers (pre-race 0.48 g / L ± 150%, post-race 0.16 g / L ± 432%), compared to - 6% reduced in Controls (pre-race 1.08 g / L ± 37%, post-race 1.02 g / L ± 37%). Decreased serum haptoglobin concentration in Racers, which is suggestive of mild intravascular blood loss, was contrary to the apparent Hb(mass) increase post-race. Ultra-endurance triathlon racing may confound the accuracy of post-exercise Hb(mass) measures, possibly due to splenic contraction or an increased rate of CO diffusion to intramuscular myoglobin. 
23386548	Eliminative behavior of captive numbats, Myrmecobius fasciatus (Mammalia; Marsupialia): pattern and identification of fecal deposits. 	This study examined the spatial defecation patterns of numbats within captivity and tested the efficacy of a food colorant as a fecal marker in this species. Rather than randomly distributing scats throughout their environment, the numbats aggregated their feces at specific sites forming latrines. It is unclear whether the strong inclination for latrine formation was due to this species' inherent behavior or is a direct result of captivity. Males were found to have a higher daily defecation rate, different defecation time, larger number of latrines, and greater number of scats per quadrant, as compared to females. In this study, the majority of scats were deposited along enclosure boundaries and for both sexes there was a higher probability of latrines being placed along enclosure fencing shared with a female neighbor. The high concentration of latrines along boundaries suggests that they may play a role in territorial defense. The results also indicated that captive numbats tend to choose defecation points away from food and refuge sites. Transit and total retention time of the marker through the GIT was ≤3 hr and between 24 and 27 hr, respectively. A marker dose of 3 gtts feed(-1)  × 2 feeds day(-1) was required to reach a steady and detectable state of marker output, which enabled accurate identification of individual samples during the breeding season. Reliable labeling was obtained using blue and red colored food dye, and there was no evidence that incorporation of the marker into the diet had any negative effects on food intake. 
11767919	Causes of urine marking in cats and effects of environmental management on frequency of marking. 	To evaluate effects of environmental management alone on marking frequency in cats with urine marking and to obtain demographic data on cats with urine marking and data on owner-perceived factors that contributed to urine marking behavior. Single-intervention study. 40 neutered male and 7 spayed female cats. During a 2-week baseline phase, owners maintained a daily record of the number of urine marks. This phase was followed by a 2-week environmental management phase during which owners cleaned recently deposited urine marks daily, scooped waste from the litter box daily, and changed the litter and cleaned the litter box weekly while continuing to record urine marks. Male cats and cats from multicat households were significantly overrepresented, compared with the general pet cat population in California. The most commonly mentioned causative factors for urine marking were agonistic interactions with other cats outside or inside the home. Environmental management procedures resulted in an overall reduction in urine marking frequency. Among cats that marked &gt; or = 6 times during the baseline phase, females were significantly more likely to respond to treatment (&gt; or = 50% reduction in marking frequency) than were males. Results suggest that male cats and cats from multicat households are more likely to exhibit urine marking behavior than females and cats from single-cat households. Results also suggest that attention to environmental and litter box hygiene can reduce marking frequency in cats, regardless of sex or household status of the cats, and may come close to resolving the marking problem in some cats. 
11805422	Interspecific variation of scent-marking behaviour in wild tamarins, Saguinus mystax and Saguinus fuscicollis. 	The scent-marking behaviour of sympatric moustached, Saguinus mystax, and saddle-back tamarins, Saguinus fuscicollis, was compared in order to explore interspecific differences and potential sources of variation. The author examined basic patterns of scent marking (types, intensity, complexity), substrate use (type, orientation, height), and social patterning of scent marking in three groups of S. mystax and one group of S. fuscicollis at the Estación Biológica Quebrada Blanco, Peruvian Amazonia. S. mystax and S. fuscicollis differed significantly in the relative frequency of different types, and in the intensity and complexity of scent marking. Only S. fuscicollis showed allomarking. They also differed significantly in the type, orientation and height of substrates used for scent marking which corresponded to general differences in substrate use. In S. fuscicollis, but very rarely in S. mystax, two or more group members marked the same site sequentially or simultaneously. 'Collective scent marking', i.e. simultaneous scent marking by most or all group members, occurred only in S. fuscicollis. Since both tamarin species live sympatrically in mixed-species groups, ecological factors are unlikely to account for the differences found in scent-marking behaviour (except for differences in substrate use). They probably relate to as yet unknown differences in social and reproductive strategies of the two species. 
4047329	Effect of perinatal antisteroid treatment on territorial marking behavior in the mongolian gerbil. 	Sex differences have been observed in the perinatal sexual differentiation of the neural substrate which regulates territorial marking behavior in the Mongolian gerbil. The present study examines the relative contribution of prenatal and postnatal steroid environment to sexual differentiation in the male and androgenized female using territorial marking behavior as an endpoint. Selective suppression of steroid effects in the pre- and postnatal period was accomplished with the antiandrogen flutamide or the antiestrogen MER-25. Treatment was given prenatally (for 5 days before expected parturition), on the day of birth, and postnatally (to day 10) or prenatally and on the day of birth only. Animals without postnatal antisteroid treatment were intact or were gonadectomized on day 2 and given testosterone propionate (TP) treatment on day 7. (It has previously been shown that day 7 is beyond the period of maximum steroid responsiveness in the male but not in the androgenized female.) MER-25, flutamide, or day-2 ovariectomy had no effect on adult marking behavior responsiveness in females given TP on day 7. All groups marked at normal male frequencies. The presence of flutamide prenatally and on the day of birth in day-2 castrates given TP on day 7 yielded adults with marking responsiveness equivalent to day-7 TP-treated females. In contrast, males given day-7 TP without prenatal and birthday flutamide showed significantly lower marking frequencies, suggesting that the presence of androgen prenatally and on the day of birth rendered day-2 castrates less responsive to TP given on day 7.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) 
4011717	Individual marking activities not reflected by respective testosterone levels in male gerbils. 	The hormonal regulation of scent marking behavior in the male Mongolian gerbil was studied. Experiment 1 investigated the developmental patterns of testosterone concentration and scent marking. Concurrent serum samples were repeatedly obtained, by venipuncture, from the same individuals that were used for behavior testing. Experiment 2 studied the relationship between testosterone and marking behavior in individual males before and during castration and after testosterone replacement. Repeated blood sampling did not influence body weight and marking activity as compared to the controls. Despite a high correlation between weekly mean measures of testosterone and marking activity during development no such correlation was observed on the individual level. That means that individual testosterone concentrations did not reflect individual differences in marking activity. After castration scent marking activities decreased. Testosterone treatment restored marking activities to the individual maximum levels observed during puberty; however, even high doses of testosterone did not equalize individually different marking activities. It is suggested that the individual levels of behavioral activity are fixed during perinatal development, possibly through the action of testosterone or its metabolites. 
4038966	Regulation of urine marking in male and female mice: effects of sex steroids. 	Effects of sex steroids on urine-marking activity were studied in male, female, and neonatally androgenized female mice. Urine marking was estimated by suspending ceramic tubes that were connected in a horizontal row with a steel rod into the home cage of an isolated mouse. Intact males showed high marking activity, which was diminished after castration. Both testosterone propionate (TP) and estradiol benzoate (EB) were effective in restoring the marking activity of castrated males, while 5-alpha-dihydrotesterone (DHT) did not have any stimulative effects. Intact normal females showed quite low marking activity and ovariectomy further depressed it. TP and DHT enhanced the marking of ovariectomized females, but EB restored the activity only to the preovariectomy level. In intact females which were neonatally androgenized, the marking activity was much higher than that of normal females. The pattern of the change induced by gonadectomy and hormone treatment in these females resembled that in males. Thus, ovariectomy reduced the activity and both TP and EB restored the level. These results indicate that the sexual dimorphism in the urine marking in mice is primarily determined by hormonal environment during early postnatal age. Hormonal control of scent marking is discussed in relation to the studies in other rodents. 
22219503	Socio-demographic correlates of physical activity and physical fitness in German children and adolescents. 	Identifying factors that influence children's and adolescents' participation in physical activity (PA), as well as their physical fitness (PF), is essential for the development of effective intervention strategies. The aim of this study was to investigate and compare influential socio-demographic factors that affect PA such as socio-economic status (SES), rural-urban differences, immigration and age, as well as the effects of age and PA on PF as differentiated by gender. Subjects and German children between 6 and 9 years and adolescents between 10 and 17 years of age (n = 2574) participated in the representative, nationwide, cross-sectional 'Motorik'-Module study between 2003 and 2006. Results revealed that immigrant children and children with a lower SES background were less physically active and that this inactivity subsequently resulted in lower levels of PF as compared with non-immigrant children and children with a higher SES background. PA was further positively associated with age for children. All of these three socio-demographic factors were comparably meaningful for PA. In adolescents, the only PA-relevant socio-demographic parameter was SES with lower PA again resulting in lower PF levels observed in adolescents from lower income families. PF in childhood as well as adolescence was mostly positively affected by age, followed by PA, except for in female adolescents for whom PA and age were nearly equally significant. An intervention aiming to improve PA levels, and consequently PF levels, must, with respect to age and gender, refer to SES, as well as immigration background, but not to rural-urban differences. 
22524185	Type 2 diabetes in Asians: prevalence, risk factors, and effectiveness of behavioral intervention at individual and population levels. 	This review summarizes the current data on diabetes risk factors, prevalence, and prevention efforts in Asia and Asian migrant populations. Studies indicate that type 2 diabetes mellitus is a large and growing threat to public health in Asian populations. Furthermore, Asian subgroups (e.g., South Asians/Asian Indians, Chinese) have unique risk factor profiles for developing diabetes, which differ from other populations and between Asian ethnic groups. Lifestyle intervention programs are effective in preventing diabetes in Asians, as with other ethnicities. The strength of these findings is lessened by the lack of systematically collected data using objective measurements. Large epidemiologic studies of diabetes prevalence and risk factor profiles and translational trials identifying sustainable and culturally acceptable lifestyle programs for Asian subgroups are needed. 
20178768	The human genetic history of the Americas: the final frontier. 	The Americas, the last continents to be entered by modern humans, were colonized during the late Pleistocene via a land bridge across what is now the Bering strait. However, the timing and nature of the initial colonization events remain contentious. The Asian origin of the earliest Americans has been amply established by numerous classical marker studies of the mid-twentieth century. More recently, mtDNA sequences, Y-chromosome and autosomal marker studies have provided a higher level of resolution in confirming the Asian origin of indigenous Americans and provided more precise time estimates for the emergence of Native Americans. But these data raise many additional questions regarding source populations, number and size of colonizing groups and the points of entry to the Americas. Rapidly accumulating molecular data from populations throughout the Americas, increased use of demographic models to test alternative colonization scenarios, and evaluation of the concordance of archaeological, paleoenvironmental and genetic data provide optimism for a fuller understanding of the initial colonization of the Americas. 
19290674	Physical activity in culturally and linguistically diverse migrant groups to Western society: a review of barriers, enablers and experiences. 	A close examination of epidemiological data reveals burdens of disease particular to culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) migrants, as these individuals adjust to both culture and modernization gaps. Despite the increased risk of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, overweight/obesity and cardiovascular disease, individuals from CALD groups are less likely to be proactive in accessing healthcare or undertaking preventative measures to ensure optimal health outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to review literature that outlines the barriers, challenges and enablers of physical activity in CALD groups who have recently migrated to Western society, and to identify key strategies to increase physical activity participation for these individuals. Electronic and manual literature searches were used to identify 57 publications that met the inclusion criteria. Findings from the review indicate that migration to Western societies has a detrimental effect on the health status and health behaviours of CALD groups as they assimilate to their new surroundings, explore different cultures and customs, and embrace a new way of life. In particular, there is evidence that physical inactivity is common in migrant CALD groups, and is a key contributing risk factor to chronic disease for these individuals. Challenges and barriers that limit physical activity participation in CALD groups include: cultural and religious beliefs, issues with social relationships, socioeconomic challenges, environmental barriers, and perceptions of health and injury. Strategies that may assist with overcoming these challenges and barriers consist of the need for cultural sensitivity, the provision of education sessions addressing health behaviours, encouraging participation of individuals from the same culture, exploration of employment situational variables, and the implementation of 'Health Action Zones' in CALD communities. This information will inform and support the development of culturally appropriate programmes designed to positively influence the physical activity behaviours of individuals from CALD populations. 
18947345	Temperament and migration patterns in Finland. 	Migration is a central determinant of population dynamics and structure. We examined whether three major temperament traits--sociability, emotionality, and activity--predicted migration propensity, selective urban-rural migration, and migration distance in a 9-year prospective study in Finland. The participants were Finnish women and men (N= 1,733) ages 15 to 30 years at baseline. The home municipality's position on the urban-rural continuum was assessed on the basis of the municipality's population density. We found that high sociability predicted migration to urban areas and longer migration distances. High activity increased general migration propensity (including migration to both urban and rural areas). High emotionality increased the likelihood of leaving the home municipality and decreased migration distances, but was not associated with selective urban-rural migration. These data suggest that temperament predicts the self-selection of environments on a demographic scale and may be relevant in understanding population dynamics. 
16365854	Population demography of Northern muriquis (Brachyteles hypoxanthus) at the Estação Biológica de Caratinga/Reserva particular do Patrimônio Natural-Felìciano Miguel Abdala, Minas Gerais, Brazil. 	The 957-ha forest at the Estação Biológica de Caratinga/Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural-Felìciano Miguel Abdala, in Minas Gerais, Brazil, supports one of the largest known populations of the critically endangered northern muriqui (Brachyteles hypoxanthus). We combine long-term data on one group that has been monitored since 1982 with new data obtained on the other three groups since 2002 and 2003 to describe the demographic structure of this population, evaluate its potential for future growth, and predict how dispersal and competitive regimes may change in response to current demographic conditions. As of January 2005, the 226 individuals in the population were divided into four mixed-sex groups with 37-77 members, and an all-male unit whose eight males maintained transient associations with two of the mixed-sex groups. Although 51.77% of the population was female, the sex ratio among adults and subadults was female-biased (0.75), while that among immatures was male-biased (1.47). Consistent with expectations from mean interbirth intervals, 64.18% of adult females gave birth in 2003 and 2004. However, by January 2005, only 52.31% of adult females were still carrying infants &lt;24 months of age due to unusually high infant mortality. First-year survivorship among the 25 infants born in the population in 2003 was only 76%, considerably lower than previously documented in the longest-studied group. High female fecundity is indicative of a healthy population, but the current male bias in births will result in a decline in the population growth rate within two decades, and may increase levels of male reproductive competition and alter dispersal patterns. 
11441973	Ecology and behavior of Gecarcoidea natalis, the Christmas Island red crab, during the annual breeding migration. 	The terrestrial crab Gecarcoidea natalis is endemic to the forests of Christmas Island but must migrate each year to the coast to breed. During 1993 and 1995, radio-tracking, mark and recapture, and counting methods were used to establish the routes, walking speeds, direction of travel, and destinations of migrating crabs, as well as crab numbers and distribution. The density of crabs ranged from 0.09 to 0.57 crabs per square meter, which gave a population estimate of 43.7 million adult crabs on the island. During the dry season the crabs were relatively inactive but on arrival of the wet season immediately began their migration. The crabs generally walked in straight lines, and most crabs from around the Island traveled toward the northwest shore instead of simply walking toward the nearest shore. The maximum recorded distance walked by a red crab in one day was 1460 m, but the mean was 680 m per day in 1993 and 330 m in 1995. Comparing the 1993 and 1995 study seasons, there was a 3-week difference in the timing of the start of the migration, but the spawning date was fixed by the lunar phase and took place 17 to 18 days after mating. In 1993, late rain prompted a &quot;rushed&quot; migration and crabs walked directly to their shore destinations; in contrast, in 1995 most crabs made stops of 1 to 7 days during the downward migration. By giving the crabs a chance to feed along the way and minimizing the time that the population was concentrated near the shore, these stops may be important in ensuring that the animals have enough food after the long dry season. Furthermore, this behavior implies that the crabs are able to judge how far away they are from the shore during the migration. 
11441974	Metabolic status and respiratory physiology of Gecarcoidea natalis, the Christmas Island red crab, during the annual breeding migration. 	With the arrival of the monsoonal rains and after months of inactivity during the dry season, the terrestrial crab Gecarcoidea natalis embarks on its annual breeding migration to the coast. The physiological demands of the migration were assessed by determining respiratory gases in the hemolymph, key metabolites, and energy stores in G. natalis during two migratory seasons. At the end of each day of migration the pulmonary hemolymph PO2 decreased by 1-2.5 kPa, but the hemocyanin remained saturated with O2 and the venous reserve was largely unchanged (O2 &gt; 0.4 mmol x l(-1)). The breeding migration of red crabs was accomplished without recourse to anaerobiosis, even though at times walking speeds (up to 6.2 +/- 0.5 m x min(-1)) exceeded those that promoted anaerobiosis in non-migrating crabs and in crabs exercised in the laboratory. In contrast to all previous studies, at the end of each day of migrating, red crabs experienced an alkalosis (up to 0.1 pH units) rather than any acidosis. This alkalosis was removed overnight when the crabs were inactive. Although there were seasonal fluctuations in the glycogen, glucose, and triglyceride stores, crabs engaging in the migration did not draw on these stores and must have fed along the way. In contrast, crabs returning from breeding activities on the shore terraces had significantly depleted glycogen stores. Additionally, in 1993, the male crabs returning from the breeding activities on the terraces were dehydrated and experienced a decrease in muscle tissue water of 11%. In contrast to the breeding migration per se, fighting for burrows in which breeding occurs produced severe anaerobiosis in males, especially the victors: after 135 s of combat, the maximum L-lactate concentration in the hemolymph was 35 mmol x l(-1). It appears that burrowing, courtship, and mating are more demanding than the migration itself. Furthermore, the data provide evidence that the metabolic responses of migrating individuals of G. natalis might be different from those at other times of the year. 
11005303	Evolution of temporal isolation in the wild: genetic divergence in timing of migration and breeding by introduced chinook salmon populations. 	The timing of migration and breeding are key life-history traits; they are not only adaptations of populations to their environments, but can serve to increase reproductive isolation, facilitating further divergence among populations. As part of a study of divergence of chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, populations, established in New Zealand from a common source in the early 1900s, we tested the hypotheses that the timing of migration and breeding are under genetic control and that the populations genetically differ in these traits despite phenotypic overlap in timing in the wild. Representatives of families from two populations were collected within a day or two of each other, reared in a common environment, and then released to sea from each of two different rivers, while other family representatives were retained in fresh water to maturity. The date of maturation of fish held in fresh water and the dates of return from the ocean and maturation of fish released to sea all showed significant differences between the two populations and among families within populations. The very high heritabilities and genetic correlations estimated for migration and maturation date indicated that these traits would respond rapidly to selection. Combined with the results of related studies on these chinook salmon populations, it appears that spawning time may not only evolve during the initial phases of divergence, but it may play an important role in accelerating divergence in other traits. 
24980387	The role of migration in the urban transition: a demonstration from Albania. 	Although natural increase has been recognized as the main driver of postwar urban growth in developing countries, urban transition theory predicts a dominant role for population mobility in the early and late phases of the process. To account for this discrepancy between theory and empirical evidence, I demonstrate the complex role played by internal and international migration in the pattern of urban growth. Using a combination of indirect demographic estimations for postwar Albania, I show that the dominant contribution of natural increase from the 1960s to the 1990s was induced by a limited urban in-migration; this was due to the restrictions on leaving the countryside imposed under communist rule and, thereafter, to the redirection abroad of rural out-migrants. Although young adults in cities also engaged in international movements and significantly reduced their fertility, the indirect effects of rural-to-urban migration attenuated the fall in urban birth rates and postponed demographic aging. In-migrants swelled urban cohorts of reproductive age and delayed the urban fertility transition. Despite a high level of urban natural increase in Albania, I thus conclude that the role of population mobility dominated in the early and most recent phases of urban growth. The results also have implications for our understanding of demographic processes during the second urban transition in developing countries. 
21465720	Effects of rural-urban return migration on women's family planning and reproductive health attitudes and behavior in rural China. 	This study examines the effects of rural-urban return migration on women's family planning and reproductive health attitudes and behavior in the sending areas of rural China. Based on data from a survey of rural women aged 16-40 in Sichuan and Anhui Provinces in 2000, our study finds that migrant women returning from cities to the countryside, especially those who have been living in a large city, are more likely than nonmigrant women to adopt positive family planning and reproductive health attitudes and behavior in their rural communities of origin. We find, moreover, that living in a rural community where the prevalence of such return migrant women is higher is positively associated with new fertility and gender attitudes and with knowledge of self-controllable contraceptives. The findings of significant rural-urban return-migration effects have important policy implications for shaping family planning and reproductive health attitudes and behaviors in rural China. 
18186514	Intrafamilial resource competition and mate competition shaped social-group-specific natal dispersal in the 18th and 19th century Krummhörn population. 	We describe the natal dispersal patterns of the Krummhörn population as the outcome of intrafamilial competition. Depending on the affiliation with a specific social group and the sex of the individual, this competition is driven by different factors and obeys a different functional logic: The dispersal patterns of the daughters of landless workers allow a mate competition scenario to be detected, whereas the dispersal behavior of the children of farmers (especially of the sons) is driven by a resource competition scenario. 
17930277	Fronts from integrodifference equations and persistence effects on the Neolithic transition. 	We extend a previous model of the Neolithic transition in Europe [J. Fort and V. Méndez, Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 867 (1999)] by taking two effects into account: (i) we do not use the diffusion approximation (which corresponds to second-order Taylor expansions), and (ii) we take proper care of the fact that parents do not migrate away from their children (we refer to this as a time-order effect, in the sense that it implies that children grow up with their parents, before they become adults and can survive and migrate). We also derive a time-ordered, second-order equation, which we call the sequential reaction-diffusion equation, and use it to show that effect (ii) is the most important one, and that both of them should in general be taken into account to derive accurate results. As an example, we consider the Neolithic transition: the model predictions agree with the observed front speed, and the corrections relative to previous models are important (up to 70%). 
17019833	Immigration and Chinese reproductive behavior in Canada. 	This study is intended to provide an empirical testing of the minority status hypothesis with regard to the fertility behavior of Chinese immigrants to Canada. The focus is placed on the role of group or social context on actions of individuals. Factors incurred in the immigration process as explained by disruption and assimilation hypotheses are also examined. Using the multi-level contextual analysis, we have found that the relative economic insecurity that comes from minority membership and the course of immigration serves to decrease fertility of minority members, whether they are associated with a pronatalist heritage or not. However, pronatalist traditions do stimulate fecundity of Chinese immigrants as long as their relative economic status is improved and the hardship is gone. 
23499724	Cognitive empathy and motor activity during observed actions. 	Whether empathy depends on activation of the mirror neuron system is controversial. This study tested the relationship between cognitive empathy and motor activation during action observation through the sensorimotor system. EEG activity was recorded over the motor area while participants observed and then performed a task demonstrated by a model. Analyses revealed significant suppression in mu/alpha (8-12Hz) and beta (18-22Hz) EEG bands, indicative of sensorimotor activity, during both observed and executed actions. Crucially, participants rating higher in perspective taking as a measure of trait cognitive empathy showed significantly less beta suppression when observing actions. The direction of this relationship, contrary to studies involving induced emotional empathy, may reflect individual differences in mentalizing and mirroring mechanisms to understand others' actions. Implications of these findings for the hypothesised empathy-mirror neuron system link are discussed. 
23096764	Motor, emotional, and cognitive empathy in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder and conduct disorder. 	It is unclear which aspects of empathy are shared and which are uniquely affected in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and conduct disorder (CD) as are the neurobiological correlates of these empathy impairments. The aim of this systematic review is to describe the overlap and specificity of motor, emotional, and cognitive aspects of empathy in children and adolescents with ASD or CD. Motor and cognitive empathy impairments are found in both ASD and CD, yet the specificity seems to differ. In ASD facial mimicry and emotion recognition may be impaired for all basic emotions, whereas in CD this is only the case for negative emotions. Emotional empathy and the role of attention to the eyes therein need further investigation. We hypothesize that impaired motor and cognitive empathy in both disorders are a consequence of lack of attention to the eyes. However, we hypothesize major differences in emotional empathy deficits between ASD and CD, probably due to emotional autonomic and amygdala hyper-responsivity in ASD versus hypo-responsivity in CD, both resulting in lack of attention to the eyes. 
23041720	Grasping the pain: motor resonance with dangerous affordances. 	Two experiments, one on school-aged children and one on adults, explored the mechanisms underlying responses to an image prime (hand vs. control object) followed by graspable objects that were, in certain cases, dangerous. Participants were presented with different primes (a male, a female and a robotic grasping-hand; a male and a female static-hand; a control stimulus) and objects representing two risk levels (neutral and dangerous). The task required that a natural/artifact categorization task be performed by pressing different keys. In both adults and children graspable objects activated a facilitating motor response, while dangerous objects evoked aversive affordances, generating an interference-effect. Both children and adults were sensitive to the distinction between biological and non-biological hands, however detailed resonant mechanisms related to the hand-prime gender emerged only in adults. Implications for how the concept of &quot;dangerous object&quot; develops and the relationship between resonant mechanisms and perception of danger are discussed. 
14980562	Functional imaging of face and hand imitation: towards a motor theory of empathy. 	Empathy requires the ability to map the feelings of others onto our own nervous system. Until recently, there was no plausible mechanism to explain how such a mapping might occur. The discovery of mirror neurons, however, suggests that the nervous system is capable of mapping the observed actions of others onto the premotor cortex of the self, at least for reaching and grasping movements. Is there a mirroring system for emotive actions, such as facial expression? Subjects (N = 15; all right-handed; eight men, seven women) watched movies of facial expressions (smile or frown) and hand movements (move index or middle finger) while brain activity was imaged using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Subjects watched the movies under three different conditions: passive viewing, active imitation, and an active motor control. Subjects also performed a verb generation task to functionally identify language-processing areas. We found evidence for a common cortical imitation circuit for both face and hand imitation, consisting of Broca's area, bilateral dorsal and ventral premotor areas, right superior temporal gyrus (STG), supplementary motor area, posterior temporo-occipital cortex, and cerebellar areas. For faces, passive viewing led to significant activation in the right ventral premotor area, whereas imitation produced bilateral activation. This result is consistent with evidence for right hemisphere (RH) dominance for emotional processing, and suggests that there may be a right hemisphere mirroring system that could provide a neural substrate for empathy. 
25105808	Variation in terrestrial and aquatic sources of methylmercury in stream predators as revealed by stable mercury isotopes. 	Mercury (Hg) is widely distributed in the environment, and its organic form, methylmercury (MeHg), can extensively bioaccumulate and biomagnify in aquatic and terrestrial food webs. Concentrations of MeHg in organisms are highly variable, and the sources in natural food webs are often not well understood. This study examined stable isotope ratios of MeHg (mass-dependent fractionation, as δ(202)HgMeHg; and mass-independent fractionation, as Δ(199)HgMeHg) in benthic invertebrates, juvenile steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and water striders (Gerris remigis) along a stream productivity gradient, as well as carnivorous terrestrial invertebrates, in a forested watershed at the headwater of South Fork Eel River in northern California. Throughout the sampling sites, δ(202)HgMeHg (after correction due to the effect of MeHg photodegradation) was significantly different between benthic (median = -1.40‰; range, -2.34 to -0.78‰; total number of samples = 29) and terrestrial invertebrates (median = +0.51‰; range, -0.37 to +1.40‰; total number of samples = 9), but no major difference between these two groups was found for Δ(199)HgMeHg. Steelhead trout (52 individual fishes) have MeHg of predominantly aquatic origins, with a few exceptions at the upstream locations (e.g., 1 fish collected in a tributary had a purely terrestrial MeHg source and 4 fishes had mixed aquatic and terrestrial MeHg sources). Water striders (seven pooled samples) derive MeHg largely from terrestrial sources throughout headwater sections. These data suggest that direct terrestrial subsidy (e.g., terrestrial invertebrates falling into water) can be important for some stream predators in headwater streams and could represent an important means of transfer of terrestrially derived MeHg (e.g., in situ methylation within forests, atmospheric sources) to aquatic ecosystems. Moreover, these findings show that terrestrial subsidies can enhance MeHg bioaccumulation of consumers in headwater streams where aqueous MeHg levels are very low. 
24904971	Grizzly bear hair reveals toxic exposure to mercury through salmon consumption. 	Mercury obtained from the diet accumulates in mammalian hair as it grows thus preserving a record of mercury intake over the growth period of a given hair segment. We adapted a microanalysis approach, using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, to characterize temporal changes in mercury exposure and uptake in wild and captive grizzly bears. Captive grizzlies fed diets containing known and varied amounts of mercury provided data to allow prediction of Hg ingestion rates in wild bears. Here, we show, for the first time, that 70% of the coastal grizzly bears sampled had Hg levels exceeding the neurochemical effect level proposed for polar bears. In a context where the international community is taking global actions to reduce Hg emissions through the &quot;Minamata Convention on Mercury&quot;, our study provides valuable information on the exposure to mercury of these grizzly bears already under many threats. 
24024972	Migration and opportunistic feeding increase PCB accumulation in Arctic seabirds. 	It is widely accepted that body concentrations of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) tend to increase with trophic level (TL). Yet, little attention has been paid to the causes in the underlying differences in POP body concentrations between species occupying similar TLs. In this paper we use two modeling approaches to quantify the importance of migration and opportunistic feeding, relative to that of trophic level, in explaining interspecific differences in polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) body concentrations between 6 Arctic seabird species breeding in the Barents Sea: Little Auk (Alle alle), Black Guillemot (Cepphus grylle), Brünnich's Guillemot (Uria lomvia), Common Eider (Somateria mollissima), Black-legged Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla), and Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus). As a first approach, we use additive models to analyze two independent data sets (n = 470 and n = 726). We demonstrate that migration, opportunistic feeding, and TL significantly (p &lt; 0.001) increase PCB body concentrations by a factor 3.61-4.10, 2.66-20.95, and 2.38-2.41, respectively. Our second approach, using a mechanistic bioaccumulation model, confirmed these positive effects on the body burdens but suggested lower effects of migration, opportunistic feeding, and TL (1.55, 2.39, and 2.38) than did our statistical analysis. These two independent approaches demonstrate that the effects of migration and opportunistic feeding on seabird body burdens can be similar to that of an increase of one TL and should therefore be accounted for in future analyses. 
24627996	Stable nitrogen isotopes of nestling tree swallows indicate exposure to different types of oil sands reclamation. 	Tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) inhabiting reclaimed wetlands on the oil sands in northern Alberta are potentially exposed to elevated levels of oil sands constituents such as polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAC) through diet. While increased detoxification enzyme activity as measured using 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase in nestlings is a generally accepted indicator of exposure to oil sands constituents, there is no apparent method to detect dietary exposure specific to oil sands processed material (OSPM). In this study, stable C and N isotopes were analyzed from muscle and feathers of nestling tree swallows (15 d old) to distinguish dietary exposure of birds near reference and OSPM wetlands. High δ¹⁵N and low δ¹³C values in the nestling tissues differentiated those from the OSPM wetlands and reference sites. Lower δ¹⁵N values of nestlings compared to the δ¹⁵N values of larval chironomids from an earlier study suggested that the majority of the diet of the nestlings was derived from non-OSPM sources, despite residence near and on the OSPM wetlands. Our finding of limited utilization of OSPM resources by tree swallows indicates either low abundance or diversity of dietary items emerging from OSPM wetlands, or sensory avoidance of prey from those wetlands. Minimal consumption of OSPM-derived dietary sources may be attributed to published findings of limited adverse effects on tree swallow reproduction, or growth and development for these same nestlings. This study demonstrated that stable isotope analysis, particularly for N isotopes, may serve as a useful tool to trace dietary exposure to OSPM constituents as part of avian ecotoxicology assessments of reclaimed wetlands on the oil sands. 
23968047	Passive acoustic monitoring of Cook Inlet beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas). 	The endangered beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) population in Cook Inlet, AK faces threats from a variety of anthropogenic factors, including coastal development, oil and gas exploration, vessel traffic, and military activities. To address existing gaps in understanding about the occurrence of belugas in Cook Inlet, a project was developed to use passive acoustic monitoring to document the year-round distribution of belugas, as well as killer whales (Orcinus orca), which prey on belugas. Beginning in June 2009, ten moorings were deployed throughout the Inlet and refurbished every two to eight months. Despite challenging conditions consisting of strong tidal currents carrying debris and seasonal ice cover, 83% of mooring deployments were successfully recovered. Noise from water flow, vessel traffic, and/or industrial activities was present at several sites, potentially masking some signals. However, belugas were successfully detected at multiple locations. Detections were relatively common in the upper inlet and less common or absent at middle and lower inlet locations. Killer whale signals were also recorded. Some seasonal variability in the occurrence of both belugas and killer whales was evident. 
23968057	Acoustic detection probability of bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, with static acoustic dataloggers in Cardigan Bay, Wales. 	Acoustic dataloggers are used for monitoring the occurrence of cetaceans and can aid in fulfilling statutory monitoring requirements of protected species. Although useful for long-term monitoring, their spatial coverage is restricted, and for many devices the effective detection distance is not specified. A generalized additive mixed model (GAMM) was used to investigate the effects of (1) distance from datalogger, (2) animal behavior (feeding and traveling), and (3) group size on the detection probability of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) with autonomous dataloggers (C-PODs) validated with visual observations. The average probability of acoustic detection for minutes with a sighting was 0.59 and the maximum detection distance ranged from 1343-1779 m. Minutes with feeding activity had higher acoustic detection rates and longer average effective detection radius (EDR) than traveling ones. The detection probability for single dolphins was significantly higher than for groups, indicating that their acoustic behavior may differ from those of larger groups in the area, making them more detectable. The C-POD is effective at detecting dolphin presence but the effects of behavior and group size on detectability create challenges for estimating density from detections as higher detection rate of feeding dolphins could yield erroneously high density estimates in feeding areas. 
24640543	Beyond simple linear mixing models: process-based isotope partitioning of ecological processes. 	Stable isotopes are valuable tools for partitioning the components contributing to ecological processes of interest, such as animal diets and trophic interactions, plant resource use, ecosystem gas fluxes, streamflow, and many more. Stable isotope data are often analyzed with simple linear mixing (SLM) models to partition the contributions of different sources, but SLM models cannot incorporate a mechanistic understanding of the underlying processes and do not accommodate additional data associated with these processes (e.g., environmental covariates, flux data, gut contents). Thus, SLM models lack predictive ability. We describe a process-based mixing (PBM) model approach for integrating stable isotopes, other data sources, and process models to partition different sources or process components. This is accomplished via a hierarchical Bayesian framework that quantifies multiple sources of uncertainty and enables the incorporation of process models and prior information to help constrain the source-specific proportional contributions, thereby potentially avoiding identifiability issues that plague SLM models applied to &quot;too many&quot; sources. We discuss the application of the PBM model framework to three diverse examples: temporal and spatial partitioning of streamflow, estimation of plant rooting profiles and water uptake profiles (or water sources) with extension to partitioning soil and ecosystem CO2 fluxes, and reconstructing animal diets. These examples illustrate the advantages of the PBM modeling approach, which facilitates incorporation of ecological theory and diverse sources of information into the mixing model framework, thus enabling one to partition key process components across time and space. 
22295916	Performance analysis of winter activity protection headgear for young children. 	The purpose of this study was to evaluate how currently used helmets would perform for winter play activities, such as tobogganing. In Canada and northern parts of the US, the advent of winter is followed by an increase in visits to hospital emergency departments by young children presenting with head injuries resulting from winter activities. Sliding, skating, skiing, and snowboarding all involve risks of head injury from situations such as falling on ice or sliding into stationary objects. This study compared the protective characteristics of helmets used by young children (&lt; 7 years of age) participating in winter recreational activities. Ice hockey, alpine ski, and bicycling helmets were impacted at 2.0, 4.0, 6.0, and 8.0 m/second at the front and side impact location by using a monorail drop rig. The results for the front impact showed that the ice hockey helmet protected the child significantly better at 2 and 4 m/second when considering both linear and angular peak acceleration. The bicycle helmet performed significantly better than the other 2 helmets at 8 m/second for the front location and only angularly for the side impacts. Depending on the impact velocity of the hazard, the type of helmet significantly affected the risk of brain injury. 
20841619	The effectiveness of wrist guards for reducing wrist and elbow accelerations resulting from simulated forward falls. 	The effectiveness of wrist guards and modifying elbow posture for reducing impact-induced accelerations at the wrist and elbow, for the purpose of decreasing upper extremity injury risk during forward fall arrest, has not yet been documented in living people. A seated human pendulum was used to simulate the impact conditions consistent with landing on outstretched arms during a forward fall. Accelerometers measured the wrist and elbow response characteristics of 28 subjects following impacts with and without a wrist guard, and with elbows straight or slightly bent. Overall, the wrist guard was very effective, with significant reductions in peak accelerations at the elbow in the axial and off-axis directions, and in the off-axis direction at the wrist by almost 50%. The effect of elbow posture as an intervention strategy was mixed; a change in magnitude and direction of the acceleration response was documented at the elbow, while there was little effect at the wrist. Unique evidence was presented in support of wrist guard use in activities like in-line skating where impacts to the hands are common. The elbow response clearly shows that more proximal anatomical structures also need to be monitored when assessing the effectiveness of injury prevention strategies. 
20168254	Determinants of a simulated cross-country skiing sprint competition using V2 skating technique on roller skis. 	The present study investigated the performance-predicting factors of a simulated cross-country (XC) skiing sprint competition on roller skis, on a slow surface. Sixteen elite male XC skiers performed a simulated sprint competition (4 x 850 m heat with a 20-minute recovery) using V2 skating technique on an indoor tartan track. Heat velocities, oxygen consumption, and peak lactate were measured during or after the heats. Maximal skiing velocity was measured by performing a 30-m speed test. Explosive and maximal force production in the upper body was determined by bench press (BP). Subjects also performed maximal anaerobic skiing test (MAST) and the 2 x 2-km double poling (DP) test. The maximal velocity of MAST (VMAST) and velocities at 3 (V3), 5 (V5), 7 (V7) mmol.L lactate levels in MAST were determined. In the 2 x 2-km test, DP economy (VO2SUBDP) and maximal 2-km DP velocity (VDP2KM) were determined. The best single performance-predicting factors for the sprint performance were VDP2KM (r = 0.73, p &lt; 0.01), V7 (r = 0.70, p &lt; 0.01), and VO2SUBDP (r = -0.70, p &lt; 0.01). Faster skiers in sprint simulation had a higher absolute VO2 (L.min) (p &lt; 0.05-0.01) during sprint heats, and higher anaerobic skiing power (VMAST, p &lt; 0.05) and better anaerobic skiing economy (V3, V5, V7, p &lt; 0.05-0.001) than slower skiers. Faster skiers were also stronger in BP, with regard to both absolute (p &lt; 0.01) and relative (p &lt; 0.05) values. In addition, anaerobic characteristics seem to be of importance at the beginning of the XC skiing sprint competition, whereas the aerobic characteristics become more important as the XC skiing sprint competition progressed. This study indicates that sprint skiers should emphasize sport-specific upper body training, and training skiing economy at high speeds. 
19404224	Evaluating the injury incidence from skate shoes in the United States. 	The goals of this study were to evaluate whether the increased use of skate shoes may lead to an increase in injuries for children and adolescents aged 5 to 14 years in the United States and to describe the types of injuries reported by emergency departments as a result of skate shoe use. Retrospective analysis of the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System database from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2006 for injuries resulting from footwear in children and adolescents aged 5 to 14 years. Injuries resulting from skate shoe use were identified by manual review of the data. For the 5-year period, an estimated 3525 patients between 5 and 14 years of age were treated in United States emergency departments for injuries resulting from skate shoe use. The percentage of injuries resulting from skate shoes of total footwear-related injuries varied by year, however, with 1.0%, 1.0%, 0.8%, and 1.9% occurring in 2002 to 2005, respectively, and 11.8% occurring in 2006. This substantial increase in 2006 accounts for 73.6% of skate shoe-related injuries and is statistically significant (chi, P = &lt;0.0001). This rising trend in 2006 paralleled national skate shoe sales, with a correlation coefficient of 0.9982.Most of the injured children and adolescents were white, and there was a slight, nonsignificant predominance of boys. Most injuries in all 5-year-olds were fractures (46.7%), followed by contusions (17.9%) and sprains (17.2%). The most frequent site of fracture was the forearm (38.4%), followed by the wrist (35.1%) and the leg (14.9%). Other injuries included lacerations (7.3%), concussions (6.6%), internal organ injuries (0.9%), hematomas (0.2%), dislocations (0.2%), and injuries not otherwise specified (3.1%). Based on national estimates, 104 (0.01%) patients required admission to the hospital. No injuries recorded in the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System database resulted in death. As the first study analyzing injury rates as a result of skate shoe use in the United States, this study demonstrated a recent increase in injuries to children and adolescents using skate shoes, which paralleled the products' sales increase. The types of injuries are primarily a wide range of non-life threatening bone and soft tissue injuries. 
17239880	Heely injuries: a new epidemic warranting a government health warning! 	Heelys, the new craze gripping the nation, were first introduced to Ireland in 2005 having been available in the United States since 2000. Designed as &quot;the only shoe with a removable wheel in the sole&quot; and initially marketed among rollerbladers and skateboarders they have been adopted by children as contemporary footwear. From April to June 2006, all patients presenting to trauma orthopaedic services at our institutions with injuries sustained while wearing Heelys were included in this study. Thirty-nine patients are included in this study. The mean age was 9.1 years (range 7-13, median 9 years). Of the 39 patients referred to the orthopaedic service, 8 required admissions to hospital. One patient admitted following a head injury, required craniotomy and evacuation of an extradural haematoma. The significance of the injuries encountered demonstrates the potentially devastating results from the use of Heelys. The public perception of safety is incorrect and manufacturers rightly recommend strongly the use of safety gear. 
17970015	Sport-specific injuries and medical problems of figure skaters. 	Figure skating is becoming increasingly popular as both a recreational and competitive sport. As the number of figure skating participants increases, so will the number of active patients who present to their primary care physician with sport-related injuries and medical problems. Figure skating is a unique sport that continues to evolve and progress with participants partaking in more difficult moves and more rigorous training programs. Common problems in figure skating include acute musculo-skeletal injuries and chronic overuse injuries, which primarily occur in the foot, ankle, knee, leg, hip, and lower back. Figure skaters are also more likely to endure specific medical problems such as exercise-induced bronchospasm and eating disorders. Primary care physicians are able to contribute to their figure skating patient's health by recognition and appropriate treatment of acute injuries and prevention of chronic injuries and other medical problems. 
17293625	The effects of articulated figure skates on jump landing forces. 	Lower extremity injuries in figure skating have long been linked to skating boot stiffness, and recent increases in jump practice time may be influencing the frequency and seriousness of these injuries. It is hypothesized that stiff boots compromise skaters' abilities to attenuate jump landing forces. Decreasing boot stiffness by adding an articulation at the ankle may reduce the rate and magnitude of landing forces. Prototype articulated figure skating boots were tested in this study to determine their effectiveness in enabling skaters to land with lower peak impact forces. Nine competitive figure skaters, who trained in standard boots and subsequently in articulated boots, performed off-ice jump simulations and on-ice axels, double toe loops, and double axels. Analysis of the off-ice simulations showed decreases in peak heel force and loading rate with use of the articulated boot, although the exact kinematic mechanisms responsible for these decreases are still unclear. Analysis of the on-ice jumps revealed few kinematic differences between boot types, implying that the skaters did not use the articulation. Greater adaptation and training time is likely needed for the results seen off-ice to transfer to difficult on-ice jumps. 
21341906	The hawk/goose story: the classical ethological experiments of Lorenz and Tinbergen, revisited. 	We present a historical account of the story behind the famous hawk/goose experiments of Lorenz and Tinbergen in a wider context of cognitive ethology. We discuss their significance, for ethological experimentation in general, and specifically for understanding innate constraints on cognition. As examples of the continuing significance of the hawk/goose paradigm of selective habituation, we discuss its relation to &quot;exposure therapy&quot; of human phobias and the use of hawk silhouettes as deterrents for songbirds. Finally we rephrase Uexküll's thesis of taxon-specific worlds (&quot;Umwelten&quot;) as a &quot;Theory of World.&quot; 
21604849	Evolutionary persistence of chemically elicited ophiophagous antipredator responses in gartersnakes (Thamnophis sirtalis). 	The ability to detect and respond to potential predators is key for the survival of individuals, but this ability is sometimes lost via relaxation of antipredator behavior when prey species are separated from predators. Adult and predator-naïve neonate gartersnakes (Thamnophis sirtalis) from mainland and insular sites where they do and do not occur with ophiophagous (snake-eating) snakes were tested to determine if responses to such predators have been lost, reduced, or retained, and what might be causing differences in such responses. Our data indicate that, overall, adult snakes from populations syntopic with ophiophagous milksnakes are more responsive to chemical stimuli from milksnakes than adults from areas where they are not syntopic with milksnakes, whereas there were few differences with neonate gartersnakes. Experiments with neonates with or without periodic ophiophagous snake chemical experience over several weeks showed that gartersnakes with such experience became more responsive to ophiophagous cues rather than habituating to them. Such evidence of both genetic and experiential factors underlying the antipredator responses to ophiophagous snakes indicates that antipredator responses have persisted despite separation of predator and prey. 
19039707	The alarm response in zebrafish: innate fear in a vertebrate genetic model. 	The alarm response is an antipredator behavior displayed by many fish species and was first described 70 years ago. It is triggered through the olfactory system by substances released from injured skin and is characterized by dramatic, measurable changes in locomotion as well as physiology. We propose that this is an ideal time to revisit this response and to utilize it as an assay for understanding how neural circuits mediate innate fear. A suitable organism for these studies is the zebrafish, a genetic model with a rapidly expanding toolkit for molecular manipulation of the nervous system. Individual neurons mediating the response, ranging from receptor neurons to those in higher brain centers, should first be identified. New tools, specifically transgenic lines that allow spatial and temporal control of neural activity, provide a way to define and test the role of specific neurons, while genetic screens provide a route to identifying individual molecules essential for a normal response. Optical recording, which has proven successful in studies of information processing in the bulb, will provide valuable insights into neural circuitry function during the alarm response. When carried out on mutants, physiological analysis can provide insight into aspects of signal processing that are essential for normal behavior. The alarm response thus provides a paradigm to examine innate fear in a vertebrate system, enabling analysis at multiple levels from genes to the entire neural circuit. Additionally, the context dependency of the response can be utilized to investigate attention and decision making. 
20738571	Kinship affects innate responses to a predator in bluegill Lepomis macrochirus larvae. 	Naïve kin groups and mixed-family groups of bluegill Lepomis macrochirus larvae were exposed to a novel predator cue. The larvae responded by increasing shoal cohesiveness in kin groups but not in mixed-family groups; moreover, larvae sired by males of the 'cuckolder' life history tended to have an enhanced ability to respond to direct cues of kinship v. larvae sired by males of the 'parental' life history, which instead appeared to respond to cues of life history rather than relatedness per se. The increased shoal cohesion among related individuals probably confers a survival benefit and indicates that the antipredatory shoaling response is innate in L. macrochirus. 
18590772	Cellular prion protein modulates defensive attention and innate fear-induced behaviour evoked in transgenic mice submitted to an agonistic encounter with the tropical coral snake Oxyrhopus guibei. 	The cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) is a neuronal anchored glycoprotein that has been associated with distinct functions in the CNS, such as cellular adhesion and differentiation, synaptic plasticity and cognition. Here we investigated the putative involvement of the PrP(C) in the innate fear-induced behavioural reactions in wild-type (WT), PrP(C) knockout (Prnp(0/0)) and the PrP(C) overexpressing Tg-20 mice evoked in a prey versus predator paradigm. The behavioural performance of these mouse strains in olfactory discrimination tasks was also investigated. When confronted with coral snakes, mice from both Prnp(0/0) and Tg-20 strains presented a significant decrease in frequency and duration of defensive attention and risk assessment, compared to WT mice. Tg-20 mice presented decreased frequency of escape responses, increased exploratory behaviour, and enhancement of interaction with the snake, suggesting a robust fearlessness caused by PrP(C) overexpression. Interestingly, there was also a discrete decrease in the attentional defensive response (decreased frequency of defensive alertness) in Prnp(0/0) mice in the presence of coral snakes. Moreover, Tg-20 mice presented an increased exploration of novel environment and odors. The present findings indicate that the PrP(C) overexpression causes hyperactivity, fearlessness, and increased preference for visual, tactile and olfactory stimuli-associated novelty, and that the PrP(c) deficiency might lead to attention deficits. These results suggest that PrP(c) exerts an important role in the modulation of innate fear and novelty-induced exploration. 
17201475	Orbital frontal cortex ablations of rock squirrels (Spermophilus variegatus) disinhibit innate antisnake behavior. 	The antisnake behavior of rock squirrels (Spermophilus variegatus) was examined to determine the role of the orbital frontal cortex in regulating physiological arousal and behavioral excitability during encounters with a rattlesnake predator. Rock squirrels with orbital frontal cortex ablations and sham-surgery control squirrels were presented with a caged rattlesnake pre- and postsurgery. Orbital frontal cortex ablations had no substantial effect on the expression of gross motor behavior in dealing with the rattlesnake, but they augmented the speed of snake recognition and clearly disinhibited sympathetic arousal as manifested by increased tail piloerection and tail-flagging activity, which is a specific antisnake behavior. Natural selection from snakes has probably shaped the neural organization of the orbital frontal cortex to afford adaptive behavioral flexibility during snake encounters. 
11152750	Identified serotonergic neurons in the Tritonia swim CPG activate both ionotropic and metabotropic receptors. 	Although G-protein-coupled (metabotropic) receptors are known to modulate the production of motor patterns, evidence from the escape swim central pattern generator (CPG) of the nudibranch mollusk, Tritonia diomedea, suggests that they might also participate in the generation of the motor pattern itself. The dorsal swim interneurons (DSIs), identified serotonergic neurons intrinsic to the Tritonia swim CPG, evoke dual component synaptic potentials onto other CPG neurons and premotor interneurons. Both the fast and slow components were previously shown to be due to serotonin (5-HT) acting at distinct postsynaptic receptors. We find that blocking or facilitating metabotropic receptors in a postsynaptic premotor interneuron differentially affects the fast and slow synaptic responses to DSI stimulation. Blocking G-protein activation by iontophoretically injecting the GDP-analogue guanosine 5'-O-(2-thiodiphosphate) (GDP-beta-S) did not significantly affect the DSI-evoked fast excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) but decreased the amplitude of the slow component more than 50%. Injection of the GTP analogues guanosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) (GTP-gamma-S) and 5'-guanylyl-imidodiphosphate, to prolong G-protein activation, had mixed effects on the fast component but increased the amplitude and duration of the slow component of the DSI-evoked response and, with repeated DSI stimulation, led to a persistent depolarization. These results indicate that the fast component of the biphasic synaptic potential evoked by a serotonergic CPG neuron onto premotor interneurons is mediated by ionotropic receptors (5-HT-gated ion channels), whereas the slow component is mediated by G-protein-coupled receptors. A similar synaptic activation of metabotropic receptors might also be found within the CPG itself, where it could exert a direct influence onto motor pattern generation. 
23899762	Sex differences and similarities in the neuroendocrine regulation of social behavior in an African cichlid fish. 	An individual's position in a social hierarchy profoundly affects behavior and physiology through interactions with community members, yet little is known about how the brain contributes to status differences between and within the social states or sexes. We aimed to determine sex-specific attributes of social status by comparing circulating sex steroid hormones and neural gene expression of sex steroid receptors in dominant and subordinate male and female Astatotilapia burtoni, a highly social African cichlid fish. We found that testosterone and 17β-estradiol levels are higher in males regardless of status and dominant individuals regardless of sex. Progesterone was found to be higher in dominant individuals regardless of sex. Based on pharmacological manipulations in males and females, progesterone appears to be a common mechanism for promoting courtship in dominant individuals. We also examined expression of androgen receptors, estrogen receptor α, and the progesterone receptor in five brain regions that are important for social behavior. Most of the differences in brain sex steroid receptor expression were due to sex rather than status. Our results suggest that the parvocellular preoptic area is a core region for mediating sex differences through androgen and estrogen receptor expression, whereas the progesterone receptor may mediate sex and status behaviors in the putative homologs of the nucleus accumbens and ventromedial hypothalamus. Overall our results suggest sex differences and similarities in the regulation of social dominance by gonadal hormones and their receptors in the brain. 
23264030	Effects of fluoxetine on the swimming and behavioural responses of the Arabian killifish. 	The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor fluoxetine has frequently been detected in surface waters around the world. Fluoxetine modulates levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that regulates several important physiological and behavioural processes including fear and anxiety, aggression, locomotion and feeding. In this study, groups of sub-adult Arabian killifish (Aphanius dispar) were exposed to either 0, 0.03, 0.3 or 3 μg/L fluoxetine hydrochloride for 7 days and their swimming behaviour and social interactions videotaped in a circular arena. The fish were subsequently exposed to a predator alarm chemical (from dragonfly larvae fed with A. dispar) and their short-term responses recorded. The video was analysed using the open-sourced software program Ctrax which objectively quantified swimming and social behaviours. Aggression (chasing behaviour was significantly reduced at 3.0 μg/L fluoxetine. After the addition of the predator alarm chemicals fish responded quickly, increasing the percentage of time spent drifting or motionless and reducing average swimming velocity. Controls and fish exposed to 0.03 or 3 μg/L fluoxetine reduced swimming speed by 20-30 % but returned to pre-exposure velocities within 6 min. Fish exposed to 0.3 μg/L fluoxetine reduced swimming speed by 38 % after addition of the predator alarm and did not return to pre-exposure speeds during the recording period (19 min). Schooling behaviour was also affected by fluoxetine and predator alarm with fish exposed to 0.3 μg/L fluoxetine significantly reducing nearest neighbour distance and swimming speed relative to nearest neighbour the following addition of the predator alarm. 
22978907	Silky sifaka (Propithecus candidus) &quot;zzuss&quot; vocalizations: sexual dimorphism, individuality, and function in the alarm call of a monomorphic lemur. 	Vocalizations of Madagascar's lemurs have generally been less investigated than those of other primate groups, with virtually no information available about calling in the silky sifaka (Propithecus candidus), a large rainforest species. Current work examined the &quot;zzuss&quot; vocalization, one of the most common and loudest sounds produced by this monomorphic species, and included 160 calls from nine adults (five males, four females) in three groups. Analyses focused on overall acoustic features, individual and sex differences, call usage, and likely function. Acoustically, the calls included separable turbulent noise and tonal components, with the later often marked by frequency jumps and dramatic frequency modulation. Male and female zzuss calls differed most in F0- and amplitude-related features, characteristics that are relatively unconstrained by overall body size. All measures differed among individual callers, with F0-related variables again playing the largest role. Based on usage, these calls most likely function both as generalized alarm and group-coordination signals. The sounds were thus of interest in several regards, including showing sexual differentiation in the absence of other dimorphisms, exhibiting primarily F0-based differentiation in both sex- and individual-based comparisons, and combining apparent alarm and coordination functions across a variety of contexts. 
23535244	Ameliorative effects of brief daily periods of social interaction on isolation-induced behavioral and hormonal alterations. 	The present study investigated the effects of brief daily periods of social interaction on social-isolation-induced behavioral and hormonal alterations and deficits. Adult male Wistar rats were allocated to one of three housing conditions: 1) social housing (two per cage); 2) social isolation (one per cage); or partial social isolation (one per cage with access to another male rat for 60 min/day). After 14 days in these different housing conditions, the animals were subjected to various behavioral tests, including sucrose preference test, acoustic startle response, two-way active shuttle avoidance, pre-pulse inhibition, open field, cooperation learning task, and levels of corticosterone. Results revealed that social isolation had a substantial impact on rats' performance on most behavioral tests as well as on their corticosterone levels. Importantly, however, the results clearly demonstrate that allowing otherwise isolated animals to have a brief (60 min) daily social contact with another rat to a great extent abolishes or ameliorates most of the isolation-induced behavioral and hormonal alterations. Hence, providing isolated animals with brief daily periods of social contact may be used as a &quot;preventive treatment&quot; in order to protect them from the deleterious effects of isolation. 
21895346	Shame regulation in personality pathology. 	Drawing on extant work on shame and emotion regulation, this article proposes that three broad forms of maladaptive shame regulation strategies are fundamental in much of personality pathology: Prevention (e.g., dependence, fantasy), used preemptively, lessens potential for shame; Escape (e.g., social withdrawal, misdirection) reduces current or imminent shame; Aggression, used after shame begins, refocuses shame into anger directed at the self (e.g., physical self-harm) or others (e.g., verbal aggression). This article focuses on the contributions of shame regulation to the development and maintenance of personality pathology, highlighting how various maladaptive shame regulation strategies may lead to personality pathology symptoms, associated features, and dimensions. Consideration is also given to the possible shame-related constructs necessitating emotion regulation (e.g., shame aversion and proneness) and the points in the emotion process when regulation can occur. 
20438813	Post weaning social isolation influences spatial cognition, prefrontal cortical synaptic plasticity and hippocampal potassium ion channels in Wistar rats. 	Post weaning isolation-reared rats show deficits in learning and memory, which are also seen in many psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia. The present study utilized behavioral and electrophysiological tests to further characterize cognitive disorders in this rat model, and to explore possible neurobiological mechanisms associated with them. Isolation rearing was performed in male Wistar rats from weaning for 8 weeks. Spatial memory and reversal learning were assessed using Morris water maze (MWM); synaptic plasticity was assessed by recording long-term potentiation (LTP) from thalamus to prefrontal cortex; and potassium ion channel currents were tested using the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of different groups in hippocampal slices by patch clamp. The results of MWM showed that isolation-reared rats performed worse in probe trials and memory retention tests. The LTP tests showed that the prefrontal cortical postsynaptic potential slopes were significantly lower in isolated rats than group housed ones. The patch clamp recording showed that the amplitudes of hippocampal voltage-dependent transient outward K(+) currents (I(A)) were enhanced, and the steady inactivation curve of I(A) was shifted towards positive potential by CSF of isolated rats. These data suggested that isolation rearing can impair the spatial cognition of rats, with the possible mechanisms of affecting prefrontal cortical synaptic plasticity and hippocampal potassium ion channel currents. 
19766727	Memoirs of a locust: density-dependent behavioral change as a model for learning and memory. 	A locust outbreak is a stupendous natural phenomenon that remains in the memory of whoever has been lucky (or unlucky) enough to witness it. Recent years have provided novel and important insights into the neurobiology of locust swarming. However, the central nervous system processes that accompany and perhaps even lie at the basis of locust phase transformation are still far from being fully understood. Our current work deals with the memory of a locust outbreak from a new perspective: that of the individual locust. We take locust density-dependent phase transformation - a unique example of extreme behavioral plasticity, and place it within the context of the accepted scheme of learning and memory. We confirm that a short time period of exposure to a small crowd of locusts is sufficient to induce a significant behavioral change in a previously solitary locust. Our results suggest that part of the behavioral change is due to long-term habituation of evasive and escape responses. We further demonstrate that the memory of a crowding event lasts for at least 24h, and that this memory is sensitive to a protein synthesis blocker. These findings add much to our understanding of locust density-dependent phase polyphenism. Furthermore, they offer a novel and tractable model for the study of learning and memory-related processes in a very distinctive behavioral context. 
19722168	Environmental enrichment influences survival rate and enhances exploration and learning but produces variable responses to the radial maze in old rats. 	Wistar rats at 7 (mature), 16 (aging), and 22 (old) months of age spent 70 days in normal laboratory (Social), impoverished (Isolated) or dynamic Enrichment cages. The Enriched cage emphasized spatial re-arrangements of significant items, and the learning of new routes. Subsequently, Enriched rats at all ages entered a novel environment and escaped from a bright light with significantly shorter latencies than rats from either of the other environments. Mature, aging and some of the old Enriched rats also significantly outperformed their Isolated and Social counterparts in the radial maze. However old Enriched and Isolated animals showed significant variability in relation to the measure of the proportion reaching criterion on this task, and a significantly lower proportion than of old Social rats reached criterion. Enriched rats had a significantly higher survival rate than Social and Isolated animals. These findings are discussed in terms of learning efficiency and behaviors that conserve energy and thereby enhance survival. 
19539629	Melanin-based skin spots reflect stress responsiveness in salmonid fish. 	Within animal populations, genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors interact to shape individual neuroendocrine and behavioural profiles, conferring variable vulnerability to stress and disease. It remains debated how alternative behavioural syndromes and stress coping styles evolve and are maintained by natural selection. Here we show that individual variation in stress responsiveness is reflected in the visual appearance of two species of teleost fish; rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Salmon and trout skin vary from nearly immaculate to densely spotted, with black spots formed by eumelanin-producing chromatophores. In rainbow trout, selection for divergent hypothalamus-pituitary-interrenal responsiveness has led to a change in dermal pigmentation patterns, with low cortisol-responsive fish being consistently more spotted. In an aquaculture population of Atlantic salmon individuals with more spots showed a reduced physiological and behavioural response to stress. Taken together, these data demonstrate a heritable behavioural-physiological and morphological trait correlation that may be specific to alternative coping styles. This observation may illuminate the evolution of contrasting coping styles and behavioural syndromes, as occurrence of phenotypes in different environments and their response to selective pressures can be precisely and easily recorded. 
18786573	A detailed analysis of open-field habituation and behavioral and neurochemical antidepressant-like effects in postweaning enriched rats. 	Our previous work has shown that male Sprague-Dawley rats reared in social isolation, standard housing and environmental enrichment differ in their spontaneous open-field activity and in some neurobehavioral depressive-like parameters. Here, we extended this evidence by using a shorter postweaning rearing period (1 month) and including additional evaluations. First, in order to obtain a better characterization of the exploratory strategies among rearing conditions we analyzed in detail the spontaneous activity at the first minute and during the 10-min session. Second, we asked whether the changes in open-field activity were related with basal anxiety levels in the elevated plus-maze. Third, behavior in the forced-swimming test was analyzed and afterward, the tissue levels of hippocampal norepinephrine and serotonin were assessed. The possible relationship between neurotransmitters and forced-swimming behavior were explored through correlation analyses. We found that rearing conditions (i) differed on locomotor habituation and on sensory-motor exploration at the first minute and during the 10-min session without modifying the plus-maze behavior; (ii) affected differentially the grooming time, its sequential components, and the relationship between grooming and locomotor parameters; (iii) modified forced-swimming behavior and the hippocampal concentration of norepinephrine, serotonin, and its turnover; and (iv) produced different correlation patterns between both neurotransmitters and forced-swimming behaviors. Overall, environmental enrichment accelerated open-field habituation and led to behavioral and neurochemical antidepressant-like effects. In contract, isolation rearing strongly impaired habituation and simple information processing, but showed marginal effects on depressive-like behavior and on hippocampal neurochemistry. The current results suggest that differential rearing is not only a useful procedure to study behavioral plasticity or rigidity in response to early experience, but also to modeling some developmental protective or risk factors underlying depressive disorders. 
16414129	Factor analysis of Forced Swimming test, Sucrose Preference test and Open Field test on enriched, social and isolated reared rats. 	Developmental and social factors are known to play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of affective disorders. Although it has been demonstrated that early life aversive experiences can be a risk factor in the development of human depression, most of the investigation in animals that try to model depression do not include postnatal manipulations. Since housing represents a fundamental ethological factor which modifies behavior and brain development, this study aimed to investigate the impact of different social and structural housing conditions on the development of a depressive-like syndrome in the behavioral despair paradigm and an anxiety-like syndrome in the unconditioned anxiety paradigm. The present study uses several multivariate analyses to study the impact of housing conditions in animal models of depression and anxiety. In this study, social isolation was able to reproduce the effects found in other animals models based on stress, suggesting that only 2 months of social isolation are enough to produce effects that can be useful as behavioral model of depression. Moreover, environmental enrichment showed an antidepressive and anxiolytic like effect in animal models of depression and anxiety. This effect, which has not been reported in earlier studies, suggests that stimulation during the first stages of growth might play a &quot;protective&quot; role on behavior and brain development. 
23760536	Are shy individuals less behaviorally variable? Insights from a captive population of mouse lemurs. 	Increasingly, individual variation in personality has become a focus of behavioral research in animal systems. Boldness and shyness, often quantified as the tendency to explore novel situations, are seen as personality traits important to the fitness landscape of individuals. Here we tested for individual differences within and across contexts in behavioral responses of captive mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus) to novel objects, novel foods, and handling. We report consistent differences in behavioral responses for objects and handling. We also found that the responses to handling and novel objects were correlated and repeatable. Lastly, we show that shyer individuals may show less variability in their behavioral responses. This study provides new information on the potential for behavioral syndromes in this species and highlights differences in the degree to which behavioral types (e.g., shy/bold) vary in their behavioral responses. 
21903124	Development of affinity to the stockperson in lambs from two breeds. 	The interactions between genetic and environmental factors on the development of lamb affinity to humans was assessed on 48 animals from two breeds (Gentile di Puglia and Comisana) and two treatments (Gentled and Not Gentled) producing 4 groups (GPg, GPng, Cg, Cng, respectively). The Gentile di Puglia and Comisana gentled animals were subjected to a period of training consisting of gently handling each lamb for 5 min three times a day for the first week and then twice a week for three additional weeks. The gentling procedure included both tactile and visual/auditory interactions. At 30-32 days of age lambs were subjected to three arena tests conducted in a novel environment: i) isolation test (each animal was exposed to a novel environment, and isolated from tactile and visual contact with conspecifics for 5 min), ii) stationary human test (as previously but a human sitting in a corner of the pen), and iii) pen-mates' test (each animal was tested in the presence of 2 pen-mates whose behaviour was not recorded). During the 13 training sessions lambs exhibited an increasing number of contacts with the human and a decreasing number of bleats (P&lt;0.001), although Gentile di Puglia lambs interacted more with the human (P&lt;0.001) and tended to bleat less (P&lt;0.10) than Comisana lambs. Lambs vocalised more and climbed more when tested in isolation as compared with lambs tested either with the human or with the pen-mates (P&lt;0.01) and they vocalised more in the presence of the human than with the pen-mates (P&lt;0.001). A higher number of contacts with the human stimulus was observed in gentled animals (P&lt;0.05). However, differences between gentled and not gentled animals were only significant in Gentile di Puglia subjects (P&lt;0.01). GPng lambs displayed the longest ambulatory activity during the isolation test (P&lt;0.05) and exhibited more climbing attempts during the isolation test as compared with the human or the pen-mates' tests (P&lt;0.001). A higher cortisol level was shown by GPng lambs in comparison with Cng subjects during the stationary human test (P&lt;0.01), whereas no differences were detected between the two gentled groups. Gentling determined an improvement of the quality of human animal relationship in more reactive breeds such as Gentile di Puglia sheep. 
21911009	Functional specificity in the modulation of novelty exposure effects by reliability of maternal care. 	Using the within-litter neonatal novelty exposure procedure, we manipulated newborn pups' environmental novelty independently from natural variations in maternal care. To better translate animal models to human development studies, we introduce a measure for maternal care reliability. We examined how this reliability modulates novelty-exposure-induced effects on offspring cognitive, social, and emotional development and show that maternal care reliability acts in a function-specific manner. We discuss our results within the framework of a maternal reliability-based modulation model. 
21277170	Female Wistar rats obtained from different breeders vary in anxiety-like behavior and epileptogenesis. 	Outbred rats are widely used in biomedical research studies. The genotypic variation, different housing and handling conditions during development, and gender of used rats can be expected to cause variations in behavior and epileptogenesis. We tested the hypothesis that adult female Wistar rats from different breeders vary in anxiety-like behavior, seizure susceptibility, and epileptogenesis in the kindling model of temporal lobe epilepsy. In female Wistar rats from three different commercial breeders ([HsdCpb:WU], [Crl:WI(Han)], and [RjHan:WI]), anxiety-like behavior was monitored in the open field and the elevated plus maze. Wistar rats from Charles River showed lower locomotor activity and higher anxiety-like behavior compared to Wistar rats from Harlan-Winkelmann and Janvier. Female Wistar rats from Harlan-Winkelmann showed the lowest anxiety-like behavior and the highest exploratory behavior. Subsequently, rats were kindled by daily electrical stimulation of the right amygdala as a model of temporal lobe epilepsy. Wistar rats from Charles River exhibited significantly increased cumulative motor seizure duration and cumulative afterdischarge duration until seizure generalization compared to Harlan-Winkelmann and Janvier rats. In other words, Wistar rats from Charles River showed a longer time of focal seizures until generalization, reflecting a slower epileptogenesis in these rats. The initial afterdischarge threshold did not differ significantly between Wistar rats from the three breeders, indicating that baseline seizure susceptibility is not different between the three groups. In conclusion, female Wistar outbred rats from different breeders showed variations in anxiety-like behavior and epileptogenesis. Decisions about appropriate commercial colonies used for biomedical research should be taken with caution. 
20691253	Postnatal experiences influence the behavior in adult male and female Fischer and Lewis rats. 	The postnatal environment with the rat pups' dam as the most important regulator, plays a central role in determining developmental processes of the offspring. Early disturbances of the dam-pup-dyade, like separation from the dam for hours (maternal deprivation, MD), or a short period of separation, and exposure to novelty, like the handling stimulation (HA), might induce long-lasting changes within the individual. To further investigate the susceptibility to these postnatal manipulations with regard to both, sex and genetic background, we used male and female Fischer (F344) and Lewis (LEW) rats. F344 and LEW rats were daily subjected to either HA, MD, or were left undisturbed until weaning. The immediate effects of these manipulations were studied using the mother-pup-interaction-test on postnatal days 3-7. At the age of 4 months, animals were subjected to a behavioral test battery, determining activity, exploration, and anxiety-like behavioral parameters. Postnatal manipulations induced significant alterations of the mother-pup-interaction patterns that were more pronounced in F344 dams. MD and HA F344 dams were longer off pups than LEW dams. MD F344 pups were longer groomed than MD LEW pups and HA F344 pups were longer passive nursed than HA LEW pups. In adulthood, F344 rats showed increased anxiety-like behavior compared to LEW rats. Furthermore, females of both strains exhibited more anxiety-like behavior than males. Test independently, MD led to more anxiety-like behavior and less exploratory responses, while handled rats exhibited an anxiolytic-like behavior and increased exploratory responses. In conclusion, postnatal experiences specifically altered the behavioral phenotype in adulthood. While these changes were co-directional in the two strains and in both sexes, the degree of susceptibility varied. 
19720127	Environmental and tactile stimulation modulates the neonatal handling effect on adult rat spatial memory. 	Handling of rat pups promotes their adult cognitive performance. However, new data suggest that individual components of the handling procedure, like exposure to novelty or tactile stimulation, have distinct lasting effects on behaviour. In this study we examined the interaction of early novelty exposure with a varying amount of tactile stimulation on spatial recognition memory and corticosterone secretion of adult male and female rats. A split litter design was used and the experimental animals were also compared to animal facility reared controls. The experiment was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, we examined the effect of novel or home environment during the 15-min of neonatal handling, following 10 back-strokes. Tactile stimulation of 10 back-strokes combined with novelty exposure, enhanced novel arm discrimination in a Y-maze task in adult rats of both sexes compared to their siblings that stayed at home, as well as to the animal facility reared controls. In the second phase, additional back-stroking (total of 20 back-strokes) reduced the Y-maze performance of males neonatally exposed to novelty, while the same treatment enhanced the performance of their siblings that stayed at home. Basal corticosterone levels, determined 1 week post-Y-maze, were significantly increased only in the novelty exposed/10 back-stroked females compared to same sex non-handled controls. In contrast, 10 back-strokes combined with the home cage environment increased corticosterone in males. Increase to 20 back-strokes reversed the impact of neonatal environment on corticosterone levels. These data suggest that the nature and intensity of the individual components of a mild early life manipulation, like handling, are critical in modifying aspects of adult memory performance and basal adrenocortical function. 
19584022	Chronic fluoxetine differentially modulates the hippocampal microtubular and serotonergic system in grouped and isolation reared rats. 	Social isolation from weaning in rats produces behavioural and hippocampal structural changes at adulthood. Here, rats were group or isolation reared for eight-weeks. Following the initial four-week period of rearing, fluoxetine (10 mg/kg i.p.) was administered for 28 days. Changes in recognition memory, hippocampal monoamines, and cytoskeletal microtubules were investigated. Isolation-rearing for four- or eight-weeks produced recognition memory deficits that were not reversed by fluoxetine. Eight-weeks of isolation decreased alpha-tubulin acetylation (Acet-Tub) and the tyrosinated/detyrosinated alpha-tubulin ratio (Tyr/Glu-Tub), suggesting major alterations in microtubule dynamics and neuronal plasticity. In grouped rats, fluoxetine decreased Acet-Tub without changes in Tyr/Glu-Tub. In isolates, fluoxetine did not affect Acet-Tub but increased Tyr/Glu-Tub. Finally, fluoxetine altered serotonin metabolism in grouped, but not in isolated animals. Therefore, isolation-rearing changes the hippocampal responses of the serotonergic and microtubular system to fluoxetine. These findings show that early-life experience induces behavioural changes paralleled by alterations in cytoskeletal and neurochemical functions. 
23711927	Maternal genotype influences behavioral development of 3×Tg-AD mouse pups. 	Transgenic mice are a valuable tool in the investigation of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. The triple transgenic mouse (3×Tg-AD) is a model of Alzheimer's disease that possesses age-related amyloid beta plaques, neurofibrillary tangles and cell death as well as cognitive decline. Because maternal effects may interact with pup genotype in determining behavior phenotypes, we used a cross-fostering paradigm to investigate the effects of maternal genotype on behavioral development of the 3×Tg-AD mouse model and its wildtype control (B6129S1F2) from 2 to 24 days of age. Developmental patterns of behavior were influenced by both pup and maternal genotype. The 3×Tg-AD mice were delayed in sensory reflexes, showed less activity and poorer habituation to a novel object, but showed advanced development of motor reflexes compared to wildtype pups. While there were no differences in levels of maternal care between transgenic and control mothers, maternal genotype affected the development of several pup reflexes (body weight, hindlimb grasp reflex, loss of crossed extensor reflex, vibrissae response, righting reflex) and the number of horizontal and vertical beam breaks in an open field. This study is the first to examine neurobehavioral development and maternal behavior in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, and highlights the importance of investigating the consequences of early environmental experience as well as genetic manipulation on behavioral development. 
22921957	The relation between fearfulness in young and stress-response in adult laying hens, on individual and group level. 	Fearfulness of an individual can affect its sensitivity to stress, while at the same time the social situation in which an animal lives can affect its fear level. It is however unknown what the long-term effects of high fearfulness on sensitivity to stress are, on individual or group level in laying hens. We hypothesize that increased fearfulness at a young age results in increased sensitivity to stress at an adult age, and that this relation can differ between groups, due to differences in group composition. Therefore, we studied the relation between fearfulness in an Open Field (OF) test at six weeks of age and plasma-corticosterone (CORT) levels after a 5-min Manual Restraint test (MR) at 33 weeks of age, and assessed behavior in the home pen. We used birds from a low mortality line, selected for four generations on low mortality due to feather pecking and cannibalism and a control line (n=153 in total, eight pens/line). These lines are known to differ in fearfulness and stress physiology. Chicks from the low mortality line were more active in the OF compared to chicks from the control line. Chicks that showed a fearful response (no walking, no vocalizing) in the OF test had higher CORT at 33 weeks of age than chicks that walked and/or vocalized in the OF test and had higher activity in the home pen as adults. On group level, a passive response in the OF was related to high CORT levels after MR. Presence of at least one fearful bird in a group led to higher CORT in the other group mates compared to birds from groups with no fearful birds present. Birds from groups in which more than 50% of birds had severe comb lesions had higher CORT levels compared to birds from groups with less than 50% of birds affected. High fearfulness of laying hen chicks can on individual level have a long-term effect on stress sensitivity. The presence of fearful birds in a group as well as signs of social instability in a group, indicated by comb lesions, can affect sensitivity to stress of birds from the same group. The mechanism by which this occurs can lie in social transmission of (fear related) behavior, but this suggestion needs further investigation. 
22750280	Effects of resource dispersion and site familiarity on movements of translocated wild turkeys on fragmented landscapes. 	Animals in unfamiliar environments may increase exploratory movements, which may result in predation mortalities (the site familiarity hypothesis). Furthermore, increases in resource dispersion may reduce animal foraging time in small patches, and increase movements and home ranges of animals to acquire sufficient resources (the resource dispersion hypothesis). Little is known regarding effects of site familiarity on translocated birds in fragmented landscapes. We translocated 130 eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallapovo silvestris) in a sex ratio of one male to 4 females to 2 study sites that differed in forest fragmentation in MS, USA. Turkeys were captured from sites throughout Mississippi during springs 2009 and 2010. We monitored movements of translocated wild turkeys using radio telemetry. Movement distances and home ranges in 2010 did not differ among birds released in different years, inconsistent with the site familiarity hypothesis. However, movement distances and home ranges of translocated turkeys were greater at the more fragmented site than at the less fragmented site, supporting the resource dispersion hypothesis. Moreover, home range sizes were related positively to within-home-range variability in vegetative greenness measured by the normalized difference vegetation index. Effects of resource dispersion may override effects of site familiarity concerning translocated wild turkeys. 
22101068	Behavioral and neuromorphological characterization of a novel Tuba1 mutant mouse. 	As part of the RIKEN large-scale N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) mutagenesis project, we screened mice with a dominant mutation that exhibited abnormal behavior using an open-field test and a home-cage activity test. We tested 495 male progeny of C57BL/6J males treated with ENU and untreated C3H/HeJ females using the open-field test and isolated behavioral mutant M101736, which exhibited a significant increase in spontaneous locomotor activity. We identified a missense mutation in the Tuba1 gene, which encodes the TUBA1 protein, and designated the mutant gene Tuba1(Rgsc1736). This mutation results in an aspartic acid to glycine substitution in the TUBA1 protein. Detailed analyses revealed that Tuba1(Rgsc1736) heterozygotes exhibited inattention to novel objects and aberrant patterns of home-cage activity. The results of a behavioral pharmacological analysis using methylphenidate and morphological analyses of embryonic and adult brains suggested that Tuba1(Rgsc1736) is a novel animal model for neurodevelopmental disorders. 
21521215	Effects of individual condition and habitat quality on natal dispersal behaviour in a small rodent. 	1. Individuals should benefit from settling in high-quality habitats, but dispersers born under favourable conditions have a better physical condition and should therefore be more successful at settling in high-quality habitats. 2. We tested these predictions with root voles (Microtus oeconomus) by a manipulation of individual condition through litter-size enlargement and reduction during lactation combined with a manipulation of habitat quality through degradation of the vegetation cover. We accurately monitored movements of 149 juveniles during a settlement and breeding period of 3 months. 3. The litter size treatment had long-lasting effects on body size, life-history traits and home range size, but did not influence dispersal behaviour. 4. Different stages of dispersal were influenced by habitat quality. In low-quality patches, females dispersed earlier, spent more time prospecting their environment before settling, and settlers had a smaller adult body size than in high-quality patches. Preference and competition for high-quality patches is likely adaptive as it increased fitness both in terms of survival and reproduction. 5. We found no interactive effect of individual condition and habitat quality on natal dispersal and habitat selection. 6. These findings suggest that immediate conditions are more important determinants of dispersal decisions than conditions experienced early in life. 
20972570	Views, landmarks, and routes: how do desert ants negotiate an obstacle course? 	The Australian desert ant Melophorus bagoti often follows stereotypical routes through a cluttered landscape containing both distant panoramic views and obstacles (plants) to navigate around. We created an artificial obstacle course for the ants between a feeder and their nest. Landmarks comprised natural objects in the landscape such as logs, branches, and tussocks. Many ants travelled stereotypical routes home through the obstacle course in training, threading repeatedly the same gaps in the landmarks. Manipulations altering the relations between the landmarks and the surrounding panorama, however, affected the routes in two major ways. Both interchanging the positions of landmarks (transpositions) and displacing the entire landmark set along with the starting position of the ants (translations) (1) reduced the stereotypicality of the route, and (2) increased turns and meanders during travel. The ants might have used the entire panorama in view-based travel, or the distal panorama might prime the identification and use of landmarks en route. Despite the large data set, both options (not mutually exclusive) remain viable. 
23859647	Neural and psychological maturation of decision-making in adolescence and young adulthood. 	We examined the maturation of decision-making from early adolescence to mid-adulthood using fMRI of a variant of the Iowa gambling task. We have previously shown that performance in this task relies on sensitivity to accumulating negative outcomes in ventromedial PFC and dorsolateral PFC. Here, we further formalize outcome evaluation (as driven by prediction errors [PE], using a reinforcement learning model) and examine its development. Task performance improved significantly during adolescence, stabilizing in adulthood. Performance relied on greater impact of negative compared with positive PEs, the relative impact of which matured from adolescence into adulthood. Adolescents also showed increased exploratory behavior, expressed as a propensity to shift responding between options independently of outcome quality, whereas adults showed no systematic shifting patterns. The correlation between PE representation and improved performance strengthened with age for activation in ventral and dorsal PFC, ventral striatum, and temporal and parietal cortices. There was a medial-lateral distinction in the prefrontal substrates of effective PE utilization between adults and adolescents: Increased utilization of negative PEs, a hallmark of successful performance in the task, was associated with increased activation in ventromedial PFC in adults, but decreased activation in ventrolateral PFC and striatum in adolescents. These results suggest that adults and adolescents engage qualitatively distinct neural and psychological processes during decision-making, the development of which is not exclusively dependent on reward-processing maturation. 
22156472	Social reward dependence and brain white matter microstructure. 	People show consistent differences in their cognitive and emotional responses to environmental cues, manifesting, for example, as variability in social reward processing and novelty-seeking behavior. However, the neurobiological foundation of human temperament and personality is poorly understood. A likely hypothesis is that personality traits rely on the integrity and function of distributed neurocircuitry. In this diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) study, this hypothesis was tested by examining the associations between reward dependence (RD) and novelty seeking (NS), as measured by Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory, and fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) as DTI-derived indices of white matter (WM) microstructure across the brain. The results supported the hypothesis. RD was associated with WM architecture coherence as indicated by a negative correlation between RD and FA in frontally distributed areas including pathways connecting important constituents of reward-related neurocircuitry. The associations between RD and FA could not be explained by age, sex, alcohol consumption, or trait anxiety. In contrast, no effects were observed for NS. These findings support the theory that WM fiber tract properties modulate individual differences in social reward processing. 
24468217	Effects of space allowance on the behaviour of long-term housed shelter dogs. 	The aim of this study was to assess the effects of space allowance (4.5 m(2)/head vs. 9 m(2)/head) on the behaviour of shelter dogs (Canis familiaris) at different times of the day (from 10:30 to 13:30 vs. from 14:30 to 17:30), and the dogs' preference between two types of beds (fabric bed vs. plastic basket). Twelve neutered dogs (seven males and five females aged 3-8 years) housed in pairs were observed using a scan sampling recording method every 20 s for a total of 14,592 scans/treatment. An increase in space allowance increased general level of activity (risk ratio (RR)=1.34), standing (RR=1.37), positive social interactions (RR=2.14), visual exploration of the environment (RR=1.21), and vocalisations (RR=2.35). Dogs spent more time in the sitting (RR=1.39) or standing (RR=1.88) posture, in positive interactions (RR=1.85), and active visual exploration (RR=1.99) during the morning than in the afternoon. The dogs were more often observed in the fabric bed than in the plastic basket (53% vs. 15% of total scans, p&lt;0.001). Results suggest that a 9.0 m(2)/head space allowance could be more beneficial to dogs than one of 4.5 m(2). 
24368289	Neonatal exposure to estradiol decreases hypothalamic allopregnanolone concentrations and alters agonistic and sexual but not affective behavior in adult female rats. 	Exposure of developing female rats to estradiol during the perinatal period induced long-lasting dysregulation of gonadal axis and decreased cerebrocortical and plasma concentrations of allopregnanolone. We have now examined the effects of neonatal estradiol administration in female rats on hypothalamic allopregnanolone concentrations and on exploratory, affective, agonistic and sexual behaviors as well as social learning. A single administration of β-estradiol 3-benzoate (EB, 10μg) on the day of birth resulted in a delay of vaginal opening, acyclicity and ovarian failure. These alterations were associated with a significant decrease in the concentrations of allopregnanolone in the hypothalamus at 21 and 60days, but not at 7days, after birth. Neonatal administration of EB also increased agonistic behaviors in adult rats, such as dominant behaviors and following of an ovariectomized intruder, while living attacks unaffected. EB-treated rats showed also an increase in anogenital investigation, associated with a drastic reduction in spontaneous and induced female sexual behaviors (receptivity and proceptivity). In contrast, neonatal administration of EB did not affect locomotor activity, anxiety- and mood-related behaviors, the social transmission of flavor preferences, and seizures sensitivity. These effects of estradiol suggest that it plays a major role in regulation of both the abundance of allopregnanolone and the expression of agonistic and sexual behaviors, while failing to influence affective behaviors and social learning. Thus, the pronounced and persistent decrease in hypothalamic allopregnanolone concentration may be related to the manifestation of agonistic and sexual behaviors. 
24333375	Effects of chemokine receptor signalling on cognition-like, emotion-like and sociability behaviours of CCR6 and CCR7 knockout mice. 	Inflammation is regarded as an important mechanism of neuropsychiatric disorders. Chemokines, which are a part of the immune system, have effects on various aspects of brain function, but little is known about their effects on behaviour. We have compared the cognition-like behaviour (learning and spatial memory) of CCR6(-/-) and CCR7(-/-) mice with wild type (WT) C57BL/6 mice, in the Barnes maze, as well as a range of other behaviours, including exploratory, anxiety and depression-like behaviour, using a battery of tests. Levels of cytokines TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 were also measured. In the Barnes maze, CCR7(-/-) mice were shown to take longer to learn the location of the escape box on the 1st of 4 days of training. In the behavioural battery, CCR6(-/-) mice showed higher locomotor activity and lower anxiety in the open field test, and a lack of preference for social novelty in a sociability test. CCR7(-/-) mice behaved much like WT mice, although showed higher anxiety in Elevated Zero Maze. While baseline saccharin preference in a 2-bottle choice test, a test for anhedonia depression-like behaviour, was equal in all strains at baseline, weekly tests showed that both CCR6(-/-) and CCR7(-/-) mice developed a decreased preference for saccharin compared to WT over time. There were no differences between strains in any of the cytokines measured. These results suggest that chemokine receptors may play a role in cognition and learning behaviour, as well as anxiety and other behaviours, although the biological mechanisms are still unclear. 
24534713	Hyperlocomotor activity and stress vulnerability during adulthood induced by social isolation after early weaning are prevented by voluntary running exercise before normal weaning period. 	In rodents, the disruption of social-rearing conditions before normal weaning induces emotional behavioral abnormalities, such as anxiety, motor activity dysregulation, and stress vulnerability. The beneficial effects of exercise after normal weaning on emotional regulation have been well documented. However, effects of exercise before normal weaning on emotion have not been reported. We examined whether voluntary wheel running (R) during social isolation after early weaning (early weaning/isolation; EI) from postnatal day (PD) 14-30 could prevent EI-induced emotional behavioral abnormalities in Sprague-Dawley rats. Compared with control rats reared with their dam and siblings until PD30, rats performed R during EI (EI+R) and EI rats demonstrated greater locomotion and lower grooming activity in the open-field test (OFT) during the juvenile period. Juvenile EI ± R rats showed greater learned helplessness (LH) after exposure to inescapable stress (IS; electric foot shock) than IS-exposed control and EI rats. In contrast, EI rats showed increased locomotion in the OFT and LH after exposure to IS compared with control rats during adulthood; this was not observed in EI ± R rats. Both EI and EI ± R rats exhibited greater rearing activity in the OFT than controls during adulthood. EI did not increase anxiety in the OFT and elevated plus-maze. These results suggested that R during EI until normal weaning prevented some of the EI-induced behavioral abnormalities, including hyperlocomotor activity and greater LH, during adulthood but not in the juvenile period. 
23861074	Hippocampal expression of aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator 2 and neuronal PAS domain protein 4 in a rat model of depression. 	The transcription factors aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator 2 (ARNT2) and neuronal PAS domain protein 4 (NPAS4) may influence emotion and cognitive function by regulating brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression in the hippocampus. We estimated hippocampal ARNT2 and NPAS4 expression in chronic unexpected mild stress (CUMS) rat model. The possible association was investigated between expression of these transcription factors and depressive behaviors. Behavioral tests were conducted before, during, and after 28 days of group housing or isolation plus CUMS. The sucrose solution consumption test was used to assess changes in interest and pleasure-seeking, and the open field test (OFT) was conducted to measure spontaneous activity and exploratory behavior. Expression levels of ARNT2 and NPAS4 were estimated by semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Compared to controls, rats subjected to isolation plus CUMS exhibited significantly reduced weight gain (t = 9.317, P = 0.000), sucrose consumption (t = 3.756, P = 0.003), horizontal ambulation (t = 2.362, P = 0.041), and number of rearings (vertical motion) (t = 2.268, P = 0.040). Relative hippocampal NPAS4 expression was significantly lower in depression model rats compared to controls (t = 2.995, P = 0.010) but there was no significant difference in hippocampal ARNT2 expression between groups (t = 0.091, P = 0.929). The relationship between the CUMS model of depression and NPAS4 expression requires further exploration. 
23168609	Effects of resocialization on post-weaning social isolation-induced abnormal aggression and social deficits in rats. 	As previously shown, rats isolated from weaning develop abnormal social and aggressive behavior characterized by biting attacks targeting vulnerable body parts of opponents, reduced attack signaling, and increased defensive behavior despite increased attack counts. Here we studied whether this form of violent aggression could be reversed by resocialization in adulthood. During the first weak of resocialization, isolation-reared rats showed multiple social deficits including increased defensiveness and decreased huddling during sleep. Deficits were markedly attenuated in the second and third weeks. Despite improved social functioning in groups, isolated rats readily showed abnormal features of aggression in a resident-intruder test performed after the 3-week-long resocialization. Thus, post-weaning social isolation-induced deficits in prosocial behavior were eliminated by resocialization during adulthood, but abnormal aggression was resilient to this treatment. Findings are compared to those obtained in humans who suffered early social maltreatment, and who also show social deficits and dysfunctional aggression in adulthood. 
23001904	Social instability stress in adolescence increases anxiety and reduces social interactions in adulthood in male Long-Evans rats. 	We investigated the effects of social instability stress (daily 1-hr isolation, change of cage partner, postnatal day 30-45) in adolescence in male rats on open field exploration and social behavior in adulthood. Social stressed rats had longer latencies to enter the center of an open field and then took longer to approach an object placed in the center of the field. When another rat was placed in the open field, stressed rats spent less time in social interaction than control rats, particularly when paired with another stressed, rather than a control, rat. The groups did not differ in social approach tests (when a stimulus rat was separated by wire mesh) nor in novel object exploration (when controlling for open field anxiety). The results suggest social stress in adolescence increases open field anxiety while maintaining exploratory behavior, and alters social interactions in adulthood. 
24129487	Early postweaning social isolation but not environmental enrichment modifies vermal Purkinje cell dendritic outgrowth in rats. 	In the present study, we analyzed the effects of enriched, social and isolated experiences on vermal Purkinje cell of the rat, together with anxiety-like behavior in the elevated-plus maze. Sprague-Dawley male rats were randomly submitted to either enriched, social, or isolated environments during the early postweaning period (postnatal days 22-32) and were then behaviorally evaluated in the elevated-plus maze and euthanized for histological analysis. Vermal Purkinje cells (sub-lobules VIa and VIb) were sampled, drawn under camera lucida and morphometrically assessed using the Sholl's concentric ring method. Data obtained indicate that environmental enrichment did not significantly modify the Purkinje cell dendritic branching. On the contrary, Purkinje cell of animals reared in social isolation exhibited a significant reduction in dendritic arborization, which was closely associated with anxiety-like behaviors. The data obtained indicate that, although environmental stimulation in normal animals does not produce significant changes in vermal Purkinje cell dendritic arborization, these cells are vulnerable to early stressful experiences, which is in close association with anxiety-like behaviors. 
23602985	Chronic social stress during adolescence: interplay of paroxetine treatment and ageing. 	Exposure to chronic stress during developmental periods is a risk factor for a number of psychiatric disorders. While the direct effects of stress exposure have been studied extensively, little is known about the long-lasting effects and the interaction with ageing. The same holds true for the treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which have been shown to prevent or reverse some stress-induced effects. Here, we studied the direct and long-lasting impact of chronic social stress during adolescence and the impact of chronic treatment with the SSRI paroxetine in adulthood and aged animals. Therefore, male CD1 mice at the age of 28 days were subjected to 7 weeks of chronic social stress. Treatment with paroxetine was performed per os with a dosage of 20 mg/g BW. We were able to reverse most of the effects of chronic social stress in adult mice (4 months old) and to some extend in aged animals (15 months old) with the SSRI treatment. Especially the regulation of the HPA axis seems to be affected in aged mice with a shift to the use of vasopressin. Our results demonstrate that chronic stress exposure and antidepressant treatment at the end of the developmental period can have a significant and long-lasting impact, highly relevant for healthy ageing. 
23639432	A benzodiazepine impairs the neurogenic and behavioural effects of fluoxetine in a rodent model of chronic stress. 	Antidepressant agents such as fluoxetine have been shown to produce neurogenic effects involving transcriptional and translational changes that direct molecular and cellular plasticity. These cellular and molecular events appear necessary to mediate the therapeutic effects of fluoxetine and may be generated through the ability for fluoxetine to regulate BDNF levels. Clinically, benzodiazepines are frequently used in combination with standard antidepressants both for initial treatment and maintenance therapy, especially when comorbid anxiety is present. However, very little is known regarding the consequence of combined treatment of benzodiazepines and antidepressant on the development of clinical effect. The current study therefore examined the effect of co-administration of fluoxetine and the benzodiazepine, diazepam, on hippocampal neurogenesis in the social isolation rodent model of chronic stress. We demonstrate that 9 weeks of social isolation induces a deficit in motivational behaviour with increased anxiety as well as impairment in hippocampal neurogenesis. This was parallelled by reduced BDNF levels in the hippocampus. While treatment with fluoxetine alone for 3 weeks restored anxiety behaviour as well as progenitor cell proliferation and the generation of new hippocampal neurons, this effect was prevented by co-administration with diazepam. This suggests that co-administering benzodiazepines with antidepressants could significantly delay or prevent the cellular and behavioural improvement needed by patients. These findings indicate the need for future clinical studies designed to investigate the combined effects of benzodiazepines and antidepressants in patients. 
20172635	Comparison of maternal-and paternal-fetal attachment in Turkish couples. 	to compare maternal-fetal attachment (MFA) and paternal-fetal attachment (PFA) in terms of selected variables. cross-sectional study. three training hospitals in Ankara, Turkey. The study was performed between December 2005 and March 2006. a total of 144 pregnant women and 144 partners participated in the study; the response rate was 98%. there was a statistically significant difference between MFA and PFA scores (p&lt;0.001). A comparison of MFA and PFA scores according to the selected variables (education, employment status, planning of pregnancy, pregnancy risk status) revealed that the MFA scores for pregnant women were significantly higher than the PFA scores of their partners, except for unemployed partners. The MFA (rho=-0.24, p&lt;0.004) and PFA (rho=-0.32, p&lt;0.001) scores decreased with increasing age of both pregnant women and their partners. although partners have lower fetal attachment scores than pregnant women, it is important to recognise factors influencing the attachment of the mother and father towards their fetus. Prenatal midwives and nurses are in a unique position to assess attachment and to intervene to promote attachment behaviours. 
19499285	Antenatal maternal depressive mood and parental-fetal attachment at the end of pregnancy. 	The present study investigates if mothers and fathers have similar ways of thinking and feeling about their babies during late pregnancy and how aspects of parental-fetal attachment are related to maternal depressive mood. Two hundred and ninety-eight Swedish-speaking women at 30-32 weeks of gestation and partners (n = 274) participated in the study. Socio-demographic background data were collected. Prenatal attachment was assessed with the maternal/paternal-fetal attachment scale (MFA/PFA), and depressive symptoms were assessed by the Edinburgh postnatal depression scale (EPDS). MFA and PFA scores mirrored each other. After factor analysis, five different factors loaded somewhat differently for men were revealed as significant. These factors were (I) concerns about the fetus and health behavior, (II) mental preparation to take care of the unborn child, (III) experiences of pregnancy, (IV) experiences of fetal movements, and (V) naming of the baby. Factors III and IV were related to depressive symptoms. Mothers with slight depressive symptoms were somewhat less positive about the pregnancy but showed more attention to the fetal movements. Midwives should conduct interviews on the women's psychosocial history and use validated instruments, which may help them to identify problems with the psychosocial health of the mother and her partner as they journey through pregnancy and transition to parenthood. 
18245870	Perspectives of mothers with substance use problems on father involvement. 	A number of complex factors contribute to pregnant and parenting women's alcohol and substance use. To date, little research has focused on the implications, meaning and experiences of father involvement on mothers with substance use problems. The current study explores the experiences of mothers with substance use problems with respect to the role, impact and meaning of father involvement. This study conducted two focus groups utilizing a phenomenological approach. Mothers receiving clinical services at a comprehensive, community based program serving pregnant and parenting women with substance use problems were recruited to participate in this research. The meaning of father involvement among this group of women centered on four dimensions: emotional support, financial contributions to the family, amount and quality of time spent with the children and the family, and was dependent upon the particular expectations of the mother involved. Barriers and influences of father involvement were identified. The nature of father involvement had negative and positive impacts on participants. Maternal use of alcohol is a complex issue, one factor often ignored in father involvement. For mothers with substance use problems father involvement has a number of implications, both positive and negative. 
22484113	Effects of early life interventions and palatable diet on anxiety and on oxidative stress in young rats. 	Early life events can change biochemical, endocrine and behavioral aspects throughout the life of an animal. Since there is a strong relationship between stress, neonatal handling and feeding behavior, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of these three factors on behavioral parameters (anxiety and locomotion), oxidative stress in brain structures (prefrontal cortex and hippocampus) and on plasma glucose. Nests of Wistar rats were handled (10 min/day), or not (control groups), on days 1-10 after birth. Males from these groups were divided into 4 subgroups: (1) stressed by isolation in childhood (pre-puberty) and with access to a highly palatable diet (2) stressed by isolation and receiving standard lab chow (3) not isolated and receiving a highly palatable diet and (4) not isolated and receiving standard chow. The animals were kept under these conditions for 7 days. Rats receiving the highly palatable diet consumed more food, more calories, gained more weight and had a higher plasma glucose level, but had a lower caloric efficiency than the standard chow groups. Both handling and palatable diet were able to increase food consumption on the first day of isolation. Isolation stress had an anxiogenic effect in the plus maze, which was counteracted by handling. Palatable diet increased time spent in the central area of the open field apparatus and in the open arms of the elevated plus maze, showing an anxiolytic effect. The use of both these conditions, however, does not appear to bring additional protection against the effects of stress during this particular period of life, i.e., pre-puberty. In the prefrontal cortex, handling reduced thiol content and appears to imbalance the antioxidant enzymes system, which is counteracted by a palatable diet. Hippocampus seems to be more sensitive than the prefrontal cortex to early interventions, especially to the highly palatable diet, and both handling and diet appear to imbalance the antioxidant enzyme system. Thus, measurements of antioxidant enzymes activities indicate that handling may endanger some brain structures and that the palatable diet was able to prevent some handling effects on antioxidant enzymes, depending on the brain structure. 
20738520	Effects of angling on post-release mortality, gonadal development and somatic condition of Australian bass Macquaria novemaculeata. 	This study assessed the protracted effects of two angling treatments (mild and harsh) on the post-release mortality, gonadal development and somatic condition of Australian bass Macquaria novemaculeata in a pond-based experiment. Angled fish were destructively sampled (along with controls) three times: immediately before, and 1 or 4 weeks after release into cages. Compared with the other groups, harshly angled fish had similar, low immediate and short-term mortalities (&lt; or =5%), but significant delayed mortality (25%) and fed only minimally. None of these fish ejected ingested hooks. Forty-six per cent of captive fish (across all groups) and 20% of wild fish had non-ripening gonads (stage I) prior to, or during, the experiment. In females with ripening ovaries (stages II or III), neither angling treatment significantly reduced standardized gonadal mass. The mean per cent of atretic oocytes increased among females in all groups, but was significantly greater in those that were harshly angled. The results demonstrated that the gonadal development of M. novemaculeata could be suppressed or impaired (by angling, handling and confinement), and that further research is warranted. In particular, the timing and severity of angling in relation to the stage of gonadal development could have important implications for the introduction of temporal restrictions to angling. 
20637267	Effects of burrow condition and seed handling time on hoarding strategies of Edward's long-tailed rat (Leopoldamys edwardsi). 	Many hoarding rodents use burrows not only for dwelling and protection from natural enemies, but also for food storage. However, little is known how burrows used by scatter-hoarding animals influence their foraging behaviors. In addition, handling time for a given food item has a fundamental impact on hoarding strategies of these hoarding animals: food items with longer handling time are more likely to be hoarded due to increasing predation risk because the animals spend more time outside their burrows if they consumed such food. By providing with two types of artificial burrows (aboveground vs. underground) and two types of food items (i.e. seeds) with contrasting handling times, we investigated how burrow condition and handling time co-influence hoarding strategies of a key scatter-hoarding rodent, Edward's long-tailed rat (Leopoldamys edwardsi) in large enclosures in southwest China. We found that only a few animals larder-hoarded fewer seeds when only aboveground burrows were available, while over 80% of the animals preferred to use the underground burrows and hoard significantly more seeds in the burrows when both aboveground and underground burrows were provided simultaneously. We also found that seed handling time significantly affected hoarding strategies of the animals: they consumed and/or scatter-hoarded more Camellia oleifera seeds with shorter handling time outside the burrow, but consumed and larder-hoarded more Lithocarpus harlandii seeds with longer handling time in underground burrows. Our study indicates that both burrow types and seed handling time have important impacts on hoarding strategies of scatter-hoarding animals. 
20063351	Early life handling decreases serotonin turnover in the nucleus accumbens and affects feeding behavior of adult rats. 	In our previous studies, we reported that neonatally handled rats have an increased ingestion of sweet food but are resistant to the damaging effects of a chronic exposure to a highly palatable diet. Accumbal serotonin (5-HT) is important for feeding behavior and plays a role in the vulnerability to diet-induced obesity. Therefore, our hypotheses were (1) 5-HT turnover in the nucleus accumbens is altered in neonatally handled animals and plays a role in their differential feeding behavior and (2) if this is so, a chronic pharmacological treatment affecting 5-HT reuptake (chronic imipramine) would be able to revert the behavioral findings. Litters were divided into nonhandled and handled (10 min/day, Days 1-10 after birth). In Experiment 1, we demonstrated that a decreased 5-HT metabolism in the nucleus accumbens was observed in adult handled animals. In Experiment 2, the two previous groups were subdivided and assigned to receive imipramine diluted in water or water alone. After 30 days of treatment, we evaluated their weight gain and feeding behavior. Handled rats weighed less than nonhandled rats, and all imipramine-treated rats showed a reduction in weight gain after 60 days of treatment. Imipramine reverted the increased sweet food consumption seen in neonatally handled rats. We conclude that serotonin is involved in the altered feeding behavior of neonatally handled rats, and this protocol is an important tool for studying the mechanisms by which early life events have a long-term impact on feeding preferences. 
19594284	Early maternal separation increases symptoms of activity-based anorexia in male and female rats. 	Running activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, increasing the release of stress hormones known to exert anorexic effects. HPA axis reactivity is strongly influenced by early postnatal manipulations, including removal of pups from the dam for short (handling) or prolonged (maternal separation) durations during the preweaning period. The authors examined the effects of handling and maternal separation on food intake, body weight loss, and running rates of young adult male and female rats in the activity-based anorexia (ABA) paradigm. Postnatal treatment did not affect adaptation to a 1-hr restricted feeding schedule before the introduction of wheel running. During the ABA paradigm, maternally separated animals lost weight faster, ate less, ran more, and required fewer days to reach removal criterion compared with handled rats. Females were particularly vulnerable. These findings indicate that early postnatal treatment and sex influence ABA. 
18191962	Both infantile stimulation and exposure to sweet food lead to an increased sweet food ingestion in adult life. 	We have reported that neonatal handling leads to increased sweet food preference in adult life. Our aim was to verify if these differences in feeding behavior appear before puberty, and whether other types of intervention in periadolescence (such as exposure to toys) could interfere with sweet food consumption later in life. Nests of Wistar rats were (1) non-handled or (2) handled (10 min/day) on days 1-10 after birth. Males from these groups were subdivided in two subgroups: one was habituated to sweet food (Froot Loops-Kellogs) in a new environment for 4 days and tested for sweet food preference at age 27 days, before submitting to a new habituation and test for sweet food ingestion again in adult life. The other subgroup was habituated and tested only in adulthood. In another set of experiments, neonatally non-handled rats were exposed or not to a new environment with toys in periadolescence, and tested for sweet food ingestion as adults. Neonatal handling increases sweet food consumption only if the habituation and tests are performed after puberty. Interestingly, infant exposure to sweet food had a similar effect as neonatal handling, since controls that were exposed to sweet food at age 22 to 27 days increased their ingestion as adults. Exposure to toys in periadolescence had the same effect. We suggest that an intervention during the first postnatal days or exposure to an enriched environment later in the pre-pubertal period leads to behavioral alterations that persist through adulthood, such as increased sweet food ingestion. 
17904557	Glucocorticoid response to food availability in breeding barn swallows (Hirundo rustica). 	Parents feeding altricial nestlings have to trade-off the competing demands of self-maintenance and reproductive investment over their lifetime. Corticosterone, a glucocorticoid hormone released by birds in response to stressors, might play a key role in regulating parental investment when conditions unexpectedly deteriorate. However, birds breeding in unpredictable environmental conditions have been shown not to increase circulating levels of corticosterone as a response to bad weather to avoid nest abandonment when investment in offspring is high or when the probability of re-nesting is low. We investigated whether parent barn swallows Hirundo rustica, a passerine bird whose aerial insect food varies greatly in abundance depending on weather, also belongs to those species or whether it responds with an activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis to natural variation in insect availability. We correlated plasma corticosterone levels of parents with weather conditions, the availability of aerial insects and parental body condition. Plasma corticosterone concentrations increased when mean daytime temperature declined, and consequently insect availability decreased and body condition of the parents deteriorated. Low temperatures also had a negative effect on body mass of the nestlings and there was a negative relationship between circulating corticosterone of parents and body mass of nestlings. We conclude that corticosterone is probably involved in the regulation of parental investment. 
18335494	Marked for life? Effects of early cage-cleaning frequency, delivery batch, and identification tail-marking on rat anxiety profiles. 	Daily handling of preweanling rats reduces their adult anxiety. Even routine cage-cleaning, involving handling, reduces adult anxiety compared with controls. Cage-cleaning regimes differ between animal breeders, potentially affecting rodent anxiety and experimental results. Here, 92 adult male rats given different cage-cleaning rates as pups, were compared on plus-maze, hyponeophagia, corticosterone, and handling tests. They were pair-housed and half were tail-marked for identification. Anxiety/stress profiles were unaffected by cage-cleaning frequency, suggesting that commercial-typical differences in husbandry contribute little variance to adult rat behavior. However, delivery batch affected some elevated plus-maze measures. Also, tail-marked rats spent three times longer on the plus-maze open arms than their unmarked cagemates, suggesting reduced anxiety, yet paradoxically they showed greater chromodacryorrhoea responses to handling, implying increased aversion to human contact. A follow-up study showed that rats avoided the odor released from the marker pen used. Thus, apparently trivial aspects of procedure can greatly affect experimental results. 
17667857	Could preference for palatable foods in neonatally handled rats alter metabolic patterns in adult life? 	Previous studies indicate that, in adulthood, neonatally handled rats consume more sweet food than nonhandled rats. The aim of the present study was to assess the effects of the chronic exposure to a palatable diet (chocolate) in adult neonatally handled rats. We measured the consumption of foods (standard lab chow and chocolate), body weight gain, abdominal fat deposition, and levels of plasma lipids, glucose, insulin, and corticosterone in adult neonatally handled (10 min/d, first 10 d of life) and nonhandled rats. We found an increased intake of chocolate in handled rats, but this consumption decreased over time. Handled male animals exhibited higher body weight, higher caloric efficiency, and lower triglyceride levels. Nonhandled females that were exposed long-term to the highly caloric diet had increased abdominal fat deposition compared with handled females. Overall female rats had increased abdominal fat deposition, higher total cholesterol and glucose levels, and lower insulin in comparison with males. Interestingly, chocolate consumption diminished the weight of the adrenal glands in both handled and nonhandled animals. These findings suggest that neonatal handling induces a particular metabolic pattern that is sex specific. 
17420046	Social approach behaviors in oxytocin knockout mice: comparison of two independent lines tested in different laboratory environments. 	Oxytocin mediates social affiliation behaviors and social memory in rodents. It has been suggested that disruptions in oxytocin contribute to the deficits in reciprocal social interactions that characterize autism. The present experiments employed a new social approach task for mice which is designed to detect low levels of sociability, representing the first diagnostic criterion for autism. Two lines of oxytocin knockout mice were tested, the National Institute of Mental Health line in Bethesda, and the Baylor/Emory line at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Similar methods were used for each line to evaluate tendencies to spend time with a stranger mouse versus with an inanimate novel object with no social valence. Adult C57BL/6J males were tested identically, as controls to confirm the robustness of the methods used in the social task. Comprehensive phenotyping of general health, neurological reflexes, olfactory and other sensory abilities, and motor functions was employed to assess both lines. No genotype differences were detected in any of the control measures for either line. Normal sociability, measured as time spent with a novel stranger mouse as compared to time spent with a novel object, was seen in both the NIMH and the Baylor/Emory lines of oxytocin null mutants, heterozygotes, and wild-type littermate controls. Normal preference for social novelty, measured as time spent with a second novel stranger as compared to time spent with a more familiar mouse, was seen in both the NIMH and the Baylor/Emory lines of oxytocin null mutants, heterozygotes, and wild-type littermate controls, with minor exceptions. Similar behavioral results from two independent targeted gene mutations, generated with different targeting vectors, bred on different genetic backgrounds, and tested in different laboratory environments, corroborates the negative findings on sociability in oxytocin mutant mice. Intact tendencies to spend time with another mouse versus with a novel object, in both lines of oxytocin knockouts, supports an interpretation that oxytocin plays a highly specific role in social memory, but is not essential for general spontaneous social approach in mice. 
16889839	Satiety assessment in neonatally handled rats. 	We have previously demonstrated that neonatal handling increases sweet food ingestion. In the present study, we examined whether food intake, using different kinds of food, is altered in neonatally handled animals, with or without inducing satiety using a sucrose solution. Abdominal fat, glycemia and hormones linked to appetite including leptin, ghrelin and insulin were also measured. We tested palatable food consumption in the homecage to verify whether environmental cues could influence ingestion. Nests of Wistar rats were either (1) non-handled or (2) handled (10 min/day). Handling was performed on days 1-10 after birth. When adults, rats were habituated to sweet food (Froot Loops, Kellogg's) and to palatable fiber pellets (Fiber One), Nestlé). Sweet food consumption was increased in the neonatally handled group, when tested in the homecage, and also in the satiety experiment. These rats displayed a satiety curve when compared to the control group, which ate less but constantly. Handled rats exposed to a sucrose solution decreased sweet food ingestion, which did not occur in the control group. When exposed to a food with complex carbohydrates, these differences disappeared. There were no differences in body weight, abdominal fat or in glycemia, as well as no differences in plasma levels of insulin or leptin. However, ghrelin was decreased in neonatally handled rats. Neonatally handled rats demonstrated an increased consumption of sweet food, satiety responses to sucrose, as well as decreased levels of plasma ghrelin. It is possible that signaling mechanisms related to satiety, both peripherally and/or centrally may contribute to these behavioral findings. 
24974270	Dung beetles in an avian-dominated island ecosystem: feeding and trophic ecology. 	Globally, dung beetles (Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) are linked to many critical ecosystem processes involving the consumption and breakdown of mammal dung. Endemic New Zealand dung beetles (Canthonini) are an anomaly, occurring at high abundance and low diversity on an island archipelago historically lacking terrestrial mammals, except bats, and instead dominated by birds. Have New Zealand's dung beetles evolved to specialise on bird dung or carrion, or have they become broad generalist feeders? We test dietary preferences by analysing nitrogen isotope ratios of wild dung beetles and by performing feeding behaviour observations of captive specimens. We also use nitrogen and carbon stable isotopes to determine if the dung beetle Saphobius edwardsi will consume marine-derived carrion. Nitrogen isotope ratios indicated trophic generalism in Saphobius dung beetles and this was supported by behavioural observations where a broad range of food resources were utilised. Alternative food resource use was further illustrated experimentally by nitrogen and carbon stable isotope signatures of S. edwardsi, where individuals provided with decomposed squid had δ(15)N and δ(13)C values that had shifted toward values associated with marine diet. Our findings suggest that, in the absence of native mammal dung resources, New Zealand dung beetles have evolved a generalist diet of dung and carrion. This may include marine-derived resources, as provided by the seabird colonies present in New Zealand forests before the arrival of humans. This has probably enabled New Zealand dung beetles to persist in indigenous ecosystems despite the decline of native birds and the introduction of many mammal species. 
24265428	Modulation of appetite and feeding behavior of the larval mosquito Aedes aegypti by the serotonin-selective reuptake inhibitor paroxetine: shifts between distinct feeding modes and the influence of feeding status. 	The effects of the serotonin-selective reuptake inhibitor paroxetine (2×10(-5) mol l(-1)) on behavior of the larval mosquito Aedes aegypti are described. Four discrete behavioral states dominate larval behavior: wriggling, two distinct types of feeding, and quiescence. Feeding behaviors consist of foraging along the bottom of the container (substrate browsing), and stationary filter feeding while suspended from the surface film. Fed larvae respond to paroxetine with increased wriggling, and reductions in both feeding behaviors. In contrast, food-deprived larvae treated with paroxetine show no change in the proportion of time spent wriggling or feeding, but shift from stationary filter feeding to substrate browsing. Thus, actions of paroxetine in fed larvae are consistent with suppression of appetite and stimulation of wriggling, whereas paroxetine causes food-deprived larvae to switch from one feeding behavior to another. Further analysis of unfed larvae revealed that paroxetine decreased the power stroke frequency during wriggling locomotion, but had no effect on the swimming velocity during either wriggling or substrate browsing. These data suggest that: (1) serotonergic pathways may trigger shifts between distinct behaviors by actions on higher level (brain) integrating centers where behaviors such as feeding and locomotion are coordinated; (2) these centers in fed and food-deprived larvae respond differently to serotonergic stimulation suggesting sensory feedback from feeding status; and (3) serotonergic pathways also modulate central pattern generators of the nerve cord where the bursts of action potentials originate that drive the rhythmic muscle contractions of wriggling. 
23867558	The role of neural impulse control mechanisms for dietary success in obesity. 	Deficits in impulse control are discussed as key mechanisms for major worldwide health problems such as drug addiction and obesity. For example, obese subjects have difficulty controlling their impulses to overeat when faced with food items. Here, we investigated the role of neural impulse control mechanisms for dietary success in middle-aged obese subjects. Specifically, we used a food-specific delayed gratification paradigm and functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure eating-related impulse-control in middle-aged obese subjects just before they underwent a twelve-week low calorie diet. As expected, we found that subjects with higher behavioral impulse control subsequently lost more weight. Furthermore, brain activity before the diet in VMPFC and DLPFC correlates with subsequent weight loss. Additionally, a connectivity analysis revealed that stronger functional connectivity between these regions is associated with better dietary success and impulse control. Thus, the degree to which subjects can control their eating impulses might depend on the interplay between control regions (DLPFC) and regions signaling the reward of food (VMPFC). This could potentially constitute a general mechanism that also extends to other disorders such as drug addiction or alcohol abuse. 
23954410	Chronic stress exposure may affect the brain's response to high calorie food cues and predispose to obesogenic eating habits. 	Exaggerated reactivity to food cues involving calorically-dense foods may significantly contribute to food consumption beyond caloric need. Chronic stress, which can induce palatable &quot;comfort&quot; food consumption, may trigger or reinforce neural pathways leading to stronger reactions to highly rewarding foods. We implemented functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to assess whether chronic stress influences activation in reward, motivation and executive brain regions in response to pictures of high calorie and low calorie foods in thirty women. On separate lab visits, we also assessed food intake from a snack food buffet and circulating cortisol. In women reporting higher chronic stress (HCS), pictures of high calorie foods elicited exaggerated activity in regions of the brain involving reward, motivation, and habitual decision-making. In response to pictures of high calorie food, higher chronic stress was also associated with significant deactivation in frontal regions (BA10; BA46) linked to strategic planning and emotional control. In functional connectivity analysis, HCS strengthened connectivity between amygdala and the putamen, while LCS enhanced connectivity between amygdala and the anterior cingulate and anterior prefrontal cortex (BA10). A hypocortisolemic signature and more consumption of high calorie foods from the snack buffet were observed in the HCS group. These results suggest that persistent stress exposure may alter the brain's response to food in ways that predispose individuals to poor eating habits which, if sustained, may increase risk for obesity. 
23456036	Elevated amyloid-β plaque deposition in dietary selenium-deficient Tg2576 transgenic mice. 	Selenium-containing proteins (e.g., glutathione peroxidases) are important antioxidants in neuronal defense against oxidative stress. In this study, the production of amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques in the brain of the Tg2576 transgenic mice was investigated under dietary selenium-deficient conditions. The 16-week-old mice were fed a selenium-deficient diet (0.004 μg-selenium g(-1)-diet) or a selenium-adequate diet (0.386 μg-selenium g(-1) diet) for 76 weeks. The selenium concentrations of the organs/tissues in the selenium-deficient diet-fed mice were significantly decreased in comparison to those in the selenium-adequate diet-fed mice; 1.7% of that in the selenium-adequate diet-fed mice in the liver and 43% of that in the selenium-adequate diet-fed mice in the brain. The Aβ plaques formed in the brain were fluorescently stained with thioflavin T, and then the obtained images of the brain slices were qualitatively analyzed. The feeding of the selenium-deficient diet to the Tg2576 transgenic mice resulted in more than a two-fold increase in the total area of the Aβ plaques in comparison to that of the selenium-adequate diet. The elevated Aβ plaque deposition in the selenium-deficient mice can be explained as a consequence of decrease in the selenium concentration, which suggests that the selenium status is associated with the production and/or the clearance of the Aβ peptide. The selenium-deficiency could possibly promote the onset and/or progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia, if the Aβ peptides initiate a sequence of events that lead to AD dementia. Consequently, the results shown here suggest that AD has an important relation with the selenium status in vivo. 
22886450	Anatomical basis of sun compass navigation II: the neuronal composition of the central complex of the monarch butterfly. 	Each fall, eastern North American monarch butterflies in their northern range undergo a long-distance migration south to their overwintering grounds in Mexico. Migrants use a time-compensated sun compass to determine directionality during the migration. This compass system uses information extracted from sun-derived skylight cues that is compensated for time of day and ultimately transformed into the appropriate motor commands. The central complex (CX) is likely the site of the actual sun compass, because neurons in this brain region are tuned to specific skylight cues. To help illuminate the neural basis of sun compass navigation, we examined the neuronal composition of the CX and its associated brain regions. We generated a standardized version of the sun compass neuropils, providing reference volumes, as well as a common frame of reference for the registration of neuron morphologies. Volumetric comparisons between migratory and nonmigratory monarchs substantiated the proposed involvement of the CX and related brain areas in migratory behavior. Through registration of more than 55 neurons of 34 cell types, we were able to delineate the major input pathways to the CX, output pathways, and intrinsic neurons. Comparison of these neural elements with those of other species, especially the desert locust, revealed a surprising degree of conservation. From these interspecies data, we have established key components of a conserved core network of the CX, likely complemented by species-specific neurons, which together may comprise the neural substrates underlying the computations performed by the CX. 
24974644	Bioefficacy of a long-lasting insecticide impregnated net on blood feeding inhibition of Anopheles maculatus Theobald and Culex quinquefasciatus Say. 	This study aimed to evaluate the bioefficacy and blood feeding inhibition of mosquitoes under laboratory conditions using the WHO tunnel test method on unwashed and washed long-lasting insecticide impregnated net with extrinsic heat treatment of 30 degrees C followed by 80 degrees C on the same net during washing. PermaNet exhibited fairy high durability to washing (5 washes) and had fairy long-lasting bioefficacy against Anopheles maculatus for blood feeding inhibition on both unwashed (39 months) and washed (26 months) nets. However, Perma-Net exhibited lower bioefficacy against Culex quinquefasciatus. This study also suggested that the application of extrinsic heat treatment of 30 degrees C followed by an increased heat at 80 degrees C on the same net exerted significant differences (p &lt; 0.05) in mortality of both An. maculatus and Cx. quinquefasciatus. However, extrinsic heat treatment did not enhance any significant increase in blood feeding inhibition of both An. maculatus and Cx. quinquefasciatus (p &gt; 0.05). An. maculatus exhibited significant differences in resting preference after a successful blood meal, as more blood-fed and live females preferred to rest and stay near the bait in the mouse cage, and more dead and unfed females were found in the outer cage of both the unwashed and washed nets (p &lt; 0.05). Conversely, fully blood-fed and live Cx. quinquefasciatus females did not show any resting preference between the mouse cage and outer cage, but there were more dead and unfed females in the mouse cage of both the unwashed and washed nets (p &lt; 0.05). 
24681151	Parental behavior correlates to baseline corticosterone of mates and offspring in nesting eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis). 	Raising nestlings in a biparental species involves a complex and dynamic interaction of physiology and behavior among a group of organisms. Parents may be predicted to vary their behaviors based not only upon their own state, but also in relation to the states of both offspring and the other parent. In this study we explore the relationships between parental feeding behaviors and family member condition in eastern bluebirds, with a special emphasis on baseline corticosterone, a hormone associated with energy mediation and stress. We found that the overall number of feeding trips made by both male and female parents were positively correlated to the corticosterone levels of nestlings. Maternal, but not paternal, baseline corticosterone levels were positively correlated to nestling baseline corticosterone levels. Additionally, adult males' feeding behavior was positively correlated to adult females' baseline corticosterone levels. These findings suggest a complex interplay between parental behavior and physiological state not only within a given organism, but also across organisms operating within a family unit. In addition, these results provide evidence that paternal and maternal efforts are influenced by related but distinct pressures, and that male and female parenting may be governed differentially even in species with relatively equitable biparental care. 
23651611	Maternal testosterone influences a begging component that makes fathers work harder in chick provisioning. 	In species with biparental care, parents disagree evolutionarily over the amount of care that each of them is willing to provide to offspring. It has recently been hypothesised that females may try to manipulate their mates by modifying offspring begging behaviour through yolk hormone deposition, shifting the division of labour in their own favour. To test this hypothesis we first investigated how yellow-legged gull (Larus michaellis) parents feed offspring in relation to each component of complex begging behaviour and if feeding behaviour varies between sexes. Then we investigated the effect of yolk testosterone on chicks' begging by experimentally increasing yolk testosterone levels. Our results revealed that yolk testosterone has a component-specific effect on chicks' begging, specifically increasing the number of chatter calls. Parental feeding effort was influenced by the number of chatter calls emitted by chicks, but most importantly, the influence was stronger in male than in female parents. Moreover, chick body mass increased with the number of paternal feeds. In conclusion, these results show that female gulls may use yolk testosterone deposition to exploit their partners as predicted by the 'Manipulating Androgen Hypothesis (MAH)'. 
23073637	Size-biased allocation of prey from male to offspring via female: family conflicts, prey selection, and evolution of sexual size dimorphism in raptors. 	In birds with bi-parental care, the provisioning link between prey capture and delivery to dependent offspring is regarded as often symmetric between the mates. However, in raptors, the larger female usually broods and feeds the nestlings, while the smaller male provides food for the family, assisted by the female in the latter part of the nestling period, if at all. Prey items are relatively large and often impossible for nestlings to handle without extended maternal assistance. We video-recorded prey delivery and handling in nests of a raptor with a wide diet, the Eurasian kestrel Falco tinnunculus, and simultaneously observed prey transfer from male to female outside the nest. The male selectively allocated larger items, in particular birds and larger mammals, to the female for further processing and feeding of nestlings, and smaller items, in particular lizards and smaller mammals, directly to the nestlings for unassisted feeding. Hence, from the video, the female appeared to have captured larger prey than the male, while in reality no difference existed. The female's size-biased interception of the male's prey provisioning line would maximize the male's foraging time, and maximize the female's control of the allocation of food between her own need and that of the offspring. The male would maximize his control of food allocation by capturing smaller prey. This conflict would select for larger dominant females and smaller energy-efficient males, and induce stronger selection the longer the female depends on the male for self-feeding, as a proportion of the offspring dependence period. 
22325567	Response to begging calls by Zebra Finch parents: &quot;first come, first served&quot; rule may overcome a parental preference between chicks. 	In birds, parents may provide differential food provisioning among offspring according to their sex. Here, we test the hypothesis that events linked to the fine dynamics of begging behaviour could modulate parental preferences. After evaluating the preference related to chick sex for each parent of six Zebra Finch Taeniopygia guttata pairs, we studied the possible modifications of this preference when offspring begging was asynchronous. Our observations show that male parents follow a &quot;first come, first served&quot; rule, whereas females keep their initial choice. Although this study remains preliminary due to the sample size, it underlines the potential importance of investigating fine temporal features of begging behaviour to fully understand parents' provisioning strategies. 
21262291	Validation of the parent mealtime action scale (PMAS) when applied to children referred to a hospital-based feeding clinic. 	The purpose of this study was to validate the Parent Mealtime Action Scale (PMAS) when applied to a clinical sample of 231 children with feeding problems and then to examine its association with demographic variables, diet, and weight. Parents completed questionnaires that included the PMAS, the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire, and measure of diet variety. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed good fit for the nine dimensions of parent mealtime action found in the original PMAS study. Results from the present study suggest that the PMAS provides a valid tool for measuring parent mealtime actions of hospital samples of children with feeding problems. 
18978766	Recent experiences of weight-based stigmatization in a weight loss surgery population: psychological and behavioral correlates. 	This study evaluated the association between experiences of weight-based stigmatization (e.g., job discrimination, inappropriate comments from physicians) within the past month, psychological functioning, and binge eating among a sample of individuals seeking weight loss surgery. Ninety-four obese adults (25 males and 69 females) seeking weight loss surgery underwent a diagnostic clinical interview and completed a battery of self-report questionnaires measuring experiences of weight-related stigmatization, psychological adjustment, and binge eating behavior. Weight-based stigmatization was a common experience within the past month among participants. Frequency of stigmatizing experiences was negatively associated with self-esteem and positively associated with depression, anxiety, body image disturbance, and emotional eating. Recent experiences of stigmatization were associated with a diagnosis of binge eating disorder. Weight-based stigmatization is a common experience among obese individuals seeking weight loss surgery, and these experiences are associated with deleterious consequences. It appears that environmental barriers (e.g., chairs too small, not being able to find medical equipment in an appropriate size) and interpersonal attacks are the most common stigmatizing experiences. These data justify future studies to better understand causal relationships and efforts to design and test interventions aimed at reducing weight-based stigmatization and the associated negative consequences. 
17095424	Patients' awareness of symptoms of dysphagia. 	To assess geriatric patients' assessment of their clinical symptoms of dysphagia by means of a customized dysphagia screening tool and the usefulness of this assessment to health care professionals. The screening tool was distributed to an appropriate cohort and the entries correlated with results of standard speech-language pathology clinical assessments. A large long-term care/subacute rehabilitation facility. There were 199 new admissions screened. The patients included 74 (37.2%) males and 125 (60.8%) females. Patients' ages ranged from 50 to 98 with the mean age of 79.9 years. The screening tool used requires yes/no patient responses to 9 clinical indicators of dysphagia: difficulty keeping liquids in the mouth; coughing after drinking; shortness of breath while drinking; voice change after drinking; coughing after eating; shortness of breath after eating; food getting stuck in the mouth/throat when eating; voice change after eating; difficulty with saliva. After completing the questionnaire, the speech-language pathologist then conducted a standard bedside swallowing examination using the same 9 indicators. The findings suggest that although patients are less discriminating than clinicians in recognizing swallowing problems, the screening tool as a generalized indicator of potential for dysphagia is consistent and reliable. Individual items should not be used as indicators of dysphagia, but as a whole, the screening tool completed by patients is a reliable indicator of potential for dysphagia. Patients' awareness of their own swallowing impairment represents an important aspect of functional recovery. The findings of the study indicate that when patients self-identify a swallowing problem, the speech-language pathologist also identifies the existence of a problem, although not the same problem identified by the patient, with the same intensity or with the same manifestation. 
11195558	Diagnoses and interactive patterns of infants referred to a community-based infant mental health clinic. 	To describe the distribution of symptoms and diagnoses in a community-based infant mental health clinic and to compare play and feeding interactions of referred and nonreferred infants. The Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood (DC 0-3) was used to diagnose 113 referred infants (60% were boys). Thirty additional dyads were matched with 30 nonreferred dyads. Feeding, play interactions, and home environment were compared. Two peaks of referral were found: 0 to 6 and 12 to 18 months. The main reasons for referral were eating problems, sleep problems, aggressive behavior, irritability, and maternal depression. The most common DC 0-3 diagnosis was a combination of primary infant disorder, parent-child relationship disorder, and parental psychopathology. Mothers of referred children provided lower levels of sensitivity, support, and structuring of the interaction, and less optimal home environment. The dyadic relationship showed a lower degree of mutuality and higher negative exchanges. Feeding interactions elicited more negative interactions than play. Infants referred by community health workers showed less optimal mother-infant interactions and had less optimal environment, compared with nonreferred dyads. Symptoms of emotional distress in infancy are best apprehended when assessed in multi-institutional contexts and formulated in a multiaxial approach. 
1698524	Assessment and treatment of food aversion in a four year old boy: a multidimensional approach. 	Eating and mealtime problems are common in childhood. They are often stressful not only to the child, but to the entire family. In this case report we describe a multidimensional approach to the assessment and treatment of food aversion in a four year old boy. The integration of psychodynamic, systemic and behavioural concepts in the assessment and treatment is described. In addition we report on preliminary findings from the Children's Eating Behaviour Inventory, a new instrument under development, intended to assess eating and mealtime problems in children. 
24403426	Food intake monitoring: automated chew event detection in chewing sounds. 	The analysis of the food intake behavior has the potential to provide insights into the development of obesity and eating disorders. As an elementary part of this analysis, chewing strokes have to be detected and counted. Our approach for food intake analysis is the evaluation of chewing sounds generated during the process of eating. These sounds were recorded by microphones applied to the outer ear canal of the user. Eight different algorithms for automated chew event detection were presented and evaluated on two datasets. The first dataset contained food intake sounds from the consumption of six types of food. The second dataset consisted of recordings of different environmental sounds. These datasets contained 68,094 chew events in around 18 h recording data. The results of the automated chew event detection were compared to manual annotations. Precision and recall over 80% were achieved by most of the algorithms. A simple noise reduction algorithm using spectral subtraction was implemented for signal enhancement. Its benefit on the chew event detection performance was evaluated. A reduction of the number of false detections by 28% on average was achieved by maintaining the detection performance. The system is able to be used for calculation of the chewing frequency in laboratory settings. 
24116407	Underwater behavior of sperm whales off Kaikoura, New Zealand, as revealed by a three-dimensional hydrophone array. 	Observations are presented of the vocal behavior and three dimensional (3D) underwater movements of sperm whales measured with a passive acoustic array off the coast of Kaikoura, New Zealand. Visual observations and vocal behaviors of whales were used to divide dive tracks into different phases, and depths and movements of whales are reported for each of these phases. Diving depths and movement information from 75 3D tracks of whales in Kaikoura are compared to one and two dimensional tracks of whales studied in other oceans. While diving, whales in Kaikoura had a mean swimming speed of 1.57 m/s, and, on average, dived to a depth of 427 m (SD = 117 m), spending most of their time at depths between 300 and 600 m. Creak vocalizations, assumed to be the prey capture phase of echolocation, occurred throughout the water column from sea surface to sea floor, but most occurred at depths of 400-550 m. Three dimensional measurement of tracking revealed several different &quot;foraging&quot; strategies, including active chasing of prey, lining up slow-moving or unsuspecting prey, and foraging on demersal or benthic prey. These movements provide the first 3D descriptions underwater behavior of whales at Kaikoura. 
24116543	Guyana dolphins (Sotalia guianensis) from Costa Rica emit whistles that vary with surface behaviors. 	Guyana dolphins show remarkable intraspecific whistle variation. This variation has been largely explained in terms of distance among populations; however, other factors such as behavior may also be important. A broadband recording system recorded the whistles of Guyana dolphins under three behavioral states. A discriminant analysis found that during social and travel events, dolphins emit whistles with high delta and minimum frequency, respectively. Whistle duration was also important in discriminating behaviors. This study indicates that behavior is an important factor contributing to whistle variation of Guyana dolphins. Understanding how dolphin whistles vary with behavioral context will advance our understanding of dolphin communication and enable appropriate comparative studies. 
23968047	Passive acoustic monitoring of Cook Inlet beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas). 	The endangered beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) population in Cook Inlet, AK faces threats from a variety of anthropogenic factors, including coastal development, oil and gas exploration, vessel traffic, and military activities. To address existing gaps in understanding about the occurrence of belugas in Cook Inlet, a project was developed to use passive acoustic monitoring to document the year-round distribution of belugas, as well as killer whales (Orcinus orca), which prey on belugas. Beginning in June 2009, ten moorings were deployed throughout the Inlet and refurbished every two to eight months. Despite challenging conditions consisting of strong tidal currents carrying debris and seasonal ice cover, 83% of mooring deployments were successfully recovered. Noise from water flow, vessel traffic, and/or industrial activities was present at several sites, potentially masking some signals. However, belugas were successfully detected at multiple locations. Detections were relatively common in the upper inlet and less common or absent at middle and lower inlet locations. Killer whale signals were also recorded. Some seasonal variability in the occurrence of both belugas and killer whales was evident. 
23968057	Acoustic detection probability of bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, with static acoustic dataloggers in Cardigan Bay, Wales. 	Acoustic dataloggers are used for monitoring the occurrence of cetaceans and can aid in fulfilling statutory monitoring requirements of protected species. Although useful for long-term monitoring, their spatial coverage is restricted, and for many devices the effective detection distance is not specified. A generalized additive mixed model (GAMM) was used to investigate the effects of (1) distance from datalogger, (2) animal behavior (feeding and traveling), and (3) group size on the detection probability of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) with autonomous dataloggers (C-PODs) validated with visual observations. The average probability of acoustic detection for minutes with a sighting was 0.59 and the maximum detection distance ranged from 1343-1779 m. Minutes with feeding activity had higher acoustic detection rates and longer average effective detection radius (EDR) than traveling ones. The detection probability for single dolphins was significantly higher than for groups, indicating that their acoustic behavior may differ from those of larger groups in the area, making them more detectable. The C-POD is effective at detecting dolphin presence but the effects of behavior and group size on detectability create challenges for estimating density from detections as higher detection rate of feeding dolphins could yield erroneously high density estimates in feeding areas. 
23636808	Echolocation in Blainville's beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris). 	Here we use sound and movement recording tags to study how deep-diving Blainville's beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) use echolocation to forage in their natural mesopelagic habitat. These whales ensonify thousands of organisms per dive but select only about 25 prey for capture. They negotiate their cluttered environment by radiating sound in a narrow 20° field of view which they sample with 1.5-3 clicks per metre travelled requiring only some 60 clicks to locate, select and approach each prey. Sampling rates do not appear to be defined by the range to individual targets, but rather by the movement of the predator. Whales sample faster when they encounter patches of prey allowing them to search new water volumes while turning rapidly to stay within a patch. This implies that the Griffin search-approach-capture model of biosonar foraging must be expanded to account for sampling behaviours adapted to the overall prey distribution. Beaked whales can classify prey at more than 15 m range adopting stereotyped motor patterns when approaching some prey. This long detection range relative to swimming speed facilitates a deliberate mode of sensory-motor operation in which prey and capture tactics can be selected to optimize energy returns during long breath-hold dives. 
23654414	Nighttime foraging by deep diving echolocating odontocetes off the Hawaiian islands of Kauai and Ni'ihau as determined by passive acoustic monitors. 	Remote autonomous ecological acoustic recorders (EARs) were deployed in deep waters at five locations around the island of Kauai and one in waters off Ni'ihau in the main Hawaiian island chain. The EARs were moored to the bottom at depths between 400 and 800 m. The data acquisition sampling rate was 80 kHz and acoustic signals were recorded for 30 s every 5 min to conserve battery power and disk space. The acoustic data were analyzed with the M3R (Marine Mammal Monitoring on Navy Ranges) software, an energy-ratio-mapping algorithm developed at Oregon State University and custom MATLAB programs. A variety of deep diving odontocetes, including pilot whales, Risso's dolphins, sperm whales, spinner and pan-tropical spotted dolphins, and beaked whales were detected at all sites. Foraging activity typically began to increase after dusk, peaked in the middle of the night and began to decrease toward dawn. Between 70% and 84% of biosonar clicks were detected at night. At present it is not clear why some of the known deep diving species, such as sperm whales and beaked whales, concentrate their foraging efforts at night. 
23654415	Variation in the production rate of biosonar signals in freshwater porpoises. 	The biosonar (click train) production rate of ten Yangtze finless porpoises and their behavior were examined using animal-borne data loggers. The sound production rate varied from 0 to 290 click trains per 10-min time interval. Large individual differences were observed, regardless of body size. Taken together, however, sound production did not differ significantly between daytime and nighttime. Over the 172.5 h of analyzed recordings, an average of 99.0% of the click trains were produced within intervals of less than 60 s, indicating that during a 1-min interval, the number of click trains produced by each porpoise was typically greater than one. Most of the porpoises exhibited differences in average swimming speed and depth between day and night. Swimming speed reductions and usage of short-range sonar, which relates to prey-capture attempts, were observed more often during nighttime. However, biosonar appears to be affected not only by porpoise foraging, but also by their sensory environment, i.e., the turbid Yangtze River system. These features will be useful for passive acoustic detection of the porpoises. Calculations of porpoise density or abundance should be conducted carefully because large individual differences in the sound production rate will lead to large estimation error. 
24184143	The dominant/subordinate relationship between mice modifies the approach behavior toward a cage mate experiencing pain. 	Many species display approach behavior to conspecifics. This study evaluated approach behavior exhibited by mice toward a cage mate in pain according to the social relationship between the mice. The relative dominant/subordinate relationship among three cage mates was determined using a competitive food retrieval test. Social preference of the subordinate mouse for the mid-status or dominant cage mate was tested with and without pain induced in the dominant cage mate. Social preference of the dominant mouse was similarly tested with and without pain induced in the subordinate cage mate. Subordinate mice spent more time with the dominant cage mate in pain than with the mid-status cage mate but spent a similar amount of time with dominant and mid-status cage mates that were not in pain. Dominant mice spent a similar amount of time with subordinate and mid-status cage mates regardless of pain. The time that subordinate mice spent with the dominant cage mate in pain inversely correlated with dominancy distance between the two mice. These results demonstrate that social relationship can modify perception of the pain of others. 
24220795	The energy-maintenance strategy of goitered gazelles Gazella subgutturosa during rut. 	In many polygynous ruminant species, males decrease their food intake considerably during the rut. To explain this phenomenon of rut-reduced hypophagia, two main hypotheses, the Foraging-Constraint Hypothesis and Energy-Saving Hypothesis, have been proposed. In our research, we assessed the behavioral strategy of goitered gazelles (Gazella subgutturosa) through the rutting period. According to our findings, male goitered gazelles spent less time feeding during the rut compared to pre- and post-rut feeding times, but then maximized their energy intake during the rutting season when they were not engaged in rut-related behaviors. Females, in contrast, did not change their time budgets across the different stages of the rut. Therefore, rut-induced hypophagia is mainly arising from the constraints of rut-related behaviors for male goitered gazelles, so that the Foraging-Constraint Hypothesis better explains their strategy during rut. 
24345518	Group display in the socially monogamous Northern Double-collared Sunbird (Cinnyris reichenowi). 	Several sunbird species (Nectariniidae) exhibit group display, but the function of this behaviour still remains unclear. We test two hypotheses (reproductive tactic and joint territory defence) to explain the function of this behaviour using data gathered on Northern Double-collared Sunbirds (Cinnyris reichenowi) from the Cameroon Mountains. Sunbirds exhibited group display throughout the breeding cycle. Groups of birds were mainly comprised of neighbouring pairs aggregated at territory boundaries. The frequency of group displays varied significantly among individuals and over the breeding cycle, with the highest frequency during the pre-breeding period and the lowest during egg-laying (∼female's fertile period). Time spent on group display was significantly longer at the end of breeding. Off-territory forays were recorded for both males and females, males significantly increased the time spent on these forays during incubation. Extra-pair copulations were recorded only in five cases for females (4%) suggesting that most off-territory forays were motivated by feeding on nectar in neighbouring territories. Therefore, we suggest that the behaviour is used for joint territory defence rather than as an information centre for choosing mates for extra-pair copulations. Its function for choosing primary mates is also unlikely, because group displays were mainly observed in complete pairs. 
24282141	The effect of energetic and psychosocial stressors on glucocorticoids in mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata). 	The proximate causes of variation in glucocorticoids (GCs) of many free-ranging primates are still unclear, and in some cases, the available evidence is contradictory. Such is the case of mantled howler monkeys. In the present study, we tested whether variation in GC levels in this species could be predicted by energetic challenges or by psychosocial stressors. We focused on two groups living in Los Tuxtlas (Veracruz, Mexico) that differed in a number of parameters including: group size, habitat size, number of groups, and solitary males within the same habitat. Furthermore, one of the groups experienced changes in composition during our observations. From March to December 2009 we determined food availability in each group's habitat, studied the behavior of all adult individuals (N = 17), including, feeding, time budgets, ranging, and social interactions (N = 426.6 h), and measured weekly GCs in fecal samples (N = 160 individual/weeks) of both females and males. We found that participation in agonistic interactions, which were more frequent in the group that lived in the smaller habitat, was associated with increased weekly GCs, particularly in pregnant and lactating females. During the dry season weekly GCs were also higher in the group that lived in the smaller habitat. Although in this group individuals significantly increased travel time during the dry season, weekly GC levels were unrelated to time-budgets or ranging distances, contrasting with previous findings on mantled howler monkeys' GC response. We found no evidence that weekly variation in GC levels between groups resulted from differences in food availability. Our results indicate that mantled howler monkey GC levels respond to the effects of agonism, reproductive state, and the influence of a seasonal stressor, which may be attributable to anthropogenic disturbance. We conclude that psychosocial stressors affect the GC response of mantled howler monkeys, and that this response is modulated by reproductive state. 
24323447	Short-term separation from groups by male Japanese macaques: costs and benefits in feeding behavior and social interaction. 	To expand our understanding of fission-fusion behavior and determine its variability among primates, studies of both individual-based and group-based fission-fusion are necessary. We conducted a parallel tracking study of male and female Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata yakui) during the non-mating season to clarify the general features of separate ranging by males of this species, an example of fission-fusion behavior, and to reveal its associated costs and benefits. Males frequently engaged in short-term separate ranging, leaving the company of females and ranging on their own for periods averaging 68 min in duration. However, the males did not venture outside the group's home range. When ranging separately from the group, males spent more time feeding, particularly on fruit, stayed longer in each feeding tree, and fed at a lower rate than when ranging with the group. These behavioral changes suggest that males can avoid within-group feeding competition by ranging alone. However, this behavior was also associated with higher traveling costs, and these separated males were more vulnerable to intergroup competition and had fewer opportunities for social interaction. The frequency of separate ranging was lower when highly clumped food plant species were the main food source. Lower-ranked males, who received more aggression when ranging with the group, exhibited a higher frequency of separate ranging. This behavioral flexibility with respect to group cohesion may allow males to reduce the costs of group living without completely losing the benefits. Specifically, by ranging alone, males may acquire sufficient feeding time without being disturbed by other group members. Conversely, when ranging with the group, males can access grooming partners and advantages in intergroup competition. 
24472205	Facilitative effects of group feeding on performance of the saddleback caterpillar (Lepidoptera: Limacodidae). 	Gregarious feeding by insect herbivores is a widely observed, yet poorly understood, behavioral adaptation. Previous research has tested the importance of group feeding for predator deterrence, noting the ubiquity of aposematism among group-feeding insects, but few studies have examined the role of feeding facilitation for aggregates of insect herbivores. We tested the hypothesis that group feeding has facilitative effects on performance of the saddleback caterpillar, Acharia stimulea Clemens, a generalist herbivore of deciduous trees. In an understory forest setting, we reared caterpillars alone or in groups on two different host plants, white oak (Quercus alba L.) and American beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrlich), and recorded multiple measures of insect performance during regular field censuses. As predicted, A. stimulea caterpillars feeding in groups on white oak had increased relative growth rates compared with caterpillars feeding alone, and the magnitude of this facilitative effect varied among censuses, conferring benefits both early and late in development. By contrast, no facilitative effects of group feeding were detected on beech, suggesting that the benefits of facilitative feeding may be host specific. On both hosts, caterpillar development time was slightly faster for group-feeding cohorts compared with their solitary counterparts. Because early instar caterpillars are particularly vulnerable to predation and parasitism, even modest increases in growth rates and reductions in development time may decrease exposure time to enemies during these vulnerable stages. On both hosts, group feeding also reduced the trade-off between individual development time and cocoon mass, suggesting that feeding efficiency is improved in group feeders relative to solitary caterpillars. 
24184143	The dominant/subordinate relationship between mice modifies the approach behavior toward a cage mate experiencing pain. 	Many species display approach behavior to conspecifics. This study evaluated approach behavior exhibited by mice toward a cage mate in pain according to the social relationship between the mice. The relative dominant/subordinate relationship among three cage mates was determined using a competitive food retrieval test. Social preference of the subordinate mouse for the mid-status or dominant cage mate was tested with and without pain induced in the dominant cage mate. Social preference of the dominant mouse was similarly tested with and without pain induced in the subordinate cage mate. Subordinate mice spent more time with the dominant cage mate in pain than with the mid-status cage mate but spent a similar amount of time with dominant and mid-status cage mates that were not in pain. Dominant mice spent a similar amount of time with subordinate and mid-status cage mates regardless of pain. The time that subordinate mice spent with the dominant cage mate in pain inversely correlated with dominancy distance between the two mice. These results demonstrate that social relationship can modify perception of the pain of others. 
25082262	Surface feeding and aggressive behaviour of diploid and triploid brown trout Salmo trutta during allopatric pair-wise matchings. 	Diploid and triploid brown trout Salmo trutta were acclimated for 6 weeks on two feeding regimes (floating and sinking). Thereafter, aggression and surface feeding response were compared between pairs of all diploid, all triploid and diploid and triploid S. trutta in an experimental stream. In each pair-wise matching, fish of similar size were placed in allopatry and rank was determined by the total number of aggressive interactions recorded. Dominant individuals initiated more aggression than subordinates, spent more time defending a territory and positioned themselves closer to the surface food source (Gammarus pulex), whereas subordinates occupied the peripheries. In cross ploidy trials, diploid S. trutta were more aggressive than triploid, and dominated their sibling when placed in pair-wise matchings. Surface feeding, however, did not differ statistically between ploidy irrespective of feeding regime. Triploids adopted a sneak feeding strategy while diploids expended more time defending a territory. In addition, we also tested whether triploids exhibit a similar social dominance to diploids when placed in allopatry. Although aggression was lower in triploid pairs than in the diploid and triploid pairs, a dominance hierarchy was also observed between individuals of the same ploidy. Dominant triploid fish were more aggressive and consumed more feed items than subordinate individuals. Subordinate fish displayed a darker colour index than dominant fish suggesting increased stress levels. Dominant triploid fish, however, appeared to be more tolerant of subordinate individuals and did not display the same degree of invasive aggression as seen in the diploid and diploid or diploid and triploid matchings. These novel findings suggest that sterile triploid S. trutta feed similarly but are less aggressive than diploid trout. Future studies should determine the habitat choice of triploid S. trutta after release and the interaction between wild fish and triploids during the breeding season prior to utilization of triploids as an alternative management strategy within freshwater fisheries. 
24388282	Exposure variability of fosfomycin administered to pigs in food or water: impact of social rank. 	The objective of this study was to document the effect of social ranking on the internal exposure of pigs to an antibiotic (fosfomycin) administered either in food or in drinking water. Signs of aggression were recorded at the feeder and drinker. The interindividual variability explained by the social rank was even greater when the test antibiotic was given in food despite the fact that the water consumption was less variable than the food intake. The range of plasma concentrations after administration of fosfomycin either in food or drinking water leads to a number of pigs in the treated group being exposed to rather low and highly variable concentrations of fosfomycin and not able to maintain adequate plasma concentrations above the typical minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Social rank clearly influences the level of exposure of pigs to fosfomycin both in food and drinking. However, its administration in drinking water is likely to be the best option to optimize antibiotic efficacy. 
23921217	Relationship between gilt behavior and meat quality using principal component analysis. 	Pig on-farm behavior has important repercussions on pig welfare and performance, but generally its relationship with meat quality is not well understood. We used principal component analysis to determine the relationship between meat quality traits, feeding patterns, scale activity, and number of conflict-avoidance interactions. The first principal component indicated that gilts with greater daily feed intake stayed longer in the feeder and their meat had increased intramuscular fat (IMF), was lighter in color, and, in the second principal component, had better juiciness, tenderness, chewiness, and flavor. Meat from gilts with lower scale activity scores appeared to have more IMF but greater drip losses (DL). The third principal component suggested that dominant gilts could gain priority access to the feeder, eating more and growing fatter. In conclusion, except for the slight associations with IMF and DL, gilt scale activity and conflict-avoidance behaviors were not good indicators of final meat quality attributes. 
24184773	Food availability and competition do not modulate the costs of Plasmodium infection in dominant male canaries. 	Understanding the different factors that may influence parasite virulence is of fundamental interest to ecologists and evolutionary biologists. It has recently been demonstrated that parasite virulence may occur partly through manipulation of host competitive ability. Differences in competitive ability associated with the social status (dominant or subordinate) of a host may determine the extent of this competition-mediated parasite virulence. We proposed that differences between subordinate and dominant birds in the physiological costs of infection may change depending on the level of competition in social groups. We observed flocks of domestic canaries to determine dominant or subordinate birds, and modified competition by providing restricted (high competition) or ad libitum food (low competition). Entire flocks were then infected with either the avian malaria parasite, Plasmodium relictum or a control. Contrary to our predictions we found that the level of competition had no effect on the outcome of infection for dominant or subordinate birds. We found that dominant birds appeared to suffer greater infection mediated morbidity in both dietary treatments, with a higher and more sustained reduction in haematocrit, and higher parasitaemia, than subordinates. Our results show that dominance status in birds can certainly alter parasite virulence, though the links between food availability, competition, nutrition and virulence are likely to be complex and multifaceted. 
23575868	Behavioral correlates of post-breeding weight change in a captive flock of American flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber ruber). 	In a captive flock of American flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber ruber), a pattern of weight loss after the breeding season was observed in the majority of individuals of both sexes, but weights eventually stabilized after several months. Social dominance (as determined by a 6-month behavioral study) was a highly significant predictor of early post-breeding weight loss, with dominant individuals undergoing less severe weight loss over this period; and behavioral observations supported the hypothesis that social dominance enhanced access to food in both males and females. Later in the study period, social dominance was no longer a significant predictor of weight changes, but rather individuals that had undergone previous large weight losses seemed to spend a greater amount of time feeding in an apparent effort to offset weight loss. Over the course of the study, there was a marked decline in both the proportion of agonistic encounters that were resolved and in the proportion of agonistic encounters that occurred at the feeder. These trends occurred even though there was no evidence of a decrease in overall use of the feeder. Thus, dominance-related differences with respect to food access and post-breeding weight loss appeared to be transitory phenomena, which corrected themselves as levels of aggression eventually declined. Intervention to increase the equality of food access in the post-breeding period may not be necessary in captive flamingo flocks, since low social rank in most cases appears not to have harmful long-term consequences. 
23242423	Tradeoffs, competition, and coexistence in eastern deciduous forest ant communities. 	Ecologists have long sought to explain the coexistence of multiple potentially competing species in local assemblages. This is especially challenging in species-rich assemblages in which interspecific competition is intense, as it often is in ant assemblages. As a result, a suite of mechanisms has been proposed to explain coexistence among potentially competing ant species: the dominance-discovery tradeoff, the dominance-thermal tolerance tradeoff, spatial segregation, temperature-based niche partitioning, and temporal niche partitioning. Through a series of observations and experiments, we examined a deciduous forest ant assemblage in eastern North America for the signature of each of these coexistence mechanisms. We failed to detect evidence for any of the commonly suggested mechanisms of coexistence, with one notable exception: ant species appear to temporally partition foraging times such that behaviourally dominant species foraged more intensely at night, while foraging by subdominant species peaked during the day. Our work, though focused on a single assemblage, indicates that many of the commonly cited mechanisms of coexistence may not be general to all ant assemblages. However, temporal segregation may play a role in promoting coexistence among ant species in at least some ecosystems, as it does in many other organisms. 
22617410	Collaborating for impact: a multilevel early childhood obesity prevention initiative. 	This article presents Healthy Kids, Healthy Futures, a multilevel initiative in Boston, Massachusetts, which brings major institutions' missions and resources together to address early childhood obesity prevention. Programming is designed to facilitate healthy eating and physical activity in preschool children's home, school, and community environments by engaging parents and early childhood educators in the places where they live, learn, and play. This article describes how established interventions were implemented in a novel setting to engage the parents of children attending Head Start and staff, and presents pilot data from the first 2 years of the initiative. Healthy Kids, Healthy Futures is a feasible initiative, which has shown concrete, positive results that can be replicated. 
21477628	Does meal duration predict amount consumed in lone diners? An evaluation of the time-extension hypothesis. 	The time-extension hypothesis has been proposed to describe why social facilitation (the tendency for presence of co-eaters to increase the amount eaten) occurs amongst groups of diners. However, it is possible that time-extension could increase the amount eaten in the absence of social effects. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess whether prolonged exposure to a food environment without social interaction could increase consumption. Lone diners (n=141) were observed eating in a fast food environment. The items consumed, meal duration, estimated demographics (sex, weight status and age) and whether or not the participant was reading were recorded unobtrusively. Lone diners who were reading spent longer eating (M=17.36; SD=8.23) than those who were not (M=8.88; SD=5.47), but energy intake was less than 200 kJ greater, and not overall related to time spent eating. The fact that time-extension did not alter the amount eaten in lone diners is discussed in the context of previous studies and the theory of social facilitation. 
20079788	Social modeling effects on snack intake among young men. The role of hunger. 	This study examined whether young men adjusted their snack-food intake to that of a same-sex eating companion. Additionally, hunger was assessed as a possible moderating variable. A total of 59 young men (M age=21.73) participated. An interaction between participants' hunger and confederate's intake on the total amount of snack food (in grams) consumed was found. Only those males who were hungry at the start of the experiment modeled the intake of their eating companion. This finding suggests that hunger may play an important role in explaining the magnitude of social modeling among young men. 
19501755	The effects of degree of acquaintance, plate size, and sharing on food intake. 	This study examined the effects of degree of acquaintance, plate size, and sharing on the amount of pasta individuals served themselves and subsequently consumed and whether or not they took second helpings. Fifty-seven pairs of female participants ate a meal of pasta; the members of each pair were either friends or strangers. During the meal, they served themselves either from a common serving bowl or from individual serving bowls and onto either small or large plates. The findings indicated that participants who ate with a friend served and consumed more than those who ate with a stranger, and those who shared served and consumed less than those who did not share. However, this sharing effect seemed to occur only when participants ate from small plates. Whether or not participants reported taking second helpings was influenced by all three of the independent variables. 
19181897	Priority rules govern the organization of traffic on foraging trails under crowding conditions in the leaf-cutting ant Atta colombica. 	Foraging in leaf-cutting ants is generally organized along well-defined recruitment trails supporting a bi-directional flow of outbound and nestbound individuals. This study attempts to reveal the priority rules governing the organization of traffic on these trails. Ants were forced to move on a narrow trail, allowing the passage of only two individuals at a time. In this condition, a desynchronization of inbound and outbound traffic was observed, involving the formation of alternating clusters of inbound and outbound ants. Most clusters of inbound ants were headed by laden ants followed by unladen ants. This occurred because inbound unladen ants did not attempt to overtake the laden ants in front of them. As unladen ants move on average faster than laden ants, these ants were thus forced to decrease their speed. By contrast, this decrease was counterbalanced by the fact that, by staying in a cluster instead of moving in isolation, inbound unladen ants limit the number of head-on encounters with outbound ants. Our analysis shows that the delay induced by these head-on encounters would actually be twice as high as the delay induced by the forced decrease in speed incurred by ants staying in a cluster. The cluster organization also promotes information transfer about the level of food availability by increasing the number of contacts between outbound and inbound laden ants, which could possibly stimulate these former to cut and retrieve leaf fragments when reaching the end of the trail. 
23861074	Hippocampal expression of aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator 2 and neuronal PAS domain protein 4 in a rat model of depression. 	The transcription factors aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator 2 (ARNT2) and neuronal PAS domain protein 4 (NPAS4) may influence emotion and cognitive function by regulating brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression in the hippocampus. We estimated hippocampal ARNT2 and NPAS4 expression in chronic unexpected mild stress (CUMS) rat model. The possible association was investigated between expression of these transcription factors and depressive behaviors. Behavioral tests were conducted before, during, and after 28 days of group housing or isolation plus CUMS. The sucrose solution consumption test was used to assess changes in interest and pleasure-seeking, and the open field test (OFT) was conducted to measure spontaneous activity and exploratory behavior. Expression levels of ARNT2 and NPAS4 were estimated by semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Compared to controls, rats subjected to isolation plus CUMS exhibited significantly reduced weight gain (t = 9.317, P = 0.000), sucrose consumption (t = 3.756, P = 0.003), horizontal ambulation (t = 2.362, P = 0.041), and number of rearings (vertical motion) (t = 2.268, P = 0.040). Relative hippocampal NPAS4 expression was significantly lower in depression model rats compared to controls (t = 2.995, P = 0.010) but there was no significant difference in hippocampal ARNT2 expression between groups (t = 0.091, P = 0.929). The relationship between the CUMS model of depression and NPAS4 expression requires further exploration. 
24123782	Enriched environment increases neurogenesis and improves social memory persistence in socially isolated adult mice. 	Social memory consists of the information necessary to identify and recognize cospecifics and is essential to many forms of social interaction. Social memory persistence is strongly modulated by the animal's experiences. We have shown in previous studies that social isolation (SI) in adulthood impairs social memory persistence and that an enriched environment (EE) prevents this impairment. However, the mechanisms involved in the effects of SI and EE on social memory persistence remain unknown. We hypothesized that the mechanism by which SI and EE affect social memory persistence is through their modulation of neurogenesis. To investigate this hypothesis, adult mice were submitted to 7 days of one of the following conditions: group-housing in a standard (GH) or enriched environment (GH+EE); social isolation in standard (SI) or enriched environment (SI+EE). We observed an increase in the number of newborn neurons in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus (DG) and glomerular layer of the olfactory bulb (OB) in both GH+EE and SI+EE mice. However, this increase of newborn neurons in the granule cell layer of the OB was restricted to the GH+EE group. Furthermore, both SI and SI+EE groups showed less neurogenesis in the mitral layer of the OB. Interestingly, the performance of the SI mice in the buried food-finding task was inferior to that of the GH mice. To further analyze whether increased neurogenesis is in fact the mechanism by which the EE improves social memory persistence in SI mice, we administered the mitotic inhibitor AraC or saline directly into the lateral ventricles of the SI+EE mice. We found that the AraC treatment decreased cell proliferation in both the DG and OB, and impaired social memory persistence in the SI+EE mice. Taken together, our results strongly suggest that neurogenesis is what supports social memory persistence in socially isolated mice. 
24402382	Examining change in social support and fruit and vegetable consumption in African American adults. 	To examine (a) inter-individual variation in African Americans' fruit and vegetable social support, behavior, and consumption trajectories by estimating latent growth curves (LGCs) and (b) the associations between these trajectories over time. As part of a larger intervention study, data were collected from mid-life and older African Americans yearly for three years. The study incorporated a quasi-experimental design with random selection of participants, stratifying for age and gender. Six churches in North Florida. Two hundred and thirty one (73% women; median age range of 57-63) older African Americans. A structured questionnaire elicited personal data as well as information on dietary social support, eating-related behaviors, and fruit and vegetable dietary intake. Age was positively associated with initial social support but negatively associated with the rate of change in social support. More important, the rate of change in dietary social support predicted eating-related behavior trajectories, which influenced the rate of change in fruit and vegetable consumption over time after controlling for the intervention. These findings illustrate the mediating role of eating-related behaviors and the inter-locking nature of social support, behavior and consumption trajectories. This research has implications for future research as well as community interventions and programs. 
23639432	A benzodiazepine impairs the neurogenic and behavioural effects of fluoxetine in a rodent model of chronic stress. 	Antidepressant agents such as fluoxetine have been shown to produce neurogenic effects involving transcriptional and translational changes that direct molecular and cellular plasticity. These cellular and molecular events appear necessary to mediate the therapeutic effects of fluoxetine and may be generated through the ability for fluoxetine to regulate BDNF levels. Clinically, benzodiazepines are frequently used in combination with standard antidepressants both for initial treatment and maintenance therapy, especially when comorbid anxiety is present. However, very little is known regarding the consequence of combined treatment of benzodiazepines and antidepressant on the development of clinical effect. The current study therefore examined the effect of co-administration of fluoxetine and the benzodiazepine, diazepam, on hippocampal neurogenesis in the social isolation rodent model of chronic stress. We demonstrate that 9 weeks of social isolation induces a deficit in motivational behaviour with increased anxiety as well as impairment in hippocampal neurogenesis. This was parallelled by reduced BDNF levels in the hippocampus. While treatment with fluoxetine alone for 3 weeks restored anxiety behaviour as well as progenitor cell proliferation and the generation of new hippocampal neurons, this effect was prevented by co-administration with diazepam. This suggests that co-administering benzodiazepines with antidepressants could significantly delay or prevent the cellular and behavioural improvement needed by patients. These findings indicate the need for future clinical studies designed to investigate the combined effects of benzodiazepines and antidepressants in patients. 
23286638	Social influences and eating behavior in later life: a review. 	Food intake is often poor within the older population and many are at nutritional risk. Food intake is complex, as there are multiple individual, social, and environmental determinants that may interact and change over time. Social isolation has long been recognized as a key factor predicting nutrition risk in this population. However, the mechanisms by which social relationships influence diet among older adults remain poorly understood. The purpose of this review is two-fold: ( 1 ) to identify and, where possible, clarify the social concepts used in older adult nutrition research over the past two decades, specifically, the concepts of social integration, social support, companionship and commensality; and ( 2 ) to provide a review and summary of the empirical literature on social factors and diet among cognitively well older adults living in the community. Finally, challenges to studying social concepts in older adult nutrition and areas of future research will be discussed. 
23416113	Social isolation differentially affects anxiety and depressive-like responses of bulbectomized mice. 	Social isolation in rodents may interfere in their behavioural responses on paradigms used to test anxiety- and depressive-like states. Herein we study the influence of social isolation upon the behavioural responses of olfactory bulbectomized mice (OBX). In the open-field test (OFT), social isolation enhanced OBX-induced hyperactivity and exploratory behaviour. However, OBX-induced anxiety in the OFT (central activity) was less apparent after isolation, due to the increased level of anxiety showed by the sham-isolated counterparts. In the novelty-suppressed feeding (NSF), isolation derived in an increased latency to feeding of both OBX and sham mice. The isolation did not affect the response of OBX mice and sham mice in the forced-swimming test (FST). Interestingly, OBX animals exhibited an increased immobility time during the FST, though a dramatic decrease in the climbing scores. Finally, OBX-induced anhedonia in the sucrose intake test was not affected by housing conditions. Our findings demonstrate that social isolation influences the performance of OBX mice in some behavioural paradigms, thus facilitating the characterization of depressive-like states, and by contrast, hindering anxiety-related behaviours. This fact should be taken into account in order to minimize economical and time-consuming efforts when assessing potential antidepressant and anxiolytic drugs. 
22939998	Allopregnanolone regulates neurogenesis and depressive/anxiety-like behaviour in a social isolation rodent model of chronic stress. 	Chronic stress has been implicated as a causal factor in depression and anxiety, and is associated with neuroendocrine dysfunction and impaired hippocampal neurogenesis. The neurosteroid allopregnanolone (3α,5α-THP; ALLO) has been shown to be reduced in depressed patients. ALLO is &quot;stress responsive&quot; and plays a major role in regulating hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function. We propose that reduced ALLO levels following chronic stress leads to HPA hyperactivity due to diminished ALLO regulation. This will result in increased glucocorticoid levels and reduced BDNF expression, leading to impaired hippocampal neurogenesis and the precipitation of depression/anxiety. To investigate this, chronic stress was induced using the social isolation model and depressive/anxiety-like behaviour assessed using the novelty-suppressed feeding test and forced-swim test. The social isolation model was associated with a significant reduction in endogenous ALLO levels and a depressive/anxiety-like behavioural profile. When exogenous ALLO was administered from the onset of isolation it prevented the development of depressive/anxiety-like behaviours and impairment of hippocampal neurogenesis. When treatment was initiated following six weeks of social isolation, behavioural profile was restored and deficits in BDNF and neurogenesis were not observed. Supporting our hypothesis we observed that socially isolated animals exhibited reduced HPA responsiveness, which was either prevented or normalised with ALLO treatment. Combined, these results indicate that administration of exogenous ALLO either during or following a period of chronic stress can prevent or normalise HPA dysfunction and impairment of hippocampal neurogenesis respectively, precluding the establishment of depressive/anxiety-like behaviours. ALLO may therefore provide a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of depression/anxiety. 
21880695	Effects of ostracism and social connection-related activities on adolescents' motivation to eat and energy intake. 	Assess the effect of ostracism and social connection-related activities on adolescents' motivation to eat and their energy intake. Participants (n = 103; M age = 13.6 years) were either ostracized or included when playing a computer game, Cyberball. Next, they wrote about their friend (social-connection), watched television (distraction), or completed Sudoku puzzles (cognitive-load), and then completed a task to earn points toward snack food and/or socializing. Afterwards, participants were given access to food and social activities. Ostracized adolescents were more motivated to earn food than adolescents who were in the included/control condition. Follow-up contrasts indicated that ostracized adolescents who wrote about friends worked more for food points and consumed more food than other adolescents. Results suggest that social connection-related activities following ostracism may further deplete self-regulatory resources, thereby resulting in increased unhealthy food patterns. Study limitations as well as clinical implications of these findings are discussed. 
24346803	Perception of local inhabitants regarding the socioeconomic impact of tourism focused on provisioning wild dolphins in Novo Airão, Central Amazon, Brazil. 	Botos (Inia geoffrensis) are currently provisioned for use in tourist attractions in five sites in the Brazilian Amazon. Despite the known negative effects associated with human-wild dolphin interactions, this activity has been regulated and licensed in the Anavilhanas National Park in Novo Airão, Amazonas State, Brazil. We present an updated evaluation of the perception of the local community concerning the possible socioeconomic impacts of this tourism in Novo Airão. In April 2011, 45 interviews were conducted with inhabitants. A small segment of Novo Airão perceives currently itself as being economically dependent on the botos feeding tourism. Despite that, the economic benefits of this controversial activity apparently are not shared among most inhabitants, and botos feeding tourism is perceived as generating diverse negative effects. We conclude that if the activity was banned or modified into a less impacting tourist activity, this action would probably not majorly affect the lives of the general population. 
22928373	[Selected aspects of style behaviours among the hotel industry employees]. 	The mode of nutrition, physical activity and the lifestyle are very important elements influencing on the health of employees. The subject of this study was to evaluate the selected aspects of lifestyle of a group of hotel employees. The questionnaire-based research was carried out in a group of 241 employees of the hotel industry (121 women and 120 men). The prevalent eating model in the group involved 3 meals daily, and was more frequent in men (62.9% vs. 47.9%; P &lt; 0.05) who ate less regularly than women (28.6% vs. 55.5%; P &lt; 0.001). Fast-food bars were more often frequented by men (a few times a week: 17.1% vs. 7%; P &lt; 0.05). Fish were consumed a few times weekly by 21.1% of women and 30% of men, while vegetables a few times daily by 25.4% of women and 15.7% of men. Women more frequently consumed a few portions of fruit daily (25.4% vs. 8.6%; P &lt; 0.01). As for alcohols, women more frequently opted for wine (49.3% vs. 18.6%; P &lt; 0.001), while men chose beer (50% vs. 33.3%; P &lt; 0.01) and hard liquors (31.4% vs. 17.4%; P &lt; 0.01). The frequency of alcohol consumption was higher in men (P &lt; 0.001). Recreational physical activity in leisure time was undertaken by 15.2% of women and 20.7% of men who simultaneously reported a higher range of physical activity than women (P &lt; 0.01). Women more frequently opted for fitness exercises, while men for team games (P &lt; 0.001). The role of physical activity in reducing emotional pressure was noticed by 18.7% of women and 29.8% of men (P &lt; 0.05). It has also been demonstrated that the subjective rating of physical fitness dropped together with the increase of BMI (P &lt; 0.05). Persons who perceived their fitness level as very good had a BMI of 22.1 kg/m2, while persons with a low rating of fitness had a BMI of 23.7 kg/m2. The studies have shown the prevalence of nutritional mistakes and a low level of recreational physical activity, as well as diversification of certain health behaviours depending on the sex. 
20598208	Risk attribution of Campylobacter infection by age group using exposure modelling. 	Knowledge on the relative importance of alternative sources of human campylobacteriosis is important in order to implement effective disease prevention measures. The objective of this study was to assess the relative importance of three key exposure pathways (travelling abroad, poultry meat, pet contact) for different patient age groups in Switzerland. With a stochastic exposure model data on Campylobacter incidence for the years 2002-2007 were linked with data for the three exposure pathways and the results of a case-control study. Mean values for the population attributable fractions (PAF) over all age groups and years were 27% (95% CI 17-39) for poultry consumption, 27% (95% CI 22-32) for travelling abroad, 8% (95% CI 6-9) for pet contact and 39% (95% CI 25-50) for other risk factors. This model provided robust results when using data available for Switzerland, but the uncertainties remained high. The output of the model could be improved if more accurate input data are available to estimate the infection rate per exposure. In particular, the relatively high proportion of cases attributed to 'other risk factors' requires further attention. 
19107455	Homing in the wolf spider Lycosa tarantula (Araneae, Lycosidae): the role of active locomotion and visual landmarks. 	Previous studies on the homing of the wolf spider Lycosa tarantula have shown that it is carried out by path integration. Animals using this mechanism must measure the distance walked and the angles turned. This study aims to understand if wolf spider L. tarantula is able to estimate the walked distance in an outward path. As this information is more likely obtained by proprioceptive mechanisms, active or passive displacements have been performed. An active locomotion was found essential to estimate distances. During passive locomotion, spiders searched for their burrows near the release point while when displaced actively the inbound journey was longer than the outbound one. The possible use of visual landmarks near the burrow was also tested as a cue to complete the inbound journey. Our results did not show that L. tarantula used these visual landmarks to find the burrow. L. tarantula seems to use only proprioceptive information obtained during the outbound path to estimate the distance traveled. 
18480019	Immunophysiological responses of horses to a 12-hour rest during 24 hours of road transport. 	Thirty-eight mature horses were assigned to one of two equal groups to evaluate two treatments consisting of either 24 hours of continuous road transport (24T) or two 12-hour periods of transport separated by off-loading, resting and feeding the horses for 12 hours (12/12T). A subset of six horses from each group served as controls for the other group. The horses were loaded into a commercial straight-deck trailer and travelled loose in one of two standard-sized compartments. After the journeys the horses were put back into their paddocks for a 24-hour recovery period. Venous blood samples were collected before loading, after unloading and after the 24-hour recovery period. Transport significantly increased the horses' cortisol concentrations, neutrophil counts and neutrophil:lymphocyte (nl) ratios, and decreased the numbers of all the lymphocyte subpopulation cell types. Collectively, no significant differences were observed between the two treatments in the horses' cortisol concentrations, total leucocyte counts, neutrophil and lymphocyte counts, nl ratios, and the cd8a+ and cd21+ lymphocyte subpopulations, but there were differences in the numbers of cd3+, cd4+, and cd8b+ subpopulations. The inclusion of a 12-hour rest-stop interrupted the transport-related decline in the lymphocyte subpopulations and allowed them to recover towards their resting levels. 
18176079	Spatial memory during foraging in prosimian primates: Propithecus edwardsi and Eulemur fulvus rufus. 	A variety of anthropoids travel efficiently from one food source to another, although there is disagreement over how this is accomplished over large-scale space. Mental maps, for example, require that animals internally represent space, geometrically locate landmarks, use true distance and direction, and generate novel shortcuts to resources. Alternately, topological or route-based maps are based on a network of fixed points, landmarks and routes so that one food patch can be linked with another. In this study we describe travel patterns between food sources for two prosimian species found in southeastern Madagascar, Propithecus edwardsi and Eulemur fulvus rufus. Both species are dependent on fruit and have large home range sizes. By comparing interpatch distances, patch size and turning angles, we found that both species prefer nearest neighbor food patches and P. edwardsi travels in relatively straight lines. The amount of backtracking seen in E. f. rufus may be linked to their large group size and dependence on large-crowned fruit trees. We suggest that the goal-oriented foraging of both prosimian species is dependent on a topological or route-based map. These are rare behavioral data relevant to ecological and social contexts of primate cognitive evolution. 
17711135	Catering and gastronomy services in the rural tourism: the case of Lubuskie voivodeship. 	In this paper we showed the results of studies about gastronomy services in the rural tourism and the range of this services using about which the respondents talked. The studies also took the feeding offer (rural dishes and regional feeding) influence for the choosing the rest offer in the countryside. In the studies took part people who live in the countryside and have homesteads and of course tourist rest in their homesteads. 
23562693	Effects of municipal wastewater on aquatic ecosystem structure and function in the receiving stream. 	During recent years, increasing incidences of summer droughts - likely driven by climate change - reduced the dilution potential of low-order streams for secondary treated wastewater also in temperate Europe. Despite the potential risks to ecosystem integrity, there is a paucity of knowledge regarding the effects of different wastewater dilution potentials on ecosystem functions. The present study investigated the implications of secondary treated wastewater released into a third-order stream (Queich, southwest Germany) during a season with low dilution potential (summer; ~90% wastewater) as compared to a season with high dilution potential (winter; ~35% wastewater) in terms of leaf litter decomposition and macroinvertebrate communities. Adverse effects in macroinvertebrate mediated leaf mass loss (~65%), gammarids' feeding rate (~80%), leaf associated fungal biomass (&gt;40%) and shifts in macroinvertebrate community structure were apparent up to 100 and 300 m (partially 500 m) downstream of the wastewater treatment plant effluent during winter and summer, respectively. In addition, a Gammarus fossarum laboratory feeding trial demonstrated the potential of powdered activated carbon to reduce the ecotoxicity of released wastewater. These results urge the development and evaluation of adequate management strategies, e.g. the application of advanced wastewater treatment technologies, to protect the integrity of freshwater ecosystems, which is required by the European Water Framework Directive - also considering decreasing dilution potential of streams as projected by climate change scenarios. 
22619960	[Growth kinetics of aquatic worms feeding on activated sludge]. 	The growth kinetics of aquatic worms was investigated from juvenile to decline phase for 18 weeks by cultivating with activated sludge in batch test. Results showed that the growth of aquatic worms well fit Gauss function for cultivating 18 weeks. The maximum specific growth rate, growth yield of aquatic worms and sludge reduction rate was 0.41 d(-1), 0.32 and 25.5%, respectively. When the concentration of substrate and dissolved oxygen change from low to high, the relationship between the specific growth rate with dissolved oxygen, and substrate concentration meet the Monod equation. Compared with the dissolved oxygen, the substrate concentration had greater effect on the specific growth rate of aquatic worms, and aquatic worms can live in the environment with low dissolved oxygen. Furthermore, the breath test showed the oxygen uptake rate of aquatic worms was almost 6.39, 10.10, 11.31 and 5.74 mg x (L x g x h)(-1) from juvenile to decline phase, the dissolved oxygen demand of the rapid growth and mature stage was higher than juvenile and decline phase. 
22677053	Identification of multi-level toxicity of liquid crystal display wastewater toward Daphnia magna and Moina macrocopa. 	Toxicity-based regulations of industrial effluent have been adopted to complement the conventional discharge limits based on chemical analyses. In this study, multi-level toxicity including acute toxicity, feeding rate inhibition and oxidative stress of effluent from a liquid crystal display (LCD) wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) to Daphnia magna (reference species) and Moina macrocopa (native species) were periodically monitored from April 2010 to April 2011. Raw wastewater was acutely toxic to both D. magna and M. macrocopa, but the toxicity reached less than 1 TU in the final effluent (FE) as treatment proceeded. Although acute toxicity was not observed in the FE, the feeding rate of daphnids was significantly inhibited. Additionally, the antioxidant enzyme activity of catalase, superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in D. magna increased significantly when compared to the control, while only GPx activity was increased significantly in M. macrocopa (p&lt;0.05). A toxicity identification evaluation using D. magna showed that Cu was the key toxicant in the FE, which was not effectively removed by the coagulation/flocculation process in the LCD WWTP. In addition, Al originating from the coagulant seemed to increase toxicity of the FE. 
22000715	The management of undesirable cyanobacteria blooms in channel catfish ponds using a constructed wetland: Contribution to the control of off-flavor occurrences. 	An exploratory study on the management of undesirable cyanobacteria blooms with respect to off-flavor problems using an integrated vertical-flow constructed wetland (CW) was performed at a small commercial-scale channel catfish farm from 2004 to 2007. The results of the three-year experiment indicated that water treatment by the CW could reduce the possibility of dominance by undesirable cyanobacteria species that often cause off-flavor problems. A detailed investigation in 2007, showed that the concentrations of geosmin, MIB (2-methylisoborneol), and β-cyclocitral in the water of the recirculating pond (4.3ngL(-1), U.D. (undetected) and 0.2ngL(-1), respectively) treated by the CW were significantly lower than those in the control pond (152.6ngL(-1), 63.3ngL(-1) and 254.8ngL(-1), respectively). In addition, the relationships among the cyanobacteria species, the off-flavor compounds and ten environmental variables were explored by canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). The results showed that Oscillatoria sp., Oscillatoria kawamurae and Microcystis aeruginosa were the main sources of off-flavor compounds in the catfish ponds. The successful manipulation of undesirable cyanobacteria species potentially resulted in lower concentrations of odorous compounds in the water of the recirculating pond. An investigation of the concentrations of geosmin and MIB in catfish fillets showed that the levels of odorous compounds were below the OTC (odor threshold concentration) values in the recirculating pond but were above the OTC values from July to October in the control pond. Water recycling by the CW could potentially be one of the best management practices to control off-flavor occurrences in aquaculture. 
21267649	Population response to ozone application in wastewater: an on-site microcosm study with Gammarus fossarum (Crustacea: Amphipoda). 	We assessed possible ecotoxicological implications of ozone application to secondary treated wastewater from a municipal wastewater treatment plant on Gammarus fossarum, an aquatic leaf shredding amphipod. Our 10-week study exposed G. fossarum populations to ozone-treated, non-ozone treated wastewater, or tap water in replicated outdoor flow-through stream microcosms. Feeding activity, an indicator for organic matter decomposition, of amphipod populations exposed to ozone treated wastewater was significantly higher compared to those exposed to non-ozone treated wastewater (repeated measure ANOVA, p = 0.0002, df = 44). Also the population size was at the end of the experiment with approximately 150% significantly (t-test, p = 0.0059, n = 4) increased in ozone treated wastewater compared to non-ozone treated wastewater. Additionally, chlorophyll-a concentration, an indicator for algal biomass, was significantly higher in ozone treated wastewater (repeated measure ANOVA, p = 0.0404, df = 65). Thus, from an ecotoxicological viewpoint, we conclude that ozonation may improve wastewater quality, which should translate into positive ecological outcomes in the receiving waters. However, because ozonation also can cause toxic transformation products, the process may best be considered on a case-by-case basis. 
21044796	Ecotoxicologial evaluation of wastewater ozonation based on detritus-detritivore interactions. 	Advanced oxidation technologies such as ozonation have been proposed to improve removal efficiency of micropollutants during wastewater treatment. In a meta-analysis of peer-reviewed literature, we found no ecotoxicological effects of wastewater ozonation on invertebrates (n=82), but significant adverse effects on bacteria (n=24) and fish (n=5). As information on functional endpoints or trophic interactions is lacking, we applied a bioassay relating to leaf litter decomposition to fill this gap. Leaf discs exposed to ozone-treated wastewater with a high (1.04 mg O3 (mg DOC)(-1), n=49) ozone concentration were significantly preferred by an aquatic detritivore, Gammarus fossarum, over discs conditioned in wastewater not treated with ozone. This effect might have been mediated by reduced bacterial and elevated fungal biomass, and appears to be the first demonstration of wastewater ozonation impacts on invertebrates and an associated ecosystem process. In accordance with the food-choice trials, chemical analyses revealed significantly decreased concentrations of organic micropollutants in wastewater treated with ozone at high concentrations. Thus, food-choice trials as applied here hold promise to assess environmental effects of advanced oxidation technologies in wastewater treatment and appear to be a valuable complement to the ecotoxicological toolbox in general. 
18828372	[Effect of hydraulic load distribution on sewage treatment efficiency of earthworm bio-filter]. 	Effect of hydraulic load distribution on sewage treatment efficiency of earthworm bio-filter was studied by analyzing influent and effluent of earthworm bio-filter and earthworm behaviors. The results show that when hydraulic load varying from 2.0 m3/(m2 x d) to 6.0 m3/(m2 x d), the concentration of each pollutant in earthworm bio-filter effluent increases slowly and is little effected by hydraulic load. When hydraulic load reaches 6.7 m3/(m2 x d), the concentration of COD, BOD5, SS, NH4(+) -N and TP in earthworm bio-filter effluent increases obviously, but the TN concentration in effluent presents descending tendency. The earthworms become rather inadaptable to the living conditions at this operating mode. As hydraulic load increasing, the earthworms' relative ingestive ability is improved at first, and then decreases. The earthworms' relative ingestive ability comes to the maximum at hydraulic load of 4.8 m3/(m2 x d), with good organic removal efficiency. The relation ships between hydraulic load and average weight, average density, unit-area biomass of the earthworms are significant negative correlation. The hydraulic load of 4.8 m3/(m2 x d) is recommended, but not over 6.7 m3/(m2 x d). 
15364080	Biotreatment of wastewater using aquatic invertebrates, Daphnia magna and Paramecium caudatum. 	A number of major changes have occurred over the past few years, which give cause for a re-examination of conventional wastewater treatment methods. Among these are growing problems of worldwide energy and food shortages and nutrients not removed by conventional secondary processes causing algal blooms and other problems in the receiving waters. The global increase in wastewater calls for innovative low cost technology approaches to its recycling. Biotreatment systems, utilizing living organisms are receiving growing attention since they are ecologically sound, cheap and applicable in areas without land constraints. Filter feeders (both invertebrates and vertebrates) are promising in this area since they can remove suspended organic matter and bacteria, even in the size range of microns. In the present study biological treatment of municipal wastewater using two invertebrates--Paramecium caudatum, a protozoan and Daphnia magna, a cladoceran was investigated. Analysis at pre-experimental and post-experimental stages revealed the potential of these species in abatement of water pollution. D. magna was more efficient than P. caudatum in laboratory-scale studies. 
20397413	15N isotope fractionation in an aquatic food chain: Bellamya aeruginosa (Reeve) as an algal control agent. 	15N isotope tracer techniques and ecological modeling were adopted to investigate the fractionation of nitrogen, its uptake and transformation in algae and snail (Bellamya aeruginosa Reeve). Different algal species were found to differ in their uptake of nitrogen isotopes. Microcystis aeruginisa Kütz. demonstrated the greatest 15N accumulation capacity, with the natural variation in isotopic ratio (delta 15N) and the isotope fractionation factor (epsilon, % per hundred) being the highest among the species investigated. The transformation and utilization of 15N by snails differed depending on the specific algae consumed (highest for Chlorella pyrenoidosa Chick., lowest for M. aeruginisa). When snails was seeded in the experimental pond, the algae population structure changed significantly, and total algal biomass as well as the concentration of all nitrogen species decreased, causing an increase in water transparency. A model, incorporating several chemical and biological parameters, was developed to predict algal biomass in an aquatic system when snails was present. The data collected during this investigation indicated that the gastropods such as snails could significantly impact biological community and water quality of small water bodies, suggesting a role for biological control of noxious algal blooms associated with eutrophication. 
19946664	Perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonate in two fish species collected from the Roter Main River, Bayreuth, Germany. 	Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) are widely distributed in the environment. In this study the accumulation potential of PFOA and PFOS in two fish species with different feeding strategies, i.e. chub (Leuciscus cephalus) and river goby (Gobio gobio) inhabiting a river receiving treated waste waters from a municipal waste water treatment plant, were estimated. PFOS was detected in chub (7-250 microg kg(-1) wet weight) and river goby (70-400 microg kg(-1) wet weight) with bioaccumulation factors (BAFs) of 4600 (liver) and 11,000 (organs). PFOA concentrations in both fish were low and in chub mostly below detection limit. 
19657169	Pilot study on control of phytoplankton by zooplankton coupling with filter-feeding fish in surface water. 	A pilot-scale facility was originally designed to control phytoplankton in algae-laden reservoir water characterized by summer cyanobacteria blooms (mainly Microcystis flos-aquae). The system made good use of the different food habits of Daphnia magna and silver carp. Zooplankton (Daphnia magna), filter-feeding fish (silver carp), and zooplankton (Daphnia magna) were stocked in three separated tanks in sequence, respectively. Thus, single-cell phytoplankton and some Microcystis flos-aquae in small size were first grazed by Daphnia magna in the first tank, and in the second tank phytoplankton larger than 10 microm were filtered by silver carp, and the concentration of the remaining phytoplankton was further reduced to a rather low level by Daphnia magna in the third tank. The results showed that the system had good removal efficiencies of phytoplankton and chlorophyll a, 86.85% and 59.41%, respectively, and permanganate consumption (COD(Mn)) and turbidity were lowered as well. A high phytoplankton removal efficiency and low cost indicated that the system had a good advantage in pre-treating algae-laden source water in drinking water works. 
16515201	[Filtering capacity of Anodonta woodiana and its feeding selectivity on phytoplankton]. 	Lake eutrophication associated with algal bloom has become a major environmental challenge in China. Filter feeding organisms, e.g., silver carp, bighead carp, and zebra mussel, have been widely used to manipulate water environment through their top-down effects. The bivalve Anodonta woodiana is widely distributed across China, and has been used for bio-manipulation of some water bodies. In situ experiments were performed in a bay of Lake Dianchi and its surrounding ponds to study the filtering capacity and the filter feeding rate of Anodonta woodiana in these aguatic habitats, and to determine the controlling factors. The results showed that there was a relationship between filtration rate and total suspended substances measured in laboratory during August and September 2001 when the water temperature was 20 +/- 2 degrees C, which was expressed as y = 4 380.41 e(- 0.0184x) (R2 = 0.621, P &lt; 0.05) based on at least squares analyses. The filtration rate was strongly related to the body weight by measuring in laboratory over 24 hours during August 2001 when the water temperature was 20 +/- 2 C. At least squares analyses gave the equation y = 2 904.16 + 12 076.24e(-0.0034x) (R2 = 0.9825, P = &lt; 0.05). A slight variation of filtration rate was found over 24 hours, which could be explained by the bivalves' adaptation to the experimental circumstances rather than the daily change of its filtration feeding. In general, the filtration capacity of natural Anodonta woodiana population in the water bodies was very limited, as a result of its small population size. No significant selective feeding on algae was found by contrasting the relative abundance of algae in the habitats and the guts of Anodonta woodiana. The feeding selectivity on algae was neither correlated with the size of algae, nor with the initial abundance of algae in water column. 
16509345	Microencapsulated BioBullets for the control of biofouling zebra mussels. 	The widespread invasion of freshwaters by the zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, during the last 2 decades has made it one of the world's most economically and ecologically important pests. Since arriving in the North American Great Lakes in the 1980s, zebra mussels have become a major biofouler, blocking the raw water cooling systems of power stations and water treatment works and costing U.S. dollars 1-5 billion per year. Despite the development of numerous control methods, chlorination remains the only widespread and licensed technique. Zebra mussels are able to sense chlorine and othertoxins in their surrounding environment and respond by closing their valves, thus enabling them to avoid toxic effects for up to 3 weeks. Furthermore, prolonged dosing of chlorine in raw water produces ecotoxic trihalomethanes (THMs) by reaction with organic material in the water. We have developed a novel, environmentally safe, and effective method for controlling the zebra mussel: the BioBullet. Our method uses the encapsulation of an active ingredient (KCI) in microscopic particles of edible material. The mussels' natural filtering ability then removes and concentrates the particles from the water, without stimulating the valve-closing response. By using the mussels' filtering behavior to concentrate BioBullets the absolute quantity of active ingredient added to the water can be reduced substantially. Our approach allows us to engineer the particles to break up and dissolve completely within a few hours, thus eliminating the risk of polluting the wider ecosystem. We demonstrate that the effectiveness of a toxin in the control of biofouling filter-feeders can be enhanced greatly by using our technique. This paves the way for a new approach to the control of some of the world's most important economic pests. 
15491821	Suitability of aquaculture effluent solids mixed with cardboard as a feedstock for vermicomposting. 	Recirculating aquaculture systems are highly intensive culture systems that actively filter and reuse water, thus minimizing water requirements and creating relatively small volumes of concentrated waste (compared to flow-through aquaculture systems). Vermicomposting, which uses earthworms to stabilize and transform organic wastes into valuable end-products, has been proposed as an alternative treatment technology for high-moisture-content organic wastes from agricultural, industrial and municipal sources. This study was conducted to determine if the effluent solids from a large recirculating aquaculture facility (Blue Ridge Aquaculture, Martinsville, Virginia) were suitable for vermicomposting using the earthworm Eisenia fetida. In two separate experiments, worms were fed mixtures of solids removed from aquaculture effluent (sludge) and shredded. Mixtures containing 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, and 50% aquaculture sludge (dry weight basis) were fed to the worms over a 12-week period and their growth (biomass) was measured. Worm mortality, which occurred only in the first experiment, was not influenced by feedstock sludge concentration. In both experiments worm growth rates tended to increase with increasing sludge concentration, with the highest growth rate occurring with feedstocks containing 50% aquaculture sludge. Effluent solids from recirculating aquaculture systems mixed with shredded cardboard appear to be suitable feedstocks for vermicomposting. 
12691887	Reduction of suspended biomass in municipal wastewater using bdelloid rotifers. 	Clarification of municipal wastewater was shown to be improved significantly by the addition of cultured bdelloid rotifers. The rate and degree of suspended particle removal were correlated with rotifer number. The size range of unsettled particles suspended in wastewater was determined and found to overlap with the size range of particles consumed by rotifers. Rotifers were shown to have two distinct effects on suspended particles: consumption of biomass due to feeding activity; and improved settling, probably due to enhanced aggregation. These experiments demonstrate the potential for the use of bdelloid rotifers in an enhanced wastewater treatment process, with reduced biomass production and improved effluent clarity. 
21809934	Obesity in the new media: a content analysis of obesity videos on YouTube. 	This study examines (1) how the topics of obesity are framed and (2) how obese persons are portrayed on YouTube video clips. The analysis of 417 obesity videos revealed that a newer medium like YouTube, similar to traditional media, appeared to assign responsibility and solutions for obesity mainly to individuals and their behaviors, although there was a tendency that some video categories have started to show other causal claims or solutions. However, due to the prevailing emphasis on personal causes and solutions, numerous YouTube videos had a theme of weight-based teasing, or showed obese persons engaging in stereotypical eating behaviors. We discuss a potential impact of YouTube videos on shaping viewers' perceptions about obesity and further reinforcing stigmatization of obese persons. 
23720026	Termite fishing by wild chimpanzees: new data from Ugalla, western Tanzania. 	Chimpanzees manufacture flexible fishing probes to fish for termites in Issa, Ugalla, western Tanzania. These termite-fishing tools are similar in size and material to those used by long-studied communities of chimpanzees in western Tanzania (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) and in West Africa (P. t. verus), but not central African populations (P. t. troglodytes). This report adds to the patchwork of evidence of termite-fishing tool use behaviour by chimpanzees across Africa. 
23300054	Wild bearded capuchins process cashew nuts without contacting caustic compounds. 	Complex and flexible food processing was a key element for the evolutionary success of hominins, enlarging the range of exploitable foods while enabling occupation of new habitats. Only a few primate species crack open encased food by using percussive tools and/or avoid physical contact with irritant compounds by removing the structures containing them. We describe, for the first time, how a population of bearded capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) accesses the nutritious kernel of cashew nuts avoiding the caustic chemicals protecting it. Two processing strategies, namely rubbing/piercing and stone tool use, are used according to maturity of the nuts. The frequency of cashew nuts processing increases with capuchin age, and the same set of processing strategies appears to be absent in other capuchin populations, making cashew nuts processing an excellent candidate for social transmission. 
23129227	Termite fishing laterality in the Fongoli savanna chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus): further evidence of a left hand preference. 	Whether nonhuman primates show population-level handedness is a topic of much scientific debate. A previous study of handedness for termite fishing reported population-level left handedness in the chimpanzees from Gombe National Park, Tanzania. In the current study, we examined whether similar hand preferences were evident in a savanna-dwelling chimpanzee population with regards to termite fishing. Hand preference data were collected for 27 chimpanzees from February 2007 through July 2008 and November 2011 through January 2012 in southeastern Senegal. Overall, the Fongoli chimpanzees demonstrate a trend toward population-level handedness, though the results did not reach conventional levels of statistical significance likely due to the limited sample size. Fongoli chimpanzees showed the same pattern of left hand preference as reported at Gombe and the two populations did not differ significantly. When the data were combined across all studies, wild chimpanzees showed a population-level left hand preference for termite fishing. 
23042618	Marine prey processed with stone tools by Burmese long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis aurea) in intertidal habitats. 	Long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) feed opportunistically in many habitats. The Burmese subspecies (M. f. aurea) inhabits coastal areas in southwestern Thailand and Myanmar, and some of their populations have adapted lithic customs for processing encased foods in intertidal habitats. We investigated the diet of such macaques in Laemson National Park, Thailand, and identified the variety of foods they processed with stones. We conducted 36 shore surveys to study tool sites following feeding activity, during which we counted the minimum number of individual (MNI) food items found at each site. We identified 47 food species (43 animals and four plants), from 37 genera. We counted 1,991 food items during surveys. Nearly all were mollusks (n = 1,924), with the small remainder primarily consisting of crustaceans and nuts. The two most common foods, rock oysters (Saccostrea cucullata; n = 1,062) and nerite snails (Nerita spp.; n = 538), composed 80.2% of our sample. Four prey species comprised 83.2% of the sample (MNI = 1,656), S. cucullata (n = 1,062), Nerita chamaeleon (n = 419), Thais bitubercularis (n = 95), and Monodonta labio (n = 80). Macaques selected a wide variety of foods. However, they heavily concentrated on those that were abundant, easy to access, and sufficiently sized. The Burmese long-tailed macaque stone-processed diet, which focuses on intertidal marine prey, differs from Sapajus and Pan, who use stones primarily for encased nuts and fruits. In terms of diversity of foods exploited, coastal stone-based predation by macaques resembles the diet of coastal-foraging humans (Homo sapiens sapiens). 
22759783	Obtaining raw material: plants as tool sources for Nigerian chimpanzees. 	We investigated the acquisition of plant materials from which Nigerian chimpanzees manufacture wooden tools to harvest insects and honey from nests of army ants, honey bees and stingless bees. Slender trunks of juvenile trees and branches are most commonly used, and bendable vines rarely, probably reflecting the need to work with relatively sturdy tools to extract resources. While several tools are sometimes sourced from the same plant, there is also evidence for a depletion effect, as multiple tool sources at the same site are often spaced several metres apart. Identified tool sources belong to 27 species of at least 13 families. Honey-gathering implements are often chewed upon by chimpanzees. Interestingly, twigs of the most commonly used honey-gathering species possess antibacterial propensities and are favoured by Nigerians as chewing sticks. This suggests that extractive tools might possess associated medicinal or stimulatory properties. We do not know if chimpanzees actively select specific plant parts or species as we cannot compare observed with expected frequencies. Nevertheless, about three quarters of tools are picked from plants more than 6 m away from the extraction site, potentially indicating some degree of forward planning. 
22516627	How do banded mongooses locate and select anvils for cracking encased food items? 	Banded mongooses (Mungos mungo) extract encased food items by throwing them against anvils. Observations indicate that their chosen anvils are generally hard enough to crack open casings, suggesting an understanding of the physical properties that render an anvil suitable for cracking. We report results from two field experiments investigating spatial and physical aspects of anvil selection in a wild group of banded mongooses. Mongooses rapidly carried prey items to nearby anvils in their environment, without simply returning to the last anvil they passed, suggesting a detailed knowledge of anvil locations. Moreover, in choice experiments with hard or soft anvils, they always chose the appropriate anvil when both anvils were natural but chose indiscriminately when they were synthetic. These results support a recent suggestion that mongooses lack a generalized understanding of the functional properties of anvils but also indicate that they may mediate their decisions on the basis of familiarity. Together, our experiments suggest that mongooses employ simple rules of thumb that, in most cases, result in the selection of appropriate anvils. Where environmental problems are limited and predictable, selection will favor the evolution of such rules of thumb rather than a more generalized understanding of functional properties. 
22539256	Energetic payoff of tool use for capuchin monkeys in the caatinga: variation by season and habitat type. 	In this paper, we analyze predictions from the energetic bottleneck and opportunity models to explain the use of stones to crack open encased fruit by capuchins in dry environments. The energetic bottleneck model argues that tool use derives from the need to crack open hard-encased fruits which are key resources during periods of food scarcity. The opportunity model argues that tool use by capuchins derives from simultaneous access to stones and encased fruits. The study was conducted in the Caatinga biome, northeastern Brazil, at two areas where capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus and Sapajus spp.) regularly use stones to crack open encased fruit of Syagrus cearensis and Manihot dichotoma. Energetic gains were inferred based on the number of tool-use sites used and the mass of encased fruit consumed per month, and compared across seasons and areas occupied by the two groups. For the drier habitat, a significant increase in frequency of tool use (N(dry) = 329 vs. N(wet) = 59) and in the mean monthly mass of fruits consumed in the dry season (mean(dry) = 193g vs. mean(wet) = 13.5 g) offered support for the energetic bottleneck model. However, our inference of low energetic payoffs for tool using individuals (in the drier caatinga habitat from 13 to 193 cal·ind(-1) ·month(-1) and in the wetter caatinga habitat from 805 to 1150 cal·ind(-1) ·month(-1) ) offer support for the opportunity model. Finally, our analyses indicate that consumption of six S. cearensis fruits would equal the daily requirements of capuchins for β-carotene, and the consumption of 1.22 g·day(-1) of M. dichotoma encased fruit or 1.0 g·day(-1) of S. cearensis can supply capuchin's daily requirement of vitamin C. So, specific nutritional requirements may play a role in explaining the continuous consumption of encased fruit and customary use of stones to crack open encased fruit. 
22101639	Plant-food and tool transfer among savanna chimpanzees at Fongoli, Senegal. 	Transferring food is considered a defining characteristic of humans, as such behavior is relatively uncommon in other animal species save for kin-based transfer. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are one exception, as they commonly transfer meat among nonrelatives but rarely transfer other resources. New observations at Fongoli, Senegal, show habitual transfer of wild-plant foods and other non-meat resources among community members beyond transfers from mother to offspring. We explore various explanations for these behaviors with a focus on age- and sex-class patterns in transfer events. In a total of 27 of 41 cases, male chimpanzees at Fongoli transferred wild-plant foods or tools to females. Most other cases involved transfer among males or males taking food from females. In light of male-female transfer patterns at Fongoli, we examine four hypotheses that have been applied to food transfer in apes: (1) testing for male-coercive tendency (van Noordwijk and van Schaik, Behav Ecol Sociobiol 63:883-890, 2009), (2) costly signaling (Hockings et al. PLoS ONE 2:e886, 2007), (3) food-for-sex (Gomes and Boesch, PLoS ONE 4:5116, 2009), and (4) sharing-under-pressure (Gilby, Anim Behav 71:953-963, 2006). We also consider hypotheses posed to explain transfer among callitrichids, where such behavior is more common (Ruiz-Miranda et al. Am J Primatol 48:305-320, 1999). Finally, we examine variables such as patch and food size and food transport. We discuss our findings relative to general patterns of non-meat transfer in Pan and examine them in the context of chimpanzee sociality in particular. We then contrast chimpanzee species and subspecies in terms of non-meat food and tool transfer and address the possibility that a savanna environment contributes to the unusual pattern observed at Fongoli. 
22358071	Conceptions of healthy eating among ecological farmers in Paraná, Southern Brazil. 	To describe ecological farmers' conceptions of healthy eating. Study with a qualitative approach. In January and February 2007, supported by a guide, in-depth interviews were conducted with 11 women and one man who were living in an agricultural community in Rio Branco do Sul, Southern Brazil. The interviewees were selected randomly from among the 20 ecological farming families in this municipality. Three analysis categories were identified: &quot;awareness of healthy eating&quot;; &quot;purchasing power&quot; and &quot;healthy land&quot;. The significance of healthy eating for the female farmers involved the idea that foods should be natural, without agricultural pesticides or manufactured chemical products. The daily routine should include abundant consumption of fruits, greens and other vegetables, in addition to the basic rice, beans and meat, and the composition of dishes should aim towards prevention of obesity and chronic-degenerative diseases. Care regarding natural resources in order to ensure production of healthy foods, food safety, environmental sustainability and the future of life on the planet form part of the concept of healthy eating. Knowledge, self-criticism and discernment accompanied the conceptions of healthy eating. 
21197799	A quiet revolution? Beneath the surface of Ireland's alternative food initiatives. 	Getting food to our plates has become a highly complex, industrialised and globalised process. However, transformations in how our food is supplied are not without resistance. Initiatives are emerging that take a step back to simpler, alternative methods of food supply, bringing the producer and consumer closer together. Alternative food initiatives which are commonly found in Ireland include allotments, community gardens, farmers' markets, farm shops and on-farm food enterprises. Understanding alternative food activities as a social movement can illuminate a fresh perspective on their nature and potential. While briefly considering the broad dynamics of alternative food activity in Ireland, this exploratory paper looks at the question of the nature of resistance and whether a collective vision may exist across initiatives, illustrated by two examples, a community garden and consumer food co-op. Finally some conclusions as to how alternative food initiatives may play a transformative role within the contemporary food system are discussed. 
21290818	Acting discursively: the development of UK organic food and farming policy networks. 	This paper documents the early evolution of UK organic food and farming policy networks and locates this empirical focus in a theoretical context concerned with understanding the contemporary policy-making process. While policy networks have emerged as a widely acknowledged empirical manifestation of governance, debate continues as to the concept's explanatory utility and usefulness in situations of network and policy transformation since, historically, policy networks have been applied to &quot;static&quot; circumstances. Recognizing this criticism, and in drawing on an interpretivist perspective, this paper sees policy networks as enacted by individual actors whose beliefs and actions construct the nature of the network. It seeks to make links between the characteristics of the policy network and the policy outcomes through the identification of discursively constructed &quot;storylines&quot; that form a tool for consensus building in networks. This study analyses the functioning of the organic policy networks through the discursive actions of policy-network actors. 
20691244	Consuming organic versus conventional vegetables: the effect on nutrient and contaminant intakes. 	The health benefits of consuming organic compared to conventional foods are unclear. This study aimed at evaluating the nutrient and contaminant intake of adults through consumption of organic versus conventional vegetables, namely carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, spinach and potatoes. A probabilistic simulation approach was used for the intake assessment in two adult populations: (1) a representative sample of Belgians (n=3245) and (2) a sample of Flemish organic and conventional consumers (n=522). Although significant differences in nutrient and contaminant contents were previously found between organic and conventional vegetables, they were inconsistent for a component and/or vegetable. These findings were translated here into inconsistent intake assessments. This means that the intake of specific nutrients and contaminants can be higher or lower for organic versus conventional vegetables. However, when considering the consumption pattern of organic consumers, an increase in intake of a selected set of nutrients and contaminants is observed, which are explained by the general higher vegetable consumption of this consumer group. In public health terms, there is insufficient evidence to recommend organic over conventional vegetables. The general higher vegetable consumption of organic compared to conventional consumers outweighs usually the role of differences in nutrient and contaminant concentrations between organic and conventional vegetables. 
24643094	Effects of Aircast brace and elastic bandage on physical performance of athletes after ankle injuries. 	The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of using Aircast® orthosis and elastic bandage application on the physical performance of athletes with ankle injuries. The study included 60 elite male football players with ankle injuries. Ankle range of motion on the sagittal and frontal plane was measured. One maximum repetition test for the tibialis anterior, tibialis posterior and peroneal muscles; fingertip rise test, single- and double-feet vertical jump tests and 10-step/sec test for the gastrosoleus were performed. All tests were performed three times; without brace application, wrapped in elastic bandage and fitted with the Aircast® orthosis. There was no statistically significant difference between the test results of single-foot vertical jump, 10-step/sec and fingertip rise tests (p&gt;0.05). Double-feet vertical jump test results with both exterior supports were better than the ankle without any support (p&lt;0.05). Vertical jump test results were significantly higher with the Aircast® orthosis than elastic bandage (p&lt;0.05). Inversion and eversion movements were restricted significantly more in the Aircast® orthosis than in the elastic bandage (p&lt;0.05). Although external supports restrict the foot-ankle range of motion in specific ratios, these restrictions did not adversely affect the athlete's physical fitness. The Aircast® orthosis was more effective than the elastic bandage in reducing injury risk, preventing repetitive injuries and providing an early return to sports. 
23439348	Decision-making accuracy in reactive agility: quantifying the cost of poor decisions. 	Decision-making accuracy and the time cost of incorrect responses was compared between higher- (n = 14) and lower-standard (n = 14) Australian footballers during reactive agility tasks incorporating feint and nonfeint scenarios. Accuracy was assessed as whether the subject turned in the correct direction to each stimulus. With skill groups pooled, decision accuracy at the first (or only) stimulus (decision time 1) was 94 ± 7%, and it decreased to 83 ± 20% for the second stimulus (decision time 2; p = 0.01; d = 0.69). However, with skill groups separated, decision accuracy was similar between groups at decision time 1 (higher 95 ± 6% vs. lower 92 ± 7%; p = 0.6; d = 0.42), somewhat better in the higher-standard group at decision time 2 (88 ± 22% vs. 78 ± 17%; p = 0.08; d = 0.50). But the decrease in accuracy from decision time 1 to 2 was significant in the lower-standard group only (92 ± 7% to 78 ± 17%; p = 0.02; d = 1.04). However, with skill groups pooled but agility times examined exclusively in trials involving correct or incorrect decisions, incorrect decisions at decision time 1 during feint trials resulted in a shorter agility time (1.73 ± 0.24 seconds vs. 2.03 ± 0.39 seconds; p = 0.008; d = 0.92), whereas agility time was significantly longer in feint (incorrect at decision time 2 only; 2.65 ± 0.41 seconds vs. 1.97 ± 0.36 seconds; p &lt; 0.001; d = 1.76) and nonfeint trials (1.64 ± 0.13 seconds vs. 1.51 ± 0.10 seconds; p = 0.001; d = 1.13). Therefore, although decision-making errors typically worsen reactive agility performance, successful anticipation of a feint can produce performance improvements. Furthermore, higher-standard footballers are less susceptible to such feints, perhaps because of superior anticipation. Training to improve decision-making accuracy, particularly involving feint movements, may therefore principally benefit lesser-skilled players and should be practiced regularly. 
24414034	Influence of physical contact on pacing strategies during game-based activities. 	Repeated sprinting incorporating tackles leads to greater reductions in sprint performance than repeated sprinting alone. However, the influence of physical contact on the running demands of game-based activities is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine whether the addition of physical contact altered pacing strategies during game-based activities. Twenty-three elite youth rugby league players were divided into 2 groups. Group 1 played the contact game on day 1 while group 2 played the noncontact game; 72 h later they played the alternate game. Each game consisted of offside touch on a 30 × 70-m field, played over two 8-min halves. Rules were identical between games except the contact game included a 10-s wrestle bout every 50 s. Microtechnology devices were used to analyze player movements. There were greater average reductions during the contact game for distance (25%, 38 m/min, vs 10%, 20 m/min; effect size [ES] = 1.78 ± 1.02) and low-speed distance (21%, 24 m/min, vs 0%, 2 m/s; ES = 1.38 ± 1.02) compared with the noncontact game. There were similar reductions in high-speed running (41%, 18 m/min, vs 45%, 15 m/min; ES = 0.15 ± 0.95). The addition of contact to game-based activities causes players to reduce low-speed activity in an attempt to maintain high-intensity activities. Despite this, players were unable to maintain high-speed running while performing contact efforts. Improving a player's ability to perform contact efforts while maintaining running performance should be a focus in rugby league training. 
24444224	Effects of a defender on run-up velocity and ball speed when crossing a football. 	This study evaluated effects of defensive pressure on running velocity in footballers during the approach to kick a stationary football. Approach velocity and ball speed/accuracy data were recorded from eight football youth academy participants (15.25, SD=0.46 yrs). Participants were required to run to a football to cross it to a receiver to score against a goal-keeper. Defensive pressure was manipulated across three counterbalanced conditions: defender-absent (DA); defender-far (DF) and defender-near (DN). Pass accuracy (percentages of a total of 32 trials with 95% confidence limits in parenthesis) did not significantly reduce under changing defensive pressure: DA, 78% (55-100%); DF, 78% (61-96%); DN, 59% (40-79%). Ball speed (m · s(-1)) significantly reduced as defensive pressure was included and increased: DA, 23.10 (22.38-23.83); DF, 20.40 (19.69-21.11); DN, 19.22 (18.51-19.93). When defensive pressure was introduced, average running velocity of attackers did not change significantly: DA versus DF (m · s(-1)), 5.40 (5.30-5.51) versus 5.41 (5.34-5.48). Scaling defender starting positions closer to the start position of the attacker (DN) significantly increased average running velocity relative to the DA and DF conditions, 5.60 (5.50-5.71). In the final approach footfalls, all conditions significantly differed: DA, 5.69 (5.35-6.03); DF, 6 .22 (5.93-6.50); DN, 6.52 (6.23-6.80). Data suggested that approach velocity is constrained by both presence and initial distance of the defender during task performance. Implications are that the expression of kicking behaviour is specific to a performance context and some movement regulation features will not emerge unless a defender is present as a task constraint in practice. 
24444242	The reliability of tests for sport-specific skill amongst elite youth rugby league players. 	In rugby league, tests of sport-specific skill often involve subjective assessments of performance by observers of varying qualification. However, the reliability of such subjective assessments has yet to be investigated via appropriate statistical techniques. Therefore, the aims of the current study were to investigate: (1) the intra-observer reliability of a non-qualified observer ('novice') and (2) the inter-observer reliability of the three observers (two qualified 'experts' and one novice observer) in the assessment of catching, passing and tackling (stages 1 and 2) ability in elite adolescent rugby league players (age: 14.7 ± 0.5 years). Players performed each skill element within a simulated practice drill and were assessed in 'real time' by the observers according to pre-defined criteria. An overall bias (P&lt;0.05) was revealed between the observers in stage 1 of catching and stage 1 of passing, the differences being higher for the novice compared to both expert coaches for each stage of catching and the first stage of passing, and between expert 2 and the novice for stage 2 of tackling. No comparisons met the pre-determined analytical goal of 'perfect agreement', for any of the skill components. Comparisons between the expert observers did not reach perfect agreement, with the lowest values occurring for both tackling skill stages (60-65%). None of the tests employed were sufficiently reliable to potentially discern between players of differing ability, which may mean up to 56% of players' skill being misinterpreted. The credibility of such assessments should be questioned and alternative tests considered. 
24155118	The back squat and the power clean: elicitation of different degrees of potentiation. 	To compare the acute effects of back squats and power cleans on sprint performance. Thirteen elite junior rugby league players performed 20-m linear sprints before and 7 min after 2 different conditioning activities or 1 control condition. The conditioning activities included 1 set of 3 back squats or power cleans at 90% 1-repetition maximum. A 2 × 2 repeated-measures ANOVA was used to compare preconditioning and postconditioning changes in sprint performance. Both the back-squat and power-clean conditioning activities demonstrated a potentiation effect as indicated by improved sprint time (back squat: P = .001, ES = -0.66; power cleans: P = .001, ES = -0.92), velocity (back squat: P = .001, ES = 0.63; power cleans: P = .001, ES = 0.84), and average acceleration over 20 m (back squat: P = .001, ES = 0.70; power cleans: P = .001, ES = 1.00). No potentiation effect was observed after the control condition. Overall, the power clean induced a greater improvement in sprint time (P = .042, ES = 0.83), velocity (P = .047, ES = 1.17), and average acceleration (P = .05, ES = 0.87) than the back squat. Back-squat and power-clean conditioning activities both induced improvements in sprint performance when included as part of a potentiation protocol. However, the magnitude of improvement was greater after the power cleans. From a practical perspective, strength and conditioning coaches should consider using power cleans rather than back squats to maximize the performance effects of potentiation complexes targeting the development of sprint performance. 
23478474	Performance analysis of professional, semiprofessional, and junior elite rugby league match-play using global positioning systems. 	The aim of the present study was to examine the positional differences in physical performance measures of professional, semiprofessional, and junior elite rugby league match-play using portable Global Positioning Systems (GPSs). Twelve professional, 12 semiprofessional, and 18 junior elite male rugby league players were monitored during 5 regular-season competition matches using portable GPS software. The mean total distance traveled during professional (8,371 ± 897 m) and semiprofessional (7,277 ± 734 m) match-play was significantly (p &lt; 0.05) greater than that traveled during elite junior (4,646 ± 978 m) match-play. Position-specific total distance traveled and distance traveled per minute of playing time were significantly (p &lt; 0.05) less for junior elite backs (5,768 ± 765 m; 74 ± 11 m·min) and forwards (4,774 ± 564 m; 82 ± 5 m·min) in comparison to those in professional (backs: 8,158 ± 673 m; 101 ± 8 m·min and forwards: 8,442 ± 812 m; 98 ± 12 m·min) and semiprofessional (backs: 7,505 ± 765 m; 94 ± 8 m·min and forwards: 6,701 ± 678 m; 89 ± 8 m·min) match-play. Maximum running speed, maximum sprints, and total sprint distance traveled by professional players were all significantly (p &lt; 0.05) greater than those traveled by junior elite players but not semiprofessional players during match-play. Professional backs and forwards performed significantly (p &lt; 0.05) more maximum sprints and traveled greater total distance during match-play in comparison to semiprofessional and junior elite players. The present findings demonstrate minimal differences in the physical performance measures of professional and semiprofessional rugby league match-play. The position-specific performance characteristics of junior elite match-play indicate that current junior elite player-development pathways may not provide adequate preparation for players transitioning into professional competition. 
23734781	Observational analysis of the offensive sequences that ended in a shot by the winning team of the 2010 UEFA Futsal Championship. 	This article analyses the offensive phase of the national team than won the 2010 UEFA Championship. More specifically, the observational sampling includes all plays in which the Spanish national futsal team managed to &quot;shoot&quot; in the competition in question. This data was obtained by adapting an observational and recording tool typically used for football to the technical specifications of futsal; the SOF-CODER (Jonsson et al., 2006). Two types of analysis have been performed. One statistical analysis using the SPSS programme, version 15.0, the most relevant results from which refer to the significant differences found on linking: the zone from which the shot is made and the type of shot (χ² = 55.821, P = 0.006); and the contact surface used and the type of shot (χ² = 30.293, P = 0.017). And another, using the Theme programme, version 5.0, through which regular behaviour structures (temporal patterns) have been detected within the plays that include shooting. The temporal patterns obtained--in addition to elaborating on the relationship between the area from which the shot is made, the contact surface used and the type of shot--enable a tactical interpretation of the technical actions that support the development of the offensive phase of futsal. 
22888845	Dual-task assessment of a sporting skill: influence of task complexity and relationship with competitive performances. 	We investigated the effect of increases in task complexity on the dual-task draw-and-pass performance of professional rugby league players. Moreover, we determined the relationship between dual-task draw-and-pass proficiency measured in isolation and draw-and-pass performances as they occurred in actual competitive matches. In Study 1, 12 rugby league players performed 2-on-1 and 3-on-2 attacking drills under single (primary skill) and dual-task (primary skill performed in conjunction with secondary-task) conditions. Reductions in draw-and-pass performance occurred when task complexity was increased from the 2-on-1 to the 3-on-2 situation. In Study 2, 58 rugby league players undertook the dual-task draw-and-pass assessment. Players then competed in National Rugby League matches with video footage coded for the number of tries scored and the activities that led to the try. A total of 303 tries were scored with 150 (49.5%) tries scored from a draw-and-pass situation. Significant associations were detected between 2-on-1 dual-task draw-and-pass performance in the isolated test condition and draw-and-pass performances in competition. These studies provide evidence of (i) the greater attentional demands of the skill of drawing-and-passing in elite team sport athletes when more players are involved and (ii) the practical utility of off-field dual-task testing in supplying information predictive of skills performance in competition. 
23230960	Amateur football pitches: mechanical properties of the natural ground and of different artificial turf infills and their biomechanical implications. 	Artificial turf is being used more and more often. It is more available than natural turf for use, requires much less maintenance and new products are able to comply with sport performance and athletes' safety. The purpose of this paper is to compare the mechanical and biomechanical responses of two different artificial turf infills (styrene butadiene rubber, from granulated vehicle tires, and thermoplastic rubber granules) and to compare them to the performance of natural fields where amateurs play (beaten earth, substantially). Three mechanical parameters have been calculated from laboratory tests: energy storage, energy losses and surface traction coefficient; results have been correlated with peak accelerations recorded on an instrumented athlete, on the field. The natural ground proved to be stiffer (-15% penetration depth for a given load), and to have a lower dynamic traction coefficient (-48%); the different kinds of infill showed significantly different stiffnesses (varying by more than 23%) and damping behaviour (varying by more than 31%). In running, peak vertical accelerations were lowest in the artificial ground with thermoplastic rubber granules, while, in slalom, both artificial grounds produced higher horizontal peak accelerations compared to the natural ground. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for athletic performance and injury risk. 
24054467	Left posterior parietal theta burst stimulation affects gestural imitation regardless of semantic content. 	Neuro-imaging studies have suggested that the ability to imitate meaningless and meaningful gestures may differentially depend on superior (SPL) and inferior (IPL) parietal lobule. Therefore, we hypothesized that imaging-guided neuro-navigated continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) over left SPL mainly affects meaningless and over left IPL predominantly meaningful gestures. Twelve healthy subjects participated in this study. High resolution structural MRI was used for imaging guided neuro-navigation cTBS. Participants were targeted with one train of cTBS in three experimental sessions: sham stimulation over vertex and real cTBS over left SPL and IPL, respectively. An imitation task, including 24 meaningless and 24 meaningful gestures, was performed 'offline'. cTBS over both left IPL and SPL significantly interfered with gestural imitation. There was no differential effect of SPL and IPL cTBS on gesture type (meaningless versus meaningful). Our findings confirm that left posterior parietal cortex plays a predominant role in gestural imitation. However, the hypothesis based on the dual route model suggesting a differential role of SPL and IPL in the processing of meaningless and meaningful gestures could not be confirmed. Left SPL and IPL play a common role within the posterior-parietal network in gestural imitation regardless of semantic content. 
25062694	Neural bases of imitation and pantomime in acute stroke patients: distinct streams for praxis. 	Apraxia is a cognitive disorder of skilled movements that characteristically affects the ability to imitate meaningless gestures, or to pantomime the use of tools. Despite substantial research, the neural underpinnings of imitation and pantomime have remained debated. An influential model states that higher motor functions are supported by different processing streams. A dorso-dorsal stream may mediate movements based on physical object properties, like reaching or grasping, whereas skilled tool use or pantomime rely on action representations stored within a ventro-dorsal stream. However, given variable results of past studies, the role of the two streams for imitation of meaningless gestures has remained uncertain, and the importance of the ventro-dorsal stream for pantomime of tool use has been questioned. To clarify the involvement of ventral and dorsal streams in imitation and pantomime, we performed voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping in a sample of 96 consecutive left-hemisphere stroke patients (mean age ± SD, 63.4 ± 14.8 years, 56 male). Patients were examined in the acute phase after ischaemic stroke (after a mean of 5.3, maximum 10 days) to avoid interference of brain reorganization with a reliable lesion-symptom mapping as best as possible. Patients were asked to imitate 20 meaningless hand and finger postures, and to pantomime the use of 14 common tools depicted as line drawings. Following the distinction between movement engrams and action semantics, pantomime errors were characterized as either movement or content errors, respectively. Whereas movement errors referred to incorrect spatio-temporal features of overall recognizable movements, content errors reflected an inability to associate tools with their prototypical actions. Both imitation and pantomime deficits were associated with lesions within the lateral occipitotemporal cortex, posterior inferior parietal lobule, posterior intraparietal sulcus and superior parietal lobule. However, the areas specifically related to the dorso-dorsal stream, i.e. posterior intraparietal sulcus and superior parietal lobule, were more strongly associated with imitation. Conversely, in contrast to imitation, pantomime deficits were associated with ventro-dorsal regions such as the supramarginal gyrus, as well as brain structures counted to the ventral stream, such as the extreme capsule. Ventral stream involvement was especially clear for content errors which were related to anterior temporal damage. However, movement errors were not consistently associated with a specific lesion location. In summary, our results indicate that imitation mainly relies on the dorso-dorsal stream for visuo-motor conversion and on-line movement control. Conversely, pantomime additionally requires ventro-dorsal and ventral streams for access to stored action engrams and retrieval of tool-action relationships. 
24085467	Deficits in motor abilities and developmental fractionation of imitation performance in high-functioning autism spectrum disorders. 	The co-occurrence of motor and imitation disabilities often characterises the spectrum of deficits seen in patients with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Whether these seemingly separate deficits are inter-related and whether, in particular, motor deficits contribute to the expression of imitation deficits is the topic of the present study and was investigated by comparing these deficits' cross-sectional developmental trajectories. To that end, different components of motor performance assessed in the Zurich Neuromotor Assessment and imitation abilities for facial movements and non-meaningful gestures were tested in 70 subjects (aged 6-29 years), including 36 patients with high-functioning ASD and 34 age-matched typically developed (TD) participants. The results show robust deficits in probands with ASD in timed motor performance and in the quality of movement, which are all independent of age, with one exception. Only diadochokinesis improves moderately with increasing age in ASD probands. Imitation of facial movements and of non-meaningful hand, finger, hand finger gestures not related to social context or tool use is also impaired in ASD subjects, but in contrast to motor performance this deficit overall improves with age. A general imitation factor, extracted from the highly inter-correlated imitation tests, is differentially correlated with components of neuromotor performance in ASD and TD participants. By developmentally fractionating developmentally stable motor deficits from developmentally dynamic imitation deficits, we infer that imitation deficits are primarily cognitive in nature. 
24001392	Impaired gesture performance in schizophrenia: particular vulnerability of meaningless pantomimes. 	Schizophrenia patients frequently present with subtle motor impairments, including higher order motor function such as hand gesture performance. Using cut off scores from a standardized gesture test, we previously reported gesture deficits in 40% of schizophrenia patients irrespective of the gesture content. However, these findings were based on normative data from an older control group. Hence, we now aimed at determining cut-off scores in an age and gender matched control group. Furthermore, we wanted to explore whether gesture categories are differentially affected in Schizophrenia. Gesture performance data of 30 schizophrenia patients and data from 30 matched controls were compared. Categories included meaningless, intransitive (communicative) and transitive (object related) hand gestures, which were either imitated or pantomimed, i.e. produced on verbal command. Cut-off scores of the age matched control group were higher than the previous cut-off scores in an older control group. An ANOVA tested effects of group, domain (imitation or pantomime), and semantic category (meaningless, transitive or intransitive), as well as their interaction. According to the new cut-off scores, 67% of the schizophrenia patients demonstrated gestural deficits. Patients performed worse in all gesture categories, however meaningless gestures on verbal command were particularly impaired (p = 0.008). This category correlated with poor frontal lobe function (p &lt; 0.001). In conclusion, gestural deficits in schizophrenia are even more frequent than previously reported. Gesture categories that pose higher demands on planning and selection such as pantomime of meaningless gestures are predominantly affected and associated with the well-known frontal lobe dysfunction. 
22786801	Age-related changes in learning across early childhood: a new imitation task. 	Imitation plays a critical role in social and cognitive development, but the social learning mechanisms contributing to the development of imitation are not well understood. We developed a new imitation task designed to examine social learning mechanisms across the early childhood period. The new task involves assembly of abstract-shaped puzzle pieces in an arbitrary sequence on a magnet board. Additionally, we introduce a new scoring system that extends traditional goal-directed imitation scoring to include measures of both children's success at copying gestures (sliding the puzzle pieces) and goals (connecting the puzzle pieces). In Experiment 1, we demonstrated an age-invariant baseline from 1.5 to 3.5 years of age, accompanied by age-related changes in success at copying goals and gestures from a live demonstrator. In Experiment 2, we applied our new task to learning following a video demonstration. Imitation performance in the video demonstration group lagged behind that of the live demonstration group, showing a protracted video deficit effect. Across both experiments, children were more likely to copy gestures at earlier ages, suggesting mimicry, and only later copy both goals and gestures, suggesting imitation. Taken together, the findings suggest that different social learning strategies may predominate in imitation learning dependent upon the degree of object affordance, task novelty, and task complexity. 
23669048	Seeing triggers acting, hearing does not trigger saying: evidence from children's weak inhibition. 	There is evidence to suggest action imitation is automatic in adults and children. Children's weak inhibitory control means that automatic activation can have dramatic effects on behaviour. In three developmental studies, we investigated whether verbal imitation, like action imitation, is automatic. In Experiment 1 (n=96), 3-year-olds' accuracy was investigated on three well-established inhibitory tasks, and on a novel task which required the suppression of verbal imitation. Experiment 2 (n=48) compared 3-year-olds' accuracy on well-matched action and verbal tasks. In Experiment 3 (n=96), 5-, 7- and 11-year-olds reaction times were compared on verbal and action tasks using conditions that enabled the tasks' inhibitory demands to be assessed. Consistent support was found for verbal imitation being less automatic than action imitation. We suggest that this difference may reflect the greater complexity of speech, and has consequences for children's behaviour and learning. 
23684882	Differential role of the Mentalizing and the Mirror Neuron system in the imitation of communicative gestures. 	Successful social interaction requires recognising the intention of another person's communicative gestures. At a neural level, this process may involve neural activity in different systems, such as the mentalizing system (MS) and the mirror neuron system (MNS). The aim of the present study was to explore the neural correlates of communicative gestures during observation and execution of these gestures. Twenty participants watched video clips of an actor executing social gestures (S), non-social gestures (NS) and meaningless gestures (ML). During fMRI data acquisition, participants were asked to observe (O) and subsequently to execute (E) one of two tasks: imitate the gesture presented (IMI) or perform a motor control task (CT). For the contrast IMI&gt;CT we found activations in the core areas of the MNS [inferior parietal lobule (IPL) and inferior frontal cortex, the posterior part of pars opercularis], as well as in areas related to the MS [superior temporal sulcus (STS) and middle cingulate cortex]. For S&gt;NS, we found activations in the left medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC), right superior frontal cortex and middle cingulate cortex. The interaction of stimulus condition (S vs NS) and task (IMI vs CT) revealed activation in the right IPL. For the interaction between observation vs execution (O vs E), task (IMI vs CT) and stimulus condition (S vs NS) we found activation in the right mOFC. Our data suggest that imitation is differentially processed in the MNS as well as in the MS. The activation in IPL is enhanced during the processing of social gestures most likely due to their communicative intention. The activation of IPL together with medial frontal areas may contribute to mentalizing processes. The interaction in the mOFC suggests an involvement of self-referential processes in the processing of social gesture. 
24157538	Neural correlates of non-verbal social interactions: a dual-EEG study. 	Successful non-verbal social interaction between human beings requires dynamic and efficient encoding of others' gestures. Our study aimed at identifying neural markers of social interaction and goal variations in a non-verbal task. For this, we recorded simultaneously the electroencephalogram from two participants (dual-EEG), an actor and an observer, and their arm/hand kinematics in a real face-to-face paradigm. The observer watched &quot;biological actions&quot; performed by the human actor and &quot;non-biological actions&quot; performed by a robot. All actions occurred within an interactive or non-interactive context depending on whether the observer had to perform a complementary action or not (e.g., the actor presents a saucer and the observer either places the corresponding cup or does nothing). We analysed the EEG signals of both participants (i.e., beta (~20 Hz) oscillations as an index of cortical motor activity and motor related potentials (MRPs)). We identified markers of social interactions by synchronising EEG to the onset of the actor's movement. Movement kinematics did not differ in the two context conditions and the MRPs of the actor were similar in the two conditions. For the observer, however, an observation-related MRP was measured in all conditions but was more negative in the interactive context over fronto-central electrodes. Moreover, this feature was specific to biological actions. Concurrently, the suppression of beta oscillations was observed in the actor's EEG and the observer's EEG rapidly after the onset of the actor's movement. Critically, this suppression was stronger in the interactive than in the non-interactive context despite the fact that movement kinematics did not differ in the two context conditions. For the observer, this modulation was observed independently of whether the actor was a human or a robot. Our results suggest that acting in a social context induced analogous modulations of motor and sensorimotor regions in observer and actor. Sharing a common goal during an interaction seems thus to evoke a common representation of the global action that includes both actor and observer movements. 
24280556	Classification of body movements based on posturographic data. 	The human body, standing on two feet, produces a continuous sway pattern. Intended movements, sensory cues, emotional states, and illnesses can all lead to subtle changes in sway appearing as alterations in ground reaction forces and the body's center of pressure (COP). The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that carefully selected COP parameters and classification methods can differentiate among specific body movements while standing, providing new prospects in camera-free motion identification. Force platform data were collected from participants performing 11 choreographed postural and gestural movements. Twenty-three different displacement- and frequency-based features were extracted from COP time series, and supplied to classification-guided feature extraction modules. For identification of movement type, several linear and nonlinear classifiers were explored; including linear discriminants, nearest neighbor classifiers, and support vector machines. The average classification rates on previously unseen test sets ranged from 67% to 100%. Within the context of this experiment, no single method was able to uniformly outperform the others for all movement types, and therefore a set of movement-specific features and classifiers is recommended. 
23944214	From gestures to gaming: visible embodiment of remote actions. 	Teleoperation is the act of controlling an object that exists in a space, real or virtual, physically disconnected from the user. During such situations, it is not uncommon to observe those controlling the remote object exhibiting movement consistent with the behaviour of the remote object. Though this behaviour has no obvious impact on one's control of the remote object, it appears tied to one's intentions, thus, possibly representing an embodied representation of ongoing cognitive processes. In the present investigation, we applied a natural behaviour approach to test this notion, (a) first by identifying the representational basis for the behaviour and (b) by identifying factors that influence the occurrence of the behaviour. Each study involved observing participant behaviour while they played a racing video game. Results revealed that the spontaneous behaviour demonstrated in a teleoperation setting is tied to one's remote actions, rather than local actions or some combination of remote and local actions (Experiment 1). In addition, increasing task demand led to an increase in the occurrence of the spontaneous behaviour (Experiment 2). A third experiment was conducted to rule out the possible confound of greater immersion that tends to accompany greater demand (Experiment 3). The implications of these results not only suggest that spontaneous behaviour observed during teleoperation reflects a form of visible embodiment, sensitive to task demand, but also further emphasizes the utility of natural behaviour approaches for furthering our understanding of the relationship between the body and cognitive processes. 
23669048	Seeing triggers acting, hearing does not trigger saying: evidence from children's weak inhibition. 	There is evidence to suggest action imitation is automatic in adults and children. Children's weak inhibitory control means that automatic activation can have dramatic effects on behaviour. In three developmental studies, we investigated whether verbal imitation, like action imitation, is automatic. In Experiment 1 (n=96), 3-year-olds' accuracy was investigated on three well-established inhibitory tasks, and on a novel task which required the suppression of verbal imitation. Experiment 2 (n=48) compared 3-year-olds' accuracy on well-matched action and verbal tasks. In Experiment 3 (n=96), 5-, 7- and 11-year-olds reaction times were compared on verbal and action tasks using conditions that enabled the tasks' inhibitory demands to be assessed. Consistent support was found for verbal imitation being less automatic than action imitation. We suggest that this difference may reflect the greater complexity of speech, and has consequences for children's behaviour and learning. 
23261329	More questions for mirror neurons. 	The mirror neuron system is widely held to provide direct access to the motor goals of others. This paper critically investigates this idea, focusing on the so-called 'intentional worry'. I explore two answers to the intentional worry: first that the worry is premised on too limited an understanding of mirror neuron behaviour (Sections 2 and 3), second that the appeal made to mirror neurons can be refined in such a way as to avoid the worry (Section 4). I argue that the first response requires an account of the mechanism by which small-scale gestures are supposedly mapped to larger chains of actions but that none of the extant accounts of this mechanism are plausible. Section 4 then briefly examines refinements of the mirror neuron-mindreading hypothesis which avoid the intentional worry. I conclude that these refinements may well be plausible but that they undermine many of the claims standardly made for mirror neurons. 
23841967	Neural reorganization accompanying upper limb motor rehabilitation from stroke with virtual reality-based gesture therapy. 	Gesture Therapy is an upper limb virtual reality rehabilitation-based therapy for stroke survivors. It promotes motor rehabilitation by challenging patients with simple computer games representative of daily activities for self-support. This therapy has demonstrated clinical value, but the underlying functional neural reorganization changes associated with this therapy that are responsible for the behavioral improvements are not yet known. We sought to quantify the occurrence of neural reorganization strategies that underlie motor improvements as they occur during the practice of Gesture Therapy and to identify those strategies linked to a better prognosis. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) neuroscans were longitudinally collected at 4 time points during Gesture Therapy administration to 8 patients. Behavioral improvements were monitored using the Fugl-Meyer scale and Motricity Index. Activation loci were anatomically labelled and translated to reorganization strategies. Strategies are quantified by counting the number of active clusters in brain regions tied to them. All patients demonstrated significant behavioral improvements (P &lt; .05). Contralesional activation of the unaffected motor cortex, cerebellar recruitment, and compensatory prefrontal cortex activation were the most prominent strategies evoked. A strong and significant correlation between motor dexterity upon commencing therapy and total recruited activity was found (r2 = 0.80; P &lt; .05), and overall brain activity during therapy was inversely related to normalized behavioral improvements (r2 = 0.64; P &lt; .05). Prefrontal cortex and cerebellar activity are the driving forces of the recovery associated with Gesture Therapy. The relation between behavioral and brain changes suggests that those with stronger impairment benefit the most from this paradigm. 
23366211	Preliminary study on determining stereotypical motor movements. 	Stereotypical motor movements are one of the most common and least understood behaviors occurring in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). To overcome problems with traditional methods for measuring stereotypical motor movements in persons with ASD, the Kinect sensor from Microsoft and gesture recognition algorithms were used to automatically detect hand flapping. This study provides a valuable tool to monitor stereotypes in order to understand and to cope with this problem. At the end it facilitates to identify behavioral patterns especially relevant when studying interaction skills in children with ASD. 
25062694	Neural bases of imitation and pantomime in acute stroke patients: distinct streams for praxis. 	Apraxia is a cognitive disorder of skilled movements that characteristically affects the ability to imitate meaningless gestures, or to pantomime the use of tools. Despite substantial research, the neural underpinnings of imitation and pantomime have remained debated. An influential model states that higher motor functions are supported by different processing streams. A dorso-dorsal stream may mediate movements based on physical object properties, like reaching or grasping, whereas skilled tool use or pantomime rely on action representations stored within a ventro-dorsal stream. However, given variable results of past studies, the role of the two streams for imitation of meaningless gestures has remained uncertain, and the importance of the ventro-dorsal stream for pantomime of tool use has been questioned. To clarify the involvement of ventral and dorsal streams in imitation and pantomime, we performed voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping in a sample of 96 consecutive left-hemisphere stroke patients (mean age ± SD, 63.4 ± 14.8 years, 56 male). Patients were examined in the acute phase after ischaemic stroke (after a mean of 5.3, maximum 10 days) to avoid interference of brain reorganization with a reliable lesion-symptom mapping as best as possible. Patients were asked to imitate 20 meaningless hand and finger postures, and to pantomime the use of 14 common tools depicted as line drawings. Following the distinction between movement engrams and action semantics, pantomime errors were characterized as either movement or content errors, respectively. Whereas movement errors referred to incorrect spatio-temporal features of overall recognizable movements, content errors reflected an inability to associate tools with their prototypical actions. Both imitation and pantomime deficits were associated with lesions within the lateral occipitotemporal cortex, posterior inferior parietal lobule, posterior intraparietal sulcus and superior parietal lobule. However, the areas specifically related to the dorso-dorsal stream, i.e. posterior intraparietal sulcus and superior parietal lobule, were more strongly associated with imitation. Conversely, in contrast to imitation, pantomime deficits were associated with ventro-dorsal regions such as the supramarginal gyrus, as well as brain structures counted to the ventral stream, such as the extreme capsule. Ventral stream involvement was especially clear for content errors which were related to anterior temporal damage. However, movement errors were not consistently associated with a specific lesion location. In summary, our results indicate that imitation mainly relies on the dorso-dorsal stream for visuo-motor conversion and on-line movement control. Conversely, pantomime additionally requires ventro-dorsal and ventral streams for access to stored action engrams and retrieval of tool-action relationships. 
21236274	Re-examining the gesture engram hypothesis. New perspectives on apraxia of tool use. 	In everyday life, we are led to reuse the same tools (e.g., fork, hammer, coffee-maker), raising the question as to whether we have to systematically recreate the idea of the manipulation which is associated with these tools. The gesture engram hypothesis offers a straightforward answer to this issue, by suggesting that activation of gesture engrams provides a processing advantage, avoiding portions of the process from being reconstructed de novo with each experience. At first glance, the gesture engram hypothesis appears very plausible. But, behind this beguiling simplicity lies a set of unresolved difficulties: (1) What is the evidence in favour of the idea that the mere observation of a tool is sufficient to activate the corresponding gesture engram? (2) If tool use can be supported by a direct route between a structural description system and gesture engrams, what is the role of knowledge about tool function? (3) And, more importantly, what does it mean to store knowledge about how to manipulate tools? We begin by outlining some of the main formulations of the gesture engram hypothesis. Then, we address each of these issues in more detail. To anticipate our discussion, the gesture engram hypothesis appears to be clearly unsatisfactory, notably because of its incapacity to offer convincing answers to these different issues. We conclude by arguing that neuropsychology may greatly benefit from adopting the hypothesis that the idea of how to manipulate a tool is recreated de novo with each experience, thus opening interesting perspectives for future research on apraxia. 
18953583	Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) and bonobos (Pan paniscus) point to inform a human about the location of a tool. 	Although pointing is not part of great apes' natural gestural repertoire, they can learn to point to food, in order to request it. To assess the flexibility with which they can use this gesture, one can vary the potential referent of the point. In two previous studies, three orangutans (two of them human-reared) have shown the ability to point to the location of a tool which a human experimenter needed in order to give them food. Here, we tested six orangutans and five bonobos using a set-up in which our subjects had to guide a human experimenter to the hiding place of a fork which was needed in order to retrieve a piece of food for the subject out of a vertical tube. We further examined the potential role of a competitive/deceptive context by varying the identity of the person responsible for hiding the tool. In addition, we implemented three different control conditions in which an object was hidden but it was not necessary to indicate its location to get the food. We found that the majority of subjects spontaneously guided the experimenter to the hiding place of the fork by pointing to it when it was necessary and they did so significantly less in control conditions. We did not find an effect of the person hiding the fork. Our results show that mother-reared orangutans and bonobos are able to point to inform a human about the location of an object that the human needs to procure food for the subject and that they can take into account whether it is relevant or not to do so. 
19231475	The use of a tool requires its incorporation into the movement: evidence from stick-pointing in apraxia. 	When using a tool, the agent has to control the movement of this implement to perform an efficient action. While perceptual assimilation of a tool has been shown to occur during its use, the incorporation of an implement into the control of movements has received little attention. Here, we investigated the relation between the ability to integrate an object into motor coordination, and tool use. Apraxic patients impaired for familiar tool use were asked to point at targets located at various distances using either their finger, or two sticks of different lengths (23 and 53 cm). Left-brain damaged patients without apraxia participated as controls. Movement kinematics were analysed, with a particular focus on the working point (WP) of the action, defined as the tip of the finger or stick. Control patients produced movements with similar kinematic characteristics in all conditions, and were slightly less accurate with the sticks than with their finger. In contrast, more than half of the apraxics (6/10) showed various degrees of impairment when pointing with the sticks, manifested by deviant and inefficient motor strategies and abnormally large errors. In light of previous work in motor control and kinematics, it is argued that this reflects a deficit in anticipatively controlling a WP located in the stick, that is, in integrating the stick into the movement. We propose that this impairment might be related to dysfunction of the processes involved in dynamic body representation, which needs to be extended to include the tool to be used. Future directions are discussed to further characterize the relation between object incorporation and tool use, and its relevance for understanding apraxia and the neural bases of tool use. 
24476744	Correlation of Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) level 1 movement screens and golf swing faults. 	Although some research in the past has examined how physical limitations in strength or flexibility affect a golfer's performance, the performance outcome most measured was driving distance. Currently, there are no data that have examined the relationship between selected strength and flexibility variables and golf swing faults. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) level 1 movement screen variables and 14 common golf swing faults. Thirty-six male and female golfers (mean age, 25.4 ± 9.9 years; height, 175.9 ± 16.2 cm; mass, 76.2 ± 14.6 kg; handicap, 14.2 ± 10.4) participated. Twelve physical tests of strength, flexibility, and balance were assessed using the TPI level 1 golf fitness screening tool. Golfers then hit 4 golf shots (with a 5-iron) while being videoed, and those were then analyzed for 14 different golf swing faults (using V1Pro software). Three significant associations between a physical limitation and a particular golf swing fault were found: toe touch and early hip extension (p = 0.015), bridge on right side with both early hip extension (p = 0.050), and loss of posture (p = 0.028). In addition, an odds ratio showed that when a golfer could not overhead deep squat or single leg balance on left side, they were 2-3 times more likely to exhibit a early hip extension, loss of posture, or slide during the golf swing, as compared with those who could perform a correct overhead deep squat. Based on our findings, it is important for the golf fitness professional to particularly address a golfer's core strength, balance, and hamstring flexibility to help avoid common golf swing faults, which affect a golfer's ball striking ability and ultimately their performance. 
25122996	Grip pressure distributions and associated variability in golf: a two-club comparison. 	Teaching and playing professionals offer multiple theories concerning the manner in which forces should be applied to the handle of the club during the golf swing. This study extends recent research concerning grip pressures and forces in golf, with the purpose of exploring the similarities and differences between force profiles for a 7-iron and driver swung by proficient golfers. A secondary purpose was to further analyze the way that golfers use grip forces to manipulate the club. Grip forces were measured on eight low handicap golfers (USGA indexes 0 to 7) swinging their own 7-irons and drivers. In total, lead-hand and trail-hand grip forces were isolated as well as anatomically specific forces within the hands. Force profile variability across multiple swings for each golfer and between golfers characterized consistencies and important differences. Correlations between 7-iron and driver force profiles characterized force 'signatures.' The data highlight large fluctuations in grip forces during the swing. Marked differences between participants were observed, involving force magnitudes and phasing. Dominant forces arose primarily from the lead hand, specifically the last three fingers. Force profiles were highly repeatable across swings for a golfer (standard deviations &lt; 7% of total force) and force profile correlations between 7-iron and driver for a golfer were remarkably high (r2 = 0.86). Notably, within swing force variability was greatest during club acceleration, but dramatically decreased at impact. 
23463985	The X-Factor: an evaluation of common methods used to analyse major inter-segment kinematics during the golf swing. 	A common biomechanical feature of a golf swing, described in various ways in the literature, is the interaction between the thorax and pelvis, often termed the X-Factor. There is no consistent method used within golf biomechanics literature however to calculate these segment interactions. The purpose of this study was to examine X-factor data calculated using three reported methods in order to determine the similarity or otherwise of the data calculated using each method. A twelve-camera three-dimensional motion capture system was used to capture the driver swings of 19 participants and a subject specific three-dimensional biomechanical model was created with the position and orientation of each model estimated using a global optimisation algorithm. Comparison of the X-Factor methods showed significant differences for events during the swing (P &lt; 0.05). Data for each kinematic measure were derived as a times series for all three methods and regression analysis of these data showed that whilst one method could be successfully mapped to another, the mappings between methods are subject dependent (P &lt;0.05). Findings suggest that a consistent methodology considering the X-Factor from a joint angle approach is most insightful in describing a golf swing. 
23362806	Taxonomy of golf putting: do different golf putting techniques exist? 	This study is a preliminary investigation into the use of cluster analysis to determine if different putting techniques existed in a group of club level golfers. Putting at a hole 4 m away, the performances of 34 experienced golfers (age 55.3 ± 17.8 years and handicap 15.3 ± 6.9, range 3-27) were analysed using putter head kinematic and centre of pressure data. Two distinct putting techniques were identified (named as Arm putting and Body putting), this being the first time different putting techniques have been reported in the research literature. These techniques were defined by parameters related solely to movement of the centre of pressure along the line of the putt. Some players (17 of 34) moved between techniques when performing their putting trials. Neither technique produced more accurate putt results (P = 0.783). Putting technique was further analysed after grouping players according to handicap (similar skill level) or accuracy (similar putting performance). The lack of significant findings when players were re-analysed according to handicap or accuracy highlights the importance of the correct methodological approach to detecting technique differences. 
22154489	Differences in wrist mechanics during the golf swing based on golf handicap. 	Variation in swing mechanics between golfers of different skill levels has been previously reported. To investigate if differences in three-dimensional wrist kinematics and the angle of golf club descent between low and high handicap golfers. A descriptive laboratory study was performed with twenty-eight male golfers divided into two groups, low handicap golfers (handicap = 0-5, n = 15) and high handicap golfers (handicap ≥ 10, n = 13). Bilateral peak three-dimensional wrist mechanics, bilateral wrist mechanics at ball contact (BC), peak angle of descent from the end of the backswing to ball contact, and the angle of descent when the forearm was parallel to the ground (DEC-PAR) were determined using an 8 camera motion capture system. Independent t-tests were completed for each study variable (α = 0.05). Pearson correlation coefficients were determined between golf handicap and each of the study variables. The peak lead arm radial deviation (5.7 degrees, p = 0.008), lead arm radial deviation at ball contact (7.1 degrees, p = 0.001), and DEC-PAR (15.8 degrees, p = 0.002) were significantly greater in the high handicap group. In comparison with golfers with a low handicap, golfers with a high handicap have increased radial deviation during the golf swing and at ball contact. 
22272690	Variability in clubhead presentation characteristics and ball impact location for golfers' drives. 	The purpose of the present study was to analyse the variability in clubhead presentation to the ball and the resulting ball impact location on the club face for a range of golfers of different ability. A total of 285 male and female participants hit multiple shots using one of four proprietary drivers. Self-reported handicap was used to quantify a participant's golfing ability. A bespoke motion capture system and user-written algorithms was used to track the clubhead just before and at impact, measuring clubhead speed, clubhead orientation, and impact location. A Doppler radar was used to measure golf ball speed. Generally, golfers of higher skill (lower handicap) generated increased clubhead speed and increased efficiency (ratio of ball speed to clubhead speed). Non-parametric statistical tests showed that low-handicap golfers exhibit significantly lower variability from shot to shot in clubhead speed, efficiency, impact location, attack angle, club path, and face angle compared with high-handicap golfers. 
22288833	Development of the Nine-Ball Skills Test to discriminate elite and high-level amateur golfers. 	Currently, there is a lack of appropriate skill assessments available for use in golf. The aim of this study was to examine the discriminative validity and the test-retest reliability of the newly developed &quot;Nine-Ball Skills Test&quot;. Participants of two ability levels (elite, n = 14; high-level amateur, n = 16) each hit nine golf shots of differing combinations of trajectory (straight, fade, draw) and height (normal, high, low) at an individually determined target area. Each shot was scored on its percent error index from the target and whether it achieved the maximum height as required. Participants completed the test twice using a 5-iron club. The elite group scored significantly higher (P &lt; 0.05) than the amateur group for both the first and second rounds of the test as well as the combined scores. The between-round test-retest reliability was deemed to be not acceptable, thus we propose that the test's protocol should include use of the two rounds as standard. Due to the importance of ball striking and flight control to performance in golf, the Nine-Ball Skills Test is appropriate for providing a measure of this skill component in elite and high-level amateur golfers. 
21988676	Determination of the swing technique characteristics and performance outcome relationship in golf driving for low handicap female golfers. 	Previous studies on the kinematics of the golf swing have mainly focused on group analysis of male golfers of a wide ability range. In the present study, we investigated gross body kinematics using a novel method of analysis for golf research for a group of low handicap female golfers to provide an understanding of their swing mechanics in relation to performance. Data were collected for the drive swings of 16 golfers using a 12-camera three-dimensional motion capture system and a stereoscopic launch monitor. Analysis of covariance identified three covariates (increased pelvis-thorax differential at the top of the backswing, increased pelvis translation during the backswing, and a decrease in absolute backswing time) as determinants of the variance in clubhead speed (adjusted r (2) = 0.965, P &lt; 0.05). A significant correlation was found between left-hand grip strength and clubhead speed (r = 0.54, P &lt; 0.05) and between handicap and clubhead speed (r = -0.612, P &lt; 0.05). Flexibility measures showed some correlation with clubhead speed; both sitting flexibility tests gave positive correlations (clockwise: r = 0.522, P &lt; 0.05; counterclockwise: r = 0.711, P &lt; 0.01). The results suggest that there is no common driver swing technique for optimal performance in low handicap female golfers, and therefore consideration should be given to individual swing characteristics in future studies. 
24220794	Movement initiation in groups of feral horses. 	Herds of ungulates, flocks of birds, swarms of insects and schools of fish move in coordinated groups. Computer models show that only one or very few animals are needed to initiate and direct movement. To investigate initiation mechanisms further, we studied two ways in which movement can be initiated in feral horses: herding, and departure from the group. We examined traits affecting the likelihood of a horse initiating movement i.e. social rank, affiliative relationships, spatial position, and social network. We also investigated whether group members join a movement in dominance rank order. Our results show that whereas herding is exclusive to alpha males, any group member may initiate movement by departure. Social bonds, the number of animals interacted with, and the spatial position were not significantly associated with movement initiation. We did not find movement initiation by departure to be exclusive to any type of individual. Instead we find evidence for a limited form of distributed leadership, with higher ranking animals being followed more often. 
24508353	Social consequences of disability in a nonhuman primate. 	Debates about the likelihood of conspecific care for disabled individuals in ancestral hominins rely on evidence from extant primates, yet little is known about social treatment (positive, neutral or negative) of physically disabled individuals in nonhuman primates. A group of free-ranging Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) at the Awajishima Monkey Center (AMC) in Japan presents a unique opportunity to investigate the relationships between physical impairment and social behavior, in the context of congenital limb malformation in adult nonhuman primates. We collected behavioral data on 23 focal animals, taking 30-minute continuous time samples on disabled and nondisabled adult female Japanese macaques during three consecutive birth seasons (May-August 2005, 2006, and 2007). Disabled females were less social overall compared with nondisabled controls, a pattern that was evident from a variety of measures. Disabled females rested significantly more and socialized significantly less compared with controls, had fewer adult female affiliates, fewer adult female grooming partners, and spent less time engaged in grooming with adult females. Some measures suggested that the social differences were the result of behavioral flexibility on the part of disabled females compensating for their disabilities with lower levels of social involvement and more rest. Disabled females were as successful at groom solicitations as were nondisabled females and the ratio of disabled and nondisabled affiliates was similar among focal animals; there was no strong preference related to the disability status of affiliates. Disabled females were also bitten and chased less frequently. Overall, there was little evidence either for conspecific care or for social selection against disability. In general, there was a socially neutral response to disability, and while neutral social context allows for the possibility of care behaviors, our findings emphasize the self-reliant abilities of these disabled primates and suggest caution when inferring conspecific care for even very disabled ancestral humans. 
24323447	Short-term separation from groups by male Japanese macaques: costs and benefits in feeding behavior and social interaction. 	To expand our understanding of fission-fusion behavior and determine its variability among primates, studies of both individual-based and group-based fission-fusion are necessary. We conducted a parallel tracking study of male and female Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata yakui) during the non-mating season to clarify the general features of separate ranging by males of this species, an example of fission-fusion behavior, and to reveal its associated costs and benefits. Males frequently engaged in short-term separate ranging, leaving the company of females and ranging on their own for periods averaging 68 min in duration. However, the males did not venture outside the group's home range. When ranging separately from the group, males spent more time feeding, particularly on fruit, stayed longer in each feeding tree, and fed at a lower rate than when ranging with the group. These behavioral changes suggest that males can avoid within-group feeding competition by ranging alone. However, this behavior was also associated with higher traveling costs, and these separated males were more vulnerable to intergroup competition and had fewer opportunities for social interaction. The frequency of separate ranging was lower when highly clumped food plant species were the main food source. Lower-ranked males, who received more aggression when ranging with the group, exhibited a higher frequency of separate ranging. This behavioral flexibility with respect to group cohesion may allow males to reduce the costs of group living without completely losing the benefits. Specifically, by ranging alone, males may acquire sufficient feeding time without being disturbed by other group members. Conversely, when ranging with the group, males can access grooming partners and advantages in intergroup competition. 
23857145	The effect of solicitations on grooming exchanges among female Japanese macaques at Katsuyama. 	In group-living primates, individuals often exchange grooming with not only kin but also non-kin. We investigated the effect of soliciting behaviors on grooming exchanges in a free-ranging Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) group at Katsuyama. In this study, we used a focal animal sampling method, targeting 14 females. Data were collected for 15.75 ± 2.67 (mean ± SD) hours per focal female. We classified female-female pairs into three pair types: kin pairs, affiliated non-kin pairs, and unaffiliated non-kin pairs. Females received grooming more frequently when they solicited after grooming their partners than when they did not solicit in all pair types. In addition, females received grooming less frequently when they did not groom their unaffiliated non-kin partners before soliciting; prior grooming was not needed to receive grooming from kin or affiliated non-kin partners. The degree of grooming reciprocity did not differ according to the frequency with which females in kin or affiliated non-kin pairs solicited after grooming. On the other hand, grooming reciprocity between unaffiliated non-kin females was more balanced when they solicited frequently after grooming, as compared with when they did not. In conclusion, our study suggests that soliciting behaviors promote grooming exchanges in female Japanese macaques. 
23696343	Grooming reciprocity in male Tibetan macaques. 	In several primate species, adult males are reported to compete for access to reproductive partners as well as forming affiliative and cohesive social bonds based on the exchange of goods or services. We hypothesized that among a broad set of fitness-maximizing strategies, grooming can be used by individual adult males to enhance social relationships through reciprocity and/or through the interchange of grooming for a different but equivalent good or service. We used focal animal sampling and continuously recorded dyadic grooming and agonistic interactions to test a series of predictions regarding male social interactions in a free-ranging group of Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana) at Huangshan, China. During the non-mating season or between males of similar rank throughout the year, grooming effort given was matched by grooming effort received. However, lower ranking males groomed higher ranking males at a greater rate and/or for a longer duration during both the mating and non-mating periods. We found that higher ranking males directed less aggression towards males with whom they formed a frequent grooming partnership, indicating that grooming received was interchanged for increased social tolerance. These data suggest that individual male Tibetan macaques employ alternative social strategies associated with grooming reciprocity or interchange depending on dominance rank and rates of aggression, and highlight the importance of both biological markets and grooming reciprocity as behavioral mechanisms used by resident adult males to form and maintain affiliative social bonds. 
22278710	Scratching around mating: factors affecting anxiety in wild Lemur catta. 	Scratching has been successfully used to detect anxiety, a proxy for stress, in primates, from strepsirrhines to Homo sapiens. Here, we investigated the fluctuation of scratching in Lemur catta during the mating season. In particular we evaluated whether scratching (1) varied according to sex and rank differences, (2) increased in the period of maximum stress (around the mating days), and (3) was reduced by grooming. At Berenty (South Madagascar), we followed two lemur groups (23 adult/subadult individuals) and gathered data on self-scratching, aggression, and grooming. Based on perineal area features, we recognized two periods: low swelling (LS), with no estrus female, and high swelling (HS), when at least one female was in estrus. We predicted that aggressive behaviors and anxiety-related scratching would covary. Indeed, scratching peaked in HS, when aggression was also highest. In agreement with previous literature, this result suggests that conflicts around estrus days may raise anxiety levels in the social group. We expected scratching levels to be highest in males because they aggressively compete for females and are subject to mate choice and repeated attacks by dominant females. Instead, the scratching rates were similar in males and females, probably because the high competition, which involves both sexes, dampened intersexual differences. In contrast to our prediction, scratching was not rank dependent, probably because animal ranking positions changed from LS to HS. Finally, we showed that, in ring-tailed lemurs, as well as in other primates, scratching decreases after reciprocal grooming in both periods. This finding provides the first evidence that grooming could assist in reducing anxiety in strepsirrhines. 
22391051	Behavioural processes in social context: female abductions, male herding and female grooming in hamadryas baboons. 	The formation of bonds between strangers is an event that occurs routinely in many social animals, including humans, and, as social bonds in general, they affect the individuals' welfare and biological fitness. The present study was motivated by an interest in the behavioural processes that drive bond formation in a social context of hostility, in which the incumbent partners vary greatly in physical power and reproductive interests, a situation in which individuals of many group-living species find themselves often throughout their lives. We focused on the quantitative analysis of female abductions via male aggressive herding in a nonhuman primate, the hamadryas baboon, in which intersexual bonds are known to be strong. We tested three hypotheses informed by sexual conflict/sexual coercion theory (male herding-as-conditioning and female grooming-as-appeasement) and by socioecological theory (unit size and female competition). The results supported the predictions: males resorted to coercive tactics (aggressive herding) with abducted females, and abducted females elevated the amount of grooming directed at their new unit males; in fact, they escaped from the otherwise negative effect of unit size on female-to-male grooming. These findings reveal that conflicts of interest are natural ingredients underpinning social bonds and that resorting to coercive aggression may be an option especially when partners differ greatly in their physical power. 
21773757	Inter-individual relationships in proboscis monkeys: a preliminary comparison with other non-human primates. 	This is the first report on inter-individual relationships within a one-male group of proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus) based on detailed identification of individuals. From May 2005 to 2006, focal and ad libitum data of agonistic and grooming behaviour were collected in a forest along the Menanggul River, Sabah, Malaysia. During the study period, we collected over 1,968 h of focal data on the adult male and 1,539 h of focal data on the six females. Their social interactions, including agonistic and grooming behaviour, appeared to follow typical patterns reported for other colobines: the incidence of social interaction within groups is low. Of 39 agonistic events, 26 were displacement from sleeping places along the river, 6 were the α male threatening other monkeys to mediate quarrels between females and between females and juveniles, and 7 were displacement from feeding places. Although the agonistic behaviour matrix based on the 33 intra-group agonistic events (excluding events between adults and juveniles and between adults and infants) was indicative of non-significant linearity, there were some specific dominated individuals within the group of proboscis monkeys. Nonetheless, grooming behaviour among adult females within a group were not affected by the dominance hierarchy. This study also conducted initial comparisons of grooming patterns among proboscis monkeys and other primate species. On the basis of comparison of their grooming networks, similar grooming patterns among both-sex-disperse and male-philopatric/female-disperse species were detected. Because adult females in these species migrate to groups repeatedly, it may be difficult to establish the firm grooming exchange relationship for particular individuals within groups, unlike in female-philopatric/male-disperse species. However, grooming distribution patterns within groups among primate species were difficult to explain solely on the basis of their dispersal patterns. Newly immigrated females in some species including proboscis monkeys are eager to have social interactions with senior group members to improve their social position. 
23414426	Does gymnastics practice improve vertical jump reliability from the age of 8 to 10 years? 	The objective of this study was to confirm whether gymnastics practice from a young age can induce greater vertical jump reliability. Fifty young female gymnasts (8.84 ± 0.62 years) and 42 females in the control group (8.58 ± 0.92 years) performed the following jump tests on a contact mat: squat jump, countermovement jump, countermovement jump with arm swing and drop jump from heights of 40 and 60 cm. The two testing sessions had three trials each and were separated by one week. A 2 (groups) × 2 (sessions) × 3 (trials) repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a test-retest correlation analysis were used to study the reliability. There was no systematic source of error in either group for non-plyometric jumps such as squat jump, countermovement jump, and countermovement jump with arm swing. A significant group per trial interaction revealed a learning effect in gymnasts' drop jumps from 40 cm height. Additionally, the test-retest correlation analysis and the higher minimum detectable error suggest that the quick drop jump technique was not fully consolidated in either group. At an introductory level of gymnastics and between the ages of 8-10 years, the condition of being a gymnast did not lead to conclusively higher reliability, aside from better overall vertical jump performance. 
23367825	Gymnastic judges benefit from their own motor experience as gymnasts. 	Gymnastic judges have the difficult task of evaluating highly complex skills. My purpose in the current study was to examine evidence that judges use their sensorimotor experiences to enhance their perceptual judgments. In a video test, 58 judges rated 31 gymnasts performing a balance beam skill. I compared decision quality between judges who could perform the skill themselves on the balance beam (specific motor experience = SME) and those who could not. Those with SME showed better performance than those without SME. These data suggest that judges use their personal experiences as information to accurately assess complex gymnastic skills. [corrected]. 
22645197	Historical trends in the size of US Olympic female artistic gymnasts. 	The lay press, scientists, and physicians appear to believe that gymnasts are continually getting smaller and that their &quot;smallness&quot; is a health risk. To assess the historical changes in the size and age of the US women's Olympic gymnastics teams from 1956 to 2008. The official records from the US Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics of Olympic team members were assessed at 2 levels: individual height, mass, age, and body-mass index (BMI) and the team performance scores and rankings. Fourteen Olympic teams with a total of 106 team members, including the alternates, were included. Trend analyses were conducted using linear and polynomial models. Simple linear correlations indicated that since 1956, height, mass, age, BMI, and team Olympic rank have been declining. However, second-order polynomial curve fits indicated that in the last 4 Olympic Games the members of the US women's gymnastics teams have been getting larger. Women Olympic gymnasts were getting smaller through approximately the 1980s and early 1990s. Since then the size of these gymnasts has increased. The minimum-age rule modifications may have played a role in athlete size changes along with a shift from the near dominance of the former communist Eastern Bloc. 
22313144	Circles on pommel horse with a suspended aid: spatio-temporal characteristics. 	A suspended aid is popular for learning circles and for refining circle technique on pommel horse. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of using a suspended aid on the biomechanical characteristics of circles. This first study focused specifically on the spatio-temporal characteristics of circles. Eighteen gymnasts performed three sets of 10 circles with and without a suspended aid on a pommel horse under which two force plates were set. Three-dimensional coordinates were acquired using 13 Qualisys motion tracking cameras operating at 100 Hz. The results showed that circles with the aid were characterised by a smaller body flexion angle, a greater shoulder angle, a greater ankle circle diameter, earlier hand releases, and a longer total duration. In contrast, the body lateral flexion angle, the arm-leaning angle, and the shoulder circle diameter remained relatively similar to circles without the aid. It was confirmed that circles with the aid actually appeared to be more desirable in terms of the movement amplitude. In this sense, a suspended aid could function as spotting, which is often used for a progression to learn gymnastics skills and to let gymnasts experience a desired movement pattern. 
22316004	Circles on pommel horse with a suspended aid: influence of expertise. 	In the third study of this series, we examined how circles with a suspended aid would vary depending of the gymnast's level of expertise. We analysed circles with the aid performed by three groups of eight gymnasts: expert, intermediate, and developing groups. The gymnasts for the expert and intermediate groups were selected from the previous studies based on judges' evaluation of their non-aid circles. The developing group of eight gymnasts, who were unable to perform circles on pommel horse without an aid, were added to this study and performed three sets of 10 circles on the pommel horse with the aid. Discriminative biomechanical variables identified in the previous two studies were used to compare circles with the aid among the three groups. As a result, the expert group demonstrated a larger pommel reaction force and a smaller aid reaction force than the other two groups, implying that they were less dependent on the aid. The smaller aid reaction force resulted in a smaller net hip joint moment. Furthermore, the expert group showed a shorter total duration and a greater shoulder excursion. In summary, the suspended aid can be used in a progressive manner depending on the gymnast's level of expertise. 
21904011	The effect of cost function on optimum technique of the undersomersault on parallel bars. 	The undersomersault, or felge, to handstand on parallel bars has become an important skill in Men's Artistic Gymnastics as it forms the basis of many complex variations. To receive no deductions from the judges, the undersomersault must be performed without demonstrating the use of strength to achieve the final handstand position. Two male gymnasts each performed nine undersomersaults from handstand to handstand while data were recorded using an automatic motion capture system. The highest and lowest scoring trials of each gymnast, as determined by four international judges, were chosen for further analysis. Three optimization criteria were used to generate undersomersault technique during the swing phase of the skill using a computer simulation model: minimization of peak joint torques, minimization of horizontal velocity before release, and maximization of angular momentum. The techniques used by both gymnasts could be explained using the second optimization criterion which facilitated further skill development. The first optimization criterion generated a technique advocated for beginners where strength might be expected to be a limiting factor. The third optimization criterion resulted in a different type of undersomersault movement of greater difficulty according to the FIG Code of Points. 
21975422	On the organizing role of nonmuscular forces during performance of a giant circle in gymnastics. 	Five elite gymnasts performed giant circles on the high bar under different conditions of loading (without and with 6-kg loads attached to the shoulders, waist or ankles). Comparing the gymnasts' kinematic pattern of movement with that of a triple-pendulum moving under the sole influence of nonmuscular forces revealed qualitative similarities, including the adoption of an arched position during the downswing and a piked position during the upswing. The structuring role of nonmuscular forces in the organization of movement was further reinforced by the results of an inverse dynamics analysis, assessing the contributions of gravitational, inertial and muscular components to the net joint torques. Adding loads at the level of the shoulders, waist or ankles systematically influenced movement kinematics and net joint torques. However, with the loads attached at the level of the shoulders or waist, the load-induced changes in gravitational and inertial torques provided the required increase in net joint torque, thereby allowing the muscular torques to remain unchanged. With the loads attached at the level of the ankles, this was no longer the case and the gymnasts increased the muscular torques at the shoulder and hip joints. Together, these results demonstrate that expert gymnasts skillfully exploit the operative nonmuscular forces, employing muscle force only in the capacity of complementary forces needed to perform the task. 
22141584	Performance score variation between days at Australian national and Olympic women's artistic gymnastics competition. 	We determined the inter-day variability in elite-standard women's artistic gymnastics competition scores. National (50 gymnasts for up to three days) and Olympic (24 gymnasts for up to five days) competition scores published in the public domain ('Giant poster pull-out', 2010 ; Gymnastics Australia, 2008 ) were evaluated using three statistical measures. Analyses of the inter-day differences in the mean scores as a percentage (MDiff%), coefficient of variation percentages for the mean score across both days (CV%), and Pearson correlation coefficients for the inter-day score (r) were interpreted using thresholds from trivial to large. National-class gymnasts' two-day performance variation was trivial for vault, small for floor and beam, and moderate for bars. When senior gymnasts competed for a third day the performance variation increased to moderate for vault. Across five days of Olympic competition there were trivial (e.g. CV%: vault = 0.8) to small (e.g. CV%: bars = 2.0) variations in performances between days on all apparatus. Olympians' performance score consistency is superior to senior, national-class competitors. The performance score consistency required for gymnasts who aspire to participate at the Olympics as a top-24 competitor is better than 3%. 
24215481	Occupations, habits, and routines: perspectives from persons with diabetes. 	Almost all of the management of diabetes is the direct responsibility of the person with diabetes. While many studies have attempted to examine issues of management of diabetes and compliance with medical recommendations, little has been done to examine daily diabetic care from an occupational perspective. The purpose of this research was to examine and describe how persons with diabetes perceive the occupations related to the management of their diabetes. A qualitative methods approach was used including photo elicitation and interviews. A team of student researchers recruited participants for a sample of convenience. The following themes emerged from qualitative cross-case analysis: &quot;Changes over time&quot;; &quot;What to eat&quot;; &quot;Habits and routines&quot;; and &quot;Family: Occupational impacts&quot;. Findings highlight the importance of considering the individual experience of diabetes self-management occupations and the need to develop habits and routines to support management of diabetes. Further research is needed to expand our understanding of how daily routines and habits can affect health in persons with diabetes. 
24482428	Anatomy of the crus and pes of neotropical iguanian lizards in relation to habitat use and digitally based grasping capabilities. 	Ecomorphological studies of lizards have explored the role of various morphological traits and how these may be associated with, among other things, habitat use. We present an analysis of selected traits of internal morphology of the hind limbs of Neotropical iguanian lizards and their relationship to habitat use. Considering that one of the most widely-held hypotheses relating to the origin of grasping is associated with the exploitation of the narrow-branch arboreal habitat, we include subdivisions of this designation as two of our ecologically defined categories of habitat exploitation for analysis, and compare lizards assigned to these categories to the features displayed by terrestrial lizards. The influence of phylogeny in shaping the morphology of lizards was assessed by using the comparative method. K values were significant for several osteological traits. Most of the K values for the variables based upon muscle and tendon morphometric characters (13 out 21), by contrast, had values &lt;1, suggesting that their variation cannot be explained by phylogeny alone. Results of our phylogenetic and conventional ANCOVA analyses reveal that the characters highlighted through the application of the comparative method are not absolutely related to habitat in terms of the categories considered here. It appears that the bauplan of the lizard pes incorporates a morphological configuration that is sufficiently versatile to enable exploitation of almost all of the available habitats. As unexpected as conservation of internal gross morphology appears, it represents a means of accommodating to environmental challenges by apparently permitting adequacy for all situations examined. 
23419502	[Physical activity, physical fitness, and overweight in children and adolescents: evidence from epidemiologic studies]. 	Physical activity and fitness play a significant role in prevention of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents. Current understanding and evidence from epidemiologic studies provide useful insights to better understand how they relate to each other and how to develop future intervention strategies. This paper summarizes the most relevant information from cross-sectional and longitudinal studies on the relationships between physical activity, physical fitness, and overweight in early life. According to current scientific evidence: (i) High levels of physical activity during childhood and adolescence, particularly vigorous physical activity, are associated to lower total and central adiposity at this age and later in life; (ii) the level of physical fitness, especially aerobic fitness, is inversely related to current and future adiposity levels; (iii) overweight children and adolescents with a high fitness level have a healthier cardiovascular profile than their overweight, low fit peers and a similar profile to their normal weight, low fit peers. This suggests that high fitness levels may counteract the negative consequences attributed to body fat. These findings suggest that increasing physical fitness in overweight children and adolescents may have many positive effects on health, including lower body fat levels. 
23853106	Psychosocial and lifestyle correlates of musculoskeletal pain patterns in adolescence: a 2-year follow-up study. 	The prevalence of musculoskeletal (MS) pain has been increasing among adolescents in the last decades. This may be related to either adverse changes in lifestyle and/or the psychosocial environment. Our study analysed the psychosocial and lifestyle correlates of musculoskeletal pain progression in adolescence. The study was based on the 1986 Northern Finland Birth Cohort and included 1773 adolescents at the ages of 16 to 18. Latent class analysis was applied to find the homogeneous profiles of MS pains in four body areas (neck, shoulder, low back and limb). We analysed the associations between time spent in sedentary activities and sleeping, physical activity level, body mass index, alcohol consumption, smoking, and emotional and behavioural factors at 16 years, and belonging to pain clusters at 16 and 18 years. We found an association between a higher probability of MS pains between 16 and 18 years and increasing emotional and behavioural problems in both genders. Among boys, a high likelihood of MS pains during follow-up was also associated with a long time spent sitting and insufficient sleeping time. Among girls, alcohol consumption associated with high pain probability. MS pains already co-occur to a large extent in their early course. The strong overlap of emotional and behavioural problems and MS pains in adolescence requires awareness in both research and clinical work. 
23665404	[Determining factors in body mass index of Spanish schoolchildren based on the National Health Surveys]. 	Spanish National Health Surveys do not establish synergistic relations between variables. The purpose of this study was to perform a deeper historical analysis of body mass index (BMI) and its relation to other parameters included in the questionnaire for children. Data from interviews conducted (between 1987 and 2006) to parents and guardians of schoolchildren aged 9-15 years were analyzed. Height and weight reported by parents were selected and used to calculate BMI. Subjects were stratified by age, gender, time spent sleeping and watching television and, finally, frequency of physical activity. The historical trend of BMI and its dependence on the above factors were analyzed using ANOVA tests. Significant weight and height increases were seen, which were more marked in boys aged 12 to 15 years. Influence of physical activity on BMI was shown, but decreased (P&lt;.001) as exercise time increased. By contrast, BMI increased (P&lt;.001) as time spent watching television increased. On the other hand, the role of sleep as modulator of body size was confirmed, since schoolchildren aged 9-11 years who slept over 9h had lower BMIs (P&lt;.001). In subjects aged 12 to 15, BMI decreased (P&lt;.001) from 6h of sleep. 
24006015	[Socioeconomic status, perception of environment, and their association with self-rated health status among women in Bogotá, Colombia]. 	Evaluate a conceptual model that suggests an association between socioeconomic status (SES), perception of neighborhood environment, physical activity behavior, and self-rated health status (SRHS) among women living in low-resource neighborhoods of Bogotá, Colombia. A secondary source analysis of the first measurement of a community cluster trial was used to evaluate a program to encourage a higher consumption of fruits and vegetables and increase physical activity levels among homemakers in Bogotá. Analyses were done using a multivariate multilevel logistic model to identify associations and confirm the mediations proposed in the conceptual model. The adjusted models revealed that individual-level SES and neighborhood perception are inversely and significantly associated with suboptimal SRHS, while the association between physical activity and SRHS was not significant. The study findings underscore the importance of individual SES in assessment of health status and strengthen the evidence on the independent role of perception of neighborhood environment in the SRHS of women. 
24006016	Validity and reliability of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire among adults in Mexico. 	To determine the test-retest reliability and validity of the Spanish version of the short-form International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) among adults in Mexico. This was a cross-sectional study of a convenience sample of 267 adult factory workers in Mexico City. Participants were 19 - 68 years of age; 48% were female. Participants wore an accelerometer for 9 consecutive days and were administered the Spanish version of the short form IPAQ on two occasions (IPAQ1 and IPAQ2, separated by 9 days). The relation and differences between moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) measures obtained from IPAQ1, IPAQ2, and the accelerometer were determined using correlations, linear regression, and paired t-tests. IPAQ1 and IPAQ2 measures of MVPA were significantly correlated to each other (r = 0.55, P &lt; 0.01). However, MVPA was 44 ± 408 minutes/week lower in IPAQ1 than in IPAQ2, although this difference did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.08). The (min/week) measures from IPAQ1 and IPAQ2 were only modestly correlated with the accelerometer measures (r = 0.26 and r = 0.31, P &lt; 0.01), and by comparison to accelerometer measures, MVPA values were higher when based on IPAQ1 (174 ± 357 min/week, P &lt; 0.01) than for IPAQ2 (135 ± 360 min/week, P &lt; 0.01). The percentage of participants who were classified as physically inactive according to the World Health Organization guidelines was 18.0% in IPAQ1, 25.1% in IPAQ2, and 28.2% based on the accelerometer. Similar to what has been observed in other populations, the short form IPAQ has a modest reliability and poor validity for assessing MVPA among Mexican adults. 
24216081	Early handling effect on female rat spatial and non-spatial learning and memory. 	This study aims at providing an insight into early handling procedures on learning and memory performance in adult female rats. Early handling procedures were started on post-natal day 2 until 21, and consisted in 15 min, daily separations of the dams from their litters. Assessment of declarative memory was carried out in the novel-object recognition task; spatial learning, reference- and working memory were evaluated in the Morris water maze (MWM). Our results indicate that early handling induced an enhancement in: (1) declarative memory, in the object recognition task, both at 1h and 24h intervals; (2) reference memory in the probe test and working memory and behavioral flexibility in the &quot;single-trial and four-trial place learning paradigm&quot; of the MWM. Short-term separation by increasing maternal care causes a dampening in HPA axis response in the pups. A modulated activation of the stress response may help to protect brain structures, involved in cognitive function. In conclusion, this study shows the long-term effects of a brief maternal separation in enhancing object recognition-, spatial reference- and working memory in female rats, remarking the impact of early environmental experiences and the consequent maternal care on the behavioral adaptive mechanisms in adulthood. 
24598277	Neonatal handling alters the structure of maternal behavior and affects mother-pup bonding. 	During early life, a mother and her pups establish a very close relationship, and the olfactory learning of the nest odor is very important for the bond formation. The olfactory bulb (OB) is a structure that plays a fundamental role in the olfactory learning (OL) mechanism that also involves maternal behavior (licking and contact). We hypothesized that handling the pups would alter the structure of the maternal behavior, affect OL, and alter mother-pup relationships. Moreover, changes in the cyclic AMP-response element binding protein phosphorylation (CREB) and neurotrophic factors could be a part of the mechanism of these changes. This study aimed to analyze the effects of neonatal handling, 1 min per day from postpartum day 1 to 10 (PPD 1 to PPD 10), on the maternal behavior and pups' preference for the nest odor in a Y maze (PPD 11). We also tested CREB's phosphorylation and BDNF signaling in the OB of the pups (PPD 7) by Western blot analysis. The results showed that handling alters mother-pups interaction by decreasing mother-pups contact and changing the temporal pattern of all components of the maternal behavior especially the daily licking and nest-building. We found sex-dependent changes in the nest odor preference, CREB and BDNF levels in pups OB. Male pups were more affected by alterations in the licking pattern, and female pups were more affected by changes in the mother-pup contact (the time spent outside the nest and nursing). 
22644994	Neonatal handling induces deficits in infant mother preference and adult partner preference. 	Neonatal handling is an experimental procedure used to understand how early-life adversity can negatively affect neurobehavioral development and place animals on a pathway to pathology. Decreased preference for the maternal odor during infancy is one of many behavioral deficits induced by neonatal handling. Here, we hypothesize that deficits in maternal odor preference may interfere with partner preference in the adult. To test this hypothesis, we assessed infant maternal odor preference and adult partner preference in different reproductive stages in both male and female rats that received neonatal handling. Our results indicate that only neonatally handled females present deficits in maternal odor preference during infancy, but both male and females present deficits in adult partner preference. However, sexual experience was effective in rescuing partner preference deficits in males. These results indicate that, considering infant and adult social interactions, females are more susceptible to the effects of neonatal handling than males. 
22892314	Early handling modulates outcome of neonatal dexamethasone exposure. 	Synthetic glucocorticoids such as dexamethasone (DEX) are used to prevent or treat respiratory disorders in prematurely born infants. Besides the short-term benefit on lung development, numerous human and animal studies have reported adverse neurodevelopmental side effects. In contrast, maternal care is known to exert a positive influence on neurodevelopmental outcome in rodents. The aim of the current study was therefore to investigate whether neonatal handling (days 1-21), known to induce maternal care, might serve as an intervention strategy modulating the adverse effects of DEX treatment (days 1-3). For this purpose we have measured the outcome of these early-life manipulations on development as well as adult endocrine and behavioral phenotype of male rats. Maternal care was observed during the first week of life and indeed enhanced in response to handling. Eye opening was accelerated and body weight reduced in DEX-treated animals. In adulthood, we report that handling ameliorated impaired spatial learning observed in DEX treated non-handled animals in the T-maze. Additionally, handling reduced susceptibility to the impact of DEX treatment in the water maze. Although DEX treatment and handling both resulted in enhanced negative feedback of the stress-induced corticosterone response and both reduced startle reactivity, the acquisition of fear was only reduced by handling, without effect of DEX. Interestingly, handling had a beneficial effect on pre-pulse inhibition, which was diminished after DEX treatment. In conclusion, these findings indicate that handling of the neonate enhances maternal care and attenuates specific DEX-induced alterations in the adult behavioral phenotype. 
21911009	Functional specificity in the modulation of novelty exposure effects by reliability of maternal care. 	Using the within-litter neonatal novelty exposure procedure, we manipulated newborn pups' environmental novelty independently from natural variations in maternal care. To better translate animal models to human development studies, we introduce a measure for maternal care reliability. We examined how this reliability modulates novelty-exposure-induced effects on offspring cognitive, social, and emotional development and show that maternal care reliability acts in a function-specific manner. We discuss our results within the framework of a maternal reliability-based modulation model. 
21549725	Gentle vs. aversive handling of pregnant ewes: I. Maternal cortisol and behavior. 	The aim of the experiment was to study the effects of aversive vs. gentle handling in late pregnancy on maternal behavior of ewes. Sixteen Norwegian Dala ewes bearing twins were subjected to 10 min of either gentle (GEN--soft talking and calm behavior) or aversive (AVS--swift movements and shouting) handling twice a day during the last 5 weeks of pregnancy. Salivary cortisol was recorded before and after treatments. The following behaviors were recorded post-partum in the ewes: grooming duration, number of vocalizations and in the lambs: number of vocalizations, latency and duration of standing, latency and duration in udder-directed position. The ability of the ewe to follow her lamb carried away by a human was scored on day 1 and 7. After the treatment sessions, cortisol levels tended to increase in AVS ewes but not GEN ewes. At parturition, AVS ewes groomed their offspring for a longer duration than GEN ewes. AVS lambs tended to be heavier than GEN lambs at 24 h of age. Follow Scores from GEN ewes were higher than for the AVS ewes at day one, but no difference between treatment groups was detected after one week. These results show that aversively treated ewes increased their grooming behavior towards their offspring, but that fear of humans disrupted their ability to follow their lambs closely when carried away by a human. We conclude that the type of handling of ewes during pregnancy may have some impact on important maternal behaviors. 
20807535	Selection for fast and slow exploration affects baseline and stress-induced corticosterone excretion in Great tit nestlings, Parus major. 	In nestlings, glucocorticoid (GC) secretion has short-term and long-term fitness consequences. For example, short-time elevations trigger begging activity, whereas chronically elevated GC levels impair body condition, growth and cognitive abilities. Despite a growing body of literature on personality traits, the effects of selection for fast and slow exploration on GC secretion have received little attention. We compared baseline and stress-induced hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity of hand-reared great tit nestlings of lines selected for fast and slow exploration. Nestling droppings were collected under three conditions: control, test (following handling stress, day 14 after hatching) and the following day. The concentrations of excreted immunoreactive corticosterone metabolites (CM) were determined via an enzyme immunoassay. We also observed nestlings' begging behaviour. CM differed significantly between the lines. Nestlings of the fast line excreted lower CM than slow-line birds. In response to handling stress, nestlings excreted significantly higher concentrations of CM than during the control and on the day after handling. Sex and begging activity were not related to CM levels. Under the control condition, but not after handling, males begged significantly more often than females. In both lines, adults excreted significantly less CM compared to nestlings. Both nestlings and adults of the slow line produced higher baseline CM values than fast-line birds. Fast-line nestlings excreted lower baseline CM than nestlings of a wild population not selected for fast or slow exploration. Slow-line nestlings did not. Our results show that selection on the basis of exploratory behaviour affected HPA axis reactivity. 
20691253	Postnatal experiences influence the behavior in adult male and female Fischer and Lewis rats. 	The postnatal environment with the rat pups' dam as the most important regulator, plays a central role in determining developmental processes of the offspring. Early disturbances of the dam-pup-dyade, like separation from the dam for hours (maternal deprivation, MD), or a short period of separation, and exposure to novelty, like the handling stimulation (HA), might induce long-lasting changes within the individual. To further investigate the susceptibility to these postnatal manipulations with regard to both, sex and genetic background, we used male and female Fischer (F344) and Lewis (LEW) rats. F344 and LEW rats were daily subjected to either HA, MD, or were left undisturbed until weaning. The immediate effects of these manipulations were studied using the mother-pup-interaction-test on postnatal days 3-7. At the age of 4 months, animals were subjected to a behavioral test battery, determining activity, exploration, and anxiety-like behavioral parameters. Postnatal manipulations induced significant alterations of the mother-pup-interaction patterns that were more pronounced in F344 dams. MD and HA F344 dams were longer off pups than LEW dams. MD F344 pups were longer groomed than MD LEW pups and HA F344 pups were longer passive nursed than HA LEW pups. In adulthood, F344 rats showed increased anxiety-like behavior compared to LEW rats. Furthermore, females of both strains exhibited more anxiety-like behavior than males. Test independently, MD led to more anxiety-like behavior and less exploratory responses, while handled rats exhibited an anxiolytic-like behavior and increased exploratory responses. In conclusion, postnatal experiences specifically altered the behavioral phenotype in adulthood. While these changes were co-directional in the two strains and in both sexes, the degree of susceptibility varied. 
19720127	Environmental and tactile stimulation modulates the neonatal handling effect on adult rat spatial memory. 	Handling of rat pups promotes their adult cognitive performance. However, new data suggest that individual components of the handling procedure, like exposure to novelty or tactile stimulation, have distinct lasting effects on behaviour. In this study we examined the interaction of early novelty exposure with a varying amount of tactile stimulation on spatial recognition memory and corticosterone secretion of adult male and female rats. A split litter design was used and the experimental animals were also compared to animal facility reared controls. The experiment was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, we examined the effect of novel or home environment during the 15-min of neonatal handling, following 10 back-strokes. Tactile stimulation of 10 back-strokes combined with novelty exposure, enhanced novel arm discrimination in a Y-maze task in adult rats of both sexes compared to their siblings that stayed at home, as well as to the animal facility reared controls. In the second phase, additional back-stroking (total of 20 back-strokes) reduced the Y-maze performance of males neonatally exposed to novelty, while the same treatment enhanced the performance of their siblings that stayed at home. Basal corticosterone levels, determined 1 week post-Y-maze, were significantly increased only in the novelty exposed/10 back-stroked females compared to same sex non-handled controls. In contrast, 10 back-strokes combined with the home cage environment increased corticosterone in males. Increase to 20 back-strokes reversed the impact of neonatal environment on corticosterone levels. These data suggest that the nature and intensity of the individual components of a mild early life manipulation, like handling, are critical in modifying aspects of adult memory performance and basal adrenocortical function. 
17601618	Effects of pre- and postnatal exposure to 5-methoxytryptamine and early handling on an object-place association learning task in adolescent rat offspring. 	A reduction in 5-HT1A receptor response enhances learning and memory performance in rats. Pre- and postnatal treatment with 5-methoxytryptamine (5MT), a non-selective serotonergic agonist, and early handling, reduce the number of 5-HT1A receptors in neonatal and pre-pubertal rat progeny. The aim of this study was to investigate in adolescent male rats the consequences of pre- and postnatal treatment with 5MT and its interaction with early handling on an object-place association learning task, the &quot;Can test&quot;, a motivated, non-aversive, spatial/object discrimination task. Results show that a single daily injection of 5MT from gestational days 12 to 21 (1 mg/kg s.c.) and from postnatal days 2 to 18 to pups (0.5 mg/kg s.c.), increases the level of activity and the number of correct responses, and decreases the number of reference memory errors in the progeny as adolescent, compared to vehicle-treated rats. Similar effects are observed following a daily, brief, maternal separation of the pups from postnatal days 2 until 21. Furthermore, when 5MT-treated rats underwent to early handling procedure, the effects induced by 5MT increased handling-induced facilitation of the object-place association. These results suggest that pre- and postnatal treatment with 5MT enhances learning in the &quot;Can test&quot;, probably due to a reduction in 5-HT1A receptors in the hippocampus. Whether the potentiation exerted by pre- and postnatal 5MT on early handling effects may be related to a further damping of 5-HT1A receptor response is not yet assessed; however, our data demonstrate that this association is able to induce long-term facilitative effects on spatial learning performance in a non-aversive spatial/object discrimination task in the adolescent rat offspring. 
14570539	Comparison of the effects of early handling and early deprivation on conditioned stimulus, context, and spatial learning and memory in adult rats. 	Effects of manipulations of the rat pup-dam relationship on affective learning and memory in adulthood have received scant systematic investigation. The authors previously described how early handling (EH; 15 min isolation/day) and early deprivation (ED; 4 hr isolation/day) exert similar effects on spontaneous adult affect (open-field behavior, acoustic startle, endocrine stress response) relative to nonhandling (NH; C. R. Pryce, D. Bettschen, N. I. Bahr, &amp; J. Feldon, 2001). The present study demonstrates that both EH and ED adults exhibit enhanced active avoidance relative to NH adults. Fear-conditioned context and conditioned stimulus (CS) freezing were unaffected in both EH and ED, but stress hormone responses to the CS were reduced in EH males and ED females relative to NH. In the water maze, ED adults exhibited enhanced spatial learning and memory relative to NH. 
838920	Developmental analysis of behavioral dysfunction in rats with septal lesions. 	At 7 days of age, rats received lesions of the septal nuclei or control operations. The rats received 30 hr of training on a schedule that differentially reinforced low rates of responding (DRL 20 sec), 1 hr per day, beginning at either 27 or 96 days of age. At 126 days of age, all subjects received 10 additional training sessions. After operant testing, all subjects were tested on spontaneous alternation, spatial reversal, and passive avoidance. Results indicated that on a DRL 20-sec schedule subjects that received lesions of the septum neonatally and were tested at different ages performed in a similar manner. Approximately 50% of the subjects with lesions of the septal nuclei reached efficiency levels comparable with those of normal controls. When tested for retention, these efficient subjects still performed similarly to normal subjects. Subjects with septal lesions were facilitated in the acquisition of a spatial habit, were deficient in spatial habit reversal, were less likely to demonstrate spontaneous alternation, and were deficient in passive avoidance. It was concluded that neonatal lesions of the septal nuclei produce permanent behavioral impairments on a dirersity of measures and that although juvenile animals with limbic system damage often manifest behaviors different from adult subjects, the difference was not evident during operant testing. 
1233323	Long term changes in nest condition and pup grouping following handling of rat litters. 	Observation of rat litters over the entire preweaning period revealed long term changes to result from handling pups. Handled litters had fewer good nests and were less likely to be found in a single group than control litters. These differences are not attributable to the disturbances per se, as litters where the mother was removed did not differ significantly from undisturbed controls. The differences occurred predominantly in the daytime when maternal activity was at its lowest. 
21460570	Multiple benefits drive helping behavior in a cooperatively breeding bird: an integrated analysis. 	Several hypotheses exist to explain the seemingly altruistic helping behavior of cooperative breeders, although the general utility of these hypotheses remains unclear. While the potential importance of inclusive fitness benefits (kin selection) is traditionally widely appreciated, it is increasingly recognized that direct benefits may be more important than assumed. We use an integrative two-step framework to assess support for current hypotheses in purple-crowned fairy wrens, a species where subordinates vary in relatedness to breeders and helping increases productivity. After establishing that assumptions of pay-to-stay and social prestige hypotheses (predicting that helping functions as &quot;paying rent&quot; to stay on the territory or as a signal of individual quality, respectively) were not met and that parentage by subordinates is extremely rare, we tested whether subordinates adjusted nestling feeding rates following the predictions of the kin selection and group augmentation hypotheses. Benefits of kin selection result from investment in relatives, and group augmentation benefits accrue when subordinates invest more in their own future helpers, for example, when they have a better chance of inheriting the breeding position. We found that subordinates fed siblings more than unrelated nestlings, indicating that kin selection could facilitate cooperation. Moreover, the effect of relatedness on feeding effort varied depending on the probability of inheriting a breeding position, suggesting that active group augmentation can explain investment by unrelated subordinates. This statistical interaction would have gone undetected had we not considered both factors simultaneously, illustrating that a focus on single hypotheses could lead to underestimation of their importance in explaining cooperative breeding. 
17983571	Behavioural ecology: hidden benefits revealed. 	In the cooperatively breeding superb fairy-wren, helpers have negligible effect on breeding success. So why help? The answer is hidden in the size of the eggs. 
17714275	Positive effects of helpers on reproductive success in the brown treecreeper and the general importance of future benefits. 	1. Numerous studies of cooperatively breeding species have tested for effects of helpers on reproductive success to evaluate hypotheses for the evolution of cooperation, but relatively few have used experimental or statistical approaches that control for the confounding effects of breeder and territory quality. 2. In the brown treecreeper Climacteris picumnus, most helpers are male offspring of the breeding pair that have delayed dispersal. We analysed 5 years of data (97 territory-years) using hierarchical linear modelling to test for effects of helpers on reproductive success while controlling for confounding factors. 3. The number of helpers was related positively to reproductive success even after controlling for differences between territories and breeders. A threshold effect was observed, with success increasing most with the presence of a second helper (i.e. at group size of four). 4. Feeding at the nest was one mechanism responsible for this effect, as larger groups had higher total feeding rates at all nesting stages. Higher total feeding rates, as well as higher feeding rates by helpers, were correlated in turn with greater reproductive success. 5. An analysis of the effects of helper feeding rate on reproductive success in groups with just one helper produced only weak support for a positive effect of helpers. Controlled comparisons of this kind utilize only a small fraction of the total data available and thus have limited statistical power compared to hierarchical or mixed-modelling. 6. A number of hypotheses to explain the evolution and maintenance of helping behaviour are consistent with our results for brown treecreepers including kin selection and hypotheses based on future direct benefits. 7. A previous synthesis of studies of helper effects that controlled for confounding factors suggested a pattern in which male helpers rarely have positive effects on reproductive success. However, revising that synthesis to include recent hierarchical or mixed-modelling studies suggests that helpers of both sexes usually have positive effects, and that the relative importance of future direct benefits may have been underestimated. 
23305340	Penalty corner routines in elite women's indoor field hockey: prediction of outcomes based on tactical decisions. 	Indoor hockey is a highly competitive international sport, yet no research to date has investigated the key actions within this sport. As with outdoor field hockey, penalty corners represent one of the most likely situations in which goals can be scored. All 36 matches of the round-robin phase of the 2010-2011 England Hockey League Women's Premier Division 'Super Sixes' competition were analysed with the purpose of establishing which factors can predict the scoring of a goal using binary logistic regression analysis. Seventy-two (22.6%) of the 319 observed penalty corners resulted in a goal. The strongest predictor of scoring a goal was taking the penalty corner from the goalkeeper's right. Based on the odds ratio (OR), the odds of the attacking team scoring were 2.27 (confidence interval (CI) = 1.41-3.65) times higher with penalty corners taken from the goalkeeper's right as opposed to the left. Additionally, if the goalkeeper decided to rush to the edge of the circle, the odds of the attacking team failing to score were 2.19 (CI = 1.18-4.08) times higher compared to when the goalkeeper remained near the goal line. These results suggest that strategic decisions from the players and coaches have an important part to play in the success of penalty corners. Future research should investigate the impact of goalkeepers' movement and further examine the technical and tactical intricacies of penalty corners. 
22645196	Game location moderates the relationship between anticipatory testosterone changes and athletic performance. 	The authors examined the extent to which changes in testosterone concentrations before competition would be associated with performance among elite male hockey players. Saliva samples were collected on 2 noncompetition days (baseline) and before 2 playoff games (1 home game, 1 away game). Individual performance was assessed by the coaching staff after each game. Results indicated that changes in testosterone before competition predicted performance, but this effect was influenced by game location. Unexpectedly, the authors found a significant negative relationship between a rise in testosterone and performance for the away game and a nonsignificant positive relationship for the home game. These findings indicate that game location should be considered in studies examining the neuroendocrine correlates of athletic competition. 
22395275	Relationship of off-ice and on-ice performance measures in high school male hockey players. 	The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of off-ice performance measures with on-ice turning, crossover, and forward skating performance in high school male hockey players. Thirty-eight players aged 15-18 (mean age ± SD: 16.4 ± 1.1 years; height: 177.9 ± 6.8 cm; weight: 72.5 ± 8.9 kg) participated in this study. On-ice tests included a forward sprint, short radius turns, and crossover turns. Off-ice tests included a 40-yd sprint, vertical jumps, horizontal jumps, and a dynamic balance test using a Y balance testing device. Five off-ice variables correlated with all on-ice performance measures. These variables included the 40-yd sprint, lateral bound right to left limb, double limb horizontal hop, balance on right in posterolateral direction, and composite balance performance on the right. Hierachical regression demonstrated that off-ice sprint time was most predictive of on-ice skating performance, accounting for 65.4% of the variability in forward skate time, 45.0% of the variability in left short radius time, 21.8% of the variance in right short radius time, 36.2% of the variance in left crossover time, and 30.8% of the variability in right crossover time. When using off-ice tests to evaluate hockey players, the 40-yd sprint is the best predictor of skating performance. Based on our regression equation, for every 1-second difference in the 40-yd sprint time, there will be approximately a 0.6-second difference in the 34.5-m on-ice sprint. The 40-yd sprint predicts forward skating performance and to a lesser degree; it also predicts crossover and tuning performance. 
22221186	The planarity of the stickface motion in the field hockey hit. 	The field hockey hit is an important but poorly understood stroke. In this study, we investigated the planarity of the stickface motion during the downswing to better characterize the kinematics and to assess the suitability of planar pendulum models for simulating the hit. Thirteen experienced female field hockey players were filmed executing hits with a single approach step, and the kinematics of the centre of the stickface were measured. A method was developed for identifying how far back from impact the stickface motion was planar. Orthogonal regression was used to fit least-squares planes to the stickface path during sections of the downswing of varying length, with each section ending at impact. A section was considered planar if the root mean square residual between the stickface path and the fitted plane was less than 0.25% of the distance travelled by the stickface during that period. On average, the stickface motion was planar for the last 83 ± 12% of its downswing path, with the length of the planar section ranging from 1.85 m to 2.70 m. The suitability of a planar model for the stickface motion was supported, but further investigation of the stick and arm kinematics is warranted. 
21604228	The use of GPS to evaluate activity profiles of elite women hockey players during match-play. 	The aim of the study was to assess the match-play activity patterns of elite women field-hockey players using a global positioning system (SPI Elite, GPSports, Fyshwick, Australia). The activity of 25 players was analysed for 13 international matches, totalling 158 player-match analyses. Overall mean playing time was 48 ± 4 min but this varied according to playing position (defenders: 56 ± 11 min; midfielders: 50 ± 10 min; forwards: 38 ± 7 min; P &lt; 0.001, d = 0.57-1.92). In total, 55.5 ± 6.3% of match time was spent performing low-intensity exercise (standing: 5.8 ± 2.7%; walking: 49.7 ± 5.6%). Moderate-intensity exercise accounted for 38.1 ± 5.0% (jogging: 25.8 ± 3.5%; running: 12.3 ± 2.9%) of player match-time, with the remainder made up of high-intensity exercise (fast running: 4.9 ± 1.4%; sprinting: 1.5 ± 0.6%). Forwards spent more time performing moderate- (41.4%) and high-intensity (7.7%) exercise than defenders and midfield players (P &lt; 0.001). This is the first study to use a global positioning system to assess the activity characteristics of elite female hockey players and demonstrate that these characteristics differ according to playing position. These differences are probably attributable to the ways in which substitution of players occurs. 
21659672	Self-presentation origins of choking: evidence from separate pressure manipulations. 	Whether self-presentation is involved in the choking process remains unknown. The purpose of the current study was to determine the role of self-presentation concerns on the frequency of choking within the context of a recently proposed self-presentation model. Experienced field hockey players (N = 45) were randomly assigned to one of five groups (i.e., performance-contingent monetary incentive, video camera placebo, video camera self-presentation, audience, or combined pressure), before taking penalty strokes in low- and high-pressure phases. Results indicated that groups exposed to self-presentation manipulations experienced choking, whereas those receiving motivational pressure treatments decreased anxiety and increased performance under pressure. Furthermore, cognitive state anxiety mediated the relationship between the self-presentation group and performance. These findings provide quantitative support for the proposed self-presentation model of choking, while also holding implications for anxiety manipulations in future sport psychology research. 
21058167	Laterality differences in elite ice hockey: an investigation of shooting and catching orientations. 	Little is known about the implications of motor asymmetries for skilled performers in dynamic, time-constrained, team-based activities such as ice hockey. Three studies were conducted to examine laterality differences in ice hockey. Study 1 investigated laterality distributions across three leagues of increasing calibre. Among skating players, skill level was related to changes in laterality patterns based on position, while a significant increase in the proportion of left-catching goaltenders was found across the levels of competition. Study 2 examined laterality differences through a 90-year retrospective analysis of player performance measures within an evolving system. Regression analysis indicated right shot preferences were associated with scoring more goals, while left shot preferences were related to assisting more goals. Among goaltenders, right-catching preferences were associated with an increased save percentage compared with left-catching goaltenders. In Study 3, player-goaltender shootout interactions revealed left shooters to be less successful against right-catching goaltenders. Results suggest ice hockey supports models of skilled perception, and provide new information in the area of laterality and strategic frequency-dependent effects in ice hockey. 
19114747	Physical fitness components associated with performance in a multiple-sprint test. 	The 5-m repeat-sprint test (5-m RST) measures resistance to fatigue after repeated bouts of short-duration, high-intensity activity. This study determined the components of fitness associated with performance in 5-m RSTs. Speed (10-m and 40-m sprints), strength (bench press), agility, strength endurance (pull-ups and push-ups), and aerobic power (20-m shuttle-run test) were measured in male provincial- or national-level rugby (n = 110), hockey (n = 59), and soccer (n = 55) players. Subjects with either high (HI) or low (LO) resistance to fatigue in the 5-m RST differed in body mass (76.9 +/- 11.6 kg vs 102.1 +/- 18.9 kg, HI vs LO, respectively, P &lt; .001), agility (14.55 +/- 0.41 seconds vs 15.56 +/- 0.30 seconds, P &lt; .001), bench press (86 +/- 20 kg vs 114 +/- 33 kg, P = .03), pull-ups (13 +/- 4 vs 8 +/- 5, P = .02), push-ups (56 +/- 12 vs 39 +/- 13, P = .002), and 20-m shuttle-run test (20-m SRT; 133 +/- 11 vs 87 +/- 12 shuttles, P &lt; .001). Body mass, strength, and aerobic power were the best predictors of 5-m RST performance: 5-m RST = -1.274(mass) + 0.756(1RM bench press) + 2.053(number of 20-m SRT shuttles) + 549.409 (R2 = .66). Performance in the 5-m RST is predicted best by a combination of factors including body mass, strength, and aerobic ability, rather than by any single component of fitness. 
22167814	Same-sex marriage: a new social phenomenon. 	Same-sex marriage (SSM) is a new social phenomenon. In modern times SSM did not exist until the 21st century when an increasing number of countries began permitting same-sex couples to marry legally. This study presents statistical and related evidence concerning SSM worldwide, with special attention to the United States, where SSM has evolved into a major political and legal issue. In addition to examining data on levels and trends, differentials between men and women are investigated. The study also considers common arguments for and against SSM and likely changes in laws and policies that may occur. Although same-sex marriage now exists in a small number of countries and US states, its consequences and implications are being felt far beyond the borders of those countries and areas. In coming years same-sex marriage will remain a controversial and salient part of the legal, political, and cultural landscape, locally, nationally, and internationally. 
23648774	Mesotocin and maternal care of chicks in native Thai hens (Gallus domesticus). 	Oxytocin (OT) is known to induce and regulate maternal behaviors in mammals via the supraoptic nucleus and paraventricular nucleus (PVN), whereas the function of mesotocin (MT; the avian homolog of OT) is poorly understood in birds. To elucidate the association of MT and the regulation of maternal behaviors in birds, we studied changes in the number of MT-immunoreactive (ir) neurons in native Thai chickens using immunohistochemistry. We observed that MT-ir neurons and fibers appeared in discrete regions located close to the third ventricle from the level of the preoptic area through the anterior hypothalamus with an abundance observed in the nucleus supraopticus, pars ventralis (SOv), nucleus preopticus medialis (POM), and PVN. The number of MT-ir neurons was low in the SOv, POM, and PVN of non-laying hens, but it increased gradually when the hens entered the laying stage, and peaked in incubating and rearing hens. We compared the number of MT-ir neurons in the SOv, POM, and PVN of native Thai hens rearing chicks (R) with that of non-rearing chicks (NR). The number of MT-ir neurons was high in the R hens, but low in the NR hens in these nuclei. For the first time, these results indicate that the association between the MT neurons and the presence of chicks might, in part, play a role in the neuroendocrine reorganization to establish and maintain maternal behaviors in native Thai chickens. MTergic activity is likely related to the contribution of rearing behavior in this equatorial precocial species. 
23944121	[Neural basis of maternal behavior]. 	Maternal love, which may be the core of maternal behavior, is essential for the mother-infant attachment relationship and is important for the infant's development and mental health. However, little has been known about these neural mechanisms in human mothers. We examined patterns of maternal brain activation in response to infant cues using video clips. We performed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) measurements while 13 mothers viewed video clips, with no sound, of their own infant and other infants of approximately 16 months of age who demonstrated two different attachment behaviors (smiling at the infant's mother and crying for her). We found that a limited number of the mother's brain areas were specifically involved in recognition of the mother's own infant, namely orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). and periaqueductal gray, anterior insula, and dorsal and ventrolateral parts of putamen. Additionally, we found the strong and specific mother's brain response for the mother's own infant's distress. The differential neural activation pattern was found in the dorsal region of OFC, caudate nucleus, right inferior frontal gyrus, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (PFC), anterior cingulate, posterior cingulate, posterior superior temporal sulcus, and dorsolateral PFC. Our results showed the highly elaborate neural mechanism mediating maternal love and diverse and complex maternal behaviors for vigilant protectiveness. 
24434675	Using sulcal and gyral measures of brain structure to investigate benefits of an active lifestyle. 	Physical activity is associated with brain and cognitive health in ageing. Higher levels of physical activity are linked to larger cerebral volumes, lower rates of atrophy, better cognitive function and a lower risk of cognitive decline and dementia. Neuroimaging studies have traditionally focused on volumetric brain tissue measures to test associations between factors of interest (e.g. physical activity) and brain structure. However, cortical sulci may provide additional information to these more standard measures. Associations between physical activity, brain structure, and cognition were investigated in a large, community-based sample of cognitively healthy individuals (N=317) using both sulcal and volumetric measures. Physical activity was associated with narrower width of the Left Superior Frontal Sulcus and the Right Central Sulcus, while volumetric measures showed no association with physical activity. In addition, Left Superior Frontal sulcal width was associated with processing speed and executive function. These findings suggest sulcal measures may be a sensitive index of physical activity related to cerebral health and cognitive function in healthy older individuals. Further research is required to confirm these findings and to examine how sulcal measures may be most effectively used in neuroimaging. 
24332890	Functional effects of chronic paroxetine versus placebo on the fear, stress and anxiety brain circuit in Social Anxiety Disorder: initial validation of an imaging protocol for drug discovery. 	Recent studies suggest that pharmacologic effects of anxiolytic agents can be mapped as functional changes in the fear, stress and anxiety brain circuit. In this work we investigated the effects of a standard treatment, paroxetine (20mg/day), in subjects with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) versus placebo using different fMRI paradigms. The fMRI sessions, performed before and after the treatment, consisted of a public exposition of recorded performance task (PERPT), an emotional face processing task (EFPT) and a 6-min resting state followed by an off-scanner public speaking test. Paroxetine significantly improved the clinical conditions of SAD patients (n=17) vs. placebo (n=16) as measured with Clinical Global Inventory - Improvement (CGI-I) while no change was seen when using Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, as expected given the small size of the study population. Paroxetine reduced the activation of insula, thalamus and subgenual/anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in PERPT. Resting-state fMRI assessment using Independent Component Analysis indicated that paroxetine reduced functional connectivity in insula, thalamus and ACC when compared with placebo. Both paradigms showed significant correlation with CGI-I in rostral prefrontal cortex. Conversely, paroxetine compared to placebo produced activation of right amygdala and bilateral insula and no effects in ACC when tested with EFPT. No treatment effects on distress scores were observed in the off-scanner Public Speaking Test. Overall this study supports the use of fMRI as sensitive approach to explore the neurobiological substrate of the effects of pharmacologic treatments and, in particular, of resting state fMRI given its simplicity and task independence. 
24114875	Physical (in)activity-dependent structural plasticity in bulbospinal catecholaminergic neurons of rat rostral ventrolateral medulla. 	Increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system is thought to play a role in the development and progression of cardiovascular disease. Recent work has shown that physical inactivity versus activity alters neuronal structure in brain regions associated with cardiovascular regulation. Our physiological studies suggest that neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) are more responsive to excitation in sedentary versus physically active animals. We hypothesized that enhanced functional responses in the RVLM may be due, in part, to changes in the structure of RVLM neurons that control sympathetic activity. We used retrograde tracing and immunohistochemistry for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) to identify bulbospinal catecholaminergic (C1) neurons in sedentary and active rats after chronic voluntary wheel-running exercise. We then digitally reconstructed their cell bodies and dendrites at different rostrocaudal levels. The dendritic arbors of spinally projecting TH neurons from sedentary rats were more branched than those of physically active rats (P &lt; 0.05). In sedentary rats, dendritic branching was greater in more rostral versus more caudal bulbospinal C1 neurons, whereas, in physically active rats, dendritic branching was consistent throughout the RVLM. In contrast, cell body size and the number of primary dendrites did not differ between active and inactive animals. We suggest that these structural changes provide an anatomical underpinning for the functional differences observed in our in vivo studies. These inactivity-related structural and functional changes may enhance the overall sensitivity of RVLM neurons to excitatory stimuli and contribute to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease in sedentary individuals. 
24853647	Supplementary motor area (SMA) volume is associated with psychotic aberrant motor behaviour of patients with schizophrenia. 	We aimed to investigate whether aberrant motor behavior in schizophrenia was associated with structural alterations in the motor system. Whole brain voxel based morphometry of patients with different severity of motor symptoms identified altered gray matter volume in the supplementary motor area (SMA), a key region of the motor system. 
24275010	Acute stress-induced cortisol elevations mediate reward system activity during subconscious processing of sexual stimuli. 	Stress is thought to alter motivational processes by increasing dopamine (DA) secretion in the brain's &quot;reward system&quot;, and its key region, the nucleus accumbens (NAcc). However, stress studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), mainly found evidence for stress-induced decreases in NAcc responsiveness toward reward cues. Results from both animal and human PET studies indicate that the stress hormone cortisol may be crucial in the interaction between stress and dopaminergic actions. In the present study we therefore investigated whether cortisol mediated the effect of stress on DA-related responses to -subliminal-presentation of reward cues using the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), which is known to reliably enhance cortisol levels. Young healthy males (n = 37) were randomly assigned to the TSST or control condition. After stress induction, brain activation was assessed using fMRI during a backward-masking paradigm in which potentially rewarding (sexual), emotionally negative and neutral stimuli were presented subliminally, masked by pictures of inanimate objects. A region of interest analysis showed that stress decreased activation in the NAcc in response to masked sexual cues (voxel-corrected, p&lt;05). Furthermore, with mediation analysis it was found that high cortisol levels were related to stronger NAcc activation, showing that cortisol acted as a suppressor variable in the negative relation between stress and NAcc activation. The present findings indicate that cortisol is crucially involved in the relation between stress and the responsiveness of the reward system. Although generally stress decreases activation in the NAcc in response to rewarding stimuli, high stress-induced cortisol levels suppress this relation, and are associated with stronger NAcc activation. Individuals with a high cortisol response to stress might on one hand be protected against reductions in reward sensitivity, which has been linked to anhedonia and depression, but they may ultimately be more vulnerable to increased reward sensitivity, and addictions. Future studies investigating effects of stress on reward sensitivity should take into account the severity of the stressor and the individual cortisol response to stress. 
19453916	New electroencephalogram (EEG) neuroimaging methods of analyzing brain activity applicable to the study of human sexual response. 	Electroencephalogram (EEG) combined with brain source localization algorithms is becoming a powerful tool in the neuroimaging study of human cerebral functions. The present article provides a tutorial on the various EEG methods currently used to study the human brain activity, notably during sexual response. Review of published literature on standard EEG waveform analyses and most recent electrical neuroimaging techniques (microstate approach and two methods of brain source localization). Retrospective overview of pertinent literature. Although the standard EEG waveform analyses enable millisecond time-resolution information about the human sexual responses in the brain, less is clear about their related spatial information. Nowadays, the improvement of EEG techniques and statistical approaches allows the visualization of the dynamics of the human sexual response with a higher spatiotemporal resolution. Here, we describe these enhanced techniques and summarize along with an overview of what we have learned from them in terms of chronoarchitecture of sexual response in the human brain. Finally, the speculation on how we may be able to use other enhanced approaches, such as independent component analysis, are also presented. EEG neuroimaging has already been proven as a strong worthwhile research tool. Combining this approach with standard EEG waveform analyses in sexual medicine may provide a better understanding of the neural activity underlying the human sexual response in both healthy and clinical populations. 
19781579	Brain activation evoked by erotic films varies with different menstrual phases: an fMRI study. 	In humans, fluctuating hormone levels throughout the menstrual cycle are believed to regulate many cyclical sexual behaviors and motivational processes. However, there is a dearth of research investigating the neural correlates of this phenomenon. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to identify brain regions involved in sexual arousal's regulatory process. Fifteen female participants were scanned while viewing erotic film excerpts at three time points during a single menstrual cycle: ovulation, menstruation, and at one additional time point. Tripled two-group differences analysis revealed that significant activation in the comparison was observed in non-ovulatory phases of the menstrual cycle in parts of the right inferior frontal gyrus, right lateral occipital cortex, and left postcentral gyrus, as well as in the bilateral superior parietal lobule. Thus, our results indicate that brain activity differs in the ovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle compared to during other menstrual phases. This finding provides neurological evidence for the ovulatory cycle's modulation of the processing of the sexual arousal in female human brain. 
19631756	The somatosensory representation of the human clitoris: an fMRI study. 	We studied the central representation of pudendal afferents arising from the clitoral nerves in 15 healthy adult female subjects using electrical dorsal clitoral nerve stimulation and fMRI. As a control body region, we electrically stimulated the right hallux in eight subjects. In a block design experiment, we applied bilateral clitoral stimulation and unilateral (right) hallux stimulation. Activation maps were calculated for the contrasts 'electrical dorsal clitoral nerve stimulation versus rest' and 'electrical hallux stimulation versus rest'. A random-effect group analysis for the clitoral stimulation showed significant activations bilateral in the superior and inferior frontal gyri, insulae and putamen and in the postcentral, precentral and inferior parietal gyri (including the primary and secondary somatosensory cortices). No activation was found on the mesial surface of the postcentral gyrus. For the hallux, activations occurred in a similar neuronal network but the activation in the primary somatosensory cortex was localized in the inter-hemispheric fissure. The results of this study demonstrate that the central representation of pudendal afferents arising from the clitoral nerves and sensory inputs from the hallux can be studied and distinguished from each other by fMRI. From the somatotopic order described in the somatosensory homunculus one would expect for electrical clitoral nerve stimulation activation of the mesial wall of the postcentral gyrus. In contrast, we found activations on the lateral surface of the postcentral gyrus. 
24309246	Beyond irrelevant actions: understanding the role of intentionality in children's imitation of relevant actions. 	The current research examines how 3- to 5-year-old children use intentionality to understand the causal structure of objects in an observational learning context. Two studies are presented in which the intentionality of relevant actions was manipulated during toy retrieval demonstrations and contrasted with whether these actions remained relevant or were rendered irrelevant for the child's turn. Of interest were whether children would imitate the first action when it was demonstrated intentionally but rendered irrelevant and how they would approach the first action when it was demonstrated accidentally and remained relevant. Findings revealed that children did not align themselves with the demonstrator's intentions in Study 1, when apparatuses were transparent, but did follow the demonstrator's intentions in Study 2, when apparatuses were opaque. This suggests that when causality of relevant actions is unambiguous, children use their own causal reasoning abilities, but ambiguous causal structure prompts children to defer to a demonstrator. It is suggested that opaque relevant actions may represent a real life parallel to irrelevant actions, the imitation of which is motivated by inherent ambiguity. 
23612083	Is parental emotional reliability predictive of toddlers' learning and helping? 	This study set out to examine how toddlers' word learning, imitation, and instrumental helping would be affected by the emotional reliability of a familiar model. Therefore, forty-two 24-month-olds were observed in interactions with their primary caregiver, who was evaluated on the quality of his or her sensitive behavior, such as responsiveness and emotional availability. Parents were first instructed how to administer different tasks to their child that included: teaching a novel word, demonstrating an &quot;irrational&quot; means of putting a dog inside a toy house through the chimney instead of the door, and appearing in need of help. The parent-child dyad was then observed during a 10-min period and the parent's level of responsiveness and availability was subsequently coded from this interaction. Finally, children were examined as to whether they learned a novel word, imitated, and helped their caregiver. It was observed that toddlers learned novel words better from an emotionally reliable primary caregiver. In addition, higher parental responsiveness and availability predicted better imitation in older children and higher levels of helping in girls. Taken together, these findings are the first to suggest that the emotional reliability of a familiar model, such as a parent's sensitive nature and consistent responsiveness, influences young children's willingness to learn and help. 
24114229	Using video modeling with substitutable loops to teach varied play to children with autism. 	Children with autism often engage in repetitive play with little variation in the actions performed or items used. This study examined the use of video modeling with scripted substitutable loops on children's pretend play with trained and untrained characters. Three young children with autism were shown a video model of scripted toy play that included a substitutable loop that allowed various characters to perform the same actions and vocalizations. Three characters were modeled with the substitutable loop during training sessions, and 3 additional characters were present in the video but never modeled. Following video modeling, all the participants incorporated untrained characters into their play, but the extent to which they did so varied. 
23357091	Infants' use of contextual cues in the generalization of effective actions from imitation. 	We examined infants' ability to generalize effective actions in an imitation task. In Experiment 1, 15-month-olds imitated effective and ineffective actions on two similarly designed toys. They were then shown a third toy of the same design with both actions available. Children reliably touched and manipulated the effective action handle first and more persistently. In Experiment 2, however, 15-month-olds did not generalize the efficacy of the action when the test toy was different from the two demonstration toys. Experiment 3 replicated the findings of Experiment 2 but also showed that infants generalized efficacy when the demonstration toys differed from one another as well as from the test toy. Our findings are consistent with a computational model that uses certain rational pedagogical assumptions. Overall, the results suggest that 15-month-olds are sensitive to the sampling information they observe and use this information to guide whether to generalize efficacy information they learn from imitation. 
23121545	Pretend play, deferred imitation and parent-child interaction in speaking and non-speaking children with autism. 	This study investigates spontaneous pretend play during a parent-child free play observation, and deferred imitation observed in an experimental setting in speaking and non-speaking children with autism in comparison to children with typical development. Both groups of children with autism showed a reduced level of deferred imitation compared to the typically developing group, but only the non-speaking children with autism spent significantly less time in pretend play compared to children with typical development. Deferred imitation was related to parents' verbal interaction in both groups. An analysis of the parent-child interaction revealed that parents of children with autism used less synchronized comments compared to parents of typically developing children. Parents of the speaking group with autism used more synchronized than unsynchronized comments, while parents of the non-speaking group used the same amount of synchronized and unsynchronized comments. These findings are discussed in terms of how the developmental level affects behavior and interaction in autism. 
21142377	Managing others like you were managed: how prevention focus motivates copying interpersonal norms. 	In 5 studies, we investigated the relation between regulatory focus and the tendency to copy a role model's managing behavior after one experiences this behavior as its recipient and later takes on the same managing role. Because enacting role-related behaviors fulfills interpersonal norms that fit prevention concerns, we predicted a stronger tendency to copy among individuals with a stronger prevention focus on duties and obligations (&quot;oughts&quot;) but not among those with a stronger promotion focus on aspirations and advancements (ideals). We also predicted that individuals with a stronger prevention focus would tend to copy a managing behavior regardless of their earlier hedonic experience with this behavior as its recipient. These predictions were first supported in 2 experimental studies, where a stronger prevention focus was measured as a chronic disposition (Study 1) and experimentally induced as a temporary state (Study 2). Further, we tested the mechanism underlying the relation between stronger prevention and stronger copying and found that concerns about the normativeness, but not the effectiveness, of a managing behavior motivated copying for individuals with a strong prevention focus (Studies 3 and 4). We generalized these experimental results to the field by surveying a sample of superior-subordinate dyads in real world organizations (Study 5). Across all studies, we found that individuals with a stronger prevention focus tend to copy more a role model's managing behavior--independent of their hedonic satisfaction with the behavior as its recipient and their perception of its effectiveness. 
17223281	Prototype perception and smoking: are negative or positive social images more important in adolescence? 	It is suggested that a more profound understanding of cigarette smoking among adolescents should include the social images they have of smokers. The main goal of the present study was to investigate the role of smoker prototypes in adolescents' smoking status and to compare the role of negative and positive smoker images. Data were collected from high school students in two counties of the Southern Plain Region of Hungary (N=548; ages between 14 and 21 years). The self-administered questionnaires contained items on sociodemographics, smoking occurrence, and smoker prototypes. Factor analysis revealed three smoker prototypes: a negative prototype (e.g., dull, childish), a positive social appearance prototype (e.g., cool, popular), and a positive individual competence prototype (such as smart, independent) all with satisfactory reliability. Odds ratios suggest that the role of the negative prototypes for nonsmokers is greater than the role of positive prototypes for smokers. For boys, positive individual competence prototype also seems to be important. Health promotion programs should focus on fostering negative social images in prevention. 
17576256	Understanding animate agents: distinct roles for the social network and mirror system. 	How people understand the actions of animate agents has been vigorously debated. This debate has centered on two hypotheses focused on anatomically distinct neural substrates: The mirror-system hypothesis proposes that the understanding of others is achieved via action simulation, and the social-network hypothesis proposes that such understanding is achieved via the integration of critical biological properties (e.g., faces, affect). In this study, we assessed the areas of the brain that were engaged when people interpreted and imagined moving shapes as animate or inanimate. Although observing and imagining the moving shapes engaged the mirror system, only activation of the social network was modulated by animacy. 
17454683	On a peculiar environmental dependency syndrome in a case with frontal-temporal damage: Zelig-like syndrome. 	We report on the case of a patient with frontal-temporal damage from cerebral hypoxia, affected by amnesic disturbances and behaviour disorder, who presented a peculiar phenomenon of environmental dependency. He assumed a different social role in keeping with different environmental circumstances by interpreting a character corresponding to the particular context. Three experiments were carried out in which the environmental variables were manipulated to verify the phenomenon in controlled conditions, and an investigation was conducted during the patient's spontaneous manifestations. The phenomenon was interpreted as a loss of frontal inhibition whose function was the control of his own identity and consequent &quot;attraction&quot; towards a social role proposed by the environment. 
16248698	Age and regulatory focus determine preferences for health-related role models. 	The authors hypothesized that the effectiveness of role models varies across the adult life span because of differences in health-related regulatory orientations. Because young adults have strong health-related promotion orientations, they should be motivated by positive models who illustrate the benefits of good health. Because older adults have more balanced health-related promotion and prevention orientations, they should be motivated not only by positive models but also by negative models who illustrate the costs of poor health. Results indicated that both young and older adults perceived positive models to be motivating, but older adults found negative models to be more motivating than did young adults. Age differences in responses to negative models were partially mediated by differences in health-related prevention orientation. 
9638763	Preliminary development of a scale to measure attitudes regarding the importance of role modeling in physical activity and fitness behaviors among Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance professionals. 	This paper presents a new 16-item scale designed to measure attitudes regarding the importance of role modeling in physical activity and fitness behaviors among Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance professionals. The measure was reviewed for face validity by a panel of experts and preliminary analyses gave as Cronbach alpha of .95 and split-half reliability of .97 for 22 graduate students. 
2928580	Role relations between children who are mentally retarded and their older siblings: observations in three in-home contexts. 	Older nonhandicapped siblings and same-sex younger mentally retarded siblings (n = 16 sibling pairs) were observed in their homes during toy play, snack, and television-viewing, as were an equal number of comparison sibling pairs, matched for age, gender, and family characteristics. Role relationships between mentally retarded children and older siblings were asymmetrical, with older siblings assuming frequent teacher, manager, and helper roles. Older sisters, in particular, participated in frequent teaching. Amount of interaction between siblings was directly related to the contexts in which they were observed. Nonhandicapped siblings engaged each other more as playmates. Interactional correlates of language and adaptive competencies of the mentally retarded children are presented, as are correlations between the age of the siblings and the roles they assume with each other. 
22721734	A cross-cultural comparison of the development of the social smile: a longitudinal study of maternal and infant imitation in 6- and 12-week-old infants. 	Social smiling is universally regarded as being an infant's first facial expression of pleasure. Underlying co-constructivist emotion theories are the assumptions that the emergence of social smiling is bound to experiences of face-to-face interactions with caregivers and the impact of two developmental mechanisms--maternal and infant imitation. We analyzed mother-infant interactions from two different socio-cultural contexts and hypothesized that cross-cultural differences in face-to-face interactions determine the occurrence of both of these mechanisms and of the frequency of social smiling by 12-week-old infants. Twenty mother-infant dyads from a socio-cultural community with many face-to-face interactions (German families, Münster) were compared with 24 mother-infant dyads from a socio-cultural community with few such interactions (rural Nso families, Cameroon) when the infants were aged 6 and 12 weeks. When infants were 6 weeks old, mothers and their infants from both cultural communities smiled at each other for similar (albeit very short) amounts of time and used imitated each other's smiling similarly rarely. In contrast, when infants were 12 weeks old, mothers and their infants from Münster smiled at and imitated each other more often than did Nso mothers and their infants. 
20673787	Timing and voluntary suppression of facial mimicry to smiling faces in a Go/NoGo task--an EMG study. 	Results obtained with a novel emotional Go/NoGo task allowing the investigation of facial mimicry (FM) during the production and inhibition of voluntary smiles are discussed. Healthy participants were asked to smile rapidly to happy faces and maintain a neutral expression to neutral faces, or the reverse. Replicating and extending previous results, happy faces induced FM, as shown by stronger and faster zygomatic activation to happy than neutral faces in Go trials, and a greater number of false alarms to happy faces in NoGo trials. Facial mimicry effects remained present during participants' active inhibition of facial movement. Latencies of FM were short with 126-250 ms in Go trials, and 251-375 ms in NoGo trials. The utility of the Go/NoGo task, which allows the assessment of response inhibition in the domain of facial expression by installing strong prepotent motor responses via short stimulus presentation times and a great number of Go trials, is discussed. 
17546490	Enhancing the conversation skills of a boy with Asperger's Disorder through Social Stories and video modeling. 	This study combined Social Stories with video modeling in an effort to enhance the conversation skills of a boy with Asperger's Disorder. Treatment consisted of two components: (a) observation of video taped Social Stories that included two adults modeling targeted conversational skills and (b) 5-min social interactions. A multiple baseline design across behaviors was used to evaluate the intervention and an increase in 2 out of 3 targeted conversation skills occurred. In addition, generalized behavior changes were observed. These findings provide support for including Social Stories as part of a video treatment package in teaching complex social interaction behaviors to young children with Asperger's Disorder. 
18229538	Function of congruent facial responses to smiling and frowning. 	The congruent facial response of a receiver may change a sender's facial display in subsequent facial communication. Senders were requested to smile and frown at a receiver of computer-synthesized animation and to rate how likeable the receiver was after the &quot;interaction.&quot; It was observed that a congruent facial response maintained the sender's facial expression longer than an incongruent response did. The results of the questionnaire revealed that senders reported a greater likeability for smiling receivers than for those who frowned. Likeability ratings did not depend on the congruency of the receiver's response but simply on whether the receiver was smiling or frowning. 
12738341	Why are smiles contagious? An fMRI study of the interaction between perception of facial affect and facial movements. 	In human communication there is often a close relationship between the perception of an emotionally expressive face and the facial response of the viewer himself. Whereas perception and generation of facial expressions have been studied separately with functional imaging methods, no studies exist on their interaction. We combined the presentation of emotionally expressive faces with the instruction to react with facial movements predetermined and assigned. fMRI was used in an event related design to examine healthy subjects while they regarded happy, sad, or neutral faces and were instructed to simultaneously move the corners of their mouths either (a). upwards or (b). downwards, or (c). to refrain from movement. The subjects' facial movements were recorded with an MR-compatible video camera. Movement latencies were shortened in congruent situations (e.g. the presentation of a happy face and combined with upward movements) and delayed in non-congruent situations. Dissonant more than congruent stimuli activated the inferior prefrontal cortex and the somatomotor cortex bilaterally. The congruent condition, in particular when seeing a happy face, activated the medial basotemporal lobes (hippocampus, amygdala, parahippocampal region). We hypothesize that this region facilitates congruent facial movements when an emotionally expressive face is perceived and that it is part of a system for non-volitional emotional facial movements. 
11989352	[The facial expression says more than words. Is emotional &quot;contagion&quot; via facial expression the first step toward empathy?]. 	The hypotheses of this investigation were based on the conception of automatic mimicking being an early component involved in the formation of emotional empathy. The parameters compared were facial mimicry reactions, as represented by electromyographic (EMG) activity when subjects were exposed to pictures of angry or happy faces, and the degree of correspondence between facial EMG reactions and their own reported feelings. The subjects in the high-empathy group were found to have a higher degree of mimicking behaviour, while the low-empathy group showed inverse zygomaticus muscle reactions; they &quot;smiled&quot; when exposed to angry faces. 
11708590	Children with autism display more social behaviors after repeated imitation sessions. 	Based on earlier studies, an adult's imitations of the behaviors of children with autism lead to increased social behavior in the children. The present study explored the effects of repeated sessions of imitation. Twenty children were recruited from a school for children with autism to attend three sessions during which an adult either imitated all of the children's behaviors or simply played with the child. During the second session the children in the imitation group spent a greater proportion of time showing distal social behaviors toward the adult including: (1) looking; (2) vocalizing; (3) smiling; and (4) engaging in reciprocal play. During the third session, the children in the imitation group spent a greater proportion of time showing proximal social behaviors toward the adult including: (1) being close to the adult; (2) sitting next to the adult; and (3) touching the adult. These data suggest the potential usefulness of adult imitative behavior as an early intervention. 
24480609	Development of socio-communicative skills in 9- to 12-month-old individuals with fragile X syndrome. 	We investigated the early socio-communicative development of individuals with fragile X syndrome (FXS) by undertaking a retrospective analysis of family videos. Videos were analyzed to identify existing communicative forms and functions. Analyses were undertaken on seven children who were later diagnosed with FXS. The children were filmed when they were 9-12 months old and before being diagnosed. Fourteen different communicative forms and six different communicative functions were observed. All participants were observed to express the functions of 'Attention to self' and 'Answering', but none indicated 'Requesting action', 'Requesting information', 'Choice making', or 'Imitating'. Results suggest that children with FXS may have a limited range of communicative forms and functions when they are from 9 to 12 months of age. However, further research is necessary to gain a specific developmental profile of socio-communicative forms and functions in FXS. 
24713028	Social-communicative abilities as treatment goals for preschool children with autism spectrum disorder: the importance of imitation, joint attention, and play. 	Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a pervasive developmental disorder with a lifelong impact on multiple domains of functioning. Often, a diagnosis is possible by 3 years of age. Given the benefits of early intervention, it is advisable to start treatment as soon as possible after the diagnosis has been made. Among other factors, early intervention should focus on social-communicative abilities such as imitation, joint attention, and play. In this review, the typical developmental course and functions of these social-communicative abilities are described, and the problems young children with ASD experience in this domain. In addition, different approaches to promoting these abilities are explained. The authors recommend the inclusion of imitation, joint attention, and play as treatment goals in community settings for children with ASD. 
23954830	Imitation and local enhancement: detrimental effects of consensus definitions on analyses of social learning in animals. 	Development of a widely accepted vocabulary referring to various types of social learning has made important contributions to decades of progress in analyzing the role of socially acquired information in the development of behavioral repertoires. It is argued here that emergence of a consensus vocabulary, while facilitating both communication and research, has also unnecessarily restricted research on social learning. The article has two parts. In the first, I propose that Thorndike's (1898, 1911) definition of imitation as &quot;learning to do an act from seeing it done&quot; has unduly restricted studies of the behavioral processes involved in the propagation of behavior. In part 2, I consider the possibility that success in labeling social learning processes believed to be less cognitively demanding than imitation (e.g. local and stimulus enhancement, social facilitation, etc.) has been mistaken for understanding of those processes, although essentially nothing is known of their stimulus control, development, phylogeny or substrate either behavioral or physiological. 
23872525	Dissecting children's observational learning of complex actions through selective video displays. 	Children can learn how to use complex objects by watching others, yet the relative importance of different elements they may observe, such as the interactions of the individual parts of the apparatus, a model's movements, and desirable outcomes, remains unclear. In total, 140 3-year-olds and 140 5-year-olds participated in a study where they observed a video showing tools being used to extract a reward item from a complex puzzle box. Conditions varied according to the elements that could be seen in the video: (a) the whole display, including the model's hands, the tools, and the box; (b) the tools and the box but not the model's hands; (c) the model's hands and the tools but not the box; (d) only the end state with the box opened; and (e) no demonstration. Children's later attempts at the task were coded to establish whether they imitated the hierarchically organized sequence of the model's actions, the action details, and/or the outcome. Children's successful retrieval of the reward from the box and the replication of hierarchical sequence information were reduced in all but the whole display condition. Only once children had attempted the task and witnessed a second demonstration did the display focused on the tools and box prove to be better for hierarchical sequence information than the display focused on the tools and hands only. 
23528675	Accuracy of pitch matching significantly improved by live voice model. 	Singing is, undoubtedly, the most fundamental expression of our musical capacity, yet an estimated 10-15% of Western population sings &quot;out-of-tune (OOT).&quot; Previous research in children and adults suggests, albeit inconsistently, that imitating a human voice can improve pitch matching. In the present study, we focus on the potentially beneficial effects of the human voice and especially the live human voice. Eighteen participants varying in their singing abilities were required to imitate in singing a set of nine ascending and descending intervals presented to them in five different randomized blocked conditions: live piano, recorded piano, live voice using optimal voice production, recorded voice using optimal voice production, and recorded voice using artificial forced voice production. Pitch and interval matching in singing were much more accurate when participants repeated sung intervals as compared with intervals played to them on the piano. The advantage of the vocal over the piano stimuli was robust and emerged clearly regardless of whether piano tones were played live and in full view or were presented via recording. Live vocal stimuli elicited higher accuracy than recorded vocal stimuli, especially when the recorded vocal stimuli were produced in a forced vocal production. Remarkably, even those who would be considered OOT singers on the basis of their performance when repeating piano tones were able to pitch match live vocal sounds, with deviations well within the range of what is considered accurate singing (M=46.0, standard deviation=39.2 cents). In fact, those participants who were most OOT gained the most from the live voice model. Results are discussed in light of the dual auditory-motor encoding of pitch analogous to that found in speech. 
22732563	Between-brain connectivity during imitation measured by fNIRS. 	The present study aimed to step into two-person neuroscience by investigating the hemodynamic correlates of between-brain connectivity involved in imitation and its dependency on pacing stimuli. To test this approach, we used wireless functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to record simultaneously during imitation performance of a paced finger-tapping task (PFT) in two subjects over premotor cortices (PMC). During the imitation (IM) condition, a model and an imitator were recorded while tapping in synchrony with auditory stimuli separated by a constant interval (stimulus-paced mode, St-P), followed by tapping without the pacing stimulus (self-paced mode, Se-P). During the control (CO) condition, each subject (single 1 and 2) performed the PFT task with the same pacing mode pattern, but alone without reference to each other. Using wavelet transform coherence (WTC) analysis evaluating functional connectivity between brains, we found (1) that IM revealed a larger coherence increase between the model and the imitator as compared to the CO condition. (2) Within the IM condition, a larger coherence increase was found during Se-P as compared to St-P mode. Using Granger-causality (G-causality) analysis evaluating effective connectivity between brains, we found (3) that IM revealed larger G-causality as compared to the CO condition and (4) that within the IM condition, the signal of the model G-caused that of the imitator to a greater extent as compared to vice versa. Our findings designate fNIRS as suitable tool for monitoring between-brain connectivity during dynamic interactions between two subjects and that those measurements might thereby provide insight into activation patterns not detectable using typical single-person experiments. Overall, the results of the present study demonstrate the potential of simultaneously assessing brain hemodynamics in interacting subjects in several research areas where social interactions are involved. 
21816572	Pitch-matching in poor singers: human model advantage. 	Previous studies on action imitation have shown an advantage for biological stimuli compared with nonbiological stimuli, possibly because of the role played by the mirror system. By contrast, little is known on whether such an advantage also takes place in the auditory domain, related to voice imitation. In this study, we wanted to test the hypothesis that auditory stimuli could be more accurately reproduced when the timbre is human than when the timbre is synthetic. Eighteen participants judged as poor singers and 14 controls were presented with vocal and synthetic singing models and had to reproduce them. Results showed that poor singers were significantly helped by the human model. This effect of the human model on production might be linked to the preactivation of motor representations (auditory mirror system) during voice perception, which may in turn facilitate the imitative vocal gesture. 
21539849	From pantomime to actual use: how affordances can facilitate actual tool-use. 	The main goal of the study was to investigate whether the presence of affordances, such as physical properties of given objects and resulting movement constraints, induce a performance increase in actual tool-use compared to demonstrating it with only the tool or pantomiming it without the tool and recipient object. In the present study the perception of affordances was manipulated by omission or supply of contextual information. The three execution modes - pantomiming, demonstration and actual use, - were investigated concerning the actions hammering and scooping in 25 patients with left unilateral brain damage and 10 healthy controls. The content of the movement, the grip formation, the direction and the location of the movement were evaluated with video-analysis. The results show that the pantomime condition is most prone to errors. The information given by the tool and the recipient object in the actual use task seems to facilitate especially scooping - the more complex tool-use action. A factor analysis and the high correlation between performance-scores show that the three execution modes of both actions have a major common factor. One possible joint commonality of the execution modes could be the nature of an action related working memory component, which is responsible for the recall and the integration of semantic information into a movement-plan. Additional analyses with a smaller group revealed a second factor, that might depict the online processing of spatial relationships of the hand, the tool and the recipient objects. The results indicate that performance improvement can be achieved by providing perceptual cues and reducing the degrees of freedom for the required action. It is concluded that manipulating affordances in a tool use context should be taken into consideration for future investigation of therapeutic approaches. 
15919758	Effect of regular Tai Chi and jogging exercise on neuromuscular reaction in older people. 	to investigate the effects of regular Tai Chi (TC) or jogging exercise on neuromuscular reaction in older people. cross-sectional study. university biomechanics laboratory. 21 long-term elderly TC practitioners were compared with 18 regular elderly joggers and 22 sedentary counterparts. electromyography (EMG) was used to detect the neuromuscular reaction of the leg muscles to an unexpected ankle inversion perturbation. The latency of the muscles, which was defined as the time that the moment of perturbation began to the onset of the EMG response, was evaluated. a one-way ANOVA revealed that there were significant differences in the latency of the rectus femoris (R) and anterior tibialis (T) muscles between the three groups, but that there were no differences in the latency of the semitendinosus (S) and gastrocnemius (G) muscles. Further tests indicated that the R and T muscles in the TC and jogging groups were activated significantly faster than those in the control group. No significant difference was found for the muscle onset latencies between the TC and jogging groups. maintaining information processing speed during ageing is important, because of the role that it plays in many everyday events. The R and T muscles in the regular TC and jogging groups showed faster responses to unexpected ankle inversion perturbations, which is helpful for the timely correction of postural disturbances, than those in the sedentary control group. 
23556483	Ridicule and being laughed at in the family: gelotophobia, gelotophilia, and katagelasticism in young children and their parents. 	The fear of being laughed at (gelotophobia), the joy of being laughed at (gelotophilia), and the joy of laughing at others (katagelasticism) were tested in a sample of 189 7- and 8-year-olds and their parents (185 mothers, 160 fathers). The dispositions were widely unrelated in the full sample. There was a positive relation between girls' and mothers' katagelasticism as well as between the 7-year-old boys' katagelasticism and their parents' gelotophilia. Furthermore, the 8-year-old boys' fear of being laughed at correlated robustly positively with their parents' gelotophobia and their gelotophilia with their parents' katagelasticism. Similarities/dissimilarities in the parental expression in the dispositions had no impact on the scores in the children. The findings are different from relations reported for parents and their adult children. The study provides ground for further studies on how families deal with ridicule and being laughed at. 
24617274	Character and dealing with laughter: the relation of self- and peer-reported strengths of character with gelotophobia, gelotophilia, and katagelasticism. 	We hypothesized that gelotophobia (the fear of being laughed at), gelotophilia (the joy of being laughed at), and katagelasticism (the joy of laughing at others) relate differently to character strengths. In Study 1 (N = 5,134), self-assessed gelotophobia was primarily negatively related to strengths (especially to lower hope, zest, and love), whereas only modesty yielded positive relations. Gelotophilia demonstrated mainly positive relations with humor, zest, and social intelligence. Katagelasticism existed widely unrelated from character strengths with humor demonstrating the comparatively highest coefficients. Study 2 consisted of N = 249 participants who provided self- and peer-ratings of strengths and self-reports on the three dispositions. The results converged well with those from Study 1. When comparing self- and peer-reports, those higher in gelotophobia under-estimated and those higher in gelotophilia over-estimated their virtuousness, whereas those higher in katagelasticism seemed to have a realistic appraisal of their strengths. Peer-rated (low) hope and modesty contributed to the prediction of gelotophobia beyond self-reports. The same was true for low modesty, creativity, low bravery, and authenticity for gelotophilia and for low love of learning regarding katagelasticism. Results suggest that there is a stable relation between the way people deal with ridicule and laughing and their virtuousness. 
23168210	Laughing, grooming, and pub science. 	On the basis of naturalistic observations of people conversing and laughing in pubs, a new study suggests that the 'grooming-at-a-distance' of laughter provides a three-fold increase in grooming group size, potentially explaining how hominins evolved social groups that are considerably larger than those of other primates. 
23039334	Early humour production. 	The current studies explored early humour as a complex socio-cognitive phenomenon by examining 2- and 3-year-olds' humour production with their parents. We examined whether children produced novel humour, whether they cued their humour, and the types of humour produced. Forty-seven parents were interviewed, and videotaped joking with their children. Other parents (N= 113) completed a survey. Parents reported children copy jokes during the first year of life, and produce novel jokes from 2 years. In play sessions, 3-year-olds produced mostly novel humorous acts; 2-year-olds produced novel and copied humorous acts equally frequently. Parents reported children smile, laugh, and look for a reaction when joking. In play sessions, 2- and 3-year-olds produced these behaviours more when producing humorous versus non-humorous acts. In both parent reports and play sessions, they produced novel object-based (e.g., underwear on head) and conceptual humour (e.g., 'pig says moo') and used wrong labels humorously (e.g., calling a cat a dog). Thus, parent report and child behaviour both confirm that young children produce novel humorous acts, and share their humour by smiling, laughing, and looking for a reaction. 
22516275	[Humour and the theory of mind in schizophrenia: a review of the literature]. 	Humour is a universal phenomenon, a daily fact holding positive aspects valued in society. The sense of humour is subjective, inherent in each and everyone and difficult to assess. We could qualify it as an indefinable sense set by an absence of norms. This intangible notion occupies a primordial social role of communication, confidence, shared by all with both therapeutic and physical benefit. Scientists started researching this theme in schizophrenic patients from 1950. Studies show a net deficit of humour capabilities between healthy subjects and patients. The hypothesis of a deficit of the theory of mind in the evaluation of humour in schizophrenics is currently the object of several experiments. Nowadays, cognitive functions are also taken into account in humour perception studies. However the little or few studies relevant to this subject are a definite obstacle to the understanding of this complex phenomenon. 
22375296	Hypochondria as withdrawal and comedy as cure in Dr. Willibald's Der Hypochondrist (1824). 	Balthasar von Ammann's comedy Der Hypochondrist, published in 1824 under the pseudonym Dr. Willibald, foregrounds the social, sexual, and political implications of hypochondria. The play engages with early nineteenth-century medical and popular conceptions of hypochondria to co-opt potentially subversive elements and to promote a specific social, sexual, and political agenda. The text promotes literature — specifically comedic drama — as a cure for hypochondria. Hypochondria functions as a code for withdrawal. The hypochondriac withdraws medically from healthy society, gaining exceptional status. He withdraws sexually from society by remaining a bachelor, possibly engaged in non-normative sexual behaviour. Furthermore, the politically disenfranchised protagonist voices his political frustrations via a coded medical metaphor. The hypochondriac poses a threefold challenge to the social, sexual, and political order, and the play engages with contemporary conceptions of the disease to provide the solution: comedy. The text, presented as a cure for hypochondria, replaces the coded questioning of the social order via hypochondria with the less threatening code of heraldry. A comedy-within-the-comedy uses the hypochondriac's love of heraldry to cure him, resulting in the elimination of his medical problems and exceptional status, in the purification of his bachelorhood from non-normative elements, and in the pre-emption of political frustrations. 
22258073	Bystander reaction to women fighting: developing a theory of intervention. 	This article explores accounts of bystanders to female-on-female public violence. Group interviews with participants in the night-time economy are carried out. Whereas men tend to respond to the discussion topic of female-on-female violence with laughter, this laughter reveals ambivalence and discomfort as much as amusement. Men seem to negotiate the tension between the expectation that they should intervene in emergencies and a catalogue of costs that attend intervention. Female bystanders appear to have a different set of concerns. They talk about feelings of shame at the interpersonal and the group level. Women cite the public spectacle, and the opportunity for men to demean or sexualize women, as reasons for intervention. The article concludes with some recommendations about the importance of exploring female violence in its own terms, beginning with a series of identified moral and social dilemmas incurred within possible third-party intervention. 
21355640	Aping expressions? Chimpanzees produce distinct laugh types when responding to laughter of others. 	Humans have the ability to replicate the emotional expressions of others even when they undergo different emotions. Such distinct responses of expressions, especially positive expressions, play a central role in everyday social communication of humans and may give the responding individuals important advantages in cooperation and communication. The present work examined laughter in chimpanzees to test whether nonhuman primates also use their expressions in such distinct ways. The approach was first to examine the form and occurrence of laugh replications (laughter after the laughter of others) and spontaneous laughter of chimpanzees during social play and then to test whether their laugh replications represented laugh-elicited laugh responses (laughter triggered by the laughter of others) by using a quantitative method designed to measure responses in natural social settings. The results of this study indicated that chimpanzees produce laugh-elicited laughter that is distinct in form and occurrence from their spontaneous laughter. These findings provide the first empirical evidence that nonhuman primates have the ability to replicate the expressions of others by producing expressions that differ in their underlying emotions and social implications. The data further showed that the laugh-elicited laugh responses of the subjects were closely linked to play maintenance, suggesting that chimpanzees might gain important cooperative and communicative advantages by responding with laughter to the laughter of their social partners. Notably, some chimpanzee groups of this study responded more with laughter than others, an outcome that provides empirical support of a socialization of expressions in great apes similar to that of humans. 
17087440	Fingerspelling and sign language as alternative codes for reading and writing words for Chilean deaf signers. 	The study examined the role of sign language and fingerspelling in the development of the reading and writing skills of deaf children and youth. Twenty-six deaf participants (13 children, 13 adolescents), whose first language was Chilean Sign Language (CHSL), were examined. Their dactylic abilities were evaluated with tasks involving the reading and writing of dactylic and orthographic codes. The study included three experiments: (a) the identification of Chilean signs and fingerspelled words, (b) the matching of fingerspelled words with commercial logos, and (c) the decoding of fingerspelled words and the mapping of these words onto the writing system. The results provide convergent evidence that the use of fingerspelling and sign language is related to orthographic skills. It is concluded that fingerspelling can facilitate the internal representation of words and serve as a supporting mechanism for reading acquisition. 
18171360	Preference for language in early infancy: the human language bias is not speech specific. 	Fundamental to infants' acquisition of their native language is an inherent interest in the language spoken around them over non-linguistic environmental sounds. The following studies explored whether the bias for linguistic signals in hearing infants is specific to speech, or reflects a general bias for all human language, spoken and signed. Results indicate that 6-month-old infants prefer an unfamiliar, visual-gestural language (American Sign Language) over non-linguistic pantomime, but 10-month-olds do not. These data provide evidence against a speech-specific bias in early infancy and provide insights into those properties of human languages that may underlie this language-general attentional bias. 
16005477	Speech and gesture share the same communication system. 	Humans speak and produce symbolic gestures. Do these two forms of communication interact, and how? First, we tested whether the two communication signals influenced each other when emitted simultaneously. Participants either pronounced words, or executed symbolic gestures, or emitted the two communication signals simultaneously. Relative to the unimodal conditions, multimodal voice spectra were enhanced by gestures, whereas multimodal gesture parameters were reduced by words. In other words, gesture reinforced word, whereas word inhibited gesture. In contrast, aimless arm movements and pseudo-words had no comparable effects. Next, we tested whether observing word pronunciation during gesture execution affected verbal responses in the same way as emitting the two signals. Participants responded verbally to either spoken words, or to gestures, or to the simultaneous presentation of the two signals. We observed the same reinforcement in the voice spectra as during simultaneous emission. These results suggest that spoken word and symbolic gesture are coded as single signal by a unique communication system. This signal represents the intention to engage a closer interaction with a hypothetical interlocutor and it may have a meaning different from when word and gesture are encoded singly. 
15076754	Cortical processing of tactile language in a postlingually deaf-blind subject. 	We compared neural activation detected by magnetoencephalography (MEG) during tactile presentation of words and non-words in a postlingually deaf-blind subject and six normal volunteers. The left postcentral gyrus, bilateral inferior frontal gyri, left posterior temporal lobe, right anterior temporal lobe, bilateral middle occipital gyri were activated when tactile words were presented to the right hand of the deaf-blind subject. This set of activated regions was not observed in the normal volunteers, although activation of several combinations of these regions was detected. Positron emission tomography confirmed the location of the MEG-activated areas in the deaf-blind subject. Our results demonstrated that the deaf-blind subject is heavily involved in interpreting tactile language by enhancing cortical activation of cognitive and semantic processing. 
2050837	Body communication as compensation for speech in a Wernicke's aphasic--a longitudinal study. 	This case study describes a Wernicke's aphasic who had spontaneously developed a communication pattern involving a large portion of body communication to convey factual information. The study is longitudinal and compares the development of body communication and speech (here: the use of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and pronouns) during the 18-month period of rehabilitation. There is a clear development, showing an increased use of nouns, verbs, and adjectives and a decreased use of body communication to convey factual information. This is taken to show that compensatory body communication for factual information can be used by Wernicke's aphasics, something that is easily obscured by the finding often reported that most aphasics tend to show body communication patterns that are in accordance with their speech patterns. The role of pronouns and gestures for turnkeeping at an intermediate stage, when the patient is shifting from gestures to words for factual content, is also discussed. 
23496797	The coevolution of long-term pair bonds and cooperation. 	The evolution of social traits may not only depend on but also change the social structure of the population. In particular, the evolution of pairwise cooperation, such as biparental care, depends on the pair-matching distribution of the population, and the latter often emerges as a collective outcome of individual pair-bonding traits, which are also under selection. Here, we develop an analytical model and individual-based simulations to study the coevolution of long-term pair bonds and cooperation in parental care, where partners play a Snowdrift game in each breeding season. We illustrate that long-term pair bonds may coevolve with cooperation when bonding cost is below a threshold. As long-term pair bonds lead to assortative interactions through pair-matching dynamics, they may promote the prevalence of cooperation. In addition to the pay-off matrix of a single game, the evolutionarily stable equilibrium also depends on bonding cost and accidental divorce rate, and it is determined by a form of balancing selection because the benefit from pair-bond maintenance diminishes as the frequency of cooperators increases. Our findings highlight the importance of ecological factors affecting social bonding cost and stability in understanding the coevolution of social behaviour and social structures, which may lead to the diversity of biological social systems. 
22545763	Evolution of monogamy, paternal investment, and female life history in Peromyscus. 	The timing of reproductive development and associated trade-offs in quantity versus quality of offspring produced across the life span are well documented in a wide range of species. The relation of these aspects of maternal life history to monogamy and paternal investment in offspring is not well studied in mammals, due in part to the rarity of the latter. By using five large, captive-bred populations of Peromyscus species that range from promiscuous mating with little paternal investment (P. maniculatus bairdii) to social and genetic monogamy with substantial paternal investment (P. californicus insignis), we modeled the interaction between monogamy and female life history. Monogamy and high paternal investment were associated with smaller litter size, delayed maternal reproduction that extended over a longer reproductive life span, and larger, higher quality offspring. The results suggest monogamy and paternal investment can alter the evolution of female life-history trajectories in mammals. 
20691185	Should I stay or should I go? Hormonal control of nest abandonment in a long-lived bird, the Adélie penguin. 	According to life-history theory, long-lived birds should favor their survival over the current reproductive attempt, when breeding becomes too costly. In seabirds, incubation is often associated with spontaneous long-term fasting. Below a threshold in body reserves, hormonal and metabolic shift characteristics of a switch from lipid to protein utilization (phase III, PIII) occur. These metabolic changes are paralleled by nest abandonment and stimulation of refeeding behavior. Parental behavior is then under control of two hormones with opposite effects: corticosterone (CORT) and prolactin which stimulate foraging and incubation behavior, respectively. The aim of this study was to determine the respective role of these two hormones in nest abandonment by Adélie penguins. To this end, plasma hormone levels were measured before egg-laying and at departure from the colony (i.e. when birds were relieved by their partner or abandoned their nest), and related to nutritional state and incubation success. We found that males abandoning their nest in PIII presented high CORT levels and low prolactin levels. Interestingly, males which presented high plasma levels of prolactin in PIII did not abandon. We show that although CORT is the first hormone to be affected by prolonged energy constraints, the combined effects of high CORT and low prolactin levels are necessary for parents to favor self-maintenance and abandon the nest. We provide insights into time-course changes of the endocrine profile as PIII proceeds and report that reaching proteolytic late fasting is not sufficient to induce nest abandonment in a long-lived bird. 
20688088	Early fitness consequences and hormonal correlates of parental behaviour in the social rodent, Octodon degus. 	Males are expected to assist their mates whenever this behaviour raises survival of offspring with little expense in terms of mating opportunities. At a more proximate level, cortisol and testosterone hormones seem involved in the expression of parental care in mammals. We examined the consequences to postnatal offspring development and survival of the males' presence in the social rodent, Octodon degus. Offspring quality and quantity, and maternal condition of females were contrasted among females rearing their litters in the presence of the sire, females breeding in the presence of a non-breeding female, and females breeding solitarily. We related these differences to variation in parental behaviour and plasma levels of testosterone and cortisol. Twenty two females and their litters were studied under constant conditions of adult density, nest availability, food availability, and breeding experience. Males huddled over and groomed offspring. However, neither the number nor the mass of pups from dams that nested with the sire differed from those recorded to breeding females that nested with a non-breeding female and females that nested solitarily. Body weight loss and associated levels of plasma cortisol in dams nesting with the sire were similar to those of solitary females, but higher than mothers nesting with a non-breeding female. Thus, male care had no consequences to offspring, and seemed detrimental to breeding females. Circulating levels of cortisol and total testosterone were either poor (mothers) or no (fathers, non-breeding females) predictors of parental care. 
19744253	Negotiation of parental care when the stakes are high: experimental handicapping of one partner during incubation leads to short-term generosity. 	1. Most game theoretical models of biparental care predict that a reduction in care by one partner should not be fully compensated by increased work of its mate but this may not be true for incubating birds because a reduction in care could cause the entire brood to fail. 2. I performed the first handicapping experiment of both males and females during incubation, by placing small lead weights on the tails of male and female northern flickers Colaptes auratus, a woodpecker in which males do most of the incubation. 3. Females responded to the acute stressor (handling and handicapping) by tending to abandon more readily than males and staying away from the nest longer in the first incubation bout. Among pairs that persisted, both males and females compensated fully for a handicapped partner, keeping the eggs covered nearly 100% of the time. 4. Partners did not retaliate by forcing their handicapped mate to sit on the eggs with a long incubation bout length subsequent to having a long bout length themselves. Instead, during the 24 h immediately after handicapping, males behaved generously by relieving handicapped females early. 5. Such generosity was probably not energetically sustainable as these male partners took on less incubation in the 72 h following handicapping compared to female partners of handicapped males. Males and females are probably generous in the short-term because of the high cost of nest failure during incubation but maintaining increased work loads in the longer term is probably limited by body condition and abandonment thresholds consistent with game theory models. 
20180700	A key ecological trait drove the evolution of biparental care and monogamy in an amphibian. 	Linking specific ecological factors to the evolution of parental care pattern and mating system is a difficult task of key importance. We provide evidence from comparative analyses that an ecological factor (breeding pool size) is associated with the evolution of parental care across all frogs. We further show that the most intensive form of parental care (trophic egg feeding) evolved in concert with the use of small pools for tadpole deposition and that egg feeding was associated with the evolution of biparental care. Previous research on two Peruvian poison frogs (Ranitomeya imitator and Ranitomeya variabilis) revealed similar life histories, with the exception of breeding pool size. This key ecological difference led to divergence in parental care patterns and mating systems. We present ecological field experiments that demonstrate that biparental care is essential to tadpole survival in small (but not large) pools. Field observations demonstrate social monogamy in R. imitator, the species that uses small pools. Molecular analyses demonstrate genetic monogamy in R. imitator, the first example of genetic monogamy in an amphibian. In total, this evidence constitutes the most complete documentation to date that a single ecological factor drove the evolution of biparental care and genetic and social monogamy in an animal. 
24681151	Parental behavior correlates to baseline corticosterone of mates and offspring in nesting eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis). 	Raising nestlings in a biparental species involves a complex and dynamic interaction of physiology and behavior among a group of organisms. Parents may be predicted to vary their behaviors based not only upon their own state, but also in relation to the states of both offspring and the other parent. In this study we explore the relationships between parental feeding behaviors and family member condition in eastern bluebirds, with a special emphasis on baseline corticosterone, a hormone associated with energy mediation and stress. We found that the overall number of feeding trips made by both male and female parents were positively correlated to the corticosterone levels of nestlings. Maternal, but not paternal, baseline corticosterone levels were positively correlated to nestling baseline corticosterone levels. Additionally, adult males' feeding behavior was positively correlated to adult females' baseline corticosterone levels. These findings suggest a complex interplay between parental behavior and physiological state not only within a given organism, but also across organisms operating within a family unit. In addition, these results provide evidence that paternal and maternal efforts are influenced by related but distinct pressures, and that male and female parenting may be governed differentially even in species with relatively equitable biparental care. 
25175683	Concordance between the quality of maternal and paternal parenting behavior within couples. 	There is compelling evidence that the quality of maternal and paternal parenting behavior bears critical importance for child development. Yet, less is known of the degree of similarity between maternal and paternal parenting behavior in families, and especially little is known about the factors that may explain variation in degrees of similarity. This article aims to examine (a) the concordance (similarity) between the quality of mothers' and fathers' interactive behavior with their child and (b) the sociodemographic determinants of this concordance. The sample included 74 families (mother, father, and their child). The quality of maternal and paternal interactive behavior was assessed independently, and rated with the Maternal Behavior Q-Sort (mother-infant, 12 months; D. R. Pederson et al., 1990) or the Mutually Responsive Orientation scale (father-toddler, 18 months; N. Aksan et al., 2006). The results indicated that the overall correlation between the quality of mothers' and fathers' behavior was moderate. The concordance was greater among higher socioeconomic status families or when interacting with a boy, but did not differ according to the presence or absence of siblings in the family. 
25124432	The evolution of flexible parenting. 	Parenting behaviors, such as the provisioning of food by parents to offspring, are known to be highly responsive to changes in environment. However, we currently know little about how such flexibility affects the ways in which parenting is adapted and evolves in response to environmental variation. This is because few studies quantify how individuals vary in their response to changing environments, especially social environments created by other individuals with which parents interact. Social environmental factors differ from nonsocial factors, such as food availability, because parents and offspring both contribute and respond to the social environment they experience. This interdependence leads to the coevolution of flexible behaviors involved in parenting, which could, paradoxically, constrain the ability of individuals to rapidly adapt to changes in their nonsocial environment. 
24866493	Male Tibetan macaques'(Macaca thibetana) choice of infant bridging partners. 	Adult male Tibetan (Macaca thibetana), Barbary (M. sylvanus), and stump-tailed macaques (M. arctoides) engage in bridging, a ritualized infant-handling behavior. Previous researchers found a bias toward the use of male infants for this behavior, but its function is debated. Explanations include three hypotheses: paternal care, mating effort, and agonistic buffering. We studied a group of habituated, provisioned Tibetan macaques to test whether adult males' affiliative relationships with females predicted their use of an infant for bridging. We also examined biases for sex, age, and individual in males' choice of bridging infant. We collected data via all occurrences, focal animal, and scan methods, from August to September 2011 at the Valley of the Wild Monkeys, China. We found that male infants were significantly preferred over females for bridging, but of three male infants in the group, only one was used by all males, while one male infant was used less often than expected. Adult males had females they were significantly more likely to be proximate to and/or to groom, but these corresponded to the mother of the bridging infant for only one male. Our results are most consistent with the agonistic buffering hypothesis: lower-ranked males used the alpha male's preferred bridging infant in an attempt to regulate their interactions with the alpha. 
23783761	Observations of a daytime birthing event in wild titi monkeys (Callicebus oenanthe): implications of the male parental role. 	Behaviors displayed during birth events, including prenatal, parturition, and postpartum periods, can give insight into caretaking roles in species in which the offspring is cared for by individuals other than the mother. Titi monkeys, genus Callicebus, exhibit a pair-bonded social system along with intense male care of offspring. Here, I report the first case of a birth seen in the wild in a group of Callicebus oenanthe, a little-known species in northern Peru, and describe infant care and development during the first few months after birth. Detailed behavior during the birth sequence as well as ad libitum data postpartum were recorded on nursing and infant care behaviors, including infant carrying, infant grooming, anogenital cleaning, protection, playing, and food sharing. In the 3 h preceding and during parturition, the male remained in contact with or in close proximity to the female (&lt;1 m). The male licked and examined the newborn 3 min after parturition, carried the infant within 24 h after birth, was the main carrier of the infant, and was the predominant manual groomer of the infant during the first 4 months after birth. I argue that the male plays an integral role during the birth in order to establish his bond with the infant as well as reinforce infant care duties to the female and in predator vigilance. In light of various explanations for the exhibition of intense paternal care, I suggest that the male titi monkey provides infant care to release the female of these duties in order that she may spend more time foraging, thus potentially increasing the pair's overall reproductive output. 
24734297	Pity or peanuts? Oxytocin induces different neural responses to the same infant crying labeled as sick or bored. 	The neuropeptide oxytocin plays an important role in mother–infant bonding. However, recent studies indicate that the effects of oxytocin on prosociality are dependent on perceived social context. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined differential effects of intranasally administered oxytocin on neural responding to 500 and 700 Hz crying that was indicated as emanating from a sick infant and 500 and 700 Hz crying emanating from a bored infant. We found that oxytocin significantly increased insula and inferior frontal gyrus responding to sick infant crying, but decreased activation in these brain regions during exposure to crying of an infant that was labeled as bored. In addition, oxytocin decreased amygdala responding to 500 Hz crying, but increased amygdala responding to 700 Hz crying. These findings indicate that labeling the same infant crying as 'sick' or as 'bored' drastically changes neural activity in response to intranasal oxytocin administration. Oxytocin increases empathic reactions to sick infants' crying, but lowers the perceived urgency of crying of an infant perceived as bored, thus flexibly adapting adult responses to infant crying labeled in various ways. 
24990638	Do Guyanese mothers' levels of warmth moderate the association between harshness and justness of physical punishment and preschoolers' prosocial behaviours and anger? 	This study assessed the moderating role of Indo-Guyanese mothers' warmth and affection on the associations between harshness and justness of physical punishment and prosocial behaviours and anger in preschoolers. One hundred and thirty-nine rural Indo-Guyanese mothers filled out Rohner's Parental Acceptance-Rejection (PARQ) and Physical Punishment Questionnaires (PPQ). Teachers provided assessments of children's prosocial behaviours and anger in preschool settings. Maternal warmth did not moderate the relationship between harshness of physical punishment and children's prosocial behaviours and anger, but it did moderate the relationship between justness of physical punishment and prosocial behaviours for sons as well as the association between justness of physical punishment and anger for daughters. In Caribbean societies where harsh punishment is normative, maternal warmth may work more effectively with justness, and not with harshness of physical punishment, to lower negative childhood behavioural outcomes. 
24050183	Oxytocin pathways and the evolution of human behavior. 	This review examines the hypothesis that oxytocin pathways--which include the neuropeptide oxytocin, the related peptide vasopressin, and their receptors--are at the center of physiological and genetic systems that permitted the evolution of the human nervous system and allowed the expression of contemporary human sociality. Unique actions of oxytocin, including the facilitation of birth, lactation, maternal behavior, genetic regulation of the growth of the neocortex, and the maintenance of the blood supply to the cortex, may have been necessary for encephalization. Peptide-facilitated attachment also allows the extended periods of nurture necessary for the emergence of human intellectual development. In general, oxytocin acts to allow the high levels of social sensitivity and attunement necessary for human sociality and for rearing a human child. Under optimal conditions oxytocin may create an emotional sense of safety. Oxytocin dynamically moderates the autonomic nervous system, and effects of oxytocin on vagal pathways, as well as the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of this peptide, help to explain the pervasive adaptive consequences of social behavior for emotional and physical health. 
23994066	Phenotypic plasticity in response to breeding density in tree swallows: an adaptive maternal effect? 	Territorial animals breeding in high-density environments are more likely to engage in aggressive competition with conspecifics for resources necessary for reproduction. In many avian species, increased competition among breeding females results in increased testosterone concentrations in egg yolks. Generally, elevated yolk testosterone increases nestling growth, competitive behaviors, and bold behavioral traits. However, few studies provide an environmental context with which to examine the potential adaptive benefits of these phenotypic changes. In this study, tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) breeding density was altered to modify levels of social competition and yolk testosterone. We measured nestling growth, competitive ability, and breathing rate in response to a stressor using a partial cross-foster design. Females breeding at high-density experienced more aggressive, competitive interactions and their eggs had higher testosterone concentrations. Nestlings that hatched in high-density environments grew faster and displayed more competitive behaviors and a higher breathing rate response to a stressor regardless of post-hatching density. Our study demonstrates that phenotypic plasticity occurs in response to yolk testosterone variation resulting from different breeding densities. These findings suggest that naturally-induced maternal effects prepare offspring for competitive environments, supporting the idea that maternal effects are adaptive. 
22786820	Maternal care associates with play dominance rank among adult female rats. 	Variations in maternal care influence important life history traits that determine reproductive fitness. The adult female offspring of mothers that show reduced levels of pup licking/grooming (LG; i.e., low-LG mothers) show increased defensive responses to stress, accelerated pubertal development, and greater sexual receptivity than the female offspring of high-LG mothers. Amongst several species an accelerated pattern of reproductive development is associated with increased dominance-related behaviors and higher social rank. We hypothesize that rats from low-LG dams may thus also secure higher social rank as a means to compete for limited resources with conspecifics. In this study, social interactions were observed in triads of adult female rats aged p90 that received low, mid, and high levels of pup LG over the first week of life. Low- and mid-LG females had the highest pinning scores and high-LG rats the lowest, showing that low- and mid-LG adult females engage in greater play dominance-related behavior. Likewise, low- and mid-LG rats spent significantly more time drinking following 24 hr of water deprivation in a water competition test thus allowing them to secure a limited resource more easily than high-LG rats. Interestingly, pinning by play dominant females was increased when subordinates were sexually receptive (proestrus/estrus), suggestive of a process of reproductive suppression. Some evidence suggests that low-LG and mid-LG rats also show greater fecundity than high-LG rats. Variations in maternal care may thus have a long-term influence on the development of play dominance and possibly social rank in the female rat, which might contribute to reproductive success within a competitive environment. 
20389095	Four breeding females in a free-ranging group of buffy-headed marmosets (Callithrix flaviceps). 	The reproductive patterns recorded in a free-ranging group of Callithrix flaviceps were unique in a number of ways, including 4 females breeding simultaneously, a non-breeding dominant female, and a well-defined birth season. In addition, all observed copulations involved extragroup individuals. The more socially dominant breeding female had more births and more surviving offspring, on average, than subordinate females, and was implicated in at least 1 infanticide. All 4 females carried their own infants for relatively long periods following the births, apparently as a defence mechanism related to the risk of infanticide. It remains unclear whether the unusual number of breeding females in the group represents a species-specific pattern, or the result of specific local circumstances. 
19135074	Birth spacing in the mouse communal nest shapes adult emotional and social behavior. 	The interactions with the mother and with peers are among the most relevant early environmental factors shaping adult brain function and behavior. In order to investigate the role of these factors, we exploited a novel early manipulation, the Communal Nest (CN), consisting in a single nest where three mothers give birth, keep their pups and share care-giving behavior from birth to weaning. In particular, we reared CD-1 swiss mice in three different CN conditions, each one characterized by a different interval between the three deliveries (Birth Spacing) of 3, 5 or 7 days (respectively, CN+/-3, CN+/-5, CN+/-7). Length of birth spacing affected maternal behavior, CN+/-7 pups receiving the highest levels. At adulthood, mice reared in the different conditions showed differences in emotional response and social skills. In the plus maze test, short birth spacing was found to be associated with enhanced emotionality, CN+/-3 mice showing highest levels of anxiety-like responses in the plus maze compared to the other two CN groups. In the social interaction test, the strategies to achieve dominance differed among the three groups. While CN+/-3 mice appeared to have a more aggressive strategy, displaying high levels of attack behavior in the first encounter, CN+/-5 and CN+/-7 mice displayed a more affiliative strategy based on social investigation. Overall, these findings show that birth spacing shapes the early mouse social environment and, in turn, affects the development of social skills and emotional responses. 
24206065	The importance of motherhood in HIV-positive women of reproductive age in Ontario, Canada. 	Motherhood is personally, culturally, and historically rooted. Recent publications have focused on medical issues related to pregnancy and HIV, with attention on fetal well-being. There is limited literature on the importance of motherhood for HIV-positive women. Our study's purpose was to investigate the importance of motherhood among HIV-positive women of reproductive age in Ontario, Canada and to analyze the correlates thereof. We present our findings using a secondary analysis of cross-sectionally collected data from a study assessing fertility desires and intentions of HIV-positive women. The sub-analysis's outcome of interest was based on the question: &quot;Being a mother is important to me&quot; with a 5-point Likert scale that was dichotomized into strongly agree/agree vs. neutral/disagree/strongly disagree. Logistic regression models were fit to calculate unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for significant correlates. Of the 497 respondents, median age was 38 (interquartile range [IQR] 32-43), 46% were African, 74% had given birth, and 57% intended to give birth. A total of 452 (91%) agreed (N = 75) or strongly agreed (N = 377) that being a mother was important to them. Age less than 40 years (OR 3.0; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.6-5.7, African ethnicity (OR 9.2; 95% CI 3.2-26.3), immigration within 10 years (OR 19.6, 95% CI 4.6-83.1), and partner or family desire for a pregnancy (OR 3.3; 95% CI 1.5-7.3) were significant correlates of the importance of motherhood in a univariate analysis. Importance of motherhood was associated with desire (OR 6.2, 95% CI 3.1-12.3) and intention to give birth (OR 6.9, 95% CI 3.1-15.2), and previous birth (OR 8.5, 95% CI 4.2-16.8). In the multivariable model, the significant correlates were of age less than 40 years (OR 3.9; 95% CI 1.8-8.4), immigration within 10 years (OR 14.1; 95% CI 3.2-61.5), and having previously given birth (OR 11.2; 95% CI 5.1-24.4). The majority of women felt strongly that motherhood was important to them particularly among younger women, recent immigrants, and women who were mothers. 
20018119	The impact of maternal birth month on reproductive performance: controlling for socio-demographic confounders. 	Based on a 1900 census sample of 34,166 post-reproductive females (&gt; or =45 years), the birth month effect was put to the test, for both lifetime fertility as well as child survival, controlling for maternal birth cohort (1826-1835, 1836-1845, 1846-1855), Duncan's SEI, urbanity, nativity, literacy and marital duration. Testing for potential cohort effects did not indicate a temporal trend in fertility by maternal birth month (seasonal Mann-Kendall test, p=0.578), while a minute increase in offspring survival was detected (p&lt;0.001, Sen's estimator of slope=0.02, 95% CI=0.02 to 0.03). Further analyses of the maternal birth month effect on child survival were therefore seized. For lifetime fertility, ANOVA results indicated that maternal birth month was a major predictor for total offspring count (F11, 33606=1809.0, p&lt;0.001), accounting for 37.2% of the total variability. In addition to main effects, a statistically significant interaction effect was observed (F538, 33606=2.2, p&lt;0.001), with a corresponding effect size of eta2=0.40. Planned contrasts revealed that birth-month-specific differences in fertility achieved statistical significance (F11, 31798=1712.9, p&lt;0.001), while post-hoc multiple comparisons for literacy and nativity displayed an inverse relationship with fertility, which meets demographic expectations. Controlling for all factors of interest, models of cohort-specific offspring counts (independent ANOVAs for 1826-1835: F157, 3467=26.3, p&lt;0.001; 1836-1845: F182, 10299=75.5, p&lt;0.001; 1846-1855: F199, 19859=137.9, p&lt;0.001) indicated that women born in the first half of the year (particularly, January, February, April and May) achieved above-average parity, while those born in the latter half (namely, July, October, November and December) displayed markedly lower fertility averages. These monthly disparities are in line with previous observations and appear to be linked to seasonal optimal ripening of the oocyte or seasonal preovulatory over-ripeness ovopathy (Jongbloet, 1992). 
19299754	Reproductive decisions for women with HIV: motherhood's role in envisioning a future. 	Cultural influences might exert more influence on HIV-positive women's reproductive choices than HIV-related conditions. In this article we report on grounded theory research on how women with HIV made reproductive decisions during a time of transition from HIV as potentially fatal to mothers and newborns to its current status as an often controllable chronic illness. Eighty HIV-positive women of childbearing age in three United States cities were interviewed, and the interviews were analyzed using grounded theory techniques. The core concept of the findings was that women's decisions were based on their judgment of the relative weight of positive aspects of motherhood versus the often negative pressures of social and public opinion. These findings have relevance for future research as well as for program development and policy. 
18030718	[The interaction of serotonin and dopamine systems with the systems of the regulatory peptides oxytocin, vasopressin, and prolactin under normal conditions and during pregnancy]. 	The authors studied a vast volume of unsystematized literature data (between 1970 and 2006) on the interaction of the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine with the hormonal peptide regulators prolactin, oxytocin, and vasopressin. Analysis of the results of studies made it possible to create a data base and analyze complex induction interactions between serotonin and dopamine and the three regulatory peptides under various physiological conditions: non-pregnancy, early and late stages of pregnancy, lactation, and maternal behavior. The roles of serotonin and dopamine in the formation of reproductive and maternal behavior were determined. The article presents possibilities for research into positive intervention into the hormonal status of a pregnant woman via a range of psychotropic drugs. 
17135165	The elusive romance of motherhood:drugs, gender, and reproduction in inner-city distressed households. 	This paper explores the social contexts of reproductive decision making among poor African-American women in inner-city distressed households by focusing on women's narratives of their reproductive and maternal experiences. We explore the hidden agendas and motivations that underpin women's reproductive decisions and perceived choices within the turmoil of poverty, domestic instability, economic uncertainty, and addiction. The political economy of reproduction, within which birthing and motherhood in distressed inner-city households take place, generates the conditions for absent fathers, brittle unions, and a highly skewed gendered division of parenting. Locally constituted notions of gender, agency and autonomy are key dimensions in the cultural constructions of motherhood in these female headed households. Woven into the local maternal experiences is also the desire to 'give and receive love'. By focusing on women's own formulations of responsibility and agency in their reproductive decisions, we can see how they make sense of their reproductive histories and maternal experiences amidst the constraints of poverty, class, race, and substance abuse. 
17111556	Adoption, ART, and a re-conception of the maternal body: toward embodied maternity. 	We criticize a view of maternity that equates the natural with the genetic and biological and show how such a practice overdetermines the maternal body and the maternal experience for women who are mothers through adoption and ART (Assisted Reproductive Technologies). As an alternative, we propose a new framework designed to rethink maternal bodies through the lens of feminist embodiment. Feminist embodied maternity, as we call it, stresses the particularity of experience through subjective embodiment. A feminist embodied maternity emphasizes the physical relations of the subjective lived-body rather than the genetic or biological connections. Instead of universalizing claims about the maternal body, embodied maternity looks to communicable experiences and empathetic understanding. 
16360878	Maternal personality and reproductive ambition in women is associated with salivary testosterone levels. 	Previous research has linked testosterone levels with sex-specific personality traits within women. The present study investigates the relation between salivary testosterone levels and specifically maternal personality traits in healthy adult women. Twenty-seven young women completed the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI). Additional questions were asked about maternal personality (importance of having children, self-rated maternal/broodiness), reproductive ambition (ideal number of children, ideal own age at first child) and career orientation (importance of having career). Higher circulating testosterone levels were associated with lower scores on measures of maternal personality and reproductive ambition. There was no relation of career orientation with testosterone. A median split on BSRI masculinity revealed high scorers had higher testosterone levels than low scorers. There was no relation of BSRI femininity with testosterone. Results suggest maternal tendencies may be partly androgen driven. 
23669059	Adolescent peer-rejection persistently alters pain perception and CB1 receptor expression in female rats. 	Peer-interactions are particularly important during adolescence and teenagers display enhanced sensitivity toward rejection by peers. Social rejection has been shown to induce alterations in pain perception in humans. However, the neurobiological consequences of adolescent social rejection have yet to be extensively characterized, and no appropriate animal model is available. Here, we propose inadequate playful interactions in adolescent rats as a novel animal model for social peer-rejection and examine potential long-term consequences into adulthood. Acute social pairing of female adolescent Wistar rats with an age-matched rat from the less playful Fischer344 strain was found to alter social play and decrease pain reactivity, indicating Fischer rats as inadequate social partners for Wistar animals. Therefore, in a second experiment, adolescent female Wistar rats were either reared with another Wistar rat (adequate social rearing; control) or with a Fischer rat (inadequate social rearing; play-deprived). Beginning on day 50, all Wistar rats were group housed with same-strain partners and tested for behavioral, neurobiological and endocrine differences in adulthood. Playful peer-interactions were decreased during adolescence in play-deprived animals, without affecting social contact behavior. Consequently, adult play-deprived rats showed decreased pain sensitivity and increased startle reactivity compared to controls, but did not differ in activity, anxiety-related behavior or social interaction. Both groups also differed in their endocrine stress-response, and expression levels of the cannabinoid CB1 receptor were increased in the thalamus, whereas FAAH levels were decreased in the amygdala. The present animal model therefore represents a novel approach to assess the long-term consequences of peer-rejection during adolescence. 
23172873	'A tale of two cases:' the health, illness, and physical activity stories of two children living with cystic fibrosis. 	Storytelling is perennial, and central to the human condition. Although illness may shatter identity and one's role and place in the broader social world, narrative may aid in the process of self-reparation. Despite the merits of the narrative approach, it has been underutilized with children who are living with cystic fibrosis (CF). The role that illness narratives may play in influencing CF youths' physical activity also remains poorly investigated. This article drew on the qualitative case study methodological tradition to narrate the stories of two children living with CF at a children's hospital in Canada. The findings beg researchers to consider (a) how children with life-limiting diseases borrow multiple illness narrative types, (b) the role of development in influencing the kinds of stories that children can tell, and (c) the impact of illness narratives on physical activity. By rendering the tales of two CF youth in this study, we respond to Aurthur Frank's call; taking a multiple narrative turn, we listen to stories of a different kind of suffering. 
23416457	An assessment of schoolyard features and behavior patterns in children's utilization and physical activity. 	Careful research that elucidates how behavior relates to design in the context of elementary school grounds can serve to guide cost-efficient design with the goal of encouraging physical activity (PA). This work explores patterns in children's PA behavior within playground spaces with the specific goal of guiding healthy playground design. Data on children's utilization and PA behavior in 6 playgrounds divided into 106 observation zones were collected in 2005 and 2006 at Denver elementary school playgrounds using the System for Observing Play and Leisure Activity in Youth. Analyses of variance and t tests determined whether there were differences in utilization and behavior patterns across observations zones and between genders. This study provides evidence that children prefer to use certain types of playground zones and that they are more likely to practice moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in some zones. The authors observed statistically significant differences between genders. Boys were more likely to engage in MVPA in zones without equipment, girls were more likely to use zones with equipment. This work suggests that the inclusion or omission of specific playground features may have an impact on the way that children use the spaces. 
23477593	Psychometric evaluation of the dutch version of the assessment of preschool children's participation (APCP): construct validity and test-retest reliability. 	The aim of this study is to examine construct validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability of the Dutch translation of the Assessment of Preschool Children's Participation (APCP) a participation measure for children aged 2 to 5 years and 11 months with and without physical disabilities. Parents of 126 preschool children participated. Sixty-seven of the children had no physical disabilities (mean age three years two months, SD 1.2) and 59 children had physical disabilities (mean age two years nine months, SD 1.8). Validity was tested using three hypotheses regarding having a physical disability, gender and age differences. Most, but not all hypotheses were confirmed. Children with a physical disability participated in fewer activities and with lower intensity than children without physical disabilities (p &lt; .001). Boys and girls participated in an equally wide variety of activities and with similar intensity except for skill development. Four- to five-year-old children in general participated in more activities than two- to three-year-old children and had a higher intensity score (p &lt; .001). For activity types, age differences were found for skill development (p &lt; .001) and social activities (p &lt; .001). Internal consistency was sufficient for four out of 10 activity types. Intra Class Correlations for test-retest reliability ranged from 63 to .91. Our findings indicate that the Dutch APCP shows sufficient psychometric properties for some but not all aspects of the measure. 
21725114	Evidence-based practice and research: a challenge to the development of adapted physical activity. 	Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a growing movement in the health and educational disciplines that recommends emphasis on research outcomes during decision making in practice. EBP is made possible through evidence based research (EBR), which attempts to synthesize the volume and scientific rigor of intervention effectiveness. With the purpose of assessing the impact of this movement on adapted physical activity, this article (a) describes EBP/EBR and outlines its methodological development, (b) provides an historical perspective of EBP/EBR in APA, (c) examines EBR quality indicators in the review literature published in Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, (d) identifies and synthesizes thematic domains appearing in these review articles, and (e) discusses practical examples of professional issues in APA arising from a lack of EBR. 
17510674	Trends in physical activity research in Canada. 	The purpose of this study was to assess Canada's physical activity research productivity by (i) assessing Canada's contribution to global physical activity research, (ii) determining trends in Canadian physical activity research over time, and (iii) identifying research areas of greater or lesser representation. A Medline search was performed to identify physical activity research published between 1990 and 2005 from Canadian institutions or using Canadian data. Trends over time were plotted and compared with global physical activity research patterns. Original and review articles were sorted based on subject characteristics, nature of physical activity contribution, province and institution of origin, and research area or &quot;pillar&quot;. A total of 5302 Canadian physical activity articles were identified for the period 1990-2005, representing 4.9% of global physical activity research. After manual sorting of abstracts, 3829 relevant articles were included for further analysis. A majority of Canada's physical activity research has come from Ontario (49%), followed by Quebec (21%), Alberta (10%), and British Columbia (10%). Where physical activity was the primary research focus, the biomedical and clinical pillars each accounted for 39% of Canadian research, with lesser contributions from population health (14%) and health services (2%). Physical activity research productivity in Canada has paralleled global trends over the last 15 years. There is currently less physical activity research being conducted in population health and health services than in the biomedical and clinical areas; however, these areas play an important role in the development of public health policy and programs targeted at reducing the burden of physical inactivity and obesity in Canada. 
22937749	The impact of sport and active recreation injuries on physical activity levels at 12 months post-injury. 	The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of serious sport and active recreation injury on 12-month physical activity levels. Adults admitted to hospital with sport and active recreation-related injuries, and captured by the Victorian Orthopaedic Trauma Outcomes Registry were recruited to the study. Changes between preinjury and 12 month post-injury physical activity was assessed using the short International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Independent demographic, injury, and hospital variables were assessed for associations with changes in physical activity levels, using multivariate linear regression. A total of 324 patients were recruited, of which 98% were followed up at 12 months. Mean short IPAQ scores decreased from 7650 METS (95% CI: 7180, 8120) preinjury to 3880 METS; (95% CI: 3530, 4250) post-injury, independent of functional recovery. Education level and occupation group were the only variables independently associated with changes in physical activity levels post-injury. These results highlighted that sport and active recreation injuries lead to significant reductions in physical activity levels. Hence, the prevention of sport and active recreation injuries is important when considering promotion of activity at a population level. 
24262972	Association of outdoor recreation availability with physical activity and weight status in Minnesota youth. 	Examine macro-level associations of youth physical activity (PA) and weight status with availability of outdoor recreation resources (i.e., parkland, forestland, natural preserves, nonmotorized trails, and motorized trails) across counties in Minnesota. Hierarchical regression models examined if availability of recreation resources significantly improved prediction of PA and weight status of 9th and 12th grade boys and girls (2010) across Minnesota counties. The inclusion of county-level densities of recreational land variables did not produce a significant increase in R(2) for any of the models predicting 9th grade outcomes, yet county-level densities of recreational trails did significantly increase R(2) for both levels of PA and weight status. In contrast, the inclusion of recreational trails did not produce any significant increases in R(2) for 12th grade outcomes, although the inclusion of recreational land did significantly increase the R(2) for 12th grade girls achieving 30min of PA 5 or more days of the week. Findings indicate that various recreational land and trail types may have different impacts on and associations with PA and health outcomes. As such, it is important that future studies focus not only on parks, but also on other types of recreational lands and trails as well. 
24376218	Neighbourhood green space and the odds of having skin cancer: multilevel evidence of survey data from 267072 Australians. 	If green spaces encourage people to spend more time outdoors in physical, recreational and social activities, this could have unintended but important consequences for health in countries where levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation are non-trivial. We investigated whether people who lived in neighbourhoods containing lots of green space were likely to spend more time outdoors and, subsequently, were more likely to report a case of skin cancer. Multilevel logit regression was used to fit associations between self-reported medically diagnosed skin cancer (melanoma and non-melanoma) and an objective measure of green space. These models were adjusted for measures of susceptibility (skin colour and tanning), socioeconomic variables, demographic and cultural characteristics (eg, ancestry and country of birth). Mediation analyses were conducted using self-reported measures of time spent outdoors and participation in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Descriptive analyses reported a positive association between green space and skin cancer (p&lt;0.001). Time outdoors and in MVPA was also higher among people living in greener areas. The association between green space and skin cancer was robust after adjustment. In comparison to people with 0-20% green space, for example, the adjusted odds of having skin cancer were 9% higher among those with &gt;80% green space. Only 1.6% and less than 1% of the association was mediated by MVPA and time spent outdoors. Neighbourhood green space is associated with higher odds of having skin cancer in Australia. The relationship between green space and health, in its broadest terms, is likely to vary by geographical context. 
24773255	'He does not see himself as being different': the perspectives of children and caregivers on relevant areas of functioning in cerebral palsy. 	In the context of the development of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) Core Sets for children and adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP), we investigated the strengths and limitations in functioning important to children with CP, through either child self-reports or caregiver proxy reports, using components of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health for Children and Youth (ICF-CY). We conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 children with CP (children self-reporting), 10 caregivers of children self-reporting (10 child-caregiver dyads), and 12 caregivers of children not self-reporting. Mean age 10 y 6 mo, range 4-16 y. A convenience sample was recruited representing Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels I to V. Interviews were audio-taped and the content covered all of the relevant ICF-CY components. The interviews were then transcribed verbatim and coded in N-Vivo 10 using the ICF-CY coding system. We identified 1956 themes that linked to 175 ICF-CY categories. Most of the themes were represented by the ICF-CY components activities and participation and environmental factors. The children interviewed discussed issues related to mobility, self-care, and recreation and leisure, whereas the caregivers focused more on physical limitations and on the environmental factors associated with everyday activities. The children and their caregivers described many of the same areas of functioning but provided unique perspectives. Children talked more frequently about their abilities with CP, whereas the caregivers interviewed talked more about their concern over the limitations and broader issues facing their child. The findings highlight the need to explore the perspectives of both the child and the caregiver when characterizing the functional profile of children with CP. 
24127091	Possibilities and challenges for physical and social environment research in Brazil: a systematic literature review on health behaviors. 	This systematic review analyzed articles focused on the relationship between environment (physical, built, perceived, and social) and smoking, alcohol drinking, physical activity, diet, and obesity in Brazil. Studies published between 19952011 were retrieved from seven databases and hand searches. Based on the 42 articles reviewed, gaps were identified and recommendations were made for future research. Despite a growing number of studies, the Brazilian literature is still limited. The increase of articles in 2010-2011 coincided with the diversification of lifestyles studied, although physical activity domain remains predominant. Most studies analyzed neighborhood settings and used subjective measures for lifestyle and for environment. The presence of recreational facilities was the main physical environment aspect studied, while safety from crime was the prominent social environment factor. More research is needed to yield a rich body of evidence that leads to theoretical and methodological advances, and that supports interventions aimed at creating healthy environments. 
23713883	Psychosocial determinants of out of school activity participation for children with and without physical disabilities. 	Psychosocial determinants of children's out of school participation were examined, using secondary analyses of data from 427 children with physical disabilities (from 12 service locations in Ontario Canada) and 354 children without disabilities, ages 6 to 14. For both groups of children, hierarchical regression analyses indicated that psychosocial variables added significant incremental variance (6% to 14%) to the prediction of active physical intensity and social activity enjoyment, beyond that accounted for by family income, child age and sex, and physical functioning. As well, there were significant psychosocial determinants, with medium to large effect sizes. Athletic competence and hyperactivity had specific effects on active physical activities and social activities, respectively, for both groups of children. Disability-specific determinants included social acceptance, emotional functioning, and peer difficulties (only significant for children with disabilities). It was concluded that psychosocial variables play an important role in children's enjoyment and intensity of participation in leisure activities. 
24604903	Physical therapists' clinical knowledge of multidisciplinary low back pain treatment guidelines. 	Numerous clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) have been developed to assist clinicians in care options for low back pain (LBP). Knowledge of CPGs has been marginal across health-related professions. The aims of this study were: (1) to measure US-based physical therapists' knowledge of care recommendations associated with multidisciplinary LBP CPGs and (2) to determine which characteristics were associated with more correct responses. A cross-sectional survey was conducted. Consenting participants attending manual therapy education seminars read a clinical vignette describing a patient with LBP and were asked clinical decision-making questions regarding care, education, and potential referral. Descriptive statistics illustrating response accuracy and binary logistic regression determined adjusted associations between predictor variables and appropriate decisions. A total of 1,144 of 3,932 surveys were eligible for analysis. Correct responses were 55.9% for imaging, 54.7% for appropriate medication, 62.0% for advice to stay active, 92.7% for appropriate referral with failed care, and 16.6% for correctly answering all 4 questions. After adjustment, practicing in an outpatient facility was significantly associated with a correct decision on imaging. Female participants were more likely than male participants to correctly select proper medications, refer the patient to another health care professional when appropriate, and answer all 4 questions correctly. Participants reporting caseloads of greater than 50% of patients with LBP were more likely to select proper medications, give advice to stay active, and answer all 4 questions correctly. Participants attending more continuing education were more likely to give advice to stay active and older, and more experienced participants were more likely to appropriately refer after failed care. There was potential selection bias, which limits generalizability. The survey identified varied understanding of CPGs when making decisions that were similar in recommendation to the CPGs. No single predictor for correct responses for LBP CPGs was found. 
24169459	Examining the content of weight, nutrition and physical activity advices provided by Dutch practice nurses in primary care: analysis of videotaped consultations. 	To examine the content of Dutch practice nurses' (PNs') advices about weight, nutrition and physical activity to overweight and obese patients. A 100 videotaped real-life PN consultations (The Netherlands, 2010/2011) with overweight or obese patients were selected. An observational checklist was developed to assess frequency and content. Personalization of advices was scored, as also the guidelines on which PNs based their advices. Content analysis was used to identify different categories of advices. About one quarter of advices concerned weight, over two-thirds nutrition and one-third physical activity. Lose weight, eat less fat and be more physically active in general were the main categories for each type of advice. Despite high clarity of advices, lower scores were found for specificity and personalization. Very few nutrition advices were provided in combination with physical activity advices. Weight advices often related to the patient's complaint. PNs seldom set a concrete weight goal. Although benefits of physical activity were discussed, often no practical advices were provided about how to achieve this. Integrated lifestyle advice was not common: advices about nutrition and physical activity were fragmented throughout the consultation. Obesity prevention needs more emphasis in PNs' educational programs. 
23799702	Evaluating the effectiveness of a physical activity referral scheme among women. 	Evidence supports the effectiveness of interventions delivered in primary care to promote physical activity (PA). Specifically, approaches where physician counseling is coupled with other strategies (eg, referrals to community resources) have been recognized as the most promising. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of a PA prescription plus referral intervention versus a prescription only intervention delivered in primary care. Ten family physicians and their female patients (N = 35, mean age = 36 years) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: prescription plus (n = 12), prescription only (n = 12), and usual care (n = 11). The prescription plus group received a PA prescription plus a referral to a community program, the prescription only group received only the PA prescription, and the usual care group received usual health care. The Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire was used to measure PA. A significant increase on the PA score (P &lt; .05, partial η(2) = .178) and on total weekly PA minutes (P &lt; .05, partial η(2) = .179) was observed in both prescription groups after the intervention. There were no significant group differences (P &gt; .05). No PA changes were observed in the usual care group. Findings from this pilot study suggest that brief PA counseling and a prescription delivered in primary care can be effective for promoting PA among women. Referring patients did not seem to enhance the effect on PA. 
23726679	[Obese children 10 years later: an observational study]. 	Although childhood obesity is a major public health problem, the long-term follow-up of children who are overweight and obese has rarely been studied in France. We conducted a single-center observational study of 85 subjects who received medical follow-up for weight problems or obesity in 2001, at which time they were aged between 2 and 17 years. The study followed-up these subjects in 2012, after a mean of 10 years. We separated the study into two time periods. Initial follow-up periods - (A) from the first consultation to the end of individual or group care -and latency periods - (B) from the end of medical care to the year 2012 - were distinguished. A declarative survey based on questionnaires on dietary habits, activity levels, and anthropometric data of children and their parents was conducted in 2012. Two indicators of effectiveness monitoring (α) and post-follow-up (β) were created. Although 77% of patients had a favorable α indicator, demonstrating the effectiveness of initial management, especially if it was prolonged (&gt;32 months, P=0.007), a re-ascent of the BMI curve after ceasing monitoring occurred in half of the cases (47%) with subjects' BMI significantly correlated with their parents' BMI (P=0.004 for the mother and P=0.02 for the father). These observations encourage us to improve the medical follow-up on offer by educating and strengthening the role of parents to achieve a significant and lasting improvement in BMI and weight. In case of medical failure in supporting patients to achieve enough weight loss, the option of bariatric surgery can be considered, even if its recent introduction means that a long-term risk/benefit analysis has yet to be conducted. 
23631779	Motivational interviewing within the different stages of change: an analysis of practice nurse-patient consultations aimed at promoting a healthier lifestyle. 	Combining the Stages of Change (SOC) model with Motivational Interviewing (MI) is seen as a helpful strategy for health care providers to guide patients in changing unhealthy lifestyle behaviour. SOC suggests that people are at different stages of motivational readiness for engaging in health behaviours and that intervention methods are most useful when tailored to a person's stage of change. However, it is unknown whether practice nurses (PNs) actually adapt their MI and more generic communication skills to a particular stage during real-life face-to-face consultations with their patients. The aim of this study was to explore whether and how PNs apply MI and general communication skills to the different SOC of patients, targeting behaviour change about smoking, alcohol use, dietary habits and/or physical activity. Real-life consultations between nineteen Dutch PNs and 103 patients were recorded on video between June 2010 and March 2011. All consultations focused on a discussion of patients' lifestyle behaviour. The Behaviour Change Counselling Index (BECCI) was used to code PNs' MI skills. Generic communication skills were rated with the MAAS-global. Patients' SOC was assessed for each consultation by observing the communication between patient and PN regarding the patient's current lifestyle behaviour. Multilevel analyses revealed that PNs adapt their MI skills to a patient's SOC to some extent. On average PNs apply MI skills more to patients in the preparation stage (P &lt; 0.05) than during the other stages of change. PNs adjusted three MI skills and one generic communication skill to patients' SOC. This explorative study suggests that, at least to some extent, PNs intuitively assess the stage of patients' readiness to change and tailor their communication accordingly. However, differences between the stages were small. By teaching PNs to explicitly identify patients' SOC they could further enhance and adapt their MI and general communication skills to the individual. 
23263265	Comparison of health-risk behaviors among students attending alternative and traditional high schools in Minnesota. 	Previous research, over a decade old, suggests students attending alternative high schools (AHS) engage in high levels of health-risk behaviors. Data from the 2007 Minnesota Student Survey for students attending AHS (n = 2,847) and traditional high schools (THS; n = 87,468) were used for this cross-sectional analysis to compare prevalence estimates, adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, and free and reduced lunch, for 28 health-risk behaviors. Students attending AHS were significantly more likely than students attending THS to report engaging in all behaviors related to unintentional injury and violence, tobacco use, alcohol and other drug use, and sexual activity, and were significantly less likely to report participating in physical activity, including sports teams. Students attending AHS continue to engage in high levels of health-risk behaviors as compared to their peers in THS. Updated national prevalence data were needed, as well as studies examining the role of protective factors in the lives of students attending AHS. 
23468267	Discopathy of the lumbar-sacral segment and its influence on sexual dysfunction. 	Intervertebral disc disease is a widespread medical and social problem. Degeneration of intervertebral discs can lead to disc disease, commonly known as discopathy. One of the consequences of discopathy is pressure on the spinal cord or nerve roots that supply the genitals and sexual centers located in the core. In addition, the accompanying pain and limitation of mobility can lead to the occurrence of sexual dysfunction. The goal of the study was to ascertain the influence of discopathy in the lumbosacral (L-S) segment on the occurrence of sexual dysfunction. The study involved 50 hospitalized patients with discopathy in the L-S segment were asked to complete a specially prepared questionnaire (11 questions). The goal of the survey was to compare the patients' satisfaction with their sex life before and after the disease. The questions were constructed in a way that excluded other indicators that could affect their sexual activity, i.e.: bad moods, bad family relations, or a lack of sexual activity due to age or the lack of a partner. Discopathy in the lumbar-sacral segment has an influence on sexual activity. A decrease in the assessment of satisfaction with one's sex life can be observed among patients with discopathy. The pain and neurological symptoms associated with intervertebral disc disease reduce the patients' satisfaction with their sex lives. Patients in the group surveyed noted a change in sexual performance, often resulting in passivity, discouragement, weakness or a complete lack of interest in sex. The disorders also affect the emotional state. The patients also noted a significant decrease in physical activity. 
22390267	The physical burdens of secrecy. 	The present work examined whether secrets are experienced as physical burdens, thereby influencing perception and action. Four studies examined the behavior of people who harbored important secrets, such as secrets concerning infidelity and sexual orientation. People who recalled, were preoccupied with, or suppressed an important secret estimated hills to be steeper, perceived distances to be farther, indicated that physical tasks would require more effort, and were less likely to help others with physical tasks. The more burdensome the secret and the more thought devoted to it, the more perception and action were influenced in a manner similar to carrying physical weight. Thus, as with physical burdens, secrets weigh people down. 
22205358	Sleep-related epilepsy in a Long-Evans hooded rat model of depression. 	Neonatal treatment with clomipramine (CLI) has been shown to have reliable behavioral and biological changes that mimic major symptomatic and biochemical changes found in depression. This paper further explores a common feature of depression, the comorbidity of seizure activity and depressive behaviors in this mode. Rat pups were neonatally treated with 40 mg/kg/day of CLI from postnatal day 8 through 21. In adulthood, they were instrumented with electroencephalographic (EEG) and electromyographic (EMG) electrodes for 24 h of polysomnogram (PSG) recordings. PSG data were analyzed for: (1) sleep-wake cycle; (2) spectral power; and (3) epileptiform activity, including NREM-to-REM transition (NRT) bursts. Neonatal treatment with CLI reliably produces enhanced levels of REM (p &lt; 0.01) and reduced sexual activity (p &lt; 0.05). Theta power was enhanced during NREM sleep in the CLI group (p = 0.02). CLI-treated animals experienced increased frequency at the NRT (p &lt; 0.01), as well as additional epileptiform activity of continuous (CTS; p &lt; 0.05) and petite-continuous (P-CTS; p &lt; 0.01) types, across the sleep-wake cycle. There is a strong temporal correlation with increased REM sleep duration, increased frequency of NRT bursts, and increased theta power during NREM sleep in CLI-treated animals. Neonatal CLI-treated animals experienced significantly more epileptiform activity as a whole, in addition to comorbid features of depression in adulthood. Neonatal exposure to CLI will not only produce depressive phenotype but may also enhance risk for epilepsy in some individuals. This warrants further investigation into currently acceptable medicinal use in humans. 
22682679	Age-grouped differences in bipolar mania. 	This review of published studies compares scores on individual items of mania rating scales that systematically recorded symptom severity in persons diagnosed with bipolar disorder to identify age-grouped differences. An extensive literature search identified item scores from mania rating scales, with a particular emphasis on baseline Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) item scores in published double-blind, placebo-controlled studies of bipolar I manic disorder. These baseline YMRS item scores were assessed as a proportion of the total YMRS score and compared by age group. Additional YMRS item/total scores in subjects with bipolar spectrum disorders were added to expand the analysis. Preadolescents with bipolar disorder had significantly higher YMRS item scores than adolescents on aggression, irritability, and motor activity. Young Mania Rating Scale baseline item scores relative to the YMRS total score revealed that adolescents diagnosed with bipolar I mania scored comparatively higher than did adults on YMRS aggression and irritability items, whereas adults with bipolar I manic disorder scored comparatively higher on the grandiosity and sexual interest items. Age-grouped findings from subjects diagnosed with bipolar I, II, and Not Otherwise Specified (NOS) disorders yielded similar age-grouped results. In age-grouped YMRS item assessments of bipolar mania, anger dyscontrol was most prominent for youth, whereas disordered thought content was paramount for adults. 
23384608	Humans make near-optimal adjustments of control to initial body configuration in vertical squat jumping. 	We investigated adjustments of control to initial posture in squat jumping. Eleven male subjects jumped from three initial postures: preferred initial posture (PP), a posture in which the trunk was rotated 18° more backward (BP) and a posture in which it was rotated 15° more forward (FP) than in PP. Kinematics, ground reaction forces and electromyograms (EMG) were collected. EMG was rectified and smoothed to obtain smoothed rectified EMG (srEMG). Subjects showed adjustments in srEMG histories, most conspicuously a shift in srEMG-onset of rectus femoris (REC): from early in BP to late in FP. Jumps from the subjects' initial postures were simulated with a musculoskeletal model comprising four segments and six Hill-type muscles, which had muscle stimulation (STIM) over time as input. STIM of each muscle changed from initial to maximal at STIM-onset, and STIM-onsets were optimized using jump height as criterion. Optimal simulated jumps from BP, PP and FP were similar to jumps of the subjects. Optimal solutions primarily differed in STIM-onset of REC: from early in BP to late in FP. Because the subjects' adjustments in srEMG-onsets were similar to adjustments of the model's optimal STIM-onsets, it was concluded that the former were near-optimal. With the model we also showed that near-maximum jumps from BP, PP and FP could be achieved when STIM-onset of REC depended on initial hip joint angle and STIM-onsets of the other muscles were posture-independent. A control theory that relies on a mapping from initial posture to STIM-onsets seems a parsimonious alternative to theories relying on internal optimal control models. 
22253323	Effects of a group-based exercise and self-regulatory intervention on obese adolescents' physical activity, social cognitions, body composition and strength: a randomized feasibility study. 	This feasibility study assessed the effects of an exercise plus group-based self-regulatory skills intervention on obese youths' physical activity, social cognitions, body composition and strength. Forty-three obese youth (male = 13, BMI &gt; 95th percentile; 10-16 yrs) completed this 12-week intervention. Assessments were taken at baseline, week 6, 13 and 12 weeks post-intervention (week 24). Although no attention control group (i.e. exercise only) was included in this study, participants engaged in significantly more self-reported physical activity at weeks 13 and 24 as compared to baseline. Social cognitions, body composition and strength were also positively impacted suggesting this intervention technique may be feasible for treating obese adolescents. 
21975661	Type D personality is associated with maladaptive health-related behaviours. 	Type D personality (the combination of negative affect and social inhibition) is associated with poor prognosis in cardiac patients. The current study aims to investigate the relationship between Type D and health-related behaviours. In a cross-sectional study, 200 healthy participants completed measures of Type D personality, and health-related behaviours. The results showed that Type D individuals engaged in more unhealthy behaviours including smoking, poor diet and lack of physical activity than non-Type D individuals. The association between Type D personality and maladaptive health behaviours may represent one mechanism to explain the link between Type D and ill-health. 
21614842	[Long-term evaluation of a psychological training for obese children and their parents (TAKE)]. 	Cognitive-behavioral parent-child-programmes have shown the best effects in treating childhood obesity so far. With TAKE (Training adipöser Kinder und ihrer Eltern) we introduce a psychologically-informed training, that includes physical activity, nutrition and eating behavior but also addresses psychological issues like self-confidence, body image, social and anti-bullying skills. Long-term data from up to 64 month-follow-up showed moderate effects on body-mass index standard deviation scores (BMI-SDS), and positive effects on children's psychological wellbeing. Maternal psychopathology predicted the course of BMI-SDS in children. Results underline the importance of psychological treatment for obese children to facilitate weight change and to reduce their psychological vulnerability which in turn may prevent the further development of behavior problems, eating disorders and affective disorders. 
20361195	[Physical activity during the transition period between occupation and retirement]. 	During the transition period between occupation and retirement, different mental challenges may arise as a consequence of the numerous changes and necessary reorientation to the following phase of life. Personal well-being is a precondition to cope with these challenges. Interviews with physically active people in the transition period between occupation and retirement, concerning the importance of physical activity in coping with mental challenges, were conducted. Physical activity is meant to affect well-being and the physical condition in a positive way. In addition, it should foster social contacts and make it easier to manage everyday life. Moreover, it is a measure of personal success during advanced age. Because of its influence on various physical, mental, and social aspects, physical activity can help a person to cope with mental challenges in the transition period between occupation and retirement. 
19798562	Efficacy of brief quantitative measures of play for screening for autism spectrum disorders. 	Quick and effective screening measures are needed for detecting Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Thirty typically developing children and 30 children with ASD aged 24-68 months were used. This study explored if the ASD group would exhibit less object exploration, diversity of play, and turn-taking than the typically developing group. Older children with ASD performed less turn-taking. On all other measures, IQ accounted for more of the difference between groups than diagnosis. Implications of these results for future research are discussed. 
20071612	Different mechanisms of adjustment to a change of the photoperiod in the suprachiasmatic and liver circadian clocks. 	Changes in photoperiod modulate the circadian system, affecting the function of the central clock located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the dynamics of adjustment to a change of a long photoperiod with 18 h of light to a short photoperiod with 6 h of light of clock gene expression rhythms in the mouse SCN and in the peripheral clock in the liver, as well as of the locomotor activity rhythm. Three, five, and thirteen days after the photoperiod change, daily profiles of Per1, Per2, and Rev-erbalpha expression in the rostral, middle, and caudal parts of the SCN and of Per2 and Rev-erbalpha in the liver were determined by in situ hybridization and real-time RT-PCR, respectively. The clock gene expression rhythms in the different SCN regions, desynchronized under the long photoperiod, attained synchrony gradually following the transition from long to short days, mostly via advancing the expression decline. The photoperiodic modulation of the SCN was due not only to the degree of synchrony among the SCN regions but also to different waveforms of the rhythms in the individual SCN parts. The locomotor activity rhythm adjusted gradually to short days by advancing the activity onset, and the liver rhythms adjusted by advancing the Rev-erbalpha expression rise and Per2 decline. These data indicate different mechanisms of adjustment to a change of the photoperiod in the central SCN clock and the peripheral liver clock. 
24481048	Late-life effects of chronic methamphetamine exposure during puberty on behaviour and corticostriatal mono-amines in social isolation-reared rats. 	Chronic methamphetamine (MA) abuse results in an acute psychosis indistinguishable from paranoid schizophrenia. However, less is known of the interaction between MA use and environmental insults, and how this contributes to late-onset psychopathology. Using social isolation rearing (SIR), a neurodevelopmental animal model of schizophrenia, we investigated the association between changes in corticostriatal mono-amines and putative behaviours related to MA-induced psychosis in isolation and group-housed rats following chronic MA or saline exposure. Weaned male offspring of MA-naive female Wistar rats, either group- or isolation-housed from postnatal day (PND) +21, received saline (2 ml/kg s.c. b.i.d.) or an escalating dose of MA (0.2-6 mg/kg s.c. b.i.d.) for 16 days from PND +35 to +50. On PND +78, offspring were tested for deficits in social interactive behaviour (SIB) and prepulse inhibition (PPI) of startle, with frontal cortex and striatum harvested for the assessment of mono-amine concentrations. SIR significantly reduced rearing time, staying together, approaching and anogenital sniffing (outward-directed SIB), but increased self-grooming and locomotor activity (self-directed SIB), and also induced profound deficits in PPI. Pubertal MA exposure in group-housed animals also induced similar alterations in outward- and self-directed SIB and reduced PPI. Combined MA+SIR exposure evoked a similarly intense behavioural response as SIR or MA separately, with no exacerbation evident. Neither treatment separately nor together affected corticostriatal serotonin or noradrenaline levels, although frontal cortical dopamine (DA) levels were significantly increased in SIR and MA+group-housed animals. A trend towards further elevated frontal cortical DA was noted in the MA+SIR treatment group. Striatal DA was unaltered by all treatments. This study provides the first evidence that chronic pubertal MA exposure evokes postpubertal psychosis-like behaviours in rats of similar intensity to that induced by a neurodevelopmental animal model of schizophrenia (SIR). Moreover, the study is unique in that these behavioural changes occur together with associated changes in frontal cortical but not striatal DA, without affecting other mono-amines, and strongly implicates frontal cortical DA changes in the psychotogenic effects of early-life MA exposure or environmental insult. Although MA exposure in animals with a history of environmental insult (i.e. MA+SIR) has similar effects, combined exposure was not additive with regard to behavioural or neurochemical changes. We conclude that a ceiling effect or compensatory mechanisms prevent more pronounced neurobehavioural deficits occurring following MA+SIR treatment, at least under the current study conditions. 
24220794	Movement initiation in groups of feral horses. 	Herds of ungulates, flocks of birds, swarms of insects and schools of fish move in coordinated groups. Computer models show that only one or very few animals are needed to initiate and direct movement. To investigate initiation mechanisms further, we studied two ways in which movement can be initiated in feral horses: herding, and departure from the group. We examined traits affecting the likelihood of a horse initiating movement i.e. social rank, affiliative relationships, spatial position, and social network. We also investigated whether group members join a movement in dominance rank order. Our results show that whereas herding is exclusive to alpha males, any group member may initiate movement by departure. Social bonds, the number of animals interacted with, and the spatial position were not significantly associated with movement initiation. We did not find movement initiation by departure to be exclusive to any type of individual. Instead we find evidence for a limited form of distributed leadership, with higher ranking animals being followed more often. 
24220795	The energy-maintenance strategy of goitered gazelles Gazella subgutturosa during rut. 	In many polygynous ruminant species, males decrease their food intake considerably during the rut. To explain this phenomenon of rut-reduced hypophagia, two main hypotheses, the Foraging-Constraint Hypothesis and Energy-Saving Hypothesis, have been proposed. In our research, we assessed the behavioral strategy of goitered gazelles (Gazella subgutturosa) through the rutting period. According to our findings, male goitered gazelles spent less time feeding during the rut compared to pre- and post-rut feeding times, but then maximized their energy intake during the rutting season when they were not engaged in rut-related behaviors. Females, in contrast, did not change their time budgets across the different stages of the rut. Therefore, rut-induced hypophagia is mainly arising from the constraints of rut-related behaviors for male goitered gazelles, so that the Foraging-Constraint Hypothesis better explains their strategy during rut. 
24565933	Early life stress disrupts social behavior and prefrontal cortex parvalbumin interneurons at an earlier time-point in females than in males. 	Early life stress exposure (ELS) yields risk for psychiatric disorders that might occur though a population-specific mechanism that impacts prefrontal cortical development. Sex differences in ELS effects are largely unknown and are also essential to understand social and cognitive development. ELS can cause dysfunction within parvalbumin (PVB)-containing inhibitory interneurons in the prefrontal cortex and in several prefrontal cortex-mediated behaviors including social interaction. Social behavior deficits are often the earliest observed changes in psychiatric disorders, therefore the time-course and causation of social interaction deficits after ELS are important to determine. PVB interneuron dysfunction can disrupt social behavior, and has been correlated in males with elevated markers of oxidative stress and inflammation, such as cyclooxygenase-2 after ELS. Here, we measured the effects of maternal separation ELS on social interaction behaviors in males and females. Prefrontal cortex PVB and cyclooxygenase-2 were also measured in juveniles and adolescents using Western blots. ELS led to social interaction alterations earlier in females than males. Sexually dimorphic behavioral changes were consistent with prefrontal cortex PVB loss after ELS. PVB levels were decreased in ELS-exposed juvenile females, while males exposed to ELS do not display parvalbumin decreases until adolescence. Early behavioral and PVB changes in females did not appear to be mediated through cyclooxygenase-2, since levels were not affected in ELS females. Therefore, these data suggest that ELS affects males and females differently and with distinct developmental profiles. 
24607930	Dilation of the inferior colliculus and hypersensitivity to sound in Wnt1-cre and Wnt1-GAL4 double-transgenic mice. 	The processing of sound information is mediated by the cochlea and the central auditory system. Among the central auditory system, the inferior colliculus (IC) has leading roles in the acoustic processing. In a previous study, we demonstrated psychiatric disorder-related behavioral abnormalities in a genetically modified animal of Wnt1-cre and Wnt1-GAL4 double-transgenic (dTg) mouse. Here we report an abnormal morphology of the IC and dysacusis in the dTg mice. The IC in the brain of the dTg mice is dilated in appearance and histologic analysis revealed a high cell-density in the IC. Also, the dTg mice showed high scores in a startle response test using a click box that emits a 20-kHz sound. Auditory brainstem response (ABR) test revealed lower ABR thresholds of the dTg mice at a test-stimulus frequency of 32kHz, but not at 4-16kHz. These findings suggest that the dTg mice could be a useful animal model for studying the physiologic function of the IC and the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorder-related dysacusis. 
24036357	Action, agency and responsibility. 	In a series of experiments Marc Jeannerod revealed that we have very little awareness of the details and causes of our actions. We are, however, vividly aware of being in control of our actions and this gives us a sense of responsibility. These feelings arise, first, from intentional binding which creates a perception of agency, linking an intentional action to its outcome and, second, from the counterfactual reasoning that we could have chosen some other action. These feelings of responsibility play a critical role in creating social cohesion since they allow people to be held to account for deliberate antisocial behaviour. Jeannerod's studies also showed that we are unaware of how little we know about our actions and so are happy to make up stories about the nature and causes of our behaviour. These stories often do not correspond with the underlying cognitive and neural processes, but they can be changed through instructions and through discussion with others. Our experience of responsibility for action emerges during our upbringing through exposure to our culture. This creates consensus about the causes of behaviour, but not necessarily accuracy. 
24333695	Motor cognition-motor semantics: action perception theory of cognition and communication. 	A new perspective on cognition views cortical cell assemblies linking together knowledge about actions and perceptions not only as the vehicles of integrated action and perception processing but, furthermore, as a brain basis for a wide range of higher cortical functions, including attention, meaning and concepts, sequences, goals and intentions, and even communicative social interaction. This article explains mechanisms relevant to mechanistic action perception theory, points to concrete neuronal circuits in brains along with artificial neuronal network simulations, and summarizes recent brain imaging and other experimental data documenting the role of action perception circuits in cognition, language and communication. 
24481048	Late-life effects of chronic methamphetamine exposure during puberty on behaviour and corticostriatal mono-amines in social isolation-reared rats. 	Chronic methamphetamine (MA) abuse results in an acute psychosis indistinguishable from paranoid schizophrenia. However, less is known of the interaction between MA use and environmental insults, and how this contributes to late-onset psychopathology. Using social isolation rearing (SIR), a neurodevelopmental animal model of schizophrenia, we investigated the association between changes in corticostriatal mono-amines and putative behaviours related to MA-induced psychosis in isolation and group-housed rats following chronic MA or saline exposure. Weaned male offspring of MA-naive female Wistar rats, either group- or isolation-housed from postnatal day (PND) +21, received saline (2 ml/kg s.c. b.i.d.) or an escalating dose of MA (0.2-6 mg/kg s.c. b.i.d.) for 16 days from PND +35 to +50. On PND +78, offspring were tested for deficits in social interactive behaviour (SIB) and prepulse inhibition (PPI) of startle, with frontal cortex and striatum harvested for the assessment of mono-amine concentrations. SIR significantly reduced rearing time, staying together, approaching and anogenital sniffing (outward-directed SIB), but increased self-grooming and locomotor activity (self-directed SIB), and also induced profound deficits in PPI. Pubertal MA exposure in group-housed animals also induced similar alterations in outward- and self-directed SIB and reduced PPI. Combined MA+SIR exposure evoked a similarly intense behavioural response as SIR or MA separately, with no exacerbation evident. Neither treatment separately nor together affected corticostriatal serotonin or noradrenaline levels, although frontal cortical dopamine (DA) levels were significantly increased in SIR and MA+group-housed animals. A trend towards further elevated frontal cortical DA was noted in the MA+SIR treatment group. Striatal DA was unaltered by all treatments. This study provides the first evidence that chronic pubertal MA exposure evokes postpubertal psychosis-like behaviours in rats of similar intensity to that induced by a neurodevelopmental animal model of schizophrenia (SIR). Moreover, the study is unique in that these behavioural changes occur together with associated changes in frontal cortical but not striatal DA, without affecting other mono-amines, and strongly implicates frontal cortical DA changes in the psychotogenic effects of early-life MA exposure or environmental insult. Although MA exposure in animals with a history of environmental insult (i.e. MA+SIR) has similar effects, combined exposure was not additive with regard to behavioural or neurochemical changes. We conclude that a ceiling effect or compensatory mechanisms prevent more pronounced neurobehavioural deficits occurring following MA+SIR treatment, at least under the current study conditions. 
24534713	Hyperlocomotor activity and stress vulnerability during adulthood induced by social isolation after early weaning are prevented by voluntary running exercise before normal weaning period. 	In rodents, the disruption of social-rearing conditions before normal weaning induces emotional behavioral abnormalities, such as anxiety, motor activity dysregulation, and stress vulnerability. The beneficial effects of exercise after normal weaning on emotional regulation have been well documented. However, effects of exercise before normal weaning on emotion have not been reported. We examined whether voluntary wheel running (R) during social isolation after early weaning (early weaning/isolation; EI) from postnatal day (PD) 14-30 could prevent EI-induced emotional behavioral abnormalities in Sprague-Dawley rats. Compared with control rats reared with their dam and siblings until PD30, rats performed R during EI (EI+R) and EI rats demonstrated greater locomotion and lower grooming activity in the open-field test (OFT) during the juvenile period. Juvenile EI ± R rats showed greater learned helplessness (LH) after exposure to inescapable stress (IS; electric foot shock) than IS-exposed control and EI rats. In contrast, EI rats showed increased locomotion in the OFT and LH after exposure to IS compared with control rats during adulthood; this was not observed in EI ± R rats. Both EI and EI ± R rats exhibited greater rearing activity in the OFT than controls during adulthood. EI did not increase anxiety in the OFT and elevated plus-maze. These results suggested that R during EI until normal weaning prevented some of the EI-induced behavioral abnormalities, including hyperlocomotor activity and greater LH, during adulthood but not in the juvenile period. 
23861074	Hippocampal expression of aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator 2 and neuronal PAS domain protein 4 in a rat model of depression. 	The transcription factors aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator 2 (ARNT2) and neuronal PAS domain protein 4 (NPAS4) may influence emotion and cognitive function by regulating brain-derived neurotrophic factor expression in the hippocampus. We estimated hippocampal ARNT2 and NPAS4 expression in chronic unexpected mild stress (CUMS) rat model. The possible association was investigated between expression of these transcription factors and depressive behaviors. Behavioral tests were conducted before, during, and after 28 days of group housing or isolation plus CUMS. The sucrose solution consumption test was used to assess changes in interest and pleasure-seeking, and the open field test (OFT) was conducted to measure spontaneous activity and exploratory behavior. Expression levels of ARNT2 and NPAS4 were estimated by semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Compared to controls, rats subjected to isolation plus CUMS exhibited significantly reduced weight gain (t = 9.317, P = 0.000), sucrose consumption (t = 3.756, P = 0.003), horizontal ambulation (t = 2.362, P = 0.041), and number of rearings (vertical motion) (t = 2.268, P = 0.040). Relative hippocampal NPAS4 expression was significantly lower in depression model rats compared to controls (t = 2.995, P = 0.010) but there was no significant difference in hippocampal ARNT2 expression between groups (t = 0.091, P = 0.929). The relationship between the CUMS model of depression and NPAS4 expression requires further exploration. 
24532179	Behavioral responses to social separation stressor change across development and are dynamically related to HPA activity in marmosets. 	Psychosocial stressors activate two distinct stress-response systems, a central, behavioral response, and a peripheral, endocrine response. Both behavioral and endocrine responses to stressors are subject to individual and developmental variables, but it is not known whether stressor induced behaviors are stable across development, and how they correspond with changes in the endocrine component of the stress response. We characterized the development and stability of behavioral responses to a mild psychosocial stressor in marmosets (Callithrix geoffroyi), and assessed the degree to which the behavioral and endocrine stress-response systems were co-activated. The behavioral response to stressors was stable within individuals, but only some stressor-induced behaviors changed as the monkeys developed. Overall, there was more variability in the development of behavioral responses compared to stress-induced endocrine profiles found previously [French et al., 2012. Horm Behav 61:196-203]. In young marmosets, only increased alarm calling was correlated with increased cortisol reactivity, and in older marmosets increased cage manipulations and motor activity were associated with poorer post-stressor cortisol regulation. Because these relationships were so few, we conclude that while the behavioral and endocrine systems follow a similar developmental trajectory, each system maintains a level of independence. Furthermore, the relationship between stressor-induced behaviors and HPA activity changes across development. 
24157538	Neural correlates of non-verbal social interactions: a dual-EEG study. 	Successful non-verbal social interaction between human beings requires dynamic and efficient encoding of others' gestures. Our study aimed at identifying neural markers of social interaction and goal variations in a non-verbal task. For this, we recorded simultaneously the electroencephalogram from two participants (dual-EEG), an actor and an observer, and their arm/hand kinematics in a real face-to-face paradigm. The observer watched &quot;biological actions&quot; performed by the human actor and &quot;non-biological actions&quot; performed by a robot. All actions occurred within an interactive or non-interactive context depending on whether the observer had to perform a complementary action or not (e.g., the actor presents a saucer and the observer either places the corresponding cup or does nothing). We analysed the EEG signals of both participants (i.e., beta (~20 Hz) oscillations as an index of cortical motor activity and motor related potentials (MRPs)). We identified markers of social interactions by synchronising EEG to the onset of the actor's movement. Movement kinematics did not differ in the two context conditions and the MRPs of the actor were similar in the two conditions. For the observer, however, an observation-related MRP was measured in all conditions but was more negative in the interactive context over fronto-central electrodes. Moreover, this feature was specific to biological actions. Concurrently, the suppression of beta oscillations was observed in the actor's EEG and the observer's EEG rapidly after the onset of the actor's movement. Critically, this suppression was stronger in the interactive than in the non-interactive context despite the fact that movement kinematics did not differ in the two context conditions. For the observer, this modulation was observed independently of whether the actor was a human or a robot. Our results suggest that acting in a social context induced analogous modulations of motor and sensorimotor regions in observer and actor. Sharing a common goal during an interaction seems thus to evoke a common representation of the global action that includes both actor and observer movements. 
24231129	Planned and reactive agility performance in semiprofessional and amateur basketball players. 	Research indicates that planned and reactive agility are different athletic skills. These skills have not been adequately assessed in male basketball players. To define whether 10-m-sprint performance and planned and reactive agility measured by the Y-shaped agility test can discriminate between semiprofessional and amateur basketball players. Ten semiprofessional and 10 amateur basketball players completed 10-m sprints and planned- and reactive-agility tests. The Y-shaped agility test involved subjects sprinting 5 m through a trigger timing gate, followed by a 45° cut and 5-m sprint to the left or right through a target gate. In the planned condition, subjects knew the cut direction. For reactive trials, subjects visually scanned to find the illuminated gate. A 1-way analysis of variance (P &lt; .05) determined between-groups differences. Data were pooled (N = 20) for a correlation analysis (P &lt; .05). The reactive tests differentiated between the groups; semiprofessional players were 6% faster for the reactive left (P = .036) and right (P = .029) cuts. The strongest correlations were between the 10-m sprints and planned-agility tests (r = .590-.860). The reactive left cut did not correlate with the planned tests. The reactive right cut moderately correlated with the 10-m sprint and planned right cut (r = .487-.485). The results reemphasized that planned and reactive agility are separate physical qualities. Reactive agility discriminated between the semiprofessional and amateur basketball players; planned agility did not. To distinguish between male basketball players of different ability levels, agility tests should include a perceptual and decision-making component. 
24414034	Influence of physical contact on pacing strategies during game-based activities. 	Repeated sprinting incorporating tackles leads to greater reductions in sprint performance than repeated sprinting alone. However, the influence of physical contact on the running demands of game-based activities is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine whether the addition of physical contact altered pacing strategies during game-based activities. Twenty-three elite youth rugby league players were divided into 2 groups. Group 1 played the contact game on day 1 while group 2 played the noncontact game; 72 h later they played the alternate game. Each game consisted of offside touch on a 30 × 70-m field, played over two 8-min halves. Rules were identical between games except the contact game included a 10-s wrestle bout every 50 s. Microtechnology devices were used to analyze player movements. There were greater average reductions during the contact game for distance (25%, 38 m/min, vs 10%, 20 m/min; effect size [ES] = 1.78 ± 1.02) and low-speed distance (21%, 24 m/min, vs 0%, 2 m/s; ES = 1.38 ± 1.02) compared with the noncontact game. There were similar reductions in high-speed running (41%, 18 m/min, vs 45%, 15 m/min; ES = 0.15 ± 0.95). The addition of contact to game-based activities causes players to reduce low-speed activity in an attempt to maintain high-intensity activities. Despite this, players were unable to maintain high-speed running while performing contact efforts. Improving a player's ability to perform contact efforts while maintaining running performance should be a focus in rugby league training. 
24434079	Influence of pacing manipulation on performance of juniors in simulated 400-m swim competition. 	To date, there has been limited research examining the influence of pacing pattern (PP) on middle-distance swimming performance. As such, the purpose of the current study was to examine the influence of PP manipulation on 400-m freestyle swimming performance. 15 front-crawl swimmers (5 female, 10 male; age 18 ± 2 y) performed 3 simulated 400-m swimming events. The initial trial was self-selected pacing (PPSS). The following 2 trials were performed in a counterbalanced order and required participants to complete the first 100 m more slowly (PPSLOW: 4.5% ± 2.2%) or quickly (PPFAST: 2.4% ± 1.6%) than the PPSS trial. 50-m split times were recorded during each trial. Overall performance time was faster in PPSS (275.0 ± 15.9 s) than in PPFAST (278.5 ± 16.4 s, P = .05) but not significantly different from PPSLOW (277.5 ± 16.2 s, P = .22). However, analysis for practical relevance revealed that pacing manipulation resulted in a &quot;likely&quot; (&gt;88.2%) decrease in performance compared with PPSS. Moderate manipulation of the starting speed during simulated 400-m freestyle races seems to affect overall performance. The observed results indicate that PPSS is optimal in most individuals, yet it seems to fail in some swimmers. Future research should focus on the identification of athletes possibly profiting from manipulations. 
24436350	Hormonal and neuromuscular responses to high-level middle- and long-distance competition. 	The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of high-level competition on salivary free cortisol, countermovement jump (CMJ), and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and the relationships between these fatigue indicators in a group of elite middle- and long-distance runners. The salivary free cortisol levels and CMJ height of 10 high-level middle- and long-distance runners (7 men, 3 women; age 27.6 ± 5.1y) competing in 800-m, 1500-m, 3000-m, or 5000-m events in the 2013 Spanish National Championships were measured throughout a 4-wk baseline period, then again before and after their respective races on the day of the competition. Athletes' RPE was also measured after their races. Cortisol increased significantly after the race compared with the value measured 90 min before the race (+98.3%, g = 0.82, P &lt; .05), while CMJ height decreased significantly after the race (-3.9%, g = 0.34, P &lt; .05). The decrease in CMJ height after the race correlates significantly with the postcompetition cortisol increase (r = .782, P &lt; .05) and the RPE assessment (r = .762, P &lt; .01). Observed differences in CMJ height correlate significantly with salivary free cortisol levels and RPE of middle- and long-distance runners. These results show the suitability of the CMJ for monitoring multifactorial competition responses in high-level middle- and long-distance runners. 
24509704	A descriptive analysis of internal and external loads for elite-level tennis drills. 	Planning tennis sessions accentuating physical development requires an understanding of training load (TL). The aims were to describe the external and internal TL of drills and analyze relationships between ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), TL, and other measures. Fourteen elite-level junior tennis athletes completed 259 individual drills. Six coaches helped devise classifications for all drills: recovery/defensive, open pattern, accuracy, 2-on-1 open, 2-on-1 net play, closed technical, point play, and match play. Notational analysis on stroke and error rates was performed postsession. Drill RPE and mental exertion were collected postdrill, while heart rate (HR) was recorded continuously. Recovery/defensive, open pattern, and point play were significantly greater than closed technical drills (P &lt; .05) for RPE and mental exertion, as were accuracy drills and match play (P &lt; .05). Recovery/defensive, open-pattern, accuracy, and 2-on-1 open drills had higher stroke rates than match play (P &lt; .05). Error rates of closed technical drills were significantly higher than for open pattern, 2-on-1 drills, point play, and match play (P &lt; .05). No HR differences were observed (P &gt; .05) between categories. Substantial correlations existed for drill RPE and TL with mental exertion (r &gt; .62) for several categories. TL was substantially correlated with total strokes (r &gt; .65), while HR and stroke and error rates were in slight to moderate agreement with RPE and TL (r &lt; .51). Recovery/defensive drills are highest in physiological stress, making them ideal for maximizing physicality. Recovery/defensive drills compromised training quality, eliciting high error rates. In contrast, 2-on-1 net-play drills provided the lowest error rates, potentially appropriate for error-amelioration practice. Open-pattern drills were characterized by significantly higher stroke rates, suggesting congruence with high-repetition practice. Finally, with strong relationships between physical and mental perception, mental exertion may complement currently used monitoring strategies (TL and RPE). 
24335107	Performance of repetitive alternating elbow movements in Parkinson's disease. 	Bradydiadochokinesia is one main clinical symptom in idiopathic Parkinson's disease (IPD). The pathogenesis of bradydiadochokinesia is not completely clear. Fifteen patients with IPD and 15 age-matched healthy volunteers had to perform rhythmic alternating flexion and extension movements in the elbow joint. The rhythm was provided auditorily by a click tone stimulator. Six maneuvers (spatial extents of 48 and 83° at frequencies of 0.45, 0.75 and 1.25 Hz) had to be absolved. The potentiometer converted the horizontal forearm movements into a variable voltage. The duration of single movements varied more significantly in patients than in controls (p &lt; 0.05; Mann-Whitney U test). Patients executed all conditions more slowly than controls, but this difference was only significant at the most difficult condition (83° at 1.25 Hz; p &lt; 0.01). The movement amplitudes or their variability were not significantly different at any condition. No parameter correlated significantly with the motor part of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) or with the duration of disease. An insufficient temporal coordination contributes to bradydiadochokinesia in IPD. This deficit occurs independently of other parkinsonian cardinal motor symptoms. 
24144250	Dopamine function and the efficiency of human movement. 	To sustain successful behavior in dynamic environments, active organisms must be able to learn from the consequences of their actions and predict action outcomes. One of the most important discoveries in systems neuroscience over the last 15 years has been about the key role of the neurotransmitter dopamine in mediating such active behavior. Dopamine cell firing was found to encode differences between the expected and obtained outcomes of actions. Although activity of dopamine cells does not specify movements themselves, a recent study in humans has suggested that tonic levels of dopamine in the dorsal striatum may in part enable normal movement by encoding sensitivity to the energy cost of a movement, providing an implicit &quot;motor motivational&quot; signal for movement. We investigated the motivational hypothesis of dopamine by studying motor performance of patients with Parkinson disease who have marked dopamine depletion in the dorsal striatum and compared their performance with that of elderly healthy adults. All participants performed rapid sequential movements to visual targets associated with different risk and different energy costs, countered or assisted by gravity. In conditions of low energy cost, patients performed surprisingly well, similar to prescriptions of an ideal planner and healthy participants. As energy costs increased, however, performance of patients with Parkinson disease dropped markedly below the prescriptions for action by an ideal planner and below performance of healthy elderly participants. The results indicate that the ability for efficient planning depends on the energy cost of action and that the effect of energy cost on action is mediated by dopamine. 
24144635	Towards the measurement of event-related EEG activity in real-life working environments. 	In applied contexts, psychophysiological measures have a long tradition to evaluate the user state. EEG correlates that indicate mechanisms of information processing, however, are hardly accessible since discrete time stamps that are necessary for this approach are commonly not available in natural situations. However, eye blinks may close this gap. Eye blinks are assumed to mark distinct points in information processing, necessary to segment the incoming data stream. By using mobile EEG in a simulated working situation we demonstrate that eye-blink-related potentials provide reliable information about cognitive processing in distinct working environments. During cognitive tasks, an increase in the fronto-central N2 component as well as evoked theta activity can be shown, both indices of enhanced cognitive control. The posterior P3 is reduced during physical tasks (sorting of boxes), probably reflecting the more continuous nature of this task. The data are discussed within a model of dopaminergic modulation of blink activity that involves both task specific aspects like executive control and modulating influences of motivation or fatigue. 
24084261	Physical inactivity at leisure and work: a 12-month study of cardiac patients. 	Physical inactivity has been identified as a distinct health risk. However, little is known about how this can vary at leisure and work in cardiac patients. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence and predictors of inactivity during leisure and work in the 12 months following a cardiac event in Australian cardiac patients. A total of 346 patients consecutively admitted to hospital with acute coronary syndrome or to undergo coronary artery bypass graft surgery were interviewed in hospital, and 4 and 12 months later. Leisure and occupational physical activity was measured using the Stanford Brief Activity Survey. Sociodemographic, psychosocial, and clinical data were also collected. The prevalence of leisure-time physical inactivity declined over time, with 52% inactive preevent and 29% inactive at 12 months. Approximately 50% of participants were physically inactive in their work, regardless of whether this was measured before or after the cardiac event. Logistic regression revealed that the significant predictors of leisure-time physical inactivity at 12 months were non-home ownership (OR = 2.19; P = .007) and physical inactivity in leisure-time prior to the event (OR = 2.44; P = .001). The significant predictors of occupational physical inactivity at 12 months were white-collar occupation (OR = 3.10; P &lt; .001) and physical inactivity at work prior to the event (OR = 12.99; P &lt; .001). Preevent physical inactivity, socioeconomic, and clinical factors predicted both leisure and work inactivity after an acute cardiac event. Effective interventions could be designed and implemented to target those most at risk of being physically inactive at work or leisure. 
23441752	Age and gender differences in correlations of leisure-time, household, and work-related physical activity with physical performance in older Japanese adults. 	This study aimed to compare relationships of leisure-time, household, and work-related physical activity (PA) with physical performance by age and gender in older Japanese adults. This cross-sectional study included 525 community-dwelling older adults (73.3 ± 5.2 years) recruited in 2009-2011 in Kasama City, rural Japan. We used the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly to assess PA variables. Physical performance was evaluated by 11 performance tests: grip strength, single-leg balance, functional reach, sit-and-reach, standing time from long sitting position, sit-to-stand, timed up and go, habitual walk, hand working, and simple and choice reaction times. After adjusting for potential confounders, leisure-time PA in young-old (≤ 74 years) men correlated significantly with eight performance tests (absolute value of Spearman's partial rank correlation coefficient: r = 0.18-0.39), whereas in old-old (≥ 75 years) men it correlated with three performance tests (r = 0.20-0.23). Although leisure-time PA correlated with six performance tests (r = 0.19-0.22) in young-old women, there were no significant correlations between leisure-time PA and performance tests in old-old women. Household PA of young-old men (r = 0.20-0.23) and old-old women (r = 0.26-0.34) correlated with four performance tests. In old-old men and young-old women, no significant correlation was found between household PA and performance tests. Work-related PA did not relate significantly to any performance tests in any groups. This study showed that leisure-time PA is related to physical performance, especially in young-old men and women, and household PA is especially related in young-old men and old-old women. Our findings suggest that supporting strategies for maintaining physical functions would differ by gender and age. 
23329017	&quot;Positive deviants&quot;: a qualitative study of physically active adults in rural environments. 	Rural residents, particularly those in the South, are less physically active than their urban counterparts and often live in areas with limited walkability (e.g., no sidewalks) and minimal access to recreational facilities. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of what makes certain rural residents physically active despite their environment. Qualitative interviews (N = 29) were conducted with physically active adults who live in rural areas (e.g., outside of town) in southwest Georgia. Participants were 65.5% male and 24.1% African American, with a mean age of 55.9 years. Results suggest that physically active adults in rural areas are motivated by their health and perceive their local surroundings as a resource for physical activity. Understanding how these physically active adults take advantage of their living situations to be physically active has the potential to inform interventions that encourage physical activity in this high-risk population. 
23058656	Reduced physical activity associated with work and transport in adults with cystic fibrosis. 	Habitual physical activity (HPA) is believed to contribute to overall fitness in CF, however little is known about HPA patterns in adults. Adults with CF were recruited from a tertiary hospital outpatient clinic and were compared with controls without CF. HPA was measured as MET·minutes·week(-1) using the long-form International Physical Activity Questionnaire. The relationship between HPA and lung function was explored. CF-group, n=101 [45% females, mean(sd) age=29(9), FEV1 % pred=60(23)] and controls, n=35 [69% females, age 32(10), FEV1 % pred=101(130)]. Both groups reported similar levels of moderate and vigorous activities but the CF-group accumulated significantly less total HPA than controls, mean(sd)=5309(6277) vs. 7808(5493), due to less HPA associated with work, 1887(4285) vs. 3707(5292) and transport 613(1018) vs. 1315(1123). Females with CF showed low to moderate correlations of HPA with lung function (R from 0.30 to 0.42, p&lt;0.05). Adults with CF accumulate less HPA than non-CF peers. Work and transportation form important targets through which physical activity may be accumulated to supplement prescribed exercise. In females with CF, declining physical activity seen in older adolescents carries into adulthood, which may have implications for wellbeing and outcome. 
24380793	Revisiting lifestyle risk index assessment in a large Australian sample: should sedentary behavior and sleep be included as additional risk factors? 	Most studies on multiple health behaviors include physical inactivity, alcohol, diet, and smoking (PADS), with few including emerging lifestyle risks such as sleep or sitting. We examined whether adding sitting and sleep to a conventional lifestyle risk index improves the prediction of cross-sectional health outcomes (self-rated health, quality of life, psychological distress, and physical function). We also explored the demographic characteristics of adults with these multiple risk behaviors. We used baseline data of an Australian cohort study (n=191,853) conducted in 2006-2008 in New South Wales. Lifestyle risk index was operationalized as 1) PADS, 2) PADS+sitting, 3) PADS+sleep, and 4) PADS+sitting+sleep. We estimated receiver operating characteristic curve for self-reported binary health outcomes and calculated the area under the curve to illustrate how well each index classified the outcome. We used multiple logistic regression to determine the demographic characteristics of adults with multiple lifestyle risks. Adding sleep duration but not sitting time to the PADS index significantly improved the classification of all health outcomes. Men, those aged 45-54years, those with 10 years of education or less, and those living in regional/remote areas had higher odds of multiple risk behaviors. Future research on multiple health behaviors might benefit from including sleep as an additional behavior. In Australia, unhealthy lifestyles tend to cluster in adults with certain demographic characteristics. 
24398175	Volume and intensity of physical activity in a large population-based cohort of middle-aged and older Australians: prospective relationships with weight gain, and physical function. 	To examine prospectively whether higher proportions of vigorous physical activity (VPA), independent of total activity volume, are associated with better outcomes in weight maintenance and physical function. We used three-year longitudinal data (2006/07-2009/10) of adults 45 and older (n=32,087; 59.5±9.3years) from New South Wales, Australia. Logistic regression models examined odds of weight gain and functional decline by volume and intensity of physical activity. On average, body weight increased by 0.66kg (SD=5.83, p&lt;0.001); a validated physical function score (MOS-PF) decreased by 4.79 (SD=12.56, p&lt;0.001). There was a 10% reduction in the odds of weight gain for participants who reported 300min/week or more of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) compared to less than 150min of MVPA. The proportion of MVPA that was vigorous was not associated with weight change. With the physical functioning outcome, there were independent protective effects from volume and intensity of physical activity. Independent of total MVPA, each 1% increase in the proportion of total activity that was vigorous was associated with a 0.3% decrease in the odds of decline in physical function. These prospective findings indicate that VPA per se plays an important role in the prevention of functional decline. 
24485546	&quot;Go4Life&quot; exercise counseling, accelerometer feedback, and activity levels in older people. 	Older people are more sedentary than other age groups. We sought to determine if providing an accelerometer with feedback about activity and counseling older subjects using Go4Life educational material would increase activity levels. Participants were recruited from independent living areas within assisted living facilities and the general public in the Rochester, MN area. 49 persons aged 65-95 (79.5±7.0 years) who were ambulatory but sedentary and overweight participated in this randomized controlled crossover trial for one year. After a baseline period of 2 weeks, group 1 received an accelerometer and counseling using Go4Life educational material (www.Go4Life.nia.nih.gov) for 24 weeks and accelerometer alone for the next 24 weeks. Group 2 had no intervention for the first 24 weeks and then received an accelerometer and Go4Life based counseling for 24 weeks. There were no significant baseline differences between the two groups. The intervention was not associated with a significant change in activity, body weight, % body fat, or blood parameters (p&gt;0.05). Older (80-93) subjects were less active than younger (65-79) subjects (p=0.003). Over the course of the 48 week study, an increase in activity level was associated with a decline in % body fat (p=0.008). Increasing activity levels benefits older patients. However, providing an accelerometer and a Go4Life based exercise counseling program did not result in a 15% improvement in activity levels in this elderly population. Alternate approaches to exercise counseling may be needed in elderly people of this age range. 
24964227	Physical activity intervention effects on perceived stress in working mothers: the role of self-efficacy. 	Working mothers often report elevated stress, and efforts to improve their coping resources are needed to buffer the detrimental effects of stress on health. This study examined the impact of changes in physical activity, self-efficacy, and self-regulation across the course of a brief intervention on subsequent levels of stress in working mothers. Participants (N = 141) were randomly assigned to an intervention or control condition (2:1 ratio). The intervention was conducted in Illinois between March 2011 and January 2012 and consisted of two group-mediated workshop sessions with content based on social cognitive theory. Participants completed measures of physical activity, self-efficacy, self-regulation, and perceived stress at baseline, immediately postintervention, and 6-month follow-up. Stress levels declined across the 6-month period in both groups. Changes in stress were negatively associated with changes in self-efficacy and self-regulation among intervention participants only. Regression analyses revealed the intervention elicited short-term increases in physical activity, self-efficacy, and self-regulation, but only changes in self-efficacy predicted perceived stress at 6-month follow-up. These results suggest that enhancing self-efficacy is likely to improve working mothers' perceived capabilities to cope with stressors in their lives. Future interventions should continue to focus on increasing self-efficacy to promote improvements in physical activity and psychological well-being in this population. 
24428147	Adapting the Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionnaire for Japanese pregnant women. 	To assess the psychometric properties of the Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionnaire (PPAQ) for women who read and speak Japanese. This longitudinal study used a self-report questionnaire and quantitative biometric and instrumental measurements (actigraph) to assess the reliability and criterion validity. A university hospital in Tokyo, Japan. Sixty-nine pregnant women living in Tokyo and its suburbs were recruited. The test-retest reliability of the Japanese version of the Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionnaire (PPAQ-J) was evaluated through intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) between PPAQ-J results administered three times (at recruitment, 7 and 14 days later). Criterion validity was assessed by comparing results to actigraph measures using Spearman's correlation coefficients. Participants wore the actigraph over the 2-week research period. Data from 58 participants were analyzed for test-retest reliability. The data of 54 participants were used to analyze criterion validity. The ICCs for the first and second and for the first and third PPAQ-J questionnaires were ≥0.56 for total activity and activities broken down by intensity and type (in metabolic equivalents [METs] × hours/day). To evaluate criterion validity, Spearman's correlation coefficients were calculated between the first measurement of the PPAQ-J and three published cut-points used to classify actigraph data (minutes/day); correlations ranged from .02 to .35 for total activity, -.21 to -.25 for vigorous activity, -.09 to .38 for moderate activity, and .01 to .28 for light activity. The PPAQ-J is a psychometrically sound and comprehensive measure of physical activity in pregnant Japanese women. 
25062860	Optimising mobility outcome measures in Huntington's disease. 	Many of the performance-based mobility measures that are currently used in Huntington's disease (HD) were developed for assessment in other neurological conditions such as stroke. We aimed to assess the individual item-response of commonly used performance-based mobility measures, with a view to optimizing the scales for specific application in Huntington's Disease (HD). Data from a larger multicentre, observational study were used. Seventy-five people with HD (11 pre-manifest &amp; 64 manifest) were assessed on the Six-Minute Walk Test, 10-Meter Walk Test, Timed &quot;Up &amp; Go&quot; Test (TUG), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Physical Performance Test (PPT), Four Square Step Test, and Tinetti Mobility Test (TMT). The Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) Total Motor Score, Functional Assessment Scale and Total Functional Capacity scores were recorded, alongside cognitive measures. Standard regression analysis was used to assess predictive validity. Individual item responses were investigated using a sequence of approaches to allow for gradual removal of items and the subsequent creation of shortened versions. Psychometric properties (reliability and discriminant ability) of the shortened scales were assessed. TUG (β 0.46, CI 0.20-3.47), BBS (β -0.35, CI -2.10-0.14), and TMT (β -0.45, CI -3.14-0.64) were good disease-specific mobility measures. PPT was the best measure of functional performance (β 0.42, CI 0.00-0.43 for TFC &amp; β 0.57 CI 0.15-0.81 for FAS). Shortened versions of BBS and TMT were developed based on item analysis. The resultant BBS and TMT shortened scales were reliable for use in manifest HD. ROC analysis showed that shortened scales were able to discriminate between manifest and pre-manifest disease states. Our data suggests that the PPT is appropriate as a general measure of function in individuals with HD, and we have identified shortened versions of the BBS and TMT that measure the unique gait and balance impairments in HD. These scales, alongside the TUG, may therefore be important measures to consider in future clinical trials. 
23943133	Ulysses: the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary cognitive behavioural pain management programme-an 8-year review. 	To characterise a cohort of patients with chronic pain registered to the Ulysses cognitive behavioural pain management programme (CBT-PMP) and to evaluate the effectiveness of the CBT-PMP 6 months post-discharge. A review of patients referred to the Ulysses CBT-PMP from 2002 to 2010 was undertaken. The profile of patients was established. Domains measured included pain, physical and psychological function. Relationships between these factors were explored. Clinically significant changes in outcome measures were established at the 6-month follow-up. In total 553 patients registered to the CBT-PMP, pre-post data were available for 91 % of patients and 52 % at 6 months. The majority of patients were female and aged between 40 and 50 years. Most patients had significant psychological morbidity (76 % depression, 84.5 % anxiety), moderate reports of pain [numerical rating scale, mean (SD) 6.0 (2.2)], and low levels of functional activity. At 6 months follow-up, statistically significant positive findings for physical and psychological outcome measures are supplemented by results showing their clinical significance. With regard to psychological function, a clinically significant change (depending on outcome measure) was shown between 1 in 2 and 1 in 10 patients. Improvements in physical function were lower with rates of 1 in 4 to 1 in 14 reporting significant gains. The effectiveness of the Ulysses CBT-PMP is established with measures of clinically significant change for physical and psychological outcomes contributing to the evidence for this novel approach of analysis. Future research determining benchmarks for CBT-PMP outcomes will assist clinicians in monitoring and enhancing patient's progress in clinical practice. 
24216060	Measurement properties of performance-based outcome measures to assess physical function in young and middle-aged people known to be at high risk of hip and/or knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review. 	To systematically appraise the evidence on measurement properties of performance-based outcome measures to assess physical function in young and middle-aged people known to be at high risk of hip and/or knee osteoarthritis (OA). Electronic searches were performed in MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus and SPORTDiscus in May 2013. Two reviewers independently rated the measurement properties using the 4-point COSMIN checklist. Best evidence synthesis was made using COSMIN quality, consistency and direction of findings and sample size. Twenty of 2736 papers were eligible for inclusion and 24 different performance-based outcome measures knee or obese populations were evaluated. No tests related to hip populations were included. Twenty-five measurement properties including reliability (nine studies), construct validity (hypothesis testing) (nine studies), measurement error (three studies), structural validity (two studies), interpretability (one study) and responsiveness (one study) were evaluated. A positive rating was given to 12.5% (30/240) of all possible measurement ratings. Tests were grouped into two categories based on the population characteristics. The one-legged hop for distance, followed by the 6-m timed hop and cross over hop for distance were the best-rated tests for the knee-injured population. Whereas the 6-min walk test was the only included test for the obese population. This review highlights the many gaps in knowledge about the measurement properties of performance-based outcome measures for young and middle-aged people known to be at high risk of hip and/or knee OA. There is a need for consensus on which outcome measures should be used and/or combined when assessing physical function in this population. Further good quality research is required. 
23295354	Efficacy of using physical activity mentors to increase the daily steps of older adults in the primary care setting: a pilot study. 	The purpose of this pilot study was to determine if using physical activity (PA) mentors has any additional impact on daily steps of older adults participating in the Maine in Motion (MIM) program in the primary care setting. Participants were randomly assigned to a MIM-only group (n = 14) or a MIM+ mentor group (n = 14). The MIM intervention lasted 6 months with follow-up at 12 months. Average age of participants was 64 ± 8.8 years and most participants had multiple chronic illnesses. At baseline, mean body mass index (BMI) was 32.2 ± 5.1 and average daily steps were 4,236 ± 2,266. Repeated-measures ANOVA revealed significant main effects for steps, F(2.324, 59.104) = 4.168, p = .015, but no main effects for group, F(1, 25) = 2.988, p = .096, or time-by-group interaction, F(2.324, 59.104) = 0.905, p = .151. All participants significantly increased daily steps over the course of the intervention, with MIM+ participants maintaining increases at follow-up. No significant findings were found for BMI. 
24415773	From clinical expert to guide: experiences from coaching people with rheumatoid arthritis to increased physical activity. 	Physical activity levels in people with rheumatoid arthritis are lower than what are recommended for a healthful lifestyle. To support physical activity, health care professionals may use behavioral change techniques based on a biopsychosocial perspective. Investigating the implementation process may be relevant for understanding how these techniques translate to practice. The study objective was to explore the experiences of physical therapists using behavioral change techniques to coach people with rheumatoid arthritis to health-enhancing physical activity in a 2-year trial, the Physical Activity in Rheumatoid Arthritis 2010 study. This was an exploratory study with qualitative content analysis. Semistructured interviews were conducted with all 12 physical therapists in the study. They were asked about their experiences with an educational program and with their delivery of a health-enhancing physical activity intervention. Codes, subcategories, categories, and an overarching theme were derived from the transcribed interviews by use of qualitative content analysis. The overarching theme (from clinical expert to guide) was based on 3 main categories: challenges in the coaching role, growing into the coaching role, and coach education and support. Early in the process, the physical therapists encountered challenges that needed to be addressed for a smoother transition into their coaching role. Assisted by education and support, they gradually adopted practices that facilitated their use of behavioral change techniques and promoted growth into the role of coach. Adapting to a new role is a challenging process for health care professionals; it requires relevant education and support. The experiences identified in the present study may inform future educational programs targeting the skills of health care professionals in promoting various health-related behaviors. 
23027144	Thinking ethically about professional practice in adapted physical activity. 	There has been little critical exploration of the ethical issues that arise in professional practice common to adapted physical activity. We cannot avoid moral issues as we inevitably will act in ways that will negatively affect the well-being of others. We will make choices, which in our efforts to support others, may hurt by violating dignity or infringing on rights. The aim of this paper is to open a dialogue on what constitutes ethical practice in adapted physical activity. Ethical theories including principlism, virtue ethics, ethics of care, and relational ethics provide a platform for addressing questions of right and good and wrong and bad in the field of adapted physical activity. Unpacking of stories of professional practice (including sacred, secret, and cover stories) against the lived experiences of persons experiencing disability will create a knowledge landscape in adapted physical activity that is sensitive to ethical reflection. 
22480377	&quot;Tell me what you want, what you really really want….&quot;: asking people with multiple sclerosis about enhancing their participation in physical activity. 	This paper provides a review of research that emphasizes the importance of listening to the people whom health professionals serve when promoting participation and engagement in rehabilitation. We report on the development of an approach aiming to optimize long-term adherence in physical activity for people with multiple sclerosis (MS). This approach was very different to those based on current evidence-based exercise recommendations, although the objectives for both approaches were similar. We argue that only by ensuring that people living with chronic disability not only have a voice but a voice that is listened to, can health professionals truly engage in evidenced-based practice that works in application and meets the needs, desires and capabilities of people with MS and other chronic health conditions. 
19595702	&quot;Live, Learn and Play&quot;: building strategic alliances between professional sports and public health. 	Public-private partnerships allow communities and corporate entities to pool resources to address a mission of relevance to their common constituency or consumer base. Collaborations between public health and professional sports may present unique opportunities to improve health outcomes related to physical activity since athletes are fitness icons, both for adults and children. There are many &quot;win-win&quot; opportunities, as sports venues regularly host huge numbers of spectators, offering food and entertainment, providing hours of exposure, and introducing new ideas for engaging fans in order to remain a competitive draw. In 2008, the San Diego Padres embarked on a communitywide fitness initiative, FriarFit, including incorporating 10-minute Instant Recess breaks during their Sunday homestand pre-game shows. Many lessons have been learned that may be useful to others mounting such initiatives, such as: there is more at stake in cost-benefit and risk-benefit assessment for sports executives, requiring greater caution and circumspection than is typical for public health projects; the core business of the corporate entity must be accommodated without undermining the health objectives; and health aims must be addressed in a way that is financially viable and delivers tangible value for profit-making concerns, in terms of marketing, revenues or brand enhancement. 
22498693	Isotocin regulates paternal care in a monogamous cichlid fish. 	While the survival value of paternal care is well understood, little is known about its physiological basis. Here we investigate the neuroendocrine contributions to paternal care in the monogamous cichlid, Amatitlania nigrofasciata. We first explored the dynamic range of paternal care in three experimental groups: biparental males (control fathers housed with their mate), single fathers (mate removed), or lone males (mate and offspring removed). We found that control males gradually increase paternal care over time, whereas single fathers increased care immediately after mate removal. Males with offspring present had lower levels of circulating 11-ketotestosterone (11-KT) yet still maintained aggressive displays toward brood predators. To determine what brain regions may contribute to paternal care, we quantified induction of the immediate early gene c-Fos, and found that single fathers have more c-Fos induction in the forebrain area Vv (putative lateral septum homologue), but not in the central pallium (area Dc). While overall preoptic area c-Fos induction was similar between groups, we found that parvocellular preoptic isotocin (IST) neurons in single fathers showed increased c-Fos induction, suggesting IST may facilitate the increase of paternal care after mate removal. To functionally test the role of IST in regulating paternal care, we treated biparental males with an IST receptor antagonist, which blocked paternal care. Our results indicate that isotocin plays a significant role in promoting paternal care, and more broadly suggest that the convergent evolution of paternal care across vertebrates may have recruited similar neuroendocrine mechanisms. 
21803045	Non-migratory stonechats show seasonal changes in the hormonal regulation of non-seasonal territorial aggression. 	In many birds and mammals, male territorial aggression is modulated by elevated circulating concentrations of the steroid hormone testosterone (T) during the breeding season. However, many species are territorial also during the non-breeding season, when plasma T levels are basal. The endocrine control of non-breeding territorial aggression differs considerably between species, and previous studies on wintering birds suggest differences between migratory and resident species. We investigated the endocrine modulation of territorial aggression during the breeding and non-breeding season in a resident population of European stonechats (Saxicola torquata rubicola). We recorded the aggressive response to a simulated territorial intrusion in spring and winter. Then, we compared the territorial aggression between seasons and in an experiment in which we blocked the androgenic and estrogenic action of T. We found no difference in the aggressive response between the breeding and the non-breeding season. However, similarly to what is found in migratory stonechats, the hormonal treatment decreased aggressive behaviors in resident males in the breeding season, whereas no effects were recorded in the non-breeding season. When we compared the aggressive responses of untreated birds with those obtained from migratory populations in a previous study, we found that territorial aggression of resident males was lower than that of migratory males during the breeding season. Our results show that in a resident population of stonechats T and/or its metabolites control territorial aggression in the breeding but not in the non-breeding season. In addition, our study supports the hypothesis that migratory status does modulate the intensity of aggressive behavior. 
21460570	Multiple benefits drive helping behavior in a cooperatively breeding bird: an integrated analysis. 	Several hypotheses exist to explain the seemingly altruistic helping behavior of cooperative breeders, although the general utility of these hypotheses remains unclear. While the potential importance of inclusive fitness benefits (kin selection) is traditionally widely appreciated, it is increasingly recognized that direct benefits may be more important than assumed. We use an integrative two-step framework to assess support for current hypotheses in purple-crowned fairy wrens, a species where subordinates vary in relatedness to breeders and helping increases productivity. After establishing that assumptions of pay-to-stay and social prestige hypotheses (predicting that helping functions as &quot;paying rent&quot; to stay on the territory or as a signal of individual quality, respectively) were not met and that parentage by subordinates is extremely rare, we tested whether subordinates adjusted nestling feeding rates following the predictions of the kin selection and group augmentation hypotheses. Benefits of kin selection result from investment in relatives, and group augmentation benefits accrue when subordinates invest more in their own future helpers, for example, when they have a better chance of inheriting the breeding position. We found that subordinates fed siblings more than unrelated nestlings, indicating that kin selection could facilitate cooperation. Moreover, the effect of relatedness on feeding effort varied depending on the probability of inheriting a breeding position, suggesting that active group augmentation can explain investment by unrelated subordinates. This statistical interaction would have gone undetected had we not considered both factors simultaneously, illustrating that a focus on single hypotheses could lead to underestimation of their importance in explaining cooperative breeding. 
20691185	Should I stay or should I go? Hormonal control of nest abandonment in a long-lived bird, the Adélie penguin. 	According to life-history theory, long-lived birds should favor their survival over the current reproductive attempt, when breeding becomes too costly. In seabirds, incubation is often associated with spontaneous long-term fasting. Below a threshold in body reserves, hormonal and metabolic shift characteristics of a switch from lipid to protein utilization (phase III, PIII) occur. These metabolic changes are paralleled by nest abandonment and stimulation of refeeding behavior. Parental behavior is then under control of two hormones with opposite effects: corticosterone (CORT) and prolactin which stimulate foraging and incubation behavior, respectively. The aim of this study was to determine the respective role of these two hormones in nest abandonment by Adélie penguins. To this end, plasma hormone levels were measured before egg-laying and at departure from the colony (i.e. when birds were relieved by their partner or abandoned their nest), and related to nutritional state and incubation success. We found that males abandoning their nest in PIII presented high CORT levels and low prolactin levels. Interestingly, males which presented high plasma levels of prolactin in PIII did not abandon. We show that although CORT is the first hormone to be affected by prolonged energy constraints, the combined effects of high CORT and low prolactin levels are necessary for parents to favor self-maintenance and abandon the nest. We provide insights into time-course changes of the endocrine profile as PIII proceeds and report that reaching proteolytic late fasting is not sufficient to induce nest abandonment in a long-lived bird. 
19744253	Negotiation of parental care when the stakes are high: experimental handicapping of one partner during incubation leads to short-term generosity. 	1. Most game theoretical models of biparental care predict that a reduction in care by one partner should not be fully compensated by increased work of its mate but this may not be true for incubating birds because a reduction in care could cause the entire brood to fail. 2. I performed the first handicapping experiment of both males and females during incubation, by placing small lead weights on the tails of male and female northern flickers Colaptes auratus, a woodpecker in which males do most of the incubation. 3. Females responded to the acute stressor (handling and handicapping) by tending to abandon more readily than males and staying away from the nest longer in the first incubation bout. Among pairs that persisted, both males and females compensated fully for a handicapped partner, keeping the eggs covered nearly 100% of the time. 4. Partners did not retaliate by forcing their handicapped mate to sit on the eggs with a long incubation bout length subsequent to having a long bout length themselves. Instead, during the 24 h immediately after handicapping, males behaved generously by relieving handicapped females early. 5. Such generosity was probably not energetically sustainable as these male partners took on less incubation in the 72 h following handicapping compared to female partners of handicapped males. Males and females are probably generous in the short-term because of the high cost of nest failure during incubation but maintaining increased work loads in the longer term is probably limited by body condition and abandonment thresholds consistent with game theory models. 
18951655	Birds gone wild: same-sex parenting in albatross. 	Same-sex behavior in animals fascinates scientists as well as laypeople, partly because of implications about sexual orientation in humans. After all, if animals engage in homosexuality, can it be dismissed as 'unnatural'? A recent paper by Young and colleagues documents long-term female pairs in &gt;30% of Laysan albatross on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The unrelated females bred successfully, challenging ideas about cooperative breeding, alternative reproductive strategies and perhaps even the evolution of sexual orientation. 
17714284	Predictable males and unpredictable females: sex difference in repeatability of parental care in a wild bird population. 	Repeatability of parental care, let alone heritability of care, has been rarely measured, although there has been much research linking sexual selection to male parental care and also examining biparental care in relation to game theory models. We investigated within- and between-year repeatabilities of incubation and nestling provisioning and how these two types of parental care were related in a sexually dimorphic species, the house sparrow, Passer domesticus. We found that between- and within-year repeatabilities of feeding rate were high in males and low to moderate in females, but that between- and within-year repeatabilities of incubation time were low to moderate in both sexes. Interestingly, the amount of time during which neither sex incubated significantly predicted the subsequent male feeding rate but not the female feeding rate. Our results suggest a need for a new theoretical framework that encompasses variation in the predictability and plasticity of parental investment by individuals. 
16005469	Trade up polygyny and breeding synchrony in avian populations. 	The advent of the molecular techniques used to assign paternity has focused attention on the differences between the social and the genetic mating systems of sexual species. In particular, the interrelations between breeding synchrony-the degree to which the fertility periods of individual females in a population overlap and the degree of extra pair paternity (EPP) in that population, has became a subject of a lively debate. Investigation of the subject can be facilitated by examining the criteria that females use in choosing extra pair partners. These preferences constitute a continuum ranging between two extremes. At one end, there are situations wherein all the females in a population exhibit a preference for males with particular phenotypic markers, and females mated to males lacking such &quot;quality&quot; markers seek extra pair fertilizations from males that do -trade up polygyny. At the other extreme, there are situations wherein females seek to maximize the total number of male partners, rather than secure fertilization by males of particular type -indiscriminate polygyny. Previously, we used game theoretical methods to model the interrelations between breeding synchrony and EPP in the context of indiscriminate polygyny. Here we present an analogous investigation in the context of trade up polygyny. Our results for the two cases, which delimit the range of the possible behavior, are similar. That is, we see that it is the pursuit of extra pair fertilizations opportunities that determines breeding synchrony of populations, rather than the vice versa as has been previously suggested. 
24681151	Parental behavior correlates to baseline corticosterone of mates and offspring in nesting eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis). 	Raising nestlings in a biparental species involves a complex and dynamic interaction of physiology and behavior among a group of organisms. Parents may be predicted to vary their behaviors based not only upon their own state, but also in relation to the states of both offspring and the other parent. In this study we explore the relationships between parental feeding behaviors and family member condition in eastern bluebirds, with a special emphasis on baseline corticosterone, a hormone associated with energy mediation and stress. We found that the overall number of feeding trips made by both male and female parents were positively correlated to the corticosterone levels of nestlings. Maternal, but not paternal, baseline corticosterone levels were positively correlated to nestling baseline corticosterone levels. Additionally, adult males' feeding behavior was positively correlated to adult females' baseline corticosterone levels. These findings suggest a complex interplay between parental behavior and physiological state not only within a given organism, but also across organisms operating within a family unit. In addition, these results provide evidence that paternal and maternal efforts are influenced by related but distinct pressures, and that male and female parenting may be governed differentially even in species with relatively equitable biparental care. 
24890406	The influence of brood loss on nest abandonment decisions in largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides. 	Largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides broods were experimentally reduced in size to test whether brood size (BS) and simulated brood depredation affect the decision by a male to continue providing care for its brood or to abandon that brood prematurely before its offspring reach independence. The highest ranked of the generalized linear models predicting brood abandonment was based on the number of offspring remaining in a nest following brood devaluation, indicating that parental male fish reassess the value of a brood following perturbation. Paternal M. salmoides were more likely to abandon their broods if initial BS was small before devaluation, and if there was a greater decrease in BS, indicating a threshold for both the amount of brood loss and remaining BS. Larger, older males were also less likely to abandon their brood than smaller, younger conspecifics. These results have broad implications for determining drivers of parental care trade-offs and how individuals assess the value of a brood. 
23770271	Decreased prolactin levels reduce parental commitment, egg temperatures, and breeding success of incubating male Adélie penguins. 	Hormones regulate many aspects of an individual's phenotype, including various physiological and behavioral traits. Two hormones have been described as important players in the regulation of parental investment in birds: the glucocorticoid hormone corticosterone and prolactin, a pituitary hormone, widely involved in mediating parental behavior. In comparison with corticosterone, the role of prolactin on parental investment remains poorly documented, and most studies so far have been correlative. In this study, the effects of an experimental decrease of prolactin levels on the incubation behavior of a long-lived seabird species were assessed. Male Adélie penguins were treated with self-degradable bromocriptine pellets, inhibiting prolactin secretion. Filming and subsequent video analysis allowed the determination of a behavioral time budget for birds and their position on the nest, while dummy eggs recorded incubation parameters. Incubation duration and breeding success at hatching were also monitored. As expected, bromocriptine-treatment significantly decreased plasma prolactin levels, but did not affect corticosterone levels. The behavioral time budget of penguins was not affected by the treatment. However, treated birds spent significantly more time in an upright position on the nest. These birds also incubated their eggs at lower temperatures and turned their eggs more frequently than controls, resulting in a lengthened incubation period. Despite this, the treatment was insufficient to trigger nest desertion and eggs of treated birds still hatched, indicating that several endocrine signals are required for the induction of nest abandonment. We suggest that the decreased prolactin levels in treated birds offset their timeline of breeding, so that birds displayed behavior typical of early incubation. 
23528715	Physiological costs and carry-over effects of avian interspecific brood parasitism influence reproductive tradeoffs. 	Although models of co-evolution between brood parasites and their hosts primarily focus upon the cost to hosts in the current reproductive bout, the impact of brood parasitism may carry over to future reproductive attempts by altering resource allocation. Glucocorticoid stress hormones help mediate resource allocation to reproduction, yet they have rarely been examined in brood parasitic systems. Here we determined if shifts in parental care and corticosterone had carry-over effects on future reproductive effort in the rufous-and-white wren (Thryophilus rufalbus), a host of the Central American striped cuckoo (Tapera naevia). We found that parasitized parents had significantly higher stress-induced, but not baseline, corticosterone than natural parents during the fledgling stage, which was associated with changes in parental care. The high investment in current reproduction while parasitized may be due to the value of fledged chicks in tropical systems. This maladaptive response by parasitized parents was associated with delayed re-nesting and a reduced likelihood of nesting in the subsequent breeding season. Although a reduction in future reproductive effort can result from a combination of factors, this work suggests that fitness costs of brood parasitism are mediated by changes in corticosterone and parental care behavior that carry over into subsequent breeding seasons. 
23073637	Size-biased allocation of prey from male to offspring via female: family conflicts, prey selection, and evolution of sexual size dimorphism in raptors. 	In birds with bi-parental care, the provisioning link between prey capture and delivery to dependent offspring is regarded as often symmetric between the mates. However, in raptors, the larger female usually broods and feeds the nestlings, while the smaller male provides food for the family, assisted by the female in the latter part of the nestling period, if at all. Prey items are relatively large and often impossible for nestlings to handle without extended maternal assistance. We video-recorded prey delivery and handling in nests of a raptor with a wide diet, the Eurasian kestrel Falco tinnunculus, and simultaneously observed prey transfer from male to female outside the nest. The male selectively allocated larger items, in particular birds and larger mammals, to the female for further processing and feeding of nestlings, and smaller items, in particular lizards and smaller mammals, directly to the nestlings for unassisted feeding. Hence, from the video, the female appeared to have captured larger prey than the male, while in reality no difference existed. The female's size-biased interception of the male's prey provisioning line would maximize the male's foraging time, and maximize the female's control of the allocation of food between her own need and that of the offspring. The male would maximize his control of food allocation by capturing smaller prey. This conflict would select for larger dominant females and smaller energy-efficient males, and induce stronger selection the longer the female depends on the male for self-feeding, as a proportion of the offspring dependence period. 
23268781	Androgen-mediated nurturing and aggressive behaviors during paternal care in bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus). 	Male parental care in vertebrates often involves both defensive and nurturing behaviors. Whether androgens differentially mediate these two types of behaviors, or a trade-off exists between them, has been studied by behavioral endocrinologists for years but predominantly in species with biparental care. In such systems, potential detrimental effects of elevated androgens on parental care behaviors are often compensated for by changes in behavior of the unmanipulated parent. In contrast, for species where only one parent provides care, manipulation of androgen levels may more clearly determine if there are differential effects of androgens on these two types of behaviors and whether the proposed trade-off between defensive and nurturing behavior exists. Here, we manipulated androgen levels in two ways in bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus), a species where males provide sole parental care for the young. At the onset of the care period, males were implanted with 11-ketotestosterone, a major teleost androgen, the androgen receptor antagonist flutamide, or a blank implant. A separate control group experienced no manipulation. Males were then observed over several days and tested for their aggressiveness towards an experimentally-presented brood predator and for nurturing behavior (fanning of the eggs, removal of dead or fungal-infected eggs). Males implanted with 11-ketotestosterone displayed 64% more aggressive behaviors and 71% fewer nurturing behaviors than control groups. In contrast, males implanted with flutamide displayed 7% fewer aggressive behaviors and 126% more nurturing behaviors than control males. Taken together, these results show that aggression and nurturing behaviors are mediated by androgens and suggest that there is a trade-off between the two behaviors during parental care in this species. 
23232333	Energetic constraints and parental care: is corticosterone indicative of energetic costs of incubation in a precocial bird? 	Suppression of the adrenocortical response (e.g., corticosterone release) to an acute stressor is a physiological adjustment thought to decrease the likelihood of avian parents abandoning their nests. However, some periods of parental care, like incubation, are energetically costly, thus corticosterone could increase during these stages to allow incubating parents to utilize energy reserves. Wood ducks (Aix sponsa) have ~30 day incubation periods and only the female incubates the eggs. We hypothesized that corticosterone would be important in regulating energy availability during incubation in this species. Because resources invested in reproduction increase with clutch size, we also hypothesized that clutch size would influence plasma corticosterone during incubation. We measured baseline and stress-induced corticosterone in incubating females during early and late stages of incubation. At both stages of incubation all hens had low baseline corticosterone levels. However, we found that stress-induced corticosterone was 105% greater late in incubation than early in incubation. We also detected a significant negative correlation between female body mass and stress-induced corticosterone late in incubation, but not during the early stages of incubation. Furthermore, we found a significant positive relationship between stress-induced corticosterone and clutch size. These lines of evidence support the hypothesis that incubation in wood ducks is energetically costly and corticosterone is important in supporting the energetic demands of incubating hens. Our findings suggest that corticosterone's role in supporting parental care behaviors are dynamic and are influenced by several factors and that there is a greater physiological cost associated with incubating larger clutches. 
23205861	Family dynamics through time: brood reduction followed by parental compensation with aggression and favouritism. 	Parental food allocation in birds has long been a focal point for life history and parent-offspring conflict theories. In asynchronously hatching species, parents are thought to either adjust brood size through death of marginal offspring (brood reduction), or feed the disadvantaged chicks to reduce the competitive hierarchy (parental compensation). Here, we show that parent American coots (Fulica americana) practice both strategies by switching from brood reduction to compensation across time. Late-hatching chicks suffer higher mortality only for the first few days after hatching. Later, parents begin to exhibit parental aggression towards older chicks and each parent favours a single chick, both of which are typically the youngest of the surviving offspring. The late-hatched survivors can equal or exceed their older siblings in size prior to independence. A mixed allocation strategy allows parents to compensate for the costs of competitive hierarchies while gaining the benefits of hatching asynchrony. 
23962563	Effect of rapid modulation of circulating plasma testosterone concentration on begging, aggressive behavior and competition for food in black-headed gull (Larus ridibundus) chicks. 	Sibling competition mediated by begging behavior is extremely common in avian species and recent studies have highlighted the role of endogenous testosterone in regulating such phenomenon. However, current literature depicts an inconsistent pattern in altricial vs. semi-precocial species, with stimulating versus inhibitory effects of the hormone respectively. This is possibly due to a difference in the methodology of hormone treatment (short-term moderate dose versus a long-term stronger elevation, respectively) between the studies performed so far. In this study, we induced short-term moderate peaks in plasma testosterone levels, as applied in altricial bird species, and assessed the effects of our manipulation on begging, competitive and aggressive behavior in black-headed gull (Larus ridibundus) chicks, a semi-precocial species. Our results suggest that, unlike in altricial songbirds, temporary increase of plasma testosterone concentration suppresses begging and enhances aggressiveness towards intruders. However, it also increases aggression and the chances of getting priority while scrambling with nest mates to gain access to food. Thus, the inconsistencies in the hormonal control of begging behavior observed between altricial vs. semi-precocial birds seem real and perhaps related to species differences in complexity of the display and the nature of competition. These may be elucidated by future comparative studies. 
22845831	With a little help from my kin: barn swallow nestlings modulate solicitation of parental care according to nestmates' need. 	In altricial species, offspring competing for access to limiting parental resources (e.g. food) are selected to achieve an optimal balance between the costs of scrambling for food, the benefits of being fed and the indirect costs of subtracting food to relatives. As the marginal benefits of acquiring additional food decrease with decreasing levels of need, satiated offspring should be prone to favour access to food by their needy kin, thus enhancing their own indirect fitness, while concomitantly reducing costs of harsh competition with hungry broodmates. We tested this prediction in feeding trials of barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) nestlings by comparing begging behaviour and food intake of two similar-sized nestmates, one of which was food-deprived (FD). Non-food-deprived (NFD) offspring modulated begging intensity depending on their nestmate's need: when competing with FD nestmates, NFD nestlings reduced both the intensity and frequency of begging displays compared to themselves in the control trial before food deprivation. Hence, NFD nestlings reduced their competitiveness to the advantage of FD nestmates, which obtained more feedings and showed a threefold larger increase in body mass. Moderation of individual selfishness can therefore be adaptive in the presence of a needier kin, because the indirect fitness benefits of promoting its condition can outweigh the costs of forgoing being fed, and because it limits the cost of begging escalation against a vigorous competitor. 
20620141	Sudden weather deterioration but not brood size affects baseline corticosterone levels in nestling Alpine swifts. 	While evidence is accumulating that stress-induced glucocorticoid responses help organisms to quickly adjust their physiology and behaviour to life-threatening environmental perturbations, the function and the ecological factors inducing variation in baseline glucocorticoid levels remain poorly understood. In this study we investigated the effects of brood size by experimentally manipulating the number of nestlings per brood and the effect of weather condition on baseline corticosterone levels of nestling Alpine swifts (Apus melba). We also examined the potential negative consequences of an elevation of baseline corticosterone on nestling immunity by correlating corticosterone levels with ectoparasite intensity and the antibody production towards a vaccine. Although nestlings reared in enlarged broods were in poorer condition than nestlings reared in reduced broods, they showed similar baseline corticosterone levels. In contrast, nestling baseline corticosterone levels were higher immediately after cold and rainy episodes with strong winds. Neither nestling infestation rate by ectoparastic flies nor nestling antibody production against a vaccine was correlated with baseline corticosterone levels. Thus, our results suggest that altricial Alpine swift nestlings can quickly modulate baseline corticosterone levels in response to unpredictable variations in meteorological perturbation but not to brood size which may be associated with the degree of sibling competition. Apparently, short-term elevations of baseline corticosterone have no negative effects on nestling immunocompetence. 
18683183	Olfactory preference for own mother and litter in 1-day-old rabbits and its impairment by thermotaxis. 	We investigated the ability of rabbit pups to display preferences towards various elements of their postnatal environment during the stage of confinement in the nest. Subjects were submitted to a two-choice test during the first week after birth to assess if they could detect and discriminate between does, litters of pups, or nesting materials of the same developmental stage. On D1 and D7, pups were attracted to any lactating doe, litter, or nest when compared to an empty compartment. When two stimuli were opposed, pups preferred their own nest to an alien one on D1 and D7 but not their mother nor their siblings when opposed to alien does or pups. However, additional tests indicated that this lack of preference for kin conspecifics resulted from a predominant attraction to thermal cues over individual odors. Indeed, pups were strongly attracted to a warm compartment (37 degrees C) than to a cooler one (20 degrees C) and once thermal cues were controlled for in the testing situation, the pups were specifically attracted to odors of their own mother's hair and of their siblings. No preference was observed towards the mother's uterine secretions. In conclusion, pups can recognize olfactory cues emanating from their mother and their siblings the day after birth. The preference for nesting materials would reflect in major part the combined attraction to maternal and sibling odors present in the nest. 
18028928	Competition for resources modulates cell-mediated immunity and stress hormone level in nestling collared doves (Streptopelia decaocto). 	Competitive stress imposed by hatching asynchrony may affect developmental trajectories of offsprings by regulating resource allocation between growth and other fitness-related traits. For instance, the down-regulation of immunity is a commonly observed phenomenon under stressful conditions. However, physiological mechanisms that regulate resources allocation to growth and immune functions in response to competition for resources, as well as inter-sexual differences in physiological strategies, are still poorly investigated. To partially fill this gap, we first conducted a descriptive study on chicks of the collared dove (Streptopelia decaocto), a species producing two chicks per brood. Our results show that first hatchlings (seniors) were bigger, showed lower baseline corticosterone levels (CORT) and showed a higher cell-mediated immunoresponsiveness (CMI) than late hatchlings (juniors). However, when controlling for body size, only CMI remained weaker in junior chicks suggesting differences in strategies of resource allocation between siblings. Interestingly, CORT in juniors increased with increasing within-brood hierarchy. But, while within-brood variation in CMI followed the opposite pattern of variation in CORT, we found no evidence that inter-individual variation in CMI was directly related to CORT. In addition hatching-rank related differences in body size, CMI and CORT was similar between sexes. To ensure that the lower phenotypic value expressed by juniors was not fully related to a lower quality of the late-laid egg, we experimentally suppressed the competitive stress experienced by juniors by removing the first-laid egg (i.e. the egg normally producing a senior chick). In the absence of their brood mates, juniors were bigger, had lower levels of CORT and showed a higher CMI than juniors raised in two-brood chicks, suggesting that body size, CMI and CORT in juniors were modulated by the competitive stress. Overall, this study suggests that juniors respond to within-brood competition by elevating CORT and down-regulating CMI. In this context, the role of CORT, as a mechanism regulating physiological strategies related to growth and immunocompetence is discussed. 
24345518	Group display in the socially monogamous Northern Double-collared Sunbird (Cinnyris reichenowi). 	Several sunbird species (Nectariniidae) exhibit group display, but the function of this behaviour still remains unclear. We test two hypotheses (reproductive tactic and joint territory defence) to explain the function of this behaviour using data gathered on Northern Double-collared Sunbirds (Cinnyris reichenowi) from the Cameroon Mountains. Sunbirds exhibited group display throughout the breeding cycle. Groups of birds were mainly comprised of neighbouring pairs aggregated at territory boundaries. The frequency of group displays varied significantly among individuals and over the breeding cycle, with the highest frequency during the pre-breeding period and the lowest during egg-laying (∼female's fertile period). Time spent on group display was significantly longer at the end of breeding. Off-territory forays were recorded for both males and females, males significantly increased the time spent on these forays during incubation. Extra-pair copulations were recorded only in five cases for females (4%) suggesting that most off-territory forays were motivated by feeding on nectar in neighbouring territories. Therefore, we suggest that the behaviour is used for joint territory defence rather than as an information centre for choosing mates for extra-pair copulations. Its function for choosing primary mates is also unlikely, because group displays were mainly observed in complete pairs. 
24468215	Association, roost use and simulated disruption of Myotis septentrionalis maternity colonies. 	How wildlife social and resource networks are distributed on the landscape and how animals respond to resource loss are important aspects of behavioral ecology. For bats, understanding these responses may improve conservation efforts and provide insights into adaptations to environmental conditions. We tracked maternity colonies of northern bats (Myotis septentrionalis) at Fort Knox, Kentucky, USA to evaluate their social and resource networks and space use. Roost and social network structure differed between maternity colonies. Overall roost availability did not appear to be strongly related to network characteristics or space use. In simulations for our two largest networks, roost removal was related linearly to network fragmentation; despite this, networks were relatively robust, requiring removal of &gt;20% of roosts to cause network fragmentation. Results from our analyses indicate that northern bat behavior and space use may differ among colonies and potentially across the maternity season. Simulation results suggest that colony social structure is robust to fragmentation caused by random loss of small numbers of roosts. Flexible social dynamics and tolerance of roost loss may be adaptive strategies for coping with ephemeral conditions in dynamic forest habitats. 
24242873	Post-mortem changes in chemical profile and their influence on corpse removal in ants. 	In order to decrease the risk of pathogen transmission, ants remove corpses from the vicinity of nests, but little is known about the underlying mechanisms. In particular, it is unclear how the odor profile of corpses changes with time since death and how any changes might relate to behavior. We have addressed these questions in the red ant Myrmica rubra, where we asked how the time since death determines the ability of workers to discriminate a dead individual from a live one, and whether dead workers are removed in a similar way when they originate from the same or an alien colony. We found that ants could discriminate alien from nestmate corpses up to 2 days after death, since the former continued to elicit aggressive behavior over that period. For dead nestmates, only 15 % of corpses were removed when freshly killed but this rises to 80 % for corpses between 1 to 6 days post mortem. Using gas chromatography, we found that oleic and linoleic acids, which are absent on freshly killed corpses, appeared post mortem and were in higher quantities on those corpses that were ejected from the nest vicinity. When added to fresh corpses, linoleic and oleic acids, alone or blended, enhanced removal to levels observed for corpses of 2-6 days post-mortem. Thus, oleic and linoleic acids appear to be important cues involved in corpse recognition and necrophoresis over a long timeframe, and we advance the hypothesis that these fatty acids in combination with other cues may also trigger other behaviors such as prey retrieval. 
24760416	Vasculature of the hive: heat dissipation in the honey bee (Apis mellifera) hive. 	Eusocial insects are distinguished by their elaborate cooperative behavior and are sometimes defined as superorganisms. As a nest-bound superorganism, individuals work together to maintain favorable nest conditions. Residing in temperate environments, honey bees (Apis mellifera) work especially hard to maintain brood comb temperature between 32 and 36 °C. Heat shielding is a social homeostatic mechanism employed to combat local heat stress. Workers press the ventral side of their bodies against heated surfaces, absorb heat, and thus protect developing brood. While the absorption of heat has been characterized, the dissipation of absorbed heat has not. Our study characterized both how effectively worker bees absorb heat during heat shielding, and where worker bees dissipate absorbed heat. Hives were experimentally heated for 15 min during which internal temperatures and heat shielder counts were taken. Once the heat source was removed, hives were photographed with a thermal imaging camera for 15 min. Thermal images allowed for spatial tracking of heat flow as cooling occurred. Data indicate that honey bee workers collectively minimize heat gain during heating and accelerate heat loss during cooling. Thermal images show that heated areas temporarily increase in size in all directions and then rapidly decrease to safe levels (&lt;37 °C). As such, heat shielding is reminiscent of bioheat removal via the cardiovascular system of mammals. 
23994066	Phenotypic plasticity in response to breeding density in tree swallows: an adaptive maternal effect? 	Territorial animals breeding in high-density environments are more likely to engage in aggressive competition with conspecifics for resources necessary for reproduction. In many avian species, increased competition among breeding females results in increased testosterone concentrations in egg yolks. Generally, elevated yolk testosterone increases nestling growth, competitive behaviors, and bold behavioral traits. However, few studies provide an environmental context with which to examine the potential adaptive benefits of these phenotypic changes. In this study, tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) breeding density was altered to modify levels of social competition and yolk testosterone. We measured nestling growth, competitive ability, and breathing rate in response to a stressor using a partial cross-foster design. Females breeding at high-density experienced more aggressive, competitive interactions and their eggs had higher testosterone concentrations. Nestlings that hatched in high-density environments grew faster and displayed more competitive behaviors and a higher breathing rate response to a stressor regardless of post-hatching density. Our study demonstrates that phenotypic plasticity occurs in response to yolk testosterone variation resulting from different breeding densities. These findings suggest that naturally-induced maternal effects prepare offspring for competitive environments, supporting the idea that maternal effects are adaptive. 
24345518	Group display in the socially monogamous Northern Double-collared Sunbird (Cinnyris reichenowi). 	Several sunbird species (Nectariniidae) exhibit group display, but the function of this behaviour still remains unclear. We test two hypotheses (reproductive tactic and joint territory defence) to explain the function of this behaviour using data gathered on Northern Double-collared Sunbirds (Cinnyris reichenowi) from the Cameroon Mountains. Sunbirds exhibited group display throughout the breeding cycle. Groups of birds were mainly comprised of neighbouring pairs aggregated at territory boundaries. The frequency of group displays varied significantly among individuals and over the breeding cycle, with the highest frequency during the pre-breeding period and the lowest during egg-laying (∼female's fertile period). Time spent on group display was significantly longer at the end of breeding. Off-territory forays were recorded for both males and females, males significantly increased the time spent on these forays during incubation. Extra-pair copulations were recorded only in five cases for females (4%) suggesting that most off-territory forays were motivated by feeding on nectar in neighbouring territories. Therefore, we suggest that the behaviour is used for joint territory defence rather than as an information centre for choosing mates for extra-pair copulations. Its function for choosing primary mates is also unlikely, because group displays were mainly observed in complete pairs. 
23994066	Phenotypic plasticity in response to breeding density in tree swallows: an adaptive maternal effect? 	Territorial animals breeding in high-density environments are more likely to engage in aggressive competition with conspecifics for resources necessary for reproduction. In many avian species, increased competition among breeding females results in increased testosterone concentrations in egg yolks. Generally, elevated yolk testosterone increases nestling growth, competitive behaviors, and bold behavioral traits. However, few studies provide an environmental context with which to examine the potential adaptive benefits of these phenotypic changes. In this study, tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) breeding density was altered to modify levels of social competition and yolk testosterone. We measured nestling growth, competitive ability, and breathing rate in response to a stressor using a partial cross-foster design. Females breeding at high-density experienced more aggressive, competitive interactions and their eggs had higher testosterone concentrations. Nestlings that hatched in high-density environments grew faster and displayed more competitive behaviors and a higher breathing rate response to a stressor regardless of post-hatching density. Our study demonstrates that phenotypic plasticity occurs in response to yolk testosterone variation resulting from different breeding densities. These findings suggest that naturally-induced maternal effects prepare offspring for competitive environments, supporting the idea that maternal effects are adaptive. 
23755527	[Duration of the pre-nesting period and its relation with social organization in sandpipers (Charadrii, Aves) nesting in north-east Yakutia]. 	Investigations were carried out at two stations of Ornithological Unit, IBPN FEB RAS, located in Nizhnekolymsk District, Yakutia, starting from May 18-20 in 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1990. Duration of the pre-nesting period in 11 sandpiper species with different social organization was studied and compared with each other by allometric equations. As a characteristic of bird size the body mass was selected. Sandpipers come flying to the tundra at almost critical temperatures, to begin breeding as early as possible. Tining of breeding depends on birds feeding manner and the proximity to sites of overwintering. Duration of the pre-nesting period is invariable for every bird species and sex. There are sexual distinctions in time spent for the pre-nesting period in jointly-nesting sandpipers. The exponents in allometric equations that relate duration of the pre-nesting period with body mass are constant within a particular sex and differ between males and females. In different sexes, time spent for the pre-nesting period depends on mating, parental, and territorial systems. In sandpipers' males and females, this time is determined by the type of social organization. Relatively large sandpiper species seek to shortening of the pre-nesting period calendar time, which constrains their social organization. Monogamy and pair parental care lead to a necessity for spatial population structure to be controlled more strictly and maintained for a longer time. This, in turn, causes the increasing of males' time expenditures for such a behavior. 
22492168	Higher nest predation risk in association with a top predator: mesopredator attraction? 	Breeding close to top predators is a widespread reproductive strategy. Breeding animals may gain indirect benefits if proximity to top predators results in a reduction of predation due to suppression of mesopredators. We tested if passerine birds gain protection from mesopredators by nesting within territories of a top predator, the Ural owl (Strix uralensis). We placed nest boxes for pied flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca) in Ural owl nest sites and in control sites (currently unoccupied by owls). The nest boxes were designed so that nest predation risk could be altered (experimentally increased) after flycatcher settlement; we considered predation rate as a proxy of mesopredator abundance. Overall, we found higher nest predation rates in treatment than in control sites. Flycatcher laying date did not differ between sites, but smaller clutches were laid in treatment sites compared to controls, suggesting a response to perceived predation risk. Relative nest predation rate varied between years, being higher in owl nest sites in 2 years but similar in another; this variation might be indirectly influenced by vole abundance. Proximity to Ural owl nests might represent a risky habitat for passerines. High predation rates within owl territories could be because small mesopredators that do not directly threaten owl nests are attracted to owl nest sites. This could be explained if some mesopredators use owl territories to gain protection from their own predators, or if top predators and mesopredators independently seek similar habitats. 
24406508	The importance of novelty: male-female interactions among blue-black grassquits in captivity. 	Mate choice is a primary mechanism driving the evolution of sexually selected traits such as elaborate displays and ornaments. In a majority of taxa studied to date, females are seen to actively sample and evaluate multiple males, presumably to optimize mating opportunities. During this process females may encounter males both familiar and novel, a distinction that might influence how mate choice proceeds. Using a socially monogamous passerine, the blue-black grassquit (Volatinia jacarina), we studied how females respond to novel versus familiar (&quot;paired&quot;) males, and how encounters with novel males influence subsequent interactions with their paired males. Additionally, we measured the hormonal response of males after visualizing their paired females interacting with novel males. We found that females were attentive to novel males irrespective of these males' phenotypic attributes, suggesting that in these interactions novelty is highly relevant. After exposure to novel males, females tended to respond aggressively towards their paired males; by contrast, the behaviour of males towards their paired females did not change. Moreover, we did not detect any hormonal responses of males to viewing their paired females interacting with novel males. Together these results suggest that the distinction between familiarity and novelty may hold special relevance for females in mate choice, a finding that bears upon our understanding of the evolution of extra-pair paternity and reproductive behaviour. 
24870664	Mud-packing frog: a novel breeding behaviour and parental care in a stream dwelling new species of Nyctibatrachus (Amphibia, Anura, Nyctibatrachidae). 	Reproductive modes are diverse and unique in anurans. Selective pressures of evolution, ecology and environment are attributed to such diverse reproductive modes. Globally forty different reproductive modes in anurans have been described to date. The genus Nyctibatrachus has been recently revised and belongs to an ancient lineage of frog families in the Western Ghats of India. Species of this genus are known to exhibit mountain associated clade endemism and novel breeding behaviours. The purpose of this study is to present unique reproductive behaviour, oviposition and parental care in a new species Nyctibatrachus kumbara sp. nov. which is described in the paper. Nyctibatrachus kumbara sp. nov. is a medium sized stream dwelling frog. It is distinct from the congeners based on a suite of morphological characters and substantially divergent in DNA sequences of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene. Males exhibit parental care by mud packing the egg clutch. Such parental care has so far not been described from any other frog species worldwide. Besides this, we emphasize that three co-occurring congeneric species of Nyctibatrachus, namely N. jog, N. kempholeyensis and Nyctibatrachus kumbara sp. nov. from the study site differ in breeding behaviour, which could represent a case of reproductive character displacement. These three species are distinct in their size, call pattern, reproductive behaviour, maximum number of eggs in a clutch, oviposition and parental care, which was evident from the statistical analysis. The study throws light on the reproductive behaviour of Nyctibatrachus kumbara sp. nov. and associated species to understand the evolution and adaptation of reproductive modes of anurans in general, and Nyctibatrachus in particular from the Western Ghats. 
24866493	Male Tibetan macaques'(Macaca thibetana) choice of infant bridging partners. 	Adult male Tibetan (Macaca thibetana), Barbary (M. sylvanus), and stump-tailed macaques (M. arctoides) engage in bridging, a ritualized infant-handling behavior. Previous researchers found a bias toward the use of male infants for this behavior, but its function is debated. Explanations include three hypotheses: paternal care, mating effort, and agonistic buffering. We studied a group of habituated, provisioned Tibetan macaques to test whether adult males' affiliative relationships with females predicted their use of an infant for bridging. We also examined biases for sex, age, and individual in males' choice of bridging infant. We collected data via all occurrences, focal animal, and scan methods, from August to September 2011 at the Valley of the Wild Monkeys, China. We found that male infants were significantly preferred over females for bridging, but of three male infants in the group, only one was used by all males, while one male infant was used less often than expected. Adult males had females they were significantly more likely to be proximate to and/or to groom, but these corresponded to the mother of the bridging infant for only one male. Our results are most consistent with the agonistic buffering hypothesis: lower-ranked males used the alpha male's preferred bridging infant in an attempt to regulate their interactions with the alpha. 
22545763	Evolution of monogamy, paternal investment, and female life history in Peromyscus. 	The timing of reproductive development and associated trade-offs in quantity versus quality of offspring produced across the life span are well documented in a wide range of species. The relation of these aspects of maternal life history to monogamy and paternal investment in offspring is not well studied in mammals, due in part to the rarity of the latter. By using five large, captive-bred populations of Peromyscus species that range from promiscuous mating with little paternal investment (P. maniculatus bairdii) to social and genetic monogamy with substantial paternal investment (P. californicus insignis), we modeled the interaction between monogamy and female life history. Monogamy and high paternal investment were associated with smaller litter size, delayed maternal reproduction that extended over a longer reproductive life span, and larger, higher quality offspring. The results suggest monogamy and paternal investment can alter the evolution of female life-history trajectories in mammals. 
23070923	How physically active are children attending summer day camps? 	Summer day camps (SDC) represent one of the largest settings, outside the academic school year, where children can engage in safe, enjoyable physical activity (PA). Yet, little is known about this setting and how active children are while attending. System for Observing Play and Leisure Activity in Youth was used to categorize PA of boys/girls as Sedentary/Walking/Vigorous across multiple days (8 AM to 6 PM) in 4 large-scale community-based SDCs. Contextual characteristics of type of activity, activity management, equipment, and in/outdoors were collected simultaneously. Mixed-model regression analyses examined associations between PA categories and contextual characteristics. A total of 4649 scans of 2462 children were made across 27 days in the SDCs. Physical activity opportunities represented 38% of the daily schedule. Overall, 74%-79%, 13%-16%, and 7%-9% of children were observed Sedentary, Walking, or Vigorous during the SDC, and this changed to 62%-67%, 18%-19%, and 15%-18% observed Sedentary, Walking, or Vigorous during PA opportunities. Water-based PA, equipment, and free-play were related to increased PA. Children waiting-in-line for turns, staff instructing, and organized PA were related to increased sedentary. These findings provide evidence of modifiable characteristics of SDCs associated with PA. Improving staff skills related to facilitating active environments is a viable avenue to increase PA accumulated within SDCs. 
23664206	Survey of Korean pedestrians' natural preference for walking directions. 	The primary objective of this study was to investigate the stereotypes of Koreans regarding preferred walking directions when encountering various public walking facilities, and to provide useful information to pedestrians and traffic policy legislators. To this end, this study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, we conducted observational research on pedestrians' walking directions in ten different situations. In the second phase, six hundred Korean male and female subjects were selected to investigate the various statistics about their preferred walking directions and their employment characteristics in diverse walking facilities. The results showed that 59.3% abided by the Left-side Traffic rule while 40.7% abided by the Right-side rule. On the contrary, 73.7% of respondents showed preferences to the Right-side Traffic rule. Moreover, right-handed people showed strong tendencies to walk on the right side of the road and vice versa, hence suggesting that the direction people naturally prefer in walking should be a crucial determinant when regulating traffic policies. 
23529062	Diffusion of Complete Streets policies Across US communities. 	Complete Streets policies guide planning in communities by making the transportation system accommodating to all users including vehicle drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists, as well as those using public transportation. While the number of Complete Streets policies has increased over the past decade, no research has explored the factors attributing to the widespread diffusion of these policies. The purpose of this study was to apply concepts of the Diffusion of Innovation Theory to data related to Complete Streets policies in order to identify potential patterns and correlates. The main outcome of this study was policy adoption. Using the Diffusion of Innovation Theory and results from previous literature, we identified several factors that had the potential to affect the rate of Complete Streets policy diffusion: rural/urban status, state obesity rate, state funding for transportation, state obesity prevention funding, percentage of people who walk or bike to work in the state, presence of a state Complete Streets policy, and the number of bordering communities with Complete Streets policy. We used event history analysis as the main analysis method. Data from 49 community-level policies were analyzed, with a &quot;community&quot; defined as a city, a county, or a regional/Metropolitan Planning Organization. Three variables were significant predictors of Complete Streets policy adoption: state obesity rate (odds ratio [OR] = 1.465; confidence interval [CI] = 1.10-1.96) percentage of people who bike or walk to work in the state (OR = 1.726; CI = 1.069-2.79), and presence of a border community with a Complete Streets policy (OR = 3.859; CI = 1.084-13.742). Communities with Complete Streets policies varied in geographic and sociodemographic factors. Information about communities that are more likely to adopt a policy can be a tool for advocates and policy makers interested in this topic. Because adoption does not imply implementation, further research is needed to study outcomes of Complete Streets policies. 
22568533	Built environment and mobility of older adults: important policy and practice efforts. 	As people age, they prefer to &quot;age in place.&quot; The concept of aging in place refers to the ability to live in one's own home, wherever that might be, for as long as one can feel confident and comfortable. Where people live and whether these environments can support them are critical questions for public health and public policy, especially since the baby boomers began to turn 65 on January 1, 2011. Equally important for public policy, those aged 85 and older are the fastest growing population group in the United States. The Health and Aging Policy Fellows Program, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Healthy Aging Program, has supported a project to determine how design features of the built environment can support the mobility of older adults. Mobility refers to physical activity, usually walking, but also encompasses the ability to stay connected to nearby community resources and services. The project's purpose is to investigate features that support mobility in built environments. This policy brief introduces the realist synthesis method used in the project and selected national initiatives and activities to place this work in a broader context. Given the importance of mobility concerns to older adults, it must be determined without delay which design features support mobility and how local areas can better prepare to support the health of their aging populations. 
22243902	The impact of state safe routes to school-related laws on active travel to school policies and practices in U.S. elementary schools. 	This study examined the relationship between state laws requiring minimum bussing distances, hazardous route exemptions, sidewalks, crossing guards, speed zones, and traffic control measures around schools and active travel to school (ATS) policies/practices in nationally representative samples of U.S. public elementary schools between 2007-2009. The state laws and school data were compiled through primary legal research and annual mail-back surveys of principals, respectively. Multivariate logistic and zero-inflated poisson regression indicated that all state law categories (except for sidewalks) relate to ATS. These laws should be considered in addition to formal safe routes to school programs as possible influences on ATS. 
20446803	Access of children with cerebral palsy to the physical, social and attitudinal environment they need: a cross-sectional European study. 	The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requires states 'to ensure to persons with disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, transportation, information and communications.' We explored whether this convention was respected for disabled children in Europe. One thousand one-hundred and seventy-four children aged 8-12 years were randomly selected from population-based registers of children with cerebral palsy in eight European regions. 743 children joined the study; one further region recruited 75 children from multiple sources. Researchers visited these 818 children and administered the European Child Environment Questionnaire, which records parents' perceptions of availability of the physical, social and attitudinal environment needed in home, school and community. Multilevel, multivariable regression related child access on these domains to their impairments and socio-demographic characteristics. Children with more impaired walking ability had less access to the physical environment, transport and social support they needed than other children. They also experienced less favourable attitudes from family and friends. However, attitudes of teachers and therapists were similar for children with all levels of impairment. The access of children, across all impairment severities, to their needed environment showed significant variation between regions (p ≤ 0.0001), some regions consistently providing better access on most or all domains. European states need to substantially improve environmental access for disabled children in order to meet their obligations under UN Conventions. In some regions, many environmental factors should and realistically could be changed. Legislation and regulation should be directed to making this happen. Local environmental planners and health and social service providers should listen carefully to parents to address mismatches between policy intentions and parental experience. 
21094319	&quot;Safety in Numbers&quot; re-examined: can we make valid or practical inferences from available evidence? 	&quot;Safety in Numbers&quot;(SIN), a recent concept in transportation research, policy and planning, has emerged as a causal inference from the non-linear statistical association between estimates of the numbers of walkers or bicyclists in an area and the rate or number of traffic collisions experienced by pedestrians or cyclists. Proponents of SIN argue that greater numbers of walkers or cyclists modify the hazardous behaviors of motor vehicle drivers thus creating safer conditions. This paper critically examines the research on the non-linear association as an adequate empirical basis for this causal interpretation. Given the paucity of evidence supporting a specific mechanism for the SIN effect, alternative plausible explanations of the non-linear association behind SIN, and a potential for unintended consequences from its policy application, the authors call for caution in the use of SIN in transportation policy and planning dialogue and decision-making. 
23628840	The long-term effectiveness of need-supportive physical activity counseling compared with a standard referral in sedentary older adults. 	This study compared the long-term effectiveness of three physical activity counseling strategies among sedentary older adults: a 1-contact referral (REFER), a 1-contact individualized walking program (WALK), and multiple-contact, individually tailored, and need-supportive coaching based on the self-determination theory (COACH). Participants (n = 442) completed measurements before (pretest), immediately after (posttest), and 1 yr after (follow-up test) a 10-wk intervention. Linear mixed models demonstrated significant time-by-condition interaction effects from pre- to posttest. More specifically, WALK and COACH yielded larger increases in daily steps and self-reported physical activity than REFER. Similarly, self-reported physical activity increased more from pre- to follow-up test in WALK and COACH compared with REFER. Autonomous motivation mediated the effect of perceived need-support on physical activity, irrespective of counseling strategy. These results demonstrate the long-term effectiveness of both a 1-contact individualized walking program and a more time-consuming, need-supportive coaching, especially in comparison with a standard referral to local opportunities. 
23891853	Using an individualised consultation and activPAL™ feedback to reduce sedentary time in older Scottish adults: results of a feasibility and pilot study. 	Sedentary behaviours have been linked to poor health, independent of physical activity levels. The objective of this study was to explore an individualised intervention strategy aimed at reducing sedentary behaviours in older Scottish adults. This feasibility and pilot study was a pre-experimental (one group pretest-posttest) study design. Participants were enrolled into the study in January-March 2012 and data analysis was completed April-October 2012. The study was based in Glasgow, Scotland. Participants received an individualised consultation targeting sedentary behaviour incorporating feedback from an activPAL activity monitor. Outcome measures were objectively (activPAL) and subjectively measured (Sedentary Behaviour Questionnaire) sedentary time. Twenty four participants received the intervention. Objectively measured total time spent sitting/lying was reduced by 24 min/day (p=0.042), a reduction of 2.2%. Total time spent in stepping activities, such as walking increased by 13 min/day (p=0.044). Self-report data suggested participants achieved behaviour change by reducing time spent watching television and/or using motorised transport. Interventions to reduce sedentary behaviours in older people are urgently needed. The results of this feasibility and pilot study suggest a consultation approach may help individuals reduce time spent in sedentary behaviours. A larger, controlled trial is warranted with a diverse sample to increase generalisability. 
23362751	A one-page orofacial myofunctional assessment form: a proposal. 	The author presents her own proposal of a one-page orofacial myofunctional assessment and for each item on the list a brief rationale is provided. The protocol is an easy but comprehensive form that can be faxed or emailed to referral sources as needed. As science provides more objective assessment and evaluation tools, this one-page form can be easily modified. 
22826045	Pulmonary rehabilitation in patients referred for lung transplantation. 	Effectiveness of pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with chronic obstructive lung diseases, cystic fibrosis, and interstitial lung disease is well documented but little is known about the results of pulmonary rehabilitation in patients referred for lung transplantation. The purpose of this study is to prospectively examine the efficacy of Nordic walking, a low cost, accessible, and proven beneficial form of physical exercise, as a form of pulmonary rehabilitation in patients referred for lung transplantation. Twenty-two male patients referred for lung transplantation at the Department of Lung Diseases and Tuberculosis in Zabrze, Poland, were invited to take part in the study. The rehabilitation program, which was conducted for 12 weeks, was based on Nordic walking exercise training with ski poles. Lung function tests (FVC, FEV1), mobility (6 min walking test (6MWT)), rating of dyspnea (Oxygen Cost Index, MRC and Baseline Dyspnea Index), and quality of life assessments (SF-36) were performed before and after the completion of the exercise program. No adverse events were observed after completing the pulmonary rehabilitation program in patients referred for lung transplantation. After 12 weeks of pulmonary rehabilitation with Nordic walking we observed a significant increase in the mean distance walked in the 6MWT (310.2 m vs. 372.1 m, p &lt; 0.05). The results of lung function tests also showed improvement in FVC. There were no significant differences in the perception of dyspnea before and after completing the rehabilitation program. General health and quality of life questionnaire (SF-36) showed improvement in the domain of social functioning (p &lt; 0.05). In conclusion, pulmonary rehabilitation with a Nordic walking program is a safe and feasible physical activity in end-stage lung disease patients referred for lung transplantation and results in improvements in patients' mobility and quality of life. 
22826572	The prevalence and course of idiopathic toe-walking in 5-year-old children. 	Children walking on their toes instead of with a typical gait, without evidence of an underlying medical condition, are defined as idiopathic toe-walkers. The prevalence of idiopathic toe-walking is unknown. A cross-sectional prevalence study of 5.5-year-old children (n = 1436) living in Blekinge County, Sweden, was performed at the regular 5.5-year visit to the local child welfare center. Children were assessed for a history of toe-walking or whether they still walked on their toes. Additionally, all 5.5-year-old children (n = 35) admitted to the clinic for children with special needs in the county were assessed. Of the 1436 children in the cohort (750 boys, 686 girls), 30 children (2.1%, 20 boys and 10 girls) still walked on their toes at age 5.5 years and were considered as active toe-walkers. Forty children (2.8%, 22 boys and 18 girls) had previously walked on their toes but had stopped before the 5.5-year visit and were considered as inactive toe-walkers. At age 5.5 years, the total prevalence of toe-walking was 70 (4.9%) of 1436. For children with a neuropsychiatric diagnosis or developmental delay, the total prevalence for active or inactive toe-walking was 7 (41.2%) of 17. This study establishes the prevalence and- early spontaneous course of idiopathic toe-walking in 5.5-year-old children. At this age, more than half of the children have spontaneously ceased to walk on their toes. The study confirms earlier findings that toe-walking has a high prevalence among children with a cognitive disorder. 
25142356	The impact of continuous driving time and rest time on commercial drivers' driving performance and recovery. 	This real road driving study was conducted to investigate the effects of driving time and rest time on the driving performance and recovery of commercial coach drivers. Thirty-three commercial coach drivers participated in the study, and were divided into three groups according to driving time: (a) 2 h, (b) 3 h, and (c) 4 h. The Stanford Sleepiness Scale (SSS) was used to assess the subjective fatigue level of the drivers. One-way ANOVA was employed to analyze the variation in driving performance. The statistical analysis revealed that driving time had a significant effect on the subjective fatigue and driving performance measures among the three groups. After 2 h of driving, both the subjective fatigue and driving performance measures began to deteriorate. After 4 h of driving, all of the driving performance indicators changed significantly except for depth perception. A certain amount of rest time eliminated the negative effects of fatigue. A 15-minute rest allowed drivers to recover from a two-hour driving task. This needed to be prolonged to 30 min for driving tasks of 3 to 4 h of continuous driving. Drivers' attention, reactions, operating ability, and perceptions are all affected in turn after over 2 h of continuous driving. Drivers should take a certain amount of rest to recover from the fatigue effects before they continue driving. 
24021836	The influence of spatial resolution and smoothing on the detectability of resting-state and task fMRI. 	Functional MRI blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal changes can be subtle, motivating the use of imaging parameters and processing strategies that maximize the temporal signal-to-noise ratio (tSNR) and thus the detection power of neuronal activity-induced fluctuations. Previous studies have shown that acquiring data at higher spatial resolutions results in greater percent BOLD signal changes, and furthermore that spatially smoothing higher resolution fMRI data improves tSNR beyond that of data originally acquired at a lower resolution. However, higher resolution images come at the cost of increased acquisition time, and the number of image volumes also influences detectability. The goal of our study is to determine how the detection power of neuronally induced BOLD fluctuations acquired at higher spatial resolutions and then spatially smoothed compares to data acquired at the lower resolutions with the same imaging duration. The number of time points acquired during a given amount of imaging time is a practical consideration given the limited ability of certain populations to lie still in the MRI scanner. We compare acquisitions at three different in-plane spatial resolutions (3.50×3.50mm(2), 2.33×2.33mm(2), 1.75×1.75mm(2)) in terms of their tSNR, contrast-to-noise ratio, and the power to detect both task-related activation and resting-state functional connectivity. The impact of SENSE acceleration, which speeds up acquisition time increasing the number of images collected, is also evaluated. Our results show that after spatially smoothing the data to the same intrinsic resolution, lower resolution acquisitions have a slightly higher detection power of task-activation in some, but not all, brain areas. There were no significant differences in functional connectivity as a function of resolution after smoothing. Similarly, the reduced tSNR of fMRI data acquired with a SENSE factor of 2 is offset by the greater number of images acquired, resulting in few significant differences in detection power of either functional activation or connectivity after spatial smoothing. 
24934429	Effect of different types of rest-break interventions on neck and shoulder muscle activity, perceived discomfort and productivity in symptomatic VDU operators: a randomized controlled trial. 	This study evaluated the effect of different types of activities during rest-break interventions on neck and shoulder muscle activity, muscle discomfort and productivity among symptomatic video display unit (VDU) operators performing prolonged computer terminal work. Randomized controlled trial was used. Thirty symptomatic VDU operators were randomly assigned to 2 active break groups (stretching and dynamic movement) and a reference group. The subjects performed the same typing task for 60 min and received 3-min breaks after each 20 min of work. Root mean square and median frequency were calculated for neck and shoulder muscle activity. Muscle discomfort was measured with Borg's CR-10 scale. Productivity was measured by counting words. There were no significant differences between the types of activities during breaks on neck and shoulder muscle activity, muscle discomfort or productivity. However, there was a significant difference in the level of muscle discomfort over time. Three types of activity during breaks showed a favourable effect on neck and shoulder muscle activity and productivity, and a positive effect on muscle discomfort in symptomatic VDU operators. 
25007528	[Features of the alpha-activity of male and female brain cortex under conditions of divergent thinking]. 	The main goal of our study was to determine the EEG-patterns, which provide high originality of divergent task solving, defined on the base of alpha-rhythm individual frequency. The dynamics of power and coherence indexes in alpha-1, alpha-2 and alpha-3 subbands during the divergent and convergent tasks solving were analyzed. It was shown that the individuals from high thinking originality group have higher readiness to information perception, which is revealed in a higher depression of alpha-2 and alpha-3 rhythms during transition to rest state with eyes open. During the divergent task processing, an increase in frontal and fronto-central connections in alpha-2 subband was typical for groups opposite in sex and the originality level: for &quot;original&quot; males and &quot;stereotype&quot; females. In alpha-3-band, we observed the formation of level and character changes of intracortical interaction pattern, which was specific for each group and related to the sex of tested individuals and the level of originality of answers. 
23672529	Activity profiles of the Australian female netball team players during international competition: implications for training practice. 	In elite sport, to remain competitive at the international level, it is critical to understand the game demands on players to ensure sport specific training programmes are designed for optimal athlete preparation and conditioning. In netball, recent research examining the activity patterns of players at the elite level is lacking, with only one study undertaken on this level of competition in the past 30 years. Therefore, the aim of this study was to provide coaches with up to date knowledge of player activity patterns as a basis for the design of optimal sport specific training programmes. The Australian female netball team were analysed using video footage of three international test matches. Player activity was categorised into five movement and eight game-based activities; and further classified as work or rest. Results suggest that differences in the current game exist when compared to the previous analysis. Positional differences were also found with regard to player activity confirming the need for an individualised component of training based on player position. 
22316971	State of scientific knowledge about the need of recovery time at specific workplaces and recommendations for further research. 	Research activities to determine the need of recovery time at work were mainly performed in the 1970s and 1980s. Previous studies were largely based on expert opinions or were generated within small and non-representative groups. Often, laboratory experiments were carried out with a low number of subjects. Especially during the last decade, only little additional scientific knowledge was generated on this topic. The very resource intensive development of more detailed results based on the existing level of scientific knowledge is assumed as one reason for this. In general, it seems to be reasonable to continue further research on the knowledge generated in previous studies, but implement larger samples and more representative groups. Besides, according to monotonous manual work, more research is especially needed regarding relative operating forces and operation frequencies taken grip conditions and hand/body position into account. 
23707507	Resting state neural networks for visual Chinese word processing in Chinese adults and children. 	This study examined the resting state neural networks for visual Chinese word processing in Chinese children and adults. Both the functional connectivity (FC) and amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) approaches were used to analyze the fMRI data collected when Chinese participants were not engaged in any specific explicit tasks. We correlated time series extracted from the visual word form area (VWFA) with those in other regions in the brain. We also performed ALFF analysis in the resting state FC networks. The FC results revealed that, regarding the functionally connected brain regions, there exist similar intrinsically organized resting state networks for visual Chinese word processing in adults and children, suggesting that such networks may already be functional after 3-4 years of informal exposure to reading plus 3-4 years formal schooling. The ALFF results revealed that children appear to recruit more neural resources than adults in generally reading-irrelevant brain regions. Differences between child and adult ALFF results suggest that children's intrinsic word processing network during the resting state, though similar in functional connectivity, is still undergoing development. Further exposure to visual words and experience with reading are needed for children to develop a mature intrinsic network for word processing. The developmental course of the intrinsically organized word processing network may parallel that of the explicit word processing network. 
19135388	Active pauses induce more variable electromyographic pattern of the trapezius muscle activity during computer work. 	The aim of this laboratory study was to evaluate effects of active and passive pauses and investigate the distribution of the trapezius surface electromyographic (SEMG) activity during computer mouse work. Twelve healthy male subjects performed four sessions of computer work for 10 min in one day, with passive (relax) and active (30% maximum voluntary contraction of shoulder elevation) pauses given every 2 min at two different work paces (low/high). Bipolar SEMG from four parts of the trapezius muscle was recorded. The relative rest time was higher for the lower parts compared with the upper of the trapezius (p&lt;0.01). The centroid of exposure variation analysis (EVA) along the time axis was lower during the computer work with active pause compared with passive one (p&lt;0.05). The results of this study revealed (i) lower rest time for the upper parts of trapezius compared with the lower parts, in line with previous clinical findings, (ii) active pauses contributed to a more variable muscle activity pattern during computer work that might have functional implications with respect to work-related musculoskeletal disorders. 
19535184	Effects of eccentric exercise on trapezius electromyography during computer work with active and passive pauses. 	The aim of this laboratory study was to investigate the effects of eccentric exercises on the trapezius muscle spatial electromyographic (EMG) activity during computer work with active and passive pauses. Twelve healthy male subjects performed computer work with passive (relax) and active (30% maximum voluntary contraction of shoulder elevation) pauses given every 40s over 2 days, before, immediately and 24h after eccentric exercise. Surface EMG signals were recorded from four parts of the trapezius during computer work. EMG amplitude during computer work decreased immediately after exercise (P&lt;0.05). In the clavicular and descending parts of the trapezius, the centroid of exposure variation analysis along the time axis was lower during computer work with active pauses compared with passive ones (P&lt;0.05). Further, lower values of relative rest time was observed during active pause (P&lt;0.05). Eccentric exercises had a short term effect on muscle activation pattern during computer work, and decreased the muscle activity immediately after the exercises. The results of this study showed a more variable trapezius activity pattern and a lower trapezius rest with active pauses compared with passive pauses. Moreover, eccentric exercises resulted in a less variable activation pattern, decreasing the effect of active pauses. 
17419153	The effects of pause software on the temporal characteristics of computer use. 	The study investigated the natural work-pause pattern of computer users and the possible effects of imposing pause regimes on this pattern. Hereto, the precise timing of computer events was recorded across a large number of days. It was found that the distribution of the pause durations was extremely skewed and that pauses with twice the duration are twice less likely to occur. The effects of imposing pause regimes were studied by performing a simulation of commercially available pause software. It was found that depending on the duration of the introduced pause, the software added 25-57% of the pauses taken naturally. Analysis of the timing of the introduced pauses revealed that a large number of spontaneous pauses were taken close to the inserted pause. Considering the disappointing results of studies investigating the effects of introducing (active) pauses during computer work, this study has cast doubt on the usefulness of introducing short duration pauses. 
16468061	Oxygenation, EMG and position sense during computer mouse work. Impact of active versus passive pauses. 	We investigated the effects of active versus passive pauses implemented during computer mouse work on muscle oxygenation and EMG of the forearm extensor carpi radialis muscle, and on wrist position sense. Fifteen healthy female subjects (age: 19-24 years) performed a 60-min mouse-operated computer task, divided into three 20 min periods, on two occasions separated by 3-6 days. On one occasion a passive pause (subjects resting) was implemented at the end of each 20-min period, and on another occasion an active pause (subjects performed a number of high intensity extensions of the forearm) was implemented. Also at the end of each 20-min period, test contractions were conducted and subjective ratings of fatigue and stress were obtained. Another parameter of interest was total haemoglobin calculated as the summation of oxy-and deoxy-haemoglobin, since it reflects blood volume changes. The most interesting findings were an overall increasing trend in total haemoglobin throughout the mouse work (P&lt;0.001), and that this trend was greater for the active pause as compared to the passive pause (P&lt;0.01). These data were accompanied by an overall increase in oxygen saturation (P&lt;0.001), with a tendency, albeit not significant, toward a higher increase for the active pause (P=0.13). EMG amplitude and median frequency tended to decrease (P=0.08 and 0.05, respectively) during the mouse work but was not different between pause types. Borg ratings of forearm fatigue showed an overall increase during the activity (P&lt;0.001), but the perceptions of stress did not change. Position sense did not change due to the mouse work for either pause type. While increasing trends were found for both pause types, the present study lends support to the hypothesis of an enhancement in oxygenation and blood volume for computer mouse work implemented with active pauses. However, a presumption of an association between this enhancement and attenuated fatigue during the mouse work was not supported. 
14569401	The effect of physical and psychosocial loads on the trapezius muscle activity during computer keying tasks and rest periods. 	The overall aim was to investigate the effect of psychosocial loads on trapezius muscle activity during computer keying work and during short and long breaks. In 12 female subjects, surface electromyography (EMG) was recorded bilaterally from the upper trapezius muscle during a standardized one hand keying task-interspaced with short (30 s) and long (4 min) breaks-in sessions with and without a combination of cognitive and emotional stressors. Adding psychosocial loads to the same physical work did not increase the activity of the trapezius muscle on either the keying or the control side, both of which remained at median and static EMG activity levels of around 5% and 2.5% of the maximal voluntary electrical activity (EMG(max)), respectively. The difference between the keying and the control side was significant; and further the control side activity was significantly increased above resting level. During both short and long breaks, exposure to psychosocial loads also did not increase the activity of the trapezius muscle either on the side of the keying or the control hand. Of note is that during long breaks the muscle activity of the keying side as well as that of the control side remained at the same level as during the short breaks, which was increased above resting level. This was to be seen from the static and the median EMG activity levels as well as gap times, the overall mean values being: 0.4%EMG(max), 1.1%EMG(max), and 50% in gap time, respectively. psychosocial loads are not solely responsible for increased non-postural muscle activity; and increasing the duration of breaks does not per se cause muscle relaxation. 
24676518	A biomechanical review of the techniques used to estimate or measure resistive forces in swimming. 	Resistive or drag forces encountered during free swimming greatly influence the swim performance of elite competitive swimmers. The benefits in understanding the factors which affect the drag encountered will enhance performance within the sport. However, the current techniques used to experimentally measure or estimate drag values are questioned for their consistency, therefore limiting investigations in these factors. This paper aims to further understand how the resistive forces in swimming are measured and calculated. All techniques outlined demonstrate both strengths and weaknesses in the overall assessment of free swimming. By reviewing all techniques in this area, the reader should be able to select which one is best depending on what researchers want to gain from the testing. 
24343130	Optimal propulsive flapping in Stokes flows. 	Swimming fish and flying insects use the flapping of fins and wings to generate thrust. In contrast, microscopic organisms typically deform their appendages in a wavelike fashion. Since a flapping motion with two degrees of freedom is able, in theory, to produce net forces from a time-periodic actuation at all Reynolds numbers, we compute in this paper the optimal flapping kinematics of a rigid spheroid in a Stokes flow. The hydrodynamics for the force generation and energetics of the flapping motion is solved exactly. We then compute analytically the gradient of a flapping efficiency in the space of all flapping gaits and employ it to derive numerically the optimal flapping kinematics as a function of the shape of the flapper and the amplitude of the motion. The kinematics of optimal flapping are observed to depend weakly on the flapper shape and are very similar to the figure-eight motion observed in the motion of insect wings. Our results suggest that flapping could be a exploited experimentally as a propulsion mechanism valid across the whole range of Reynolds numbers. 
24451164	Modelling of a biologically inspired robotic fish driven by compliant parts. 	Inspired by biological swimmers such as fish, a robot composed of a rigid head, a compliant body and a rigid caudal fin was built. It has the geometrical properties of a subcarangiform swimmer of the same size. The head houses a servo-motor which actuates the compliant body and the caudal fin. It achieves this by applying a concentrated moment on a point near the compliant body base. In this paper, the dynamics of the compliant body driving the robotic fish is modelled and experimentally validated. Lighthill's elongated body theory is used to define the hydrodynamic forces on the compliant part and Rayleigh proportional damping is used to model damping. Based on the assumed modes method, an energetic approach is used to write the equations of motion of the compliant body and to compute the relationship between the applied moment and the resulting lateral deflections. Experiments on the compliant body were carried out to validate the model predictions. The results showed that a good match was achieved between the measured and predicted deformations. A discussion of the swimming motions between the real fish and the robot is presented. 
24524992	Unsteady hydrodynamic forces acting on a robotic arm and its flow field: application to the crawl stroke. 	This study aims to clarify the mechanisms by which unsteady hydrodynamic forces act on the hand of a swimmer during a crawl stroke. Measurements were performed for a hand attached to a robotic arm with five degrees of freedom independently controlled by a computer. The computer was programmed so the hand and arm mimicked a human performing the stroke. We directly measured forces on the hand and pressure distributions around it at 200 Hz; flow fields underwater near the hand were obtained via 2D particle image velocimetry (PIV). The data revealed two mechanisms that generate unsteady forces during a crawl stroke. One is the unsteady lift force generated when hand movement changes direction during the stroke, leading to vortex shedding and bound vortex created around it. This bound vortex circulation results in a lift that contributes to the thrust. The other occurs when the hand moves linearly with a large angle of attack, creating a Kármán vortex street. This street alternatively sheds clockwise and counterclockwise vortices, resulting in a quasi-steady drag contributing to the thrust. We presume that professional swimmers benefit from both mechanisms. Further studies are necessary in which 3D flow fields are measured using a 3D PIV system and a human swimmer. 
24482258	A computational fluid dynamics study of propulsion due to the orientation effects of swimmer's hand. 	The aim of the article is to determine the hydrodynamic characteristics of a swimmer's scanned hand model for various possible combinations of both the angle of attack and the sweepback angle, simulating separate underwater arm stroke phases of front crawl swimming. An actual swimmer's hand with thumb adducted was scanned using an Artec L 3D scanner. ANSYS Fluent code was applied for carrying out steady-state computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis. The hand model was positioned in nine different positions corresponding to the swimmer's hand orientations (angle of attack and sweepback angle) and velocities observed during the underwater hand stroke of front crawl. Hydrodynamic forces and coefficients were calculated. Results showed significantly higher drag coefficient values in the pull phase, when compared with previous studies under a steady-state flow condition. The mean value of the ratio of drag and lift coefficients was 2.67 ± 2.3 in underwater phases. The mean value of the ratio of drag and lift forces was 2.73 ± 2.4 in underwater phases. Moreover, hydrodynamic coefficients were not almost constant throughout different flow velocities, and variation was observed for different hand positions corresponding to different stroke phases. The current study suggests that the realistic variation of both the orientation angles influenced higher values of drag, lift and resultant coefficients and forces. 
24115059	An algorithm to estimate unsteady and quasi-steady pressure fields from velocity field measurements. 	We describe and characterize a method for estimating the pressure field corresponding to velocity field measurements such as those obtained by using particle image velocimetry. The pressure gradient is estimated from a time series of velocity fields for unsteady calculations or from a single velocity field for quasi-steady calculations. The corresponding pressure field is determined based on median polling of several integration paths through the pressure gradient field in order to reduce the effect of measurement errors that accumulate along individual integration paths. Integration paths are restricted to the nodes of the measured velocity field, thereby eliminating the need for measurement interpolation during this step and significantly reducing the computational cost of the algorithm relative to previous approaches. The method is validated by using numerically simulated flow past a stationary, two-dimensional bluff body and a computational model of a three-dimensional, self-propelled anguilliform swimmer to study the effects of spatial and temporal resolution, domain size, signal-to-noise ratio and out-of-plane effects. Particle image velocimetry measurements of a freely swimming jellyfish medusa and a freely swimming lamprey are analyzed using the method to demonstrate the efficacy of the approach when applied to empirical data. 
25123002	Unsteady flow phenomena in human undulatory swimming: a numerical approach. 	The undulatory underwater sequence is one of the most important phases in competitive swimming. An understanding of the recurrent vortex dynamics around the human body and their generation could therefore be used to improve swimming techniques. In order to produce a dynamic model, we applied human joint kinematics to three-dimensional (3D) body scans of a female swimmer. The flow around this dynamic model was then calculated using computational fluid dynamics with the aid of moving 3D meshes. Evaluation of the numerical results delivered by the various motion cycles identified characteristic vortex structures for each of the cycles, which exhibited increasing intensity and drag influence. At maximum thrust, drag forces appear to be 12 times higher than those of a passive gliding swimmer. As far as we know, this is the first disclosure of vortex rings merging into vortex tubes in the wake after vortex recapturing. All unsteady structures were visualized using a modified Q-criterion also incorporated into our methods. At the very least, our approach is likely to be suited to further studies examining swimmers engaging in undulatory swimming during training or competition. 
24072799	Undulating fins produce off-axis thrust and flow structures. 	While wake structures of many forms of swimming and flying are well characterized, the wake generated by a freely swimming undulating fin has not yet been analyzed. These elongated fins allow fish to achieve enhanced agility exemplified by the forward, backward and vertical swimming capabilities of knifefish, and also have potential applications in the design of more maneuverable underwater vehicles. We present the flow structure of an undulating robotic fin model using particle image velocimetry to measure fluid velocity fields in the wake. We supplement the experimental robotic work with high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics, simulating the hydrodynamics of both a virtual fish, whose fin kinematics and fin plus body morphology are measured from a freely swimming knifefish, and a virtual rendering of our robot. Our results indicate that a series of linked vortex tubes is shed off the long edge of the fin as the undulatory wave travels lengthwise along the fin. A jet at an oblique angle to the fin is associated with the successive vortex tubes, propelling the fish forward. The vortex structure bears similarity to the linked vortex ring structure trailing the oscillating caudal fin of a carangiform swimmer, though the vortex rings are distorted because of the undulatory kinematics of the elongated fin. 
24431145	Measurement of hydrodynamic force generation by swimming dolphins using bubble DPIV. 	Attempts to measure the propulsive forces produced by swimming dolphins have been limited. Previous uses of computational hydrodynamic models and gliding experiments have provided estimates of thrust production by dolphins, but these were indirect tests that relied on various assumptions. The thrust produced by two actively swimming bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) was directly measured using digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV). For dolphins swimming in a large outdoor pool, the DPIV method used illuminated microbubbles that were generated in a narrow sheet from a finely porous hose and a compressed air source. The movement of the bubbles was tracked with a high-speed video camera. Dolphins swam at speeds of 0.7 to 3.4 m s(-1) within the bubble sheet oriented along the midsagittal plane of the animal. The wake of the dolphin was visualized as the microbubbles were displaced because of the action of the propulsive flukes and jet flow. The oscillations of the dolphin flukes were shown to generate strong vortices in the wake. Thrust production was measured from the vortex strength through the Kutta-Joukowski theorem of aerodynamics. The dolphins generated up to 700 N during small amplitude swimming and up to 1468 N during large amplitude starts. The results of this study demonstrated that bubble DPIV can be used effectively to measure the thrust produced by large-bodied dolphins. 
23677835	Frontal plane running biomechanics in female runners with previous iliotibial band syndrome. 	Proximal factors such as excessive frontal plane pelvis and trunk motion have been postulated to be biomechanical risk factors associated with iliotibial band syndrome. In addition, lateral core endurance deficiencies may be related to increased pelvis and trunk motion during running. The purpose of this cross-sectional investigation was to determine if differences in biomechanics during running, as well as lateral core endurance exist between female runners with previous iliotibial band syndrome and controls. Gait and lateral core endurance were assessed in 34 female runners (17 with previous iliotibial band syndrome). Multivariate analysis of variance was performed to assess between group difference in pelvis, trunk, hip, and knee variables of interest. Runners with previous iliotibial band syndrome exhibited similar peak trunk lateral flexion, peak contralateral pelvic drop, peak hip adduction, and peak external knee adduction moment compared with controls. In addition, trunk-pelvis coordination was similar between groups. Contrary to our hypotheses, both groups exhibited trunk ipsilateral flexion. Lateral core endurance was not different between groups. These findings provide the first frontal plane pelvis and trunk kinematic data set in female runners with previous iliotibial band syndrome. Frontal plane pelvis and trunk motion may not be associated with iliotibial band syndrome. 
24231129	Planned and reactive agility performance in semiprofessional and amateur basketball players. 	Research indicates that planned and reactive agility are different athletic skills. These skills have not been adequately assessed in male basketball players. To define whether 10-m-sprint performance and planned and reactive agility measured by the Y-shaped agility test can discriminate between semiprofessional and amateur basketball players. Ten semiprofessional and 10 amateur basketball players completed 10-m sprints and planned- and reactive-agility tests. The Y-shaped agility test involved subjects sprinting 5 m through a trigger timing gate, followed by a 45° cut and 5-m sprint to the left or right through a target gate. In the planned condition, subjects knew the cut direction. For reactive trials, subjects visually scanned to find the illuminated gate. A 1-way analysis of variance (P &lt; .05) determined between-groups differences. Data were pooled (N = 20) for a correlation analysis (P &lt; .05). The reactive tests differentiated between the groups; semiprofessional players were 6% faster for the reactive left (P = .036) and right (P = .029) cuts. The strongest correlations were between the 10-m sprints and planned-agility tests (r = .590-.860). The reactive left cut did not correlate with the planned tests. The reactive right cut moderately correlated with the 10-m sprint and planned right cut (r = .487-.485). The results reemphasized that planned and reactive agility are separate physical qualities. Reactive agility discriminated between the semiprofessional and amateur basketball players; planned agility did not. To distinguish between male basketball players of different ability levels, agility tests should include a perceptual and decision-making component. 
24414034	Influence of physical contact on pacing strategies during game-based activities. 	Repeated sprinting incorporating tackles leads to greater reductions in sprint performance than repeated sprinting alone. However, the influence of physical contact on the running demands of game-based activities is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine whether the addition of physical contact altered pacing strategies during game-based activities. Twenty-three elite youth rugby league players were divided into 2 groups. Group 1 played the contact game on day 1 while group 2 played the noncontact game; 72 h later they played the alternate game. Each game consisted of offside touch on a 30 × 70-m field, played over two 8-min halves. Rules were identical between games except the contact game included a 10-s wrestle bout every 50 s. Microtechnology devices were used to analyze player movements. There were greater average reductions during the contact game for distance (25%, 38 m/min, vs 10%, 20 m/min; effect size [ES] = 1.78 ± 1.02) and low-speed distance (21%, 24 m/min, vs 0%, 2 m/s; ES = 1.38 ± 1.02) compared with the noncontact game. There were similar reductions in high-speed running (41%, 18 m/min, vs 45%, 15 m/min; ES = 0.15 ± 0.95). The addition of contact to game-based activities causes players to reduce low-speed activity in an attempt to maintain high-intensity activities. Despite this, players were unable to maintain high-speed running while performing contact efforts. Improving a player's ability to perform contact efforts while maintaining running performance should be a focus in rugby league training. 
24414148	Does a 3-min all-out test provide suitable measures of exercise intensity at the maximal lactate steady state or peak oxygen uptake for well-trained runners? 	To examine whether a 3-min all-out test can be used to obtain accurate values for the maximal lactate steady state (vMLSS) and/or peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) of well-trained runners. The 15 male volunteers (25 ± 5 y, 181 ± 6 cm, 76 ± 7 kg, VO2peak 69.3 ± 9.5 mL · kg-1 · min-1) performed a ramp test, a 3-min all-out test, and several submaximal 30-min runs at constant paces of vEND (mean velocity during the last 30 s of the 3-min all-out test) itself and vEND +0.2, +0.1, -0.1, -0.2, -0.3, or -0.4 m/s. vMLSS and vEND were correlated (r = .69, P = .004), although vMLSS was lower (mean difference: 0.26 ± 0.32 m/s, 95% CI -.44 to -.08 m/s, P = .007, effect size = 0.65). The VO2peak values derived from the ramp and 3-min all-out tests were not correlated (r = .41, P = .12), with a mean difference of 523 ± 1002 mL (95% CI 31 to 1077 mL). A 3-min all-out test does not provide a suitable measure of vMLSS or VO2peak for well-trained runners. 
24436350	Hormonal and neuromuscular responses to high-level middle- and long-distance competition. 	The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of high-level competition on salivary free cortisol, countermovement jump (CMJ), and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and the relationships between these fatigue indicators in a group of elite middle- and long-distance runners. The salivary free cortisol levels and CMJ height of 10 high-level middle- and long-distance runners (7 men, 3 women; age 27.6 ± 5.1y) competing in 800-m, 1500-m, 3000-m, or 5000-m events in the 2013 Spanish National Championships were measured throughout a 4-wk baseline period, then again before and after their respective races on the day of the competition. Athletes' RPE was also measured after their races. Cortisol increased significantly after the race compared with the value measured 90 min before the race (+98.3%, g = 0.82, P &lt; .05), while CMJ height decreased significantly after the race (-3.9%, g = 0.34, P &lt; .05). The decrease in CMJ height after the race correlates significantly with the postcompetition cortisol increase (r = .782, P &lt; .05) and the RPE assessment (r = .762, P &lt; .01). Observed differences in CMJ height correlate significantly with salivary free cortisol levels and RPE of middle- and long-distance runners. These results show the suitability of the CMJ for monitoring multifactorial competition responses in high-level middle- and long-distance runners. 
24050682	Body armour: the effect of load, exercise and distraction on landing forces. 	We investigated the effect of added load and intense exercise on jump and landing performance and ground reaction force (GRF) during landings where attentional demand was varied. Fifty-two males (37 ± 9.2 years, 180.7 ± 6.1 cm, 90.2 ± 11.6 kg, maximal aerobic fitness (VO(₂max)) 50 ± 8.5 ml (.) kg(-1 .) min(-1), BMI 27.6 ± 3.1, mean ± s) completed a VO(₂max) test. Experimental sessions were completed (≥4 days in between) in a randomised counterbalanced order, one while wearing body armour and appointments (loaded) and one without load (unloaded). A vertical jump, a drop landing concentrating on safe touchdown, a drop jump and a drop landing with an attentional distraction were performed. These were repeated 1 min after a 5-min treadmill run. Mean jump height decreased by 12% (P &lt; 0.001) with loading and a further by 6% following the running task. Peak GRFs were increased by 13-19% with loading (P &lt; 0.001) depending on the landing task demands and a further by 4-9% following intense exercise. The distracted drop landing had significantly higher GRFs compared to all other landings. Results demonstrate that added load impacts on jumping and landing performance, an effect that is amplified by prior intense exercise, and distraction during landing. Such increases in GRF apply to police officer performance in their duties and may increase the risk of injury. 
24533489	Multidimensional performance characteristics in selected and deselected talented soccer players. 	The present study examined whether performance characteristics discriminated between selected and deselected players in talent development programmes. This examination was carried out in talented soccer players, aged 16-18 years using objective measurement instruments. Four domains of multidimensional performance characteristics (physiological, technical, tactical and psychological) were assessed by using a test battery consisting of soccer-specific field tests and questionnaires. Multivariate analyses of covariance revealed that the physiological characteristics peak and repeated shuttle sprint, the technical characteristics of peak and repeated shuttle dribble and the tactical characteristic of 'positioning and deciding', significantly differed between the selected (n=76) and deselected players (n=37), with selected players performing better (P&lt;0.05). Discriminant function analysis showed that the combination of the technical characteristic 'peak dribbling', the tactical characteristic 'positioning and deciding' and the physiological characteristic of 'peak sprinting' classified 69% of talented players correctly. In conclusion, the decisions made by the investigated clubs to either select or deselect players in their talent development programme, whom were aged 16-18 years, were mostly discriminated by aspects of the players' technical, tactical and physiological skill performances. Sports research can play an essential role in investigating the club's perception of important performance characteristics in talented players. 
24533516	The acute effects intensity and volume of strength training on running performance. 	Strength training has been shown to cause acute detrimental effects on running performance. However, there is limited investigation on the effect of various strength training variables, whilst controlling eccentric contraction velocity, on running performance. The present study examined the effects of intensity and volume (i.e. whole body vs. lower body only) of strength training with slow eccentric contractions on running economy (RE) [i.e. below anaerobic threshold (AT)] and time-to-exhaustion (TTE) (i.e. above AT) 6 hours post. Fifteen trained and moderately endurance trained male runners undertook high-intensity whole body (HW), high-intensity lower body only (HL) and low-intensity whole body (LW) strength training sessions with slow eccentric contractions (i.e. 1:4 second concentric-to-eccentric contraction) in random order. Six hours following each strength training session, a RE test with TTE was conducted. The results showed that HW, HL and LW sessions had no effect on RE and that LW session had no effect on TTE (P ≥ 0.05). However, HW and HL sessions significantly reduced TTE (P &lt; 0.05). These findings demonstrate that a 6-hour recovery period following HW, HL and LW sessions may minimize attenuation in endurance training performance below AT, although caution should be taken for endurance training sessions above AT amongst trained and moderately endurance trained runners. 
22908853	Young African women must have empowering and receptive social environments for HIV prevention. 	This paper describes a study which explored the lives of young Ugandan women through their voices, and related the findings to HIV prevention paradigms. The research was conducted in the context of the continuing vulnerability of young Ugandan women to HIV; reflected in disproportionately high prevalence compared to young men. The participants of the study were 15 young women aged 15-19 years, from Busoga Region in Eastern Uganda. Given the focus on young women's voices within norms of gender inequality, a narrative methodology was used as a safe space for participants to speak about their lives, expanding on research experiences with young people. The methods used included drawing; written stories and drama; aspirational writing and diary keeping. Forty-eight narratives, in image and word form, represented everyday experiences in young women's lives, as well as difficult experiences of inequality and resistance. Young women portrayed considerable social barriers to empowerment, and a challenging environment of poverty and educational limitations. Young women's representations were analysed using a gender empowerment and positive sexuality framework. The resulting analysis was then critically applied to HIV prevention paradigms. Evidence from the study showed that prevailing HIV prevention paradigms reinforce the difficulties faced by young women in their sexual lives. This research adds to calls for alternative and wider approaches to HIV prevention, underpinned by gender empowerment. Alternative approaches need to build young African women's voices in the spaces of homes, schools and communities. It is vital, however, that such efforts are embedded in more radical change leading to social environments receptive to the needs of young women. 
22830094	&quot;Hunnish scenes&quot; and a &quot;Virgin birth&quot;: a 1920s case of sexual and bodily ignorance. 	When, in June 1921, a clairvoyant informed Christabel Russell, to her great surprise, that she was pregnant, her husband denied paternity and petitioned for divorce on grounds of adultery. The Hon. John Russell claimed that on the very few occasions that they had slept in the same bed in their two and half years of marriage, his method of birth control (which she referred to disapprovingly as &quot;Hunnish scenes&quot;) had made pregnancy impossible. What added to the sensational nature of the case was the revelation that whilst pregnant, Christabel's hymen was unbroken – hence the claims of a &quot;virgin birth.&quot; Two divorce trials and two appeals followed. The first trial ended inconclusively, the second trial was won for John Russell by the eminent barrister Sir Edward Marshall-Hall, but on the second appeal, in the House of Lords, it was ruled that evidence questioning the legitimacy of a child born in wedlock was inadmissible. The decree nisi was rescinded and the baby was legitimized. 
21675186	Cultural variations in the sexual marketplace: gender equality correlates with more sexual activity. 	Sexual economics theory assumes that heterosexual communities can be analyzed as marketplaces in which men offer women resources such as love, respect, money, and commitment in exchange for sex. In response to economic, political, and other disadvantages, women collectively restrict their sexuality to maintain a low supply relative to male demand, thereby ensuring a high price. Hence, we tested the hypothesis that sexual norms and practices would be more restrictive in countries marked by gender inequality than in countries where the genders were more equal. An international online sex survey (N&gt;317,000) yielded four measures of sexual activity, and 37 nations' means on all four measures were correlated with independent (World Economic Forum) ratings of gender equality. Consistent with predictions, relatively high gender equality was associated with more casual sex, more sex partners per capita, younger ages for first sex, and greater tolerance/approval of premarital sex. 
20364442	'These days virginity is just a feeling': heterosexuality and change in young urban Vietnamese men. 	This paper argues that young Vietnamese men's beliefs around women's changing sexual identities and habits generate some anxiety around their own heterosexual abilities, while contributing to growing doubts around 'traditional' masculine advantage within sexual relations. It explores this notion in regard to eight Vietnamese men aged 18-30 years, interviewed over 13 months of fieldwork in Hanoi, Vietnam. The paper suggests that young men are increasingly ambivalent about notions of 'gendered morality' in general and the significance of female virginity in particular, because of popular ideas around women's changing sexual behaviours since the economic liberalisation of Vietnam in the late 1980s. However, while such ambivalence might at first suggest a shift toward improved gender and sexual equality, findings reveal that some young urban Vietnamese men construct and reinforce explicitly 'masculinist' gender ideologies by watching heterosexual pornography in groups with male friends or by visiting female sex workers for the purpose of watching their friends have sex. In a time of rapid change around discourses on women, some young men seek to build a stable community and relationships with each other by controlling the terms and practice by which women's bodies are used and consumed. 
19717149	Hymen reconstruction: ethical and legal issues. 	A hymen may be ruptured by sexual intercourse and several other means. In cultures prizing unmarried women's virginity, premarital rupture may shame a woman, and her family. Women, including brides whose virginity is not proven at marriage, face humiliation, ostracism, divorce, and violence-at the extreme, &quot;honor&quot; killing. Nevertheless, gynecologists may oppose hymen reconstruction on grounds that it is deceptive, not medically required, or that the requirement of evidence of virginity discriminates against women and the procedure supports holding them to higher standards of virtue than are required of men. Gynecologists may justify the procedure, however, as serving health, which includes patients' mental and social well-being and women's human rights to control their own bodies. Further, many adolescents lose their virginity innocently, by rape or coercion, and, without hymen reconstruction, women may face violence and even death. The procedure is usually lawful, and distinguishable from female genital cutting or mutilation. 
24479611	Landing ground reaction forces in figure skaters and non-skaters. 	Researchers and clinicians have suggested that overuse injuries to the lower back and lower extremities of figure skaters may be associated with the repeated high impact forces sustained during jump landings. Our primary aim was to compare the vertical ground reaction forces (GRFs) in freestyle figure skaters (n = 26) and non-skaters (n = 18) for the same barefoot single leg landing on a force plate from a 20 cm platform. Compared with non-skaters, skaters exhibited a significantly greater normalised peak GRF (3.50 ± 0.47 × body weight for skaters vs. 3.13 ± 0.45 × body weight for non-skaters), significantly shorter time to peak GRF (81.21 ± 14.01 ms for skaters vs. 93.81 ± 16.49 ms for non-skaters), and significantly longer time to stabilisation (TTS) of the GRF (2.38 ± 0.07 s for skaters vs. 2.22 ± 0.07 s for non-skaters). Skaters also confined their centre of pressure (CoP) to a significantly smaller mediolateral (M-L) (25%) and anterior-posterior (A-P) (40%) range during the landing phase, with the position of the CoP located in the mid to forefoot region. The narrower and more forward position of the CoP in skaters may at least partially explain the greater peak GRF, shorter time to peak, and longer TTS. Training and/or equipment modification serve as potential targets to decrease peak GRF by distributing it over a longer time period. More comprehensive studies including electromyography and motion capture are needed to fully characterise the unique figure skater landing strategy. 
22092985	Effects of frequency on gross efficiency and performance in roller ski skating. 	The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of frequency on efficiency and performance during G3 roller ski skating. Eight well-trained male cross-country skiers performed three submaximal 5-min speeds (10, 13, and 16 km/h) and a time-to-exhaustion (TTE) performance (at 20 km/h) using the G3 skating technique using freely chosen, high, and low frequency at all four speeds. All tests were done using roller skis on a large treadmill at 5% incline. Gross efficiency (GE) was calculated as power divided by metabolic rate. Power was calculated as the sum of power against frictional forces and power against gravity. Metabolic rate was calculated from oxygen consumption and blood lactate concentration. Freely chosen frequency increased from 60 to 70 strokes/min as speed increased from 10 to 20 km/h. GE increased with power. At high power (20 km/h performance test), both efficiency and performance were significantly reduced by high frequency. In regard to choice of frequency during G3 roller ski skating, cross-country skiers seems to be self-optimized both in relation to energy saving (efficiency) and performance (TTE). 
22127680	The influence of incline and speed on work rate, gross efficiency and kinematics of roller ski skating. 	During competitions, elite cross-country skiers produce higher external work rates on uphill than on flat terrain. However, it is not presently known whether this reflects solely higher energy expenditure. Furthermore, the kinematic factors associated with these higher rates of uphill work have not yet been examined. Therefore, in the present investigation the work rate and associated kinematic parameters at similar metabolic rates during roller ski skating on flat and uphill terrains have been compared. Seven elite male skiers performed six 5-min sub-maximal exercise bouts at the same low, moderate and high metabolic rates on 2 and 8% inclines, while roller skiing on a treadmill employing the G3 skating technique. The work rate was calculated as work against gravity and friction, whereas the energetic equivalent of VO(2) was taken as the metabolic rate. Gross efficiency was defined as work rate divided by metabolic rate. Kinematic parameters were analyzed in three dimensions. At the same metabolic rate, the work rate, cycle rate, work per cycle and relative duration of propulsive phases during a cycle of movement were all higher on the 8% than on the 2% incline at all speeds (all P &lt; 0.05). At similar work rates, gross efficiency was greater on the 8% incline (P &lt; 0.05). In conclusion, these elite skiers consistently demonstrated higher work rates on the 8% incline. To achieve the higher work rates on the steeper incline, these elite skiers employed higher cycle rates and performed more work per cycle, in association with a longer relative propulsive phase. 
22395275	Relationship of off-ice and on-ice performance measures in high school male hockey players. 	The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of off-ice performance measures with on-ice turning, crossover, and forward skating performance in high school male hockey players. Thirty-eight players aged 15-18 (mean age ± SD: 16.4 ± 1.1 years; height: 177.9 ± 6.8 cm; weight: 72.5 ± 8.9 kg) participated in this study. On-ice tests included a forward sprint, short radius turns, and crossover turns. Off-ice tests included a 40-yd sprint, vertical jumps, horizontal jumps, and a dynamic balance test using a Y balance testing device. Five off-ice variables correlated with all on-ice performance measures. These variables included the 40-yd sprint, lateral bound right to left limb, double limb horizontal hop, balance on right in posterolateral direction, and composite balance performance on the right. Hierachical regression demonstrated that off-ice sprint time was most predictive of on-ice skating performance, accounting for 65.4% of the variability in forward skate time, 45.0% of the variability in left short radius time, 21.8% of the variance in right short radius time, 36.2% of the variance in left crossover time, and 30.8% of the variability in right crossover time. When using off-ice tests to evaluate hockey players, the 40-yd sprint is the best predictor of skating performance. Based on our regression equation, for every 1-second difference in the 40-yd sprint time, there will be approximately a 0.6-second difference in the 34.5-m on-ice sprint. The 40-yd sprint predicts forward skating performance and to a lesser degree; it also predicts crossover and tuning performance. 
22178031	Sports activities are reflected in the local stability and regularity of body sway: older ice-skaters have better postural control than inactive elderly. 	With age postural control deteriorates and increases the risk for falls. Recent research has suggested that in contrast to persons with superior balance control (dancer's athletes), with pathology and aging, predictability and regularity of sway patterns increase and stability decreases implying a less adaptive form of postural control. The aim of the present study was to determine, whether patterns of body sway of elderly (N=13) who practice a sport which challenges postural control (ice speed-skating), are more similar to that of young subjects (N=10) than to that of inactive elderly (N=10). Trunk patterns were measured with a tri-axial accelerometer. Data were recorded during quiet upright stance with (1) eyes open, (2) limited vision, and (3) while performing a dual task. Anterior-posterior and medio-lateral acceleration time-series were analyzed. Differences in postural control were quantified in terms of the magnitude of the acceleration (root mean square), the smoothness (mean power frequency), the predictability (sample entropy) and the local stability (largest Lyapunov exponent). Postural control of ice-skating elderly differed from that of sedentary elderly. As anticipated, postural control of the ice-skating elderly was similar to that of young adults. For anterior-posterior accelerations, the skating elderly and the younger subjects had significant higher stability and lower regularity than the non-skating elderly in all tasks. These results imply that sport activities such as ice-skating are beneficial for elderly people. It might, at least partly, counteract the age related changes in postural control. 
22634959	A quasi-experimental study of Chinese top-level speed skaters' training load: threshold versus polarized model. 	To examine the effectiveness of threshold and polarized models in the training organization of Chinese top-level sprint speed skaters using a 2-y quasi-experimental design. Two years (2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons) of the Chinese national speed-skating team's daily training load (N = 9; 5 men, 23.6 ± 1.7 y, weight 76.6 ± 4.1 kg, competitive experience 5.0 ± 0.8 y, 500-m time 35.45 ± 0.72 s, 1000-m time 71.18 ± 2.28 s; 4 women, 25.3 ± 6.8 y, 73.0 ± 8.5 kg, 6.3 ± 3.5 y, 37.81 ± 0.46 s, 75.70 ± 0.81 s) were collected and analyzed. Each season's training load included overall duration (calculated in min and km), frequency (calculated by overall sessions), and training intensity (measured by ear blood lactate or estimated by heart rate), Their performances at national, World Cup, and Olympic competitions during the 2 seasons (2004-06), as well as lactate data measured 15 and 30 min after these competitions, were also collected and analyzed. Based on the lactate data (&lt;2, 2-4, &gt;4 mmol/L), training zones were classified as low, moderate, and high intensity. The total durations and frequencies of the training load were similar across the seasons, but a threshold-training model distribution was used in 2004-05, and a polarized- raining-load organization in 2005-06. Under the polarized-training model, or load organization, all speed skaters' performance improved and their lactate after competition decreased considerably. Training-intensity distribution based on a polarized-training model led to the success in top Chinese sprint speed skaters in the 2005-06 season. 
20387393	Pacing and performance in competitive middle-distance speed skating. 	Data from speed skating during World Cup 1500-m middle-distance races were analyzed to (a) determine the time/velocity distribution during the race and (b) assess the impact of time spent in several race sectors on performance outcome. Absolute and relative sector times for the first 300 m (S1) and the following three 400-m laps (S2-S4) and their associations with total race time were analyzed for 53 female and 61 male skaters. Simple regression analyses revealed that both a short relative sector time later in the race (women in S3: p &lt; .001; men in S3: p = .001) and a high relative sector time early in the race (women in S1: p &lt; .001; men in S1: p = .08) were associated with a short total race time in the 1500-m middle-distance event. These findings suggest that for the best overall time it is important to be as fast as possible later in the race and not quite as fast during the first part of the race. Therefore, speed skating performance may be improved by maintaining a high velocity or by minimizing the decline from a high velocity during later race segments. 
24117224	Measurement of the dynamics in ski jumping using a wearable inertial sensor-based system. 	Dynamics is a central aspect of ski jumping, particularly during take-off and stable flight. Currently, measurement systems able to measure ski jumping dynamics (e.g. 3D cameras, force plates) are complex and only available in few research centres worldwide. This study proposes a method to determine dynamics using a wearable inertial sensor-based system which can be used routinely on any ski jumping hill. The system automatically calculates characteristic dynamic parameters during take-off (position and velocity of the centre of mass perpendicular to the table, force acting on the centre of mass perpendicular to the table and somersault angular velocity) and stable flight (total aerodynamic force). Furthermore, the acceleration of the ski perpendicular to the table was quantified to characterise the skis lift at take-off. The system was tested with two groups of 11 athletes with different jump distances. The force acting on the centre of mass, acceleration of the ski perpendicular to the table, somersault angular velocity and total aerodynamic force were different between groups and correlated with the jump distances. Furthermore, all dynamic parameters were within the range of prior studies based on stationary measurement systems, except for the centre of mass mean force which was slightly lower. 
22092985	Effects of frequency on gross efficiency and performance in roller ski skating. 	The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of frequency on efficiency and performance during G3 roller ski skating. Eight well-trained male cross-country skiers performed three submaximal 5-min speeds (10, 13, and 16 km/h) and a time-to-exhaustion (TTE) performance (at 20 km/h) using the G3 skating technique using freely chosen, high, and low frequency at all four speeds. All tests were done using roller skis on a large treadmill at 5% incline. Gross efficiency (GE) was calculated as power divided by metabolic rate. Power was calculated as the sum of power against frictional forces and power against gravity. Metabolic rate was calculated from oxygen consumption and blood lactate concentration. Freely chosen frequency increased from 60 to 70 strokes/min as speed increased from 10 to 20 km/h. GE increased with power. At high power (20 km/h performance test), both efficiency and performance were significantly reduced by high frequency. In regard to choice of frequency during G3 roller ski skating, cross-country skiers seems to be self-optimized both in relation to energy saving (efficiency) and performance (TTE). 
23491149	Factors associated with the ability to estimate actual speeds in recreational alpine skiers. 	To measure on-slope speeds of alpine skiers and to compare their ability to accurately estimate their actual speed with regard to measured speed, age, sex, skill level, helmet use, and risk-taking behavior. Skiing speeds of 416 adult skiers (62% men, 38% women) were measured with a radar speed gun. Skiers were interviewed about their age, sex, skiing ability, helmet use, and risk-taking behavior. Additionally, skiers had to estimate their measured speed as accurately as possible. The difference between estimated and measured speed was described as error of estimation (EE). Mean measured speed (±SD) of all participants was 48.2 (±14.3) km/h. Pearson correlation coefficient between the actual speed and the estimated speed was 0.57 (P &lt; .001) for all participants. Skiers underestimated their measured speed on average by 5.8 km/h or 8.1%. A multiple hierarchical linear regression analysis revealed that when skiing speed is increased by 1 km/h the EE significantly decreases by 0.5 km/h. Male sex, higher skill level, risky skiing behavior, and younger age groups showed a significantly better ability to estimate skiing speed, whereas ski helmet use did not. Skiing speed, age, sex, skill level, and risk-taking behavior seem to influence the ability to estimate actual speeds in recreational alpine skiers. 
23170935	Scaling of upper-body power output to predict time-trial roller skiing performance. 	The purpose of the present study was to establish the most appropriate allometric model to predict mean skiing speed during a double-poling roller skiing time-trial using scaling of upper-body power output. Forty-five Swedish junior cross-country skiers (27 men and 18 women) of national and international standard were examined. The skiers, who had a body mass (m) of 69.3 ± 8.0 kg (mean ± s), completed a 120-s double-poling test on a ski ergometer to determine their mean upper-body power output (W). Performance data were subsequently obtained from a 2-km time-trial, using the double-poling technique, to establish mean roller skiing speed. A proportional allometric model was used to predict skiing speed. The optimal model was found to be: Skiing speed = 1.057 · W (0.556) · m (-0.315), which explained 58.8% of the variance in mean skiing speed (P &lt; 0.001). The 95% confidence intervals for the scaling factors ranged from 0.391 to 0.721 for W and from -0.626 to -0.004 for m. The results in this study suggest that allometric scaling of upper-body power output is preferable for the prediction of performance of junior cross-country skiers rather than absolute expression or simple ratio-standard scaling of upper-body power output. 
22127680	The influence of incline and speed on work rate, gross efficiency and kinematics of roller ski skating. 	During competitions, elite cross-country skiers produce higher external work rates on uphill than on flat terrain. However, it is not presently known whether this reflects solely higher energy expenditure. Furthermore, the kinematic factors associated with these higher rates of uphill work have not yet been examined. Therefore, in the present investigation the work rate and associated kinematic parameters at similar metabolic rates during roller ski skating on flat and uphill terrains have been compared. Seven elite male skiers performed six 5-min sub-maximal exercise bouts at the same low, moderate and high metabolic rates on 2 and 8% inclines, while roller skiing on a treadmill employing the G3 skating technique. The work rate was calculated as work against gravity and friction, whereas the energetic equivalent of VO(2) was taken as the metabolic rate. Gross efficiency was defined as work rate divided by metabolic rate. Kinematic parameters were analyzed in three dimensions. At the same metabolic rate, the work rate, cycle rate, work per cycle and relative duration of propulsive phases during a cycle of movement were all higher on the 8% than on the 2% incline at all speeds (all P &lt; 0.05). At similar work rates, gross efficiency was greater on the 8% incline (P &lt; 0.05). In conclusion, these elite skiers consistently demonstrated higher work rates on the 8% incline. To achieve the higher work rates on the steeper incline, these elite skiers employed higher cycle rates and performed more work per cycle, in association with a longer relative propulsive phase. 
22620279	Quantifying instantaneous performance in alpine ski racing. 	Alpine ski racing is a popular sport in many countries and a lot of research has gone into optimising athlete performance. Two factors influence athlete performance in a ski race: speed and the chosen path between the gates. However, to date there is no objective, quantitative method to determine instantaneous skiing performance that takes both of these factors into account. The purpose of this short communication was to define a variable quantifying instantaneous skiing performance and to study how this variable depended on the skiers' speed and on their chosen path. Instantaneous skiing performance was defined as time loss per elevation difference dt/dz, which depends on the skier's speed v(z), and the distance travelled per elevation difference ds/dz. Using kinematic data collected in an earlier study, it was evaluated how these variables can be used to assess the individual performance of six ski racers in two slalom turns. The performance analysis conducted in this study might be a useful tool not only for athletes and coaches preparing for competition, but also for sports scientists investigating skiing techniques or engineers developing and testing skiing equipment. 
22168430	Automatic measurement of key ski jumping phases and temporal events with a wearable system. 	We propose a new method, based on inertial sensors, to automatically measure at high frequency the durations of the main phases of ski jumping (i.e. take-off release, take-off, and early flight). The kinematics of the ski jumping movement were recorded by four inertial sensors, attached to the thigh and shank of junior athletes, for 40 jumps performed during indoor conditions and 36 jumps in field conditions. An algorithm was designed to detect temporal events from the recorded signals and to estimate the duration of each phase. These durations were evaluated against a reference camera-based motion capture system and by trainers conducting video observations. The precision for the take-off release and take-off durations (indoor &lt; 39 ms, outdoor = 27 ms) can be considered technically valid for performance assessment. The errors for early flight duration (indoor = 22 ms, outdoor = 119 ms) were comparable to the trainers' variability and should be interpreted with caution. No significant changes in the error were noted between indoor and outdoor conditions, and individual jumping technique did not influence the error of take-off release and take-off. Therefore, the proposed system can provide valuable information for performance evaluation of ski jumpers during training sessions. 
21297566	&quot;Living high - training low&quot; vs. &quot;living high - training high&quot;: erythropoietic responses and performance of adolescent cross-country skiers. 	To determine and compare the erythropoietic response and exercise performance of adolescent cross-country skiers, as a result of &quot;living high-training high&quot; (HH) and &quot;living high-training low&quot; (HL). Nine female and six male adolescent cross-country skiers volunteered to participate in separate trials. In the first trial (HH), the skiers lived and trained for 21 days at 1550-2050 m, while in the second trial (HL) they trained near sea level (450-500 m) but resided at 1550 m. All participants underwent maximal cycle ergometer tests for the determination of VO2max and cardiorespiratory parameters via an open circuit system at sea level before ascent to altitude, and 1-2 days after descent from altitude. Blood samples were drawn prior to and immediately after maximal cycle exercise testing, at sea level prior to ascent, on days 1 (D1) and 21 (D21) at altitude (1740 m), and 1-2 days post-altitude, for the determination of serum erythropoietin (EPO) concentration, haemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (Ht), and red blood cell (RBC) volume. The results showed that both boys and girls cross-country skiers, significantly improved their sea level VO2max after 21 days of living at moderate altitude and training near sea level. The present study demonstrates that living at moderate altitude, 1550-2050 m and training low, near sea level (450-500 m) significantly increases VO2max and RBC mass for both boys and girls. Results indicate that applying the training concept &quot;living high - training low&quot; in adolescent athletes may improve their endurance performance. 
22169212	Differences in markers of cardiovascular disease between professional football players of West-Asian and Black African descent. 	To examine the cardiovascular risk factors of professional football players of West-Asian and Black African descent competing in the 2010/11 Qatar Stars League. Ten out of twelve professional football clubs attended pre-participation screening. 100 West-Asian males from seven Gulf States and six Middle-Eastern countries and 90 Black males from seven African countries. All players were screened using the FIFA pre-competition medical assessment, incorporating a physical examination, resting 12-Lead ECG, echocardiogram, with determination of total cholesterol, high and low density lipoprotein (HDL/LDL) and triglycerides. West-Asian football players had a higher prevalence of a family history (FH) of coronary heart disease (CHD) (25% vs. 12%, p = 0.025) compared to Black African players predominantly due to CHD in their fathers (14% vs. 6%, p&lt;0.05). West-Asian players had higher total cholesterol levels (4.4 vs. 4.2 mmol/L, p = 0.025) and lower HDL levels (1.3 vs. 1.4 mmol/L, p = 0.004) than Black African players; remaining significant after adjusting for a FH of CHD. Positively, all lipid levels were clinically acceptable for both ethnicities. Finally, one in eight West-Asian and one in eleven Black African football players were regular smokers. The prevalence of cardiovascular disease in West-Asia is increasing. This study observed clinically acceptable blood lipid profiles for both West-Asian and Black African football players. However, West-Asian players had a greater number of markers for CVD than their Black African counterparts despite being matched for physical activity levels. Targeted education with regards to diet, lifestyle and tobacco use is required for both ethnicities. 
21726882	The pre-adoption demographic and health profiles of men participating in a programme of men's health delivered in English Premier League football clubs. 	To investigate the pre-adoption demographic and health profiles of men participating in a programme of men's health delivered in English Premier League (EPL) football clubs. A series of match day and programmed health promotion interventions held in EPL clubs (n = 16), including awareness-raising activity days for supporters, weekly healthy lifestyle classes, and outreach activities targeted in local communities. Interventions were delivered at football stadia, club training venues and community facilities. Interventions were run by health trainers who received specific training in men's health and behavioural change activities. Participants completed self-report measures for demographics and lifestyle behaviours, including physical activity, consumption of fruit and vegetables, smoking, height, weight, consumption of alcohol and perception of health. Measurement occurred before the interventions. Data were independently analysed and used to assess adoption of the interventions and pre-intervention health profiles of participants. Nine hundred and forty-six men adopted the interventions, but the mode of engagement led to variations in the sample size. Demographics showed that 89% (n = 783/875) were aged 18-44 years and 78% (n = 685/878) were White British. In a subsample, the percentages of men failing to meet health guidelines were as follows: physical activity, 79% (n = 351/440); consumption of fruit and vegetables, 82% (n = 315/380); smoking, 28% (n = 103/373); high body weight, 67% (n = 245/358); and high alcohol consumption, 40% (n = 112/279). Sixty-nine percent of men (n = 242/348) considered that they had no health problems, but 67% (n = 208/310) presented with three or more risk factors for coronary heart disease. Over 40% (n = 125/307) reported never going to see their general practitioner. A national programme of men's health promotion interventions delivered in EPL football clubs was effective in reaching target audiences. Interventions were predominantly adopted by men not meeting health guidelines. 
12608124	[Recovery from exercise in trained smokers]. 	Assess the influence of tobacco on recovery after exercise in sportsmen. Sixty-three smokers aged 18-33 years, practising soccer, participated in this study. These subjects belonged to second division congolese league clubs. Heart rate (HR) was studied during recovery of moderate exercise (Ruffer's test), but also recovery index and arterial pressure. Kinetics of the HR was studied for 7 min for recovery. A control group consisted of 50 non smokers, practising soccer at similar level. Smokers showed heart rate values significantly higher (P &lt; 0.001). Non smokers presented a low recovery index. The recovery has generally two components: the first is slow in smokers, while the second is a fast one. However, recovery rate for the smokers was more rapid during the alactic phase. There exists also differences with regards to smoking tobacco dependence: when compared to great smokers, lower smokers exhibited a faster first phase and a slower second phase. These differences were significant. The smokers and non smokers differences are discussed with reference to the effects of nicotinemia and carbon monoxide on sympathetic-parasympathetic balance. Cardiovascular changes during exercise have a twofold control: decrease a vagal tone and increase of sympathetic activity. The comparison of smokers and non smokers concerning recovery led to suppose that there exists a difference in regards of the catecholaminergic sensitivity. The problem of thermoregulation must not be neglected during recovery. As smokers are considered, cutaneous thermolysis is perhaps important when these subjects perform exercise in ambient hot air. Here against, it is known that thermolysis mechanisms are not similar in smokers and non smokers. In conclusion, this study showed that smoking tobacco induce a lower physical condition in sportmen. Recovery rate after exercise may function as a predictor of fitness in smokers. 
12198283	BAT flouts tobacco-free World Cup policy. 	In Malaysia, British American Tobacco flouted the World Cup of football's no-tobacco ruling 
11804022	Exercise may induce reversible low bone mass in unloaded and high bone mass in weight-loaded skeletal regions. 	Exercise during growth and adolescence increases bone mineral density (BMD) in weight-loaded skeletal regions. The development of BMD in unloaded or minimally loaded regions during activity is unclear. We measured BMD in one unloaded, one partly loaded and one highly loaded skeletal region in 67 active soccer players, mean age 22.7 years (range 17-35 years), 128 former soccer players, mean age 54.0 years (range 19-85 years) and 138 controls, mean age 50.6 years (range 19-80 years). The active soccer players played at three different levels: premier league, 3rd league or 6th league. Duration of exercise in these three grou s was 12, 8 and 6 h/week, respectively. BMD (g/cm ) was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in the upper part of the skull (the unloaded skeletal region), the arms (the partly loaded region) and the femoral neck (the maximal loaded region). Data are presented as mean +/- SD. Active soccer players had 10.3 +/- 10.4% lower BMD in the upper part of the skull (p &lt; 0.001), 1.4 +/- 6.3% higher BMD in the arm (NS) and 12.7 +/- 9.8% higher BMD in the femoral neck (p&lt;0.001) compared with age- and gender-matched controls. All three levels of soccer players demonstrated, independent of activity level, the same discrepancies in BMD compared with controls. Former soccer players had lower BMD in the upper part of the skull until age 70 years and higher BMD in the femoral neck until age 50 years compared with controls. The BMD of the arm was not different in former soccer players compared with controls. In summary, active soccer players had lower BMD in the unloaded skeletal region, no difference in BMD in the partly loaded region and higher BMD in the weight-loaded region compared with controls. The discrepancies compared with controls diminished with age so that no differences were found in BMD after age 70 years. In conclusion, unloaded and weight-loaded skeletal regions may respond differently to increased and decreased physical activity. 
22993904	[The influence of swimming activity on lung function parameters among smoking and non-smoking youth]. 	The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of regularswimming activity on the respiratory system of smokers and non-smokers. The study included 107 students, aged 19 to 24, attending weekly swimming classes. The study was composed of the following elements: measurement of selected respiratory parameters (FVC, FEV,, MIP, MEP), the percentage concentration of blood carboxyhemoglobin (%COHb) and a survey. After 10 months of regular swimming activity in the entire study population statistically significant increase in maximal expiratory pressure MEP (alpha &lt; 0.02), maximal inspiratory pressure MIP (alpha &lt; 0.03) and forced vital capacity FVC (alpha &lt; 0.05) was observed. The value of the FEV1 was significantly reduced. Increased respiratory capacity and respiratory muscle strength has been noticed among non-smokers as well as among smokers. The study confirmed the importance of promoting physical activity, especially swimming, among cigarette smokers. 
20457149	Nicotine exposure throughout early development promotes nicotine self-administration in adolescent mice and induces long-lasting behavioural changes. 	Maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy can result in behavioural problems of the offspring. Although the causative agent in tobacco smoke that leads to these aberrations is not known, some studies using animal models have supported the hypothesis that nicotine may cause impairments in fatal and neonatal development. However, in many of the animal studies nicotine has been administered by subcutaneous injections, which could lead to significant fetal hypoxia; some routes of drug administration included stressful procedures to pregnant dams that could create unfavorable fetal environment. In this study, mice were exposed to nicotine via drinking solution. The effects of nicotine exposure throughout early development on behavioural measures during adolescence and adulthood were examined. Adult female dams were allowed to orally self-administer a saccharin, or nicotine plus saccharin solution during gestation and lactation. Following weaning, plasma nicotine concentrations were measured in nicotine-exposed dams, and their offspring were tested using various behavioural measures. [3H]Epibatidine binding was also measured in the cortex and hippocampus at two different time points in the nicotine-exposed adolescents. The results of the study indicate that exposure to nicotine throughout early development influenced intravenous nicotine self-administration, social interactions and performance under a forced swim test. Exposure throughout early development to nicotine however did not affect [3H]epibatidine binding in the hippocampus and cortex. 
20795336	Comparative analysis of substance use in ballet, dance sport, and synchronized swimming: results of a longitudinal study. 	There have been few studies comparing substance use and misuse (SU&amp;M) in different performing arts forms. Herein, we identified and compared SU&amp;M in women studying an art (ballet, n = 21), a non-Olympic sport (dance sport, n = 25), and an Olympic sport (synchronized swimming, n = 23). The sample of variables comprised general, educational, and sport factors, as well as SU&amp;M data, including consumption of opiates, cigarettes, alcohol, nutritional supplements, doping behaviors, and beliefs. Using the Kruskal-Wallis test, we found no significant differences between study groups in potential doping behaviors. Most of the examinees reported that they did not rely on physicians' and/or coaches' opinions regarding doping. Only sport dancers recognized their consumption of cannabis as a violation of anti-doping rules. Those more convinced that doping habits are present in their sport (or art) have a certain tendency toward doping usage. In conclusion, a strong anti-doping campaign within the studied arts is suggested, focusing on the health-related problems of SU&amp;M. 
18826379	Salivary free radical-scavenging activity is affected by physical and mental activities. 	Free radicals/reactive oxygen species (ROS) are related to inflammation, aging, and cancer. However, living systems have essential antioxidant mechanisms by which these harmful radicals can be scavenged, i.e., free radical-scavenging activity (FRSA). We measured the circadian rhythm of such activities by detecting salivary FRSA in healthy adults, and also examined how salivary FRSA is affected by physical and mental activities, which included (1) ingestion of beverage, (2) exercise, (3) comfortable/uncomfortable stimulation, and (4) smoking. FRSA was determined by using the DPPH (1,1'-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) method. Statistical analysis for experimentally obtained median values was carried out using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. In circadian rhythm, FRSA was increased by food ingestion and relaxation. As to the individual activities, green tea and coffee ingestion increased FRSA, whereas swimming (P &lt; 0.05) and dance lessons (P &lt; 0.01) decreased it. Watching an amusing video program (P &lt; 0.001) or stimulation by a pleasant aroma (P &lt; 0.01) increased FRSA. In contrast, an unpleasant odor had no effect on FRSA. FRSA decreased immediately after smoking (P &lt; 0.05), but increased thereafter (P &lt; 0.01). Salivary FRSA was affected not only by physical activities, but also by mental activities. It may be a parameter for reflecting the health status of individuals. 
18301177	Moderate increases in ambient PM2.5 and ozone are associated with lung function decreases in beach lifeguards. 	Exposure to pollutants would adversely affect lung function of healthy athletes. Pulmonary function was recorded on beach lifeguards at three different times during the day. Daily and average peak pollutant levels were calculated. Linear regression analyses were made comparing lung function changes in response to pollutant levels. A multivariate model was constructed to explain the combined effects of pollutants. Afternoon forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expired volume in 1 second (FEV1) decreased significantly compared with morning values and decreased with increasing fine particulates (PM2.5). FEV1/FVC decreased with increasing ozone (O3) levels. The deleterious effect of PM2.5 and O3 were transient and occurred at pollutant levels far below national standards. At low levels of exposure, PM2.5 was associated with reduced lung volumes, while increasing O3 levels were associated with airway obstruction. 
17196635	Long-term behavioral and developmental consequences of pre- and perinatal nicotine. 	Research has shown that cigarette use during pregnancy can result in increased fetal mortality, sudden infant death syndrome, and behavioral and attentional disorders during childhood. Neurochemical and behavioral consequences of prenatal nicotine exposure have been well documented although few studies have examined long-term behavioral consequences that persist into adulthood. In this study, fifty-eight male and female Long-Evans rats were exposed to chronic nicotine prenatally and postnatally via subcutaneous infusions (0.96 mg/kg/day) in the dam. Nicotine exposure continued in the pups via maternal milk until the dams' osmotic mini-pumps became exhausted at approximately postnatal day (P) 11. At weaning, animals were group housed until behavioral testing at P60 to assess spatial learning and memory in the Morris water maze (MWM). Mild deficits in spatial learning were observed in nicotine-exposed females. These behavioral differences were accompanied by significant reduction in weight gain of nicotine-exposed females beginning at puberty, suggesting a hormonal interaction. Long-term effects of nicotine exposure were less striking in males. Nicotine-exposed males had significantly slower swim speeds than controls, but latency to reach the hidden platform was equal between groups by the conclusion of testing. Weight gain in males did not differ between groups as a result of prenatal nicotine exposure. 
16696296	The influence of tobacco smoke and nicotine on antidepressant and memory-improving effects of venlafaxine. 	In experimental and clinical studies, central nicotinic systems have been shown to play an important role in cognitive function. Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors also mediate the reinforcing properties of nicotine (NIC) in tobacco products. A variety of studies have shown that acute treatment with NIC or nicotinic agonists can improve working memory function. Moreover, it is known that the monoaminergic system plays an important role in memory function. And there is evidence suggesting that prolonged use of NIC may exert antidepressant action via nicotinic receptors. The purpose of this study was to investigate the interactions between a novel antidepressant, venlafaxine (VEN), a blocker of noradrenaline and 5-hydroxytryptamine reuptake sites, and pure NIC in the context of antidepressant and memory function in tobacco smoke exposed and nonexposed rats. The animals were subjected to Porsolt's test for testing antidepressant activity and their memory function (spatial memory) was evaluated in the Morris Water Maze Test. In tobacco smoke non-exposed and exposed rats both single and chronic administration of VEN (20 mg/kg po) shortened immobility time. NIC (0.2 mg/kg sc) significantly reduced immobility time on the 1st, 7th and 14th test days in both non-exposed and exposed rats. Combined VEN+NIC treatment in tobacco smoke non-exposed rats reduced immobility too. This effect of the combination of drugs was significantly stronger as compared to the effects obtained after individual administration of VEN or NIC. In the group exposed to tobacco smoke, joint administration of VEN+ NIC induced a significant reduction of immobility as compared to the control and NIC groups. In the Morris Water Maze Test single and chronic administration of VEN, lower values of escape latencies and lower numbers of crossed quadrants were noted in both exposed and non-exposed rats, which indicates improved performance. After administering NIC we could observe improvement of spatial memory in both the exposed and non-exposed group. A similar effect of improvement of spatial memory was observed after joint administration of VEN and NIC. The study results support the involvement of nicotinic systems in memory processes in rats. Memory improvement and antidepressant effects following joint administration of VEN and NIC may depend on nicotinic interactions with monoaminergic systems and VEN may represent a new therapeutic approach to smoking cessation. 
23643671	Evolution of World Cup soccer final games 1966-2010: game structure, speed and play patterns. 	There are relatively few performance analysis studies on field sports investigating how they evolve from a structural or tactical viewpoint. Field sports like soccer involve complex, non-linear dynamical systems yet consistent patterns of play are recognisable over time and among different sports. This study on soccer trends helps build a framework of potential causative mechanisms for these patterns. Retrospective correlational study. Broadcast footage of World Cup finals between 1966 and 2010 was used to assess patterns of play and stop periods, type and duration of game stoppages, ball speed, player density (congestion) and passing rates. This involved computer-based ball tracking and other notational analyses. These results were analysed using linear regression to track changes across time. Almost every variable assessed changed significantly over time. Play duration decreased while stoppage duration increased, both affecting the work: recovery ratios. Ball (game) speed increased by 15% over the 44-year period. Play structure changed towards a higher player density with a 35% greater passing rate. Increases in soccer ball speed and player density show similarities with other field sports and suggest common evolutionary pressures may be driving play structures. The increased intensity of play is paralleled by longer stoppage breaks which allow greater player recovery and subsequently more intense play. Defensive strategies dominate over time as demonstrated by increased player density and congestion. The long-term pattern formations demonstrate successful coordinated states within team structures are predictable and may have universal causative mechanisms. 
24575753	Dynamics of the support leg in soccer instep kicking. 	We aimed to illustrate support leg dynamics during instep kicking to evaluate the role of the support leg action in performance. Twelve male soccer players performed maximal instep kicks. Their motions and ground reaction forces were recorded by a motion capture system and a force platform. Moments and angular velocities of the support leg and pelvis were computed using inverse dynamics. In most joints of the support leg, the moments were not associated with or counteracting the joint motions except for the knee joint. It can be interpreted that the initial knee flexion motion counteracting the extension joint moment has a role to attenuate the shock of landing and the following knee extension motion associated with the extension joint moment indirectly contributes to accelerate the swing of kicking leg. Also, appreciable horizontal rotation of the pelvis coincided with increase of the interaction moment due to the hip joint reaction force on the support leg side. It can be assumed that the interaction moment was the main factor causing the pelvis counter-clockwise rotation within the horizontal plane from the overhead view that precedes a proximal-to-distal sequence of segmental action of the swing leg. 
24499311	Tackle and impact detection in elite Australian football using wearable microsensor technology. 	The effectiveness of a wearable microsensor device (MinimaxX(TM) S4, Catapult Innovations, Melbourne, VIC, Australia) to automatically detect tackles and impact events in elite Australian football (AF) was assessed during four matches. Video observation was used as the criterion measure. A total of 352 tackles were observed, with 78% correctly detected as tackles by the manufacturer's software. Tackles against (i.e. tackled by an opponent) were more accurately detected than tackles made (90% v 66%). Of the 77 tackles that were not detected at all, the majority (74%) were categorised as low-intensity. In contrast, a total of 1510 &quot;tackle&quot; events were detected, with only 18% of these verified as tackles. A further 57% were from contested ball situations involving player contact. The remaining 25% were in general play where no contact was evident; these were significantly lower in peak Player Load™ than those involving player contact (P &lt; 0.01). The tackle detection algorithm, developed primarily for rugby, was not suitable for tackle detection in AF. The underlying sensor data may have the potential to detect a range of events within contact sports such as AF, yet to do so is a complex task and requires sophisticated sport and event-specific algorithms. 
24436355	Validity of the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 for direct measurement or indirect estimation of maximal oxygen uptake in female soccer players. 	To evaluate the validity of the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 (YYIR1) for the direct assessment and the indirect estimation of maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) in female soccer players compared with a maximal laboratory treadmill test (LTT). Eighteen female soccer players (21.5 ± 3.4 y, 165.6 ± 7.5 cm, 63.3 ± 7.4 kg; mean ± SD) completed an LTT and a YYIR1 in random order (1 wk apart). Their VO2max was directly measured via portable spirometry during both tests and indirectly estimated from a published non-gender-specific formula (YYIR1-F1). The measured VO2max values in LTT and YYIR1 were 55.0 ± 5.3 and 49.9 ± 4.9 mL · kg-1 · min-1, respectively, while the estimated VO2max values from YYIR1-F1 corresponded to 45.2 ± 3.4 mL · kg-1 · min-1. Large positive correlations between the VO2max values from YYIR1 and LTT (r = .83, P &lt; .001, 90% confidence interval = .64-.92) and YYIR1-F1 and LTT (r = .67, P = .002, .37-.84) were found. However, the YYIR1 significantly underestimated players' VO2max by 9.4% compared with LTT (P &lt; .001) with Bland-Altman 95% limits of agreement ranging from -20.0% to 1.4%. A significant underestimation from the YYIR1-F1 (P &lt; .001) was also identified (17.8% with Bland-Altman 95% limits of agreement ranging from -31.8% to -3.8%). The YYIR1 and YYIR1-F1 are not accurate methods for the direct assessment or indirect estimation of VO2max in female soccer players. The YYIR1-F1 lacks gender specificity, which might have been the reason for its larger error. 
24533489	Multidimensional performance characteristics in selected and deselected talented soccer players. 	The present study examined whether performance characteristics discriminated between selected and deselected players in talent development programmes. This examination was carried out in talented soccer players, aged 16-18 years using objective measurement instruments. Four domains of multidimensional performance characteristics (physiological, technical, tactical and psychological) were assessed by using a test battery consisting of soccer-specific field tests and questionnaires. Multivariate analyses of covariance revealed that the physiological characteristics peak and repeated shuttle sprint, the technical characteristics of peak and repeated shuttle dribble and the tactical characteristic of 'positioning and deciding', significantly differed between the selected (n=76) and deselected players (n=37), with selected players performing better (P&lt;0.05). Discriminant function analysis showed that the combination of the technical characteristic 'peak dribbling', the tactical characteristic 'positioning and deciding' and the physiological characteristic of 'peak sprinting' classified 69% of talented players correctly. In conclusion, the decisions made by the investigated clubs to either select or deselect players in their talent development programme, whom were aged 16-18 years, were mostly discriminated by aspects of the players' technical, tactical and physiological skill performances. Sports research can play an essential role in investigating the club's perception of important performance characteristics in talented players. 
24533492	Interpersonal coordination tendencies supporting the creation/prevention of goal scoring opportunities in futsal. 	Research on 1vs1 sub-phases in team sports has shown how one player coordinates his/her actions with his/her opponent and the location of a target/goal to attain performance objectives. In this study, we extended this approach to analysis of 5vs5 competitive performance in the team sport of futsal to provide a performance analysis framework that explains how players coordinate their actions to create/prevent opportunities to score goals. For this purpose, we recorded all 10 futsal matches of the 2009 Lusophony Games held in Lisbon. We analysed the displacement trajectories of a shooting attacker and marking defender in plays ending in a goal, a goalkeeper's save, and a defender's interception, at four specific moments during performance: (1) assisting attacker's ball reception and (2) moment of passing, (3) shooter's ball reception, and (4), shot on goal. Statistical analysis showed that when a goal was scored, the defender's angle to the goal and to the attacker tended to decrease, the attacker was able to move to the same distance to the goal alongside the defender, and the attacker was closer to the defender and moving at the same velocity (at least) as the defender. This study identified emergent patterns of coordination between attackers and defenders under key competitive task constraints, such as the location of the goal, which supported successful performance in futsal. 
23688033	Comparative analysis of sequentiality using SDIS-GSEQ and THEME: a concrete example in soccer. 	Within an observational design aimed at studying what type of soccer is better adapted to the possibilities of the 11-12 year-old child, a comparison was made of the results obtained using two fully consolidated analysis techniques in observational methods, and which form the basis in the development of two respective software programs: SDIS-GSEQ and THEME, which allow one to detect the existence of sequential patterns hidden in a data set. This work is intended to shed light on the comparison of results obtained using these two analysis techniques. In particular, the data used for the analysis are multicode event data (using the lexicon of the sequential analysis), and do not incorporate the duration parameter. Accordingly, for the detection of regular structures using the THEME program (T-patterns), a constant duration has conventionally been assigned to each occurrence. Using THEME, among the greatest number of sequential structures detected, diachronic and synchronic correspondence was observed (T-patterns reflecting identical multi-events) with each and every one of the sequential patterns obtained using the lag technique, by the SDIS-GSEQ software. This coincidence strengthens the link between the algorithms that support SDIS-GSEQ and THEME. The results indicate that 7-a-side soccer and 9-a-side soccer types facilitate the spatial mastery of the game by the child, compared with the adult form, 11-a-side soccer. 
23734781	Observational analysis of the offensive sequences that ended in a shot by the winning team of the 2010 UEFA Futsal Championship. 	This article analyses the offensive phase of the national team than won the 2010 UEFA Championship. More specifically, the observational sampling includes all plays in which the Spanish national futsal team managed to &quot;shoot&quot; in the competition in question. This data was obtained by adapting an observational and recording tool typically used for football to the technical specifications of futsal; the SOF-CODER (Jonsson et al., 2006). Two types of analysis have been performed. One statistical analysis using the SPSS programme, version 15.0, the most relevant results from which refer to the significant differences found on linking: the zone from which the shot is made and the type of shot (χ² = 55.821, P = 0.006); and the contact surface used and the type of shot (χ² = 30.293, P = 0.017). And another, using the Theme programme, version 5.0, through which regular behaviour structures (temporal patterns) have been detected within the plays that include shooting. The temporal patterns obtained--in addition to elaborating on the relationship between the area from which the shot is made, the contact surface used and the type of shot--enable a tactical interpretation of the technical actions that support the development of the offensive phase of futsal. 
23913703	Male philopatry in spider monkeys revisited. 	Dispersal patterns are critical for understanding social systems as they influence social interactions and relationships. Spider monkeys (Ateles spp.) are typically described as being characterized by male philopatry and female dispersal, with these patterns reflected in stronger affiliative and cooperative relationships among males than among females. Recent findings, however, indicate that male-male relationships may not be as uniformly strong as previously thought, which suggests that male philopatry in spider monkeys may not be universal. Here, we report the first confirmed cases of male immigration and group takeover in spider monkeys. Data were collected on one community of Ateles geoffroyi in northwestern Costa Rica. Behavioral and demographic data were recorded during subgroup follows across 6.5 years, and fecal samples of community members were collected for genetic analysis of relatedness. We documented two separate cases of immigration involving multiple males, which resulted in take-over of the study community by extra-community males and the concomitant disappearance of the resident males. In the study community, males were no more closely related to one another, on average, than females were, contrary to what would be expected if males were the more philopatric sex. Comparison of corrected assignment indices for males and females also revealed no evidence of sex-biased dispersal. Our findings suggest that in spider monkeys male immigration may occur under certain demographic circumstances, contributing to a view of greater flexibility in their social system than previously appreciated. This discovery has implications for other species that are typically characterized by male philopatry. 
24446537	Next day effects of naturalistic alcohol consumption on tasks of attention. 	The aim of this study was to examine the next day effects of alcohol consumption on a range of attention tasks. The study followed a counterbalanced repeated measure design, with participants tested the morning following normal/usual alcohol consumption and again the morning after no alcohol consumption. Participants were 48 social drinkers (15 men and 33 women), who performed attention tests at 9 am, 11 am, or 1 pm. Performance was assessed by tasks measuring sustained attention, divided attention, selective attention, and spatial attention and by the Stroop test. The morning after alcohol consumption, a significantly higher proportion of missed targets was observed (F(1, 40) = 6.43, p &lt; 0.05) in the sustained attention task. In the Stroop test, participants responded significantly slower (F(1, 42) = 8.72, p &lt; 0.005) in the interference condition (when naming the color of the ink of the words) the morning after alcohol consumption. In the selective attention task, the consumption of alcohol the night before eliminated the robust distance by compatibility interaction, which was observed the morning after no alcohol consumption (F(1, 43) = 10.41, p &lt; 0.01). No influence of alcohol was observed in the divided attention test nor in the spatial attention task. Alcohol consumption has a negative impact on some but not all facets of attentional processing the morning after a normal nights drinking. 
23806776	Increased hippocampal cell density and enhanced spatial memory in the valproic acid rat model of autism. 	Autism is characterized by behavioral impairments in three main domains: social interaction; language, communication and imaginative play; and the range of interests and activities. However, neuronal processing studies have suggested that hyper-perception, hyper-attention, and enhanced memory, which may lie at the heart of most autistic symptoms. Pregnant Wistar rats were administered by either Valproic Acid (VPA, 500mg/kg) or Phosphate Buffer Saline (PBS) during fetal neural tube development on embryonic day 12.5. All offspring were subjected to various tests. The present study examined social interaction, repetitive behaviors, nociception and tactile threshold, anxiety as well as spatial memory. Histological analyses of cells in five regions of the hippocampus were done to determine neuronal density in both groups. A single intra-peritoneal injection of VPA to pregnant rats produced severe autistic-like symptoms in the offspring. The results showed significant behavioral impairments such as a lower tendency to initiate social interactions, enhanced stereotyped, repetitive behaviors, increased nociception threshold and anxiety at postnatal day (PND) 30 and PND 60. The Morris water maze learning paradigm revealed enhanced spatial memory at PND 60. Furthermore, histological analysis showed that the neuronal density in five separate regions of hippocampus (CA1, CA2, CA3, Dentate gyrus and Subiculum) were increased at PND 67. This work suggests that early embryonic exposure to VPA in rats provides a good model for several specific aspects of autism and should help to continue to explore pathophysiological and neuroanatomical hypotheses. This study provides further evidence to support the notion that spatial memory and hippocampal cell density are increased in this animal model of autism. 
23197093	Persistence, reticence and the management of multiple time memories by forager honey bees. 	Honey bee foragers form time memories that enable them to match their foraging activity to the time of day when a particular food source is most productive. Persistent foragers show food-anticipatory activity by making reconnaissance flights to the previously productive food source and may continue to inspect it for several days. In contrast, reticent foragers do not investigate the source but wait for confirmation from returning persistent foragers. To determine how persistent and reticent foragers might contribute to the colony's ability to rapidly reallocate foragers among sources, we trained foragers to collect sucrose from a feeder at a restricted time of day for several days and then observed their behavior for three consecutive days during which the feeder was empty. In two separate trials, video monitoring of the hive entrance during unrewarded test days in parallel with observing reconnaissance visits to the feeder revealed a high level of activity, in both persistent and reticent foragers, thought to be directed at other food sources. This 'extracurricular' activity showed a high degree of temporal overlap with reconnaissance visits to the feeder. In some cases, inspection flights to the unrewarded feeder were made within the same trip to an extracurricular source, indicating that honey bees have the ability to manage at least two different time memories despite coincidence with respect to time of day. The results have major implications for understanding flower fidelity throughout the day, flower constancy within individual foraging excursions, and the sophisticated cognitive management of spatiotemporal memories in honey bees. 
23833891	Factors in students' seat selection: an exploratory study. 	The purpose of this study was to explore reasons for students' seat selection. Participants were 346 college students (14% freshmen, 47% sophomores, 24% juniors, and 14% seniors) from 12 classes (six sections of two courses). A 20-item questionnaire was used to ask students why they chose their seats in class. An exploratory factor analysis reduced the items to five seat-selection factors: Performance, Social, Asocial, Noticeability, and Environment. Seat selection factors were analyzed in terms of seating location: by row, by front/middle/back of the room, by center versus perimeter of the room, and by mid-room versus sides of the room. Performance and Noticeability ratings decreased by row from the front toward the back of the room. The Asocial factor was rated higher by those who sat in the back of the room, while the Environment factor was rated higher by those who sat in the center of the room. 
22612058	The social perceptual salience effect. 	Affective processes appraise the salience of external stimuli preparing the agent for action. So far, the relationship between stimuli, affect, and action has been mainly studied in highly controlled laboratory conditions. In order to find the generalization of this relationship to social interaction, we assess the influence of the salience of social stimuli on human interaction. We constructed reality ball game in a mixed reality space where pairs of people collaborated in order to compete with an opposing team. We coupled the players with team members with varying social salience by using both physical and virtual representations of remote players (i.e., avatars). We observe that, irrespective of the team composition, winners and losers display significantly different inter- and intrateam spatial behaviors. We show that subjects regulate their interpersonal distance to both virtual and physical team members in similar ways, but in proportion to the vividness of the stimulus. As an independent validation of this social salience effect, we show that this behavioral effect is also displayed in physiological correlates of arousal. In addition, we found a strong correlation between performance, physiology, and the subjective reports of the subjects. Our results show that proxemics is consistent with affective responses, confirming the existence of a social salience effect. This provides further support for the so-called law of apparent reality, and it generalizes it to the social realm, where it can be used to design more efficient social artifacts. 
23789432	[Galactic heavy charged particles damaging effect on biological structures]. 	A concept of the radiation risk of the manned interplanetary flights is proposed and substantiated. Heavy charged particles that are a component of the galactic cosmic rays (GCR) have a high damaging effect on the biological structures as great amount of energy is deposited in heavy particle tracks. The high biological effectiveness of heavy ions is observed in their action on cell genetic structures and the whole organism, including the brain structures. The hippocampus is the part of the central nervous system that is the most sensitive to radiation--first of all, to heavy charged particles. Irradiation of animals with accelerated iron ions at doses corresponding to the real fluxes of GCR heavy nuclei, to which Mars mission crews can be exposed, leads to marked behavioral function disorders in the post-irradiation period. To evaluate the radiation risk for the interplanetary flight crews, the concept of successful mission accomplishment is introduced. In these conditions, the central nervous system structures can be the critical target of GCR heavy nuclei. Their damage can modify the higher integrative functions of the brain and cause disorders in the crew members' operator performances. 
23103401	Social isolation induces deficit of latent learning performance in mice: a putative animal model of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. 	Social isolation of rodents (SI) elicits a variety of stress responses such as increased aggressiveness, hyper-locomotion, and reduced susceptibility to pentobarbital. To obtain a better understanding of the relevance of SI-induced behavioral abnormalities to psychiatric disorders, we examined the effect of SI on latent learning as an index of spatial attention, and discussed the availability of SI as an epigenetic model of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Except in specially stated cases, 4-week-old male mice were housed in a group or socially isolated for 3-70 days before experiments. The animals socially isolated for 1 week or more exhibited spatial attention deficit in the water-finding test. Re-socialized rearing for 5 weeks after 1-week SI failed to attenuate the spatial attention deficit. The effect of SI on spatial attention showed no gender difference or correlation with increased aggressive behavior. Moreover, SI had no effect on cognitive performance elucidated in a modified Y-maze or an object recognition test, but it significantly impaired contextual and conditional fear memory elucidated in the fear-conditioning test. Drugs used for ADHD therapy, methylphenidate (1-10 mg/kg, i.p.) and caffeine (0.5-1 mg/kg, i.p.), improved SI-induced latent learning deficit in a manner reversible with cholinergic but not dopaminergic antagonists. Considering the behavioral features of SI mice together with their susceptibility to ADHD drugs, the present findings suggest that SI provides an epigenetic animal model of ADHD and that central cholinergic systems play a role in the effect of methylphenidate on SI-induced spatial attention deficit. 
21595819	Isolation and lack of access in multiple chemical sensitivity: A qualitative study. 	This paper describes a qualitative interview study of 26 persons with multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), also referred to as chemical intolerance. We used a phenomenological perspective and planned to focus on the impact of MCS on relationships, but found that difficulty with accessing safe spaces at times prevented relationships by limiting access to personal interactions. Thus, persons with MCS either lost or were unable to cultivate new relationships as a result of lack of spatial access. Others' lack of understanding and refusal to make accommodations at times denied spatial access to those with MCS. In this way, relationships (relationality) and spatial access (spatiality) interacted with one another to keep persons isolated. In this paper, we describe informants' detailed experience of living with chemical intolerance in a culture where chemical exposures are commonplace. 
19531282	The mobile hermit and the city: considering links between places, objects, and identities in social psychological research on homelessness. 	This article explores aspects of a homeless man's everyday life and his use of material objects to maintain a sense of place in the city. We are interested in the complex functions of walking, listening and reading as social practices central to how this man forges a life as a mobile hermit across physical and imagined locales. This highlights connections between physical place, use of material objects, imagination, and sense of self. Our analysis illustrates the value of paying attention to geographical locations and objects in social psychological research on homelessness. 
19722168	Environmental enrichment influences survival rate and enhances exploration and learning but produces variable responses to the radial maze in old rats. 	Wistar rats at 7 (mature), 16 (aging), and 22 (old) months of age spent 70 days in normal laboratory (Social), impoverished (Isolated) or dynamic Enrichment cages. The Enriched cage emphasized spatial re-arrangements of significant items, and the learning of new routes. Subsequently, Enriched rats at all ages entered a novel environment and escaped from a bright light with significantly shorter latencies than rats from either of the other environments. Mature, aging and some of the old Enriched rats also significantly outperformed their Isolated and Social counterparts in the radial maze. However old Enriched and Isolated animals showed significant variability in relation to the measure of the proportion reaching criterion on this task, and a significantly lower proportion than of old Social rats reached criterion. Enriched rats had a significantly higher survival rate than Social and Isolated animals. These findings are discussed in terms of learning efficiency and behaviors that conserve energy and thereby enhance survival. 
19666012	Post-weaning isolation promotes food intake and body weight gain in rats that experienced neonatal maternal separation. 	Neonatal maternal separation (MS) in rats has been reported to result in permanent dysfunctions of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the development of anxiety- and depression-like behaviors later in life. In this study, we examined the effects of post-weaning social isolation stress on food intake and body weight gain of rats with MS experience. MS was performed daily for 180 min during the first 2 weeks of birth and nonhandled control (NH) pups were left undisturbed. Weanling male pups were caged either in a group of three or singly (social isolation), and then subjected to behavioral sessions for anxiety- or depression-like behaviors at 2 months of age. Social isolation following MS experience, but neither MS nor social isolation alone, significantly increased food intake and weight gain. MS pups showed increased immobility in forced swim test, compared to NH pups, regardless of their housing conditions. In elevated plus maze test, group-caged MS pups spent less time in the open arms and more time in the closed arms than group-caged NH pups, but social isolation did not further affect the arm stay of MS pups. However, statistical analyses revealed an interaction between MS and social isolation not only in the time spent in each arms, but also in defecation scores during the ambulatory activity test. These results suggest that post-weaning social isolation may promote hyperphagia and weight gain in young rats that experienced neonatal maternal separation, perhaps, in relation with its impact on the psycho-emotional behaviors of MS pups. 
18786573	A detailed analysis of open-field habituation and behavioral and neurochemical antidepressant-like effects in postweaning enriched rats. 	Our previous work has shown that male Sprague-Dawley rats reared in social isolation, standard housing and environmental enrichment differ in their spontaneous open-field activity and in some neurobehavioral depressive-like parameters. Here, we extended this evidence by using a shorter postweaning rearing period (1 month) and including additional evaluations. First, in order to obtain a better characterization of the exploratory strategies among rearing conditions we analyzed in detail the spontaneous activity at the first minute and during the 10-min session. Second, we asked whether the changes in open-field activity were related with basal anxiety levels in the elevated plus-maze. Third, behavior in the forced-swimming test was analyzed and afterward, the tissue levels of hippocampal norepinephrine and serotonin were assessed. The possible relationship between neurotransmitters and forced-swimming behavior were explored through correlation analyses. We found that rearing conditions (i) differed on locomotor habituation and on sensory-motor exploration at the first minute and during the 10-min session without modifying the plus-maze behavior; (ii) affected differentially the grooming time, its sequential components, and the relationship between grooming and locomotor parameters; (iii) modified forced-swimming behavior and the hippocampal concentration of norepinephrine, serotonin, and its turnover; and (iv) produced different correlation patterns between both neurotransmitters and forced-swimming behaviors. Overall, environmental enrichment accelerated open-field habituation and led to behavioral and neurochemical antidepressant-like effects. In contract, isolation rearing strongly impaired habituation and simple information processing, but showed marginal effects on depressive-like behavior and on hippocampal neurochemistry. The current results suggest that differential rearing is not only a useful procedure to study behavioral plasticity or rigidity in response to early experience, but also to modeling some developmental protective or risk factors underlying depressive disorders. 
17855457	Health inequalities and homelessness: considering material, spatial and relational dimensions. 	Homelessness is a pressing health concern involving material hardship, social marginalization and restrained relationships between homeless and housed people. This article links relational aspects of homelessness, and its health consequences, with material and spatial considerations through the use of photo-elicitation interviews with 12 rough sleepers in London. We highlight the relevance of embodied deprivation for a health psychology that is responsive to the ways in which social inequalities can get under the skin of homeless people and manifest as health disparities. 
16545374	Experience-dependent regulation of zif268 gene expression and spatial learning. 	Environmental enrichment (EE) is known to enhance the cognitive ability of rodents. To translate EE to the human condition, it is important to understand the parameters of its efficacy. In this study, we examine if the cognitive enhancement associated with EE is permanent and whether a developmental window exists for its efficacy. Rats were housed in continuous isolation (ISO), continuous enrichment (EE), enrichment from postnatal day (PN) 21-50, and then isolation from PN50-79 (PM), or isolation from PN21-50 and then enriched from PN50-79 (CW). Spatial learning ability and basal expression of the immediate-early genes zif268 and Arc as well as the NR1 subunit of the NMDA receptor were assessed. Rats housed in an enriched environment at the time of testing (EE and CW) performed significantly better in the spatial learning task than rats housed in an isolated environment at the time of testing (ISO and PM). Enhanced performance in the spatial learning task was associated with a higher expression of zif268 only in the CA3/CA4 region of the hippocampus. Our study further defines parameters that make environmental enrichment effective in enhancing learning performance and the findings may be helpful in the translation of this intervention to the human condition. 
23643671	Evolution of World Cup soccer final games 1966-2010: game structure, speed and play patterns. 	There are relatively few performance analysis studies on field sports investigating how they evolve from a structural or tactical viewpoint. Field sports like soccer involve complex, non-linear dynamical systems yet consistent patterns of play are recognisable over time and among different sports. This study on soccer trends helps build a framework of potential causative mechanisms for these patterns. Retrospective correlational study. Broadcast footage of World Cup finals between 1966 and 2010 was used to assess patterns of play and stop periods, type and duration of game stoppages, ball speed, player density (congestion) and passing rates. This involved computer-based ball tracking and other notational analyses. These results were analysed using linear regression to track changes across time. Almost every variable assessed changed significantly over time. Play duration decreased while stoppage duration increased, both affecting the work: recovery ratios. Ball (game) speed increased by 15% over the 44-year period. Play structure changed towards a higher player density with a 35% greater passing rate. Increases in soccer ball speed and player density show similarities with other field sports and suggest common evolutionary pressures may be driving play structures. The increased intensity of play is paralleled by longer stoppage breaks which allow greater player recovery and subsequently more intense play. Defensive strategies dominate over time as demonstrated by increased player density and congestion. The long-term pattern formations demonstrate successful coordinated states within team structures are predictable and may have universal causative mechanisms. 
24238471	Impact of age and obstacles on navigation precision and reaction time during blind navigation in dual-task conditions. 	Navigation without vision is a skill that is often employed in our daily lives, such as walking in the dark at night. Navigating without vision to a remembered target has previously been studied. However, little is known about the impact of age or obstacles on the attentional demands of a blind navigation task. This study examined the impacts of age and obstacles on reaction time (RT) and navigation precision during blind navigation in dual-task conditions. The aims were to determine the effects of age, obstacles, and auditory stimulus location on RT and navigation precision in a blind navigation task. Ten healthy young adults (24.5±2.5 years) and ten healthy older adults (69.5±2.9 years) participated in the study. Participants were asked to walk to a target located 8m ahead. In half the trials, the path was obstructed with hanging obstacles. Participants performed this task in the absence of vision, while executing a discrete RT task. Results demonstrated that older adults presented increased RT, linear distance travelled (LDT), and obstacle contact; that obstacle presence significantly increased RT compared to trials with no obstacles; and that an auditory stimulus emitted early versus late in the path increased LDT. Results suggest that the attentional demands of blind navigation are higher in older than young adults, as well as when obstacles are present. Furthermore, navigation precision is affected by age and when participants are distracted by the secondary task early in navigation, presumably because the secondary task interferes with path estimation. 
23565781	Active and passive spatial learning in human navigation: acquisition of survey knowledge. 	It seems intuitively obvious that active exploration of a new environment would lead to better spatial learning than would passive visual exposure. It is unclear, however, which components of active learning contribute to spatial knowledge, and previous literature is decidedly mixed. This experiment tests the contributions of 4 components to metric survey knowledge: visual, vestibular, and podokinetic information and cognitive decision making. In the learning phase, 6 groups of participants learned the locations of 8 objects in a virtual hedge maze by (a) walking, (b) being pushed in a wheelchair, or (c) watching a video, crossed with (1) making decisions about their path or (2) being guided through the maze. In the test phase, survey knowledge was assessed by having participants walk a novel shortcut from a starting object to the remembered location of a test object, with the maze removed. Performance was slightly better than chance in the passive video condition. The addition of vestibular information did not improve performance in the wheelchair condition, but the addition of podokinetic information significantly improved angular accuracy in the walking condition. In contrast, there was no effect of decision making in any condition. The results indicate that visual and podokinetic information significantly contribute to survey knowledge, whereas vestibular information and decision making do not. We conclude that podokinetic information is the primary component of active learning for the acquisition of metric survey knowledge. 
24494435	Visuospatial attention and motor skills in kung fu athletes. 	The present study compared the performance of a group of sixteen kung fu athletes with that of a control group of fourteen nonathletes on a speeded visuospatial task and a hand-tapping motor task. In the visuospatial task the results showed that athletes were faster than the control participants when stimuli were presented at the periphery of the visual field at a middle and high presentation speed with short interstimulus intervals. Athletes were also significantly faster than nonathlete participants when performing motor actions such as hand-tapping with their dominant hand but groups did not differ with the nondominant hand. These results support the view that athletes perform some speeded visuospatial and motor tasks faster than nonathletes under certain conditions. The findings suggest that, after several years of practice, kung fu athletes develop certain skills that allow them to perform motor speed maneuvers under time pressure conditions. 
24446537	Next day effects of naturalistic alcohol consumption on tasks of attention. 	The aim of this study was to examine the next day effects of alcohol consumption on a range of attention tasks. The study followed a counterbalanced repeated measure design, with participants tested the morning following normal/usual alcohol consumption and again the morning after no alcohol consumption. Participants were 48 social drinkers (15 men and 33 women), who performed attention tests at 9 am, 11 am, or 1 pm. Performance was assessed by tasks measuring sustained attention, divided attention, selective attention, and spatial attention and by the Stroop test. The morning after alcohol consumption, a significantly higher proportion of missed targets was observed (F(1, 40) = 6.43, p &lt; 0.05) in the sustained attention task. In the Stroop test, participants responded significantly slower (F(1, 42) = 8.72, p &lt; 0.005) in the interference condition (when naming the color of the ink of the words) the morning after alcohol consumption. In the selective attention task, the consumption of alcohol the night before eliminated the robust distance by compatibility interaction, which was observed the morning after no alcohol consumption (F(1, 43) = 10.41, p &lt; 0.01). No influence of alcohol was observed in the divided attention test nor in the spatial attention task. Alcohol consumption has a negative impact on some but not all facets of attentional processing the morning after a normal nights drinking. 
23025828	Magnetic field polarity fails to influence the directional signal carried by the head direction cell network and the behavior of rats in a task requiring magnetic field orientation. 	Many different species of animals including mole rats, pigeons, and sea turtles are thought to use the magnetic field of the earth for navigational guidance. While laboratory rats are commonly used for navigational research, and brain networks have been described in these animals that presumably mediate accurate spatial navigation, little has been done to determine the role of the geomagnetic field in these brain networks and in the navigational behavior of these animals. In Experiment 1, anterior thalamic head direction (HD) cells were recorded in female Long-Evans rats while they foraged in an environment subjected to an experimentally generated magnetic field of earth-strength intensity, the polarity of which could be shifted from one session to another. Despite previous work that has shown that the preferred direction of HD cells can be controlled by the position of familiar landmarks in a recording environment, the directional signal of HD cells was not influenced by the polarity of the magnetic field in the enclosure. Because this finding could be attributed to the animal being insensitive or inattentive to the magnetic field, in Experiment 2, rats were trained in a choice maze task dependent on the ability of the animals to sense the polarity of the experimentally controlled magnetic field. Over the course of 28 days of training, performance failed to improve to a level above chance, providing evidence that the spatial behavior of laboratory rats (and the associated HD network) is insensitive to the polarity of the geomagnetic field. 
20453464	Expression of synaptic proteins in the hippocampus and spatial learning in chicks following prenatal auditory stimulation. 	Prenatal auditory stimulation by species-specific sound influences the expression and levels of calcium-binding proteins in the chick hippocampus, which is important to learning and memory. Stimulation by sitar music additionally produces structural changes in the hippocampus. Synapse density, which influences the synaptic plasticity, is also increased following both types of sound stimulation. Here we report the expression of mRNA as well as levels of synaptic proteins (synaptophysin, synapsin I and PSD-95) in the hippocampus of developing chicks subjected to prenatal auditory stimulation. Further, to evaluate the behavioral outcome following acoustic stimulation, posthatch day 1 (PH1) chicks were analyzed by T-maze test for spatial learning. Fertilized zero day eggs were incubated under normal conditions and subjected to patterned sounds of species-specific or sitar music at 65 dB levels for 15 min/h over 24 h at a frequency range of 100-6,300 Hz for a period of 11 days from embryonic day (E) 10 until hatching. Following both types of prenatal acoustic stimulation, a significant increase in the levels of synaptophysin mRNA and protein was found from E12, whereas that of synapsin I and PSD-95 was observed from E16, suggesting early maturation of the excitatory synapse. A significant decrease in the time taken to reach the target over the 3 trials in both sound-stimulated groups indicates improved spatial learning. In the music-stimulated group, however, the time taken to reach the target was reduced from the very first trial, which may point to an involvement of other behavioral attributes in facilitating spatial navigation. 
19263055	Spatial unmasking in the echolocating Big Brown Bat, Eptesicus fuscus. 	Masking affects the ability of echolocating bats to detect a target in the presence of clutter targets. It can be reduced by spatially separating the targets. Spatial unmasking was measured in a two-alternative-forced-choice detection experiment with four Big Brown Bats detecting a wire at 1 m distance. Depth dependent spatial unmasking was investigated by the bats detecting a wire with a diameter of 1.2 mm in front of a masker with a threshold distance of 11 cm behind the wire. For angle dependent spatial unmasking the masker was turned laterally, starting from its threshold position at 11 cm. With increasing masker angles the bats could detect thinner wires with diameters decreasing from 1.2 mm (target strength -36.8 dB) at 0 degrees to 0.2 mm (target strength -63.0 dB) at 22 degrees. Without masker, the bats detected wire diameters of 0.16 mm (target strength -66.2 dB), reached with masker positions beyond 23 degrees (complete masking release). Analysis of the sonar signals indicated strategies in the echolocation behavior. The bats enhanced the second harmonics of their signals. This may improve the spatial separation between wire and masker due to frequency-dependent directionality increase of sound emission and echo reception. 
23860290	Body composition changes among female NCAA division 1 athletes across the competitive season and over a multiyear time frame. 	Body composition can affect athletic performance. Numerous studies have documented changes in body composition in female collegiate athletes from pre- to postseason; however, longitudinal studies examining changes across years are scarce. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study was to assess longitudinal body composition changes among female collegiate athletes across 3 years. Two hundred twelve female athletes from basketball (BB; n = 38), soccer (SOC; n = 47), swimming (SW; n = 52), track (sprinters and jumpers; TR; n = 49), and volleyball (VB; n = 26) with an initial mean age of 19.2 ± 1.2 years, height of 172.4 ± 8.9 cm, and total mass of 66.9 ± 9.0 kg had body composition assessments using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry pre- and postseason over 3 years. A restricted maximum-likelihood linear mixed model regression analysis examined body composition differences by sport and year. Changes (p &lt; 0.05) over 3 years included the following: Lean mass increased in VB from year 1 to 2 (0.7 kg), year 2 to 3 (1.1 kg), and year 1 to 3 (1.8 kg) and in SW from year 1 to 3 (0.6 kg); and percent body fat (%BF) increased in BB from year 1 to 3 (1.7%). There were no changes in SOC or TR. These results indicate that during their college careers, female collegiate athletes can be expected to maintain their %BF and athletes in sports like SW and VB can anticipate an increase in lean mass, but the increases may be less than many athletes, coaches, and trainers envision. 
24112774	Do the coach and athlete have the same &quot;picture&quot; of the situation? Distributed Situation Awareness in an elite sport context. 	Athletes and their coach interpret the training situations differently and this can have important implications for the development of an elite athlete's performance. It is argued that, from a schema-theoretic perspective, the difference in these interpretations needs to be better understood. A post-performance, self-confrontation, interview was conducted with a number of athletes and their coaches. The interviews revealed differences between the athlete and their coach in the information they are aware of. In comparison with athletes, coaches more frequently compared the phenotype with genotype schemata rather than just describing the phenotype schemata. Results suggest SA information elements showed some common ground but also revealed some important differences between the athlete and coach. The awareness was directed externally towards the environment and internally, towards the individual, depending on his/her role. The investigation showed that the schemata used to 'frame' the information elements were different, but compatible, between athlete and coach. 
24016400	Experiential knowledge of expert coaches can help identify informational constraints on performance of dynamic interceptive actions. 	Coordination of dynamic interceptive movements is predicated on cyclical relations between an individual's actions and information sources from the performance environment. To identify dynamic informational constraints, which are interwoven with individual and task constraints, coaches' experiential knowledge provides a complementary source to support empirical understanding of performance in sport. In this study, 15 expert coaches from 3 sports (track and field, gymnastics and cricket) participated in a semi-structured interview process to identify potential informational constraints which they perceived to regulate action during run-up performance. Expert coaches' experiential knowledge revealed multiple information sources which may constrain performance adaptations in such locomotor pointing tasks. In addition to the locomotor pointing target, coaches' knowledge highlighted two other key informational constraints: vertical reference points located near the locomotor pointing target and a check mark located prior to the locomotor pointing target. This study highlights opportunities for broadening the understanding of perception and action coupling processes, and the identified information sources warrant further empirical investigation as potential constraints on athletic performance. Integration of experiential knowledge of expert coaches with theoretically driven empirical knowledge represents a promising avenue to drive future applied science research and pedagogical practice. 
22614913	Mechanical loading with or without weight-bearing activity: influence on bone strength index in elite female adolescent athletes engaged in water polo, gymnastics, and track-and-field. 	Bone health is considered not to benefit from water-based sports because of their weight-supported nature, but available evidence primarily relies on DXA technology. Our purpose was to investigate musculoskeletal health in the upper and lower body in well-trained adolescent female athletes using pQCT and compare these athletes with less-active, age- and sex-matched peers. Bone mineral content, volumetric cortical and trabecular BMD, total and cortical area, and bone strength index were assessed at the distal and proximal tibia and radius in four groups of adolescent females (mean age, 14.9 years) including water polo players (n = 30), gymnasts (n = 25), track-and-field athletes (n = 34), and nonactive controls (n = 28). Water polo players did not show any benefit in bone strength index or muscle size in the lower leg when compared with controls. In contrast, gymnasts showed 60.1 % and 53.4 % greater bone strength index at the distal and proximal tibia, respectively, than nonactive females (p &lt; 0.05). Similarly, track-and-field athletes displayed 33.9 % and 14.7 % greater bone strength index at the distal and proximal tibia, respectively, compared with controls (p &lt; 0.05). In the upper body, water polo players had 31.9 % greater bone strength index at the distal radius, but not the radial shaft, and 15.2 % larger forearm muscle cross-sectional area than controls (p &lt; 0.05). The greatest musculoskeletal benefits in the upper body were found in gymnasts. In conclusion, despite training at an elite level, female water polo players did not show any benefits in musculoskeletal health in the lower leg and only limited benefits in the upper body when compared with nonactive girls. 
22918916	Preparing our Paralympians: research and development at Ossur, UK. Interview by Sarah A. Curran. 	In the last 25 years, the continuous evolution in the design of prostheses for individuals with transfemoral and transtibial amputations has been remarkable. Mirroring this development is the dependency and expectancy of the prosthesis technology by the athletes, coaches and other personnel involved in creating Paralympians of today and the future. Össur is recognised as a leader in designing innovative prosthetic products that have contributed worldwide to developing leading Paralympians. The opening section of this article presents an overview of the new Össur products for 2012. Discussion is also focussed on how Össur's high-function prosthetic products are integrated into an athlete's training regime. With involvement of the clinical team discussion is also expanded to recognise the important contribution coaching staff has on optimising performance of a Paralympian's training regime. The dialogue continues with a viewpoint on whether Oscar Pistorius, the face of Össur who wears Flex-Foot Cheetah blades, should participate in the Olympics and Paralympics. While the conclusion of this article may leave more questions than answers, the technology and products offered by Össur provide for a credible foundation and preparation for future challenges beyond the London 2012 Paralympic Games. 
23033755	Sex differences in relative age effects among Japanese athletes. 	The present study investigated the relative age effect (RAE), a biased distribution of elite athletes' birthdates, in Japanese female athletes. Japan applies a unique annual-age grouping for sport and education, which is from April 1 to March 31 of the following year. A total of 1,335 female athletes were evaluated from six sports: softball, soccer, volleyball, basketball, badminton, and track and field (long distance), and compared with male athletes. All athletes played in the top level of Japanese leagues for each sport in 2010. Distribution of the birth dates in each female sport showed a significant RAE only in volleyball. For males, significant RAEs were observed in baseball, soccer, and track and field. Findings suggest that the determinants of RAEs in sports may differ between males and females. 
21847832	Parents and children in Second World War Germany: an inter-generational perspective on wartime separation. 	This article discusses how the relationship between parents and their children were affected by the second world war in Germany. With fathers away from home for often as long as a decade, many children grew up without a father being physically present. The current historiography suggests that wartime separation caused a crisis in the family. But did the prolonged periods of time apart and the separate experiences of husbands at the Front and wives and children at home really destabilize family relationships? This article questions such a picture of families in ruin. It argues that family relationships were far more resilient in the face of wartime separation than has previously been credited. Indeed, it reveals the importance of children in keeping mothers and fathers focused on getting through the war. It further contends that, even from afar, fathers continued to play an important role in their children’s lives. And this in turn revises our understanding of the situation facing reuniting families. 
17436055	Blood pressure, hypertension and mortality from circulatory disease in men and women who survived the siege of Leningrad. 	The population of Leningrad suffered from severe starvation, cold and psychological stress during the siege in 1941-1944. We investigated long-term effects of the siege on cardiovascular risk factors and mortality in surviving men and women. 3905 men born 1916-1935 and 1729 women born 1910-1940, resident in St Petersburg (formerly Leningrad) between 1975 and 1982, of whom a third experienced the siege as children, adolescents or young adults, were examined for cardiovascular risk factors in 1975-1977 and 1980-1982 respectively and followed till end 2005. Effects of siege exposure on blood pressure, lipids, body size, and mortality were studied in multivariate analysis stratified by gender and period of birth, adjusted for age, smoking, alcohol and social characteristics. Women who were 6-8 years-old and men who were 9-15 years-old at the peak of starvation had higher systolic blood pressure compared to unexposed subjects born during the same period of birth (fully adjusted difference 8.8, 95% CI: 0.1-17.5 mm Hg in women and 2.9, 95% CI: 0.7-5.0 mm Hg in men). Mean height of women who were exposed to siege as children appeared to be greater than that of unexposed women. Higher mortality from ischaemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease was noted in men exposed at age 6-8 and 9-15, respectively. The experience of severe stress and starvation in childhood and puberty may have long-term effects on systolic blood pressure and circulatory disease in surviving men and women with potential gender differences in the effect of siege experienced at pre-pubertal age. 
23707140	Validation of GPS and accelerometer technology in swimming. 	To evaluate the validity of an integrated accelerometer and Global Positioning System (GPS) device to quantify swimming kinematics variables in swimming. Criterion validation study. Twenty-one sub-elite swimmers completed three 100 m efforts (one butterfly, breaststroke and freestyle) in an outdoor 50 m Olympic pool. A GPS device with an integrated tri-axial accelerometer was used to obtain mid-pool velocity and stroke count of each effort. This data was compared to velocity and stroke count data obtained from concurrently recorded digital video of the performance. A strong relationship was detected between the accelerometer stroke count and the video criterion measure for both breaststroke (r&gt;0.98) and butterfly (r&gt;0.99). Also, no significant differences were detected between the GPS velocity and video obtained velocity for both freestyle and breaststroke. There was a significant difference between the GPS velocity and criterion measure for butterfly. Acceptable standard error and 95% limits of agreement were obtained for freestyle (0.13 m s(-1), 0.36 m s(-1)) and breaststroke (0.12 m s(-1), 0.33 m s(-1)) compared to butterfly (0.18 m s(-1), 0.50 m s(-1)). Relative error measurements ranged between 10.2 and 13.4% across the three strokes. The integrated accelerometer and GPS device offers a valid and accurate tool for stroke count quantification in breaststroke and butterfly as well as measuring mid-pool swimming velocity in freestyle and breaststroke. The application of GPS technology in the outdoor training environment suggests advantageous practical benefits for swimmers, coaches and sports scientists. 
24649858	Analysing expertise through data mining: an example based on treading water. 	A classification system of treading water based on a conceptual typology was first established and then verified empirically. The typology was established on two concepts: the nature of the forces created within the water and the type of inter-limb coordination used. Thirty-eight participants were videotaped while treading water. Multivariate statistics were used to understand how the different behavioural types related to expertise. Three distinct groups of coordination patterns were adopted during treading water. A support vector machine procedure was used as a confirmatory procedure. The data mining process provides a methodological framework to analyse expertise in sports activities, and in this context suggests that a taxonomy can be established among the numerous coordination solutions that allow humans to create stabilising forces in the water. 
24434079	Influence of pacing manipulation on performance of juniors in simulated 400-m swim competition. 	To date, there has been limited research examining the influence of pacing pattern (PP) on middle-distance swimming performance. As such, the purpose of the current study was to examine the influence of PP manipulation on 400-m freestyle swimming performance. 15 front-crawl swimmers (5 female, 10 male; age 18 ± 2 y) performed 3 simulated 400-m swimming events. The initial trial was self-selected pacing (PPSS). The following 2 trials were performed in a counterbalanced order and required participants to complete the first 100 m more slowly (PPSLOW: 4.5% ± 2.2%) or quickly (PPFAST: 2.4% ± 1.6%) than the PPSS trial. 50-m split times were recorded during each trial. Overall performance time was faster in PPSS (275.0 ± 15.9 s) than in PPFAST (278.5 ± 16.4 s, P = .05) but not significantly different from PPSLOW (277.5 ± 16.2 s, P = .22). However, analysis for practical relevance revealed that pacing manipulation resulted in a &quot;likely&quot; (&gt;88.2%) decrease in performance compared with PPSS. Moderate manipulation of the starting speed during simulated 400-m freestyle races seems to affect overall performance. The observed results indicate that PPSS is optimal in most individuals, yet it seems to fail in some swimmers. Future research should focus on the identification of athletes possibly profiting from manipulations. 
24102633	Kinematic analysis of the backstroke start: differences between backstroke specialists and non-specialists. 	The purpose of this study was to clarify factors to perform the hole-entry technique in the backstroke start. A total of 16 well-trained Japanese competitive swimmers were divided into two groups (backstroke specialists and non-specialists) to compare their backstroke start motions. Their backstroke motions were videotaped, and two-dimensional co-ordinates for the swimmers were obtained from the video images using direct linear transformation methods. A non-paired t-test and Mann-Whitney U-test were used to analyse the statistical difference of the kinematic variables between the groups. Backstroke specialists showed a significantly shorter 5 m time (P = 0.009, effect size = -1.54), a significantly higher position of the toe (P = 0.010, effect size = 1.47) at signal and of the hip at toe-off (P = 0.002, effect size = 1.94), a significantly larger hip joint angle at toe-off (P = 0.007, effect size = 1.60) and a significantly higher angular velocities of the hip joints (45-85%; P &lt; 0.05) for the normalised time as compared to that of non-specialists. An earlier initiation of the extension and the maintenance of a higher extension speed at the hip joints were important factors in achieving an arched-back posture, which facilitated and water entrance with a small entry range. 
24016316	The effect of leg kick on sprint front crawl swimming. 	The aim of this study was to examine the influence of leg kick on the pattern, the orientation and the propulsive forces produced by the hand, the efficiency of the arm stroke, the trunk inclination, the inter-arm coordination and the intra-cyclic horizontal velocity variation of the hip in sprint front crawl swimming. Nine female swimmers swam two maximal trials of 25 m front crawl, with and without leg kick. Four camcorders were used to record the underwater movements. Using the legs, the mean swimming velocity increased significantly. On the contrary, the velocity and the orientation of the hand, the magnitude and the direction of the propulsive forces, as well as the Froude efficiency of the arm stroke were not modified. The hip intra-cyclic horizontal velocity variation was also not changed, while the index of coordination decreased significantly. A significant decrease (13%) was also observed in the inclination of the trunk. Thus, the positive effect of leg kick on the swimming speed, besides the obvious direct generation of propulsive forces from the legs, could probably be attributed to the reduction of the body's inclination, while the generation of the propulsive forces and the efficiency of the arm stroke seem not to be significantly affected. 
24168391	Stroke-coordination and symmetry of elite backstroke swimmers using a comparison between net drag force and timing protocols. 	Stroke-coordination and symmetry influence the force fluctuations within any net drag force profile. The aim of this study was to analyse elite (FINA points 938) backstroke swimmers stroke-coordination using an instantaneous net drag force and timing protocols using a symmetry index tool. Ten male and nine female elite backstroke swimmers completed three maximum speed trials and five maximum speed net drag force swimming trials. Net drag force was measured using an assisted motorised dynamometer device. Each trial was filmed using three genlocked 50 Hz cameras, synchronised to the net drag force output from the force-platform. This methodology enabled the comparison of stroke-coordination timing symmetry index to net drag force symmetry index. The timing symmetry index and net drag force symmetry index yielded different results, the timing reflects the stroke-coordination, whilst the force index identified the effectiveness of the stroke. The only variable that was significantly different when comparing left and right stroke patterns was the location of minimum net drag forces. Conversely, gender influenced the location of maximum net drag force. Relationship analysis identified that location of maximum net drag force production was the only variable to correlate with speed within this cohort. Backstroke arm coordination was minimally influenced by gender. 
24480075	Influence of dopamine D2-type receptors on motor behaviors in the green tree frog, Hyla cinerea. 	Dopamine modulates a range of behaviors that include motor processes, learning, and incentive motivation. Research supports anatomical conservation of dopaminergic populations in the midbrain across vertebrate species, however, less evidence is available for dopamine receptor distributions. In order to test the behavioral role of dopamine in an anatomically conserved dopaminergic system, the effects of D2-type receptor manipulation on motor behaviors were examined in the anuran amphibian green tree frog, Hyla cinerea. In two different within-subject experiments, frogs were treated with a control treatment, and a high and low dose of either a D2 receptor-specific agonist, quinpirole, or antagonist, haloperidol, then exposed to a testing session to measure changes in swimming and climbing motor behaviors. No treatments resulted in complete immobility or catalepsy, however treatment-specific effects on certain motor behaviors were present. The high quinpirole dose (1mg/kg bw) generally inhibited motor behaviors associated with exiting water and jumping, while both haloperidol treatments (0.12mg/kg bw and 1.2mg/kg bw) generally stimulated motor behaviors associated with exiting water, as predicted based on receptor mechanisms. Performance improvement also appeared in frogs in each experiment, suggesting that the D2 receptor is not involved in the motor learning mechanism in this species. Overall, the results support general conservation of D2 receptors in motor processes in vertebrate species. 
24231360	Comparison of athlete-coach perceptions of internal and external load markers for elite junior tennis training. 	To investigate the discrepancy between coach and athlete perceptions of internal load and notational analysis of external load in elite junior tennis. Fourteen elite junior tennis players and 6 international coaches were recruited. Ratings of perceived exertion (RPEs) were recorded for individual drills and whole sessions, along with a rating of mental exertion, coach rating of intended session exertion, and athlete heart rate (HR). Furthermore, total stroke count and unforced-error count were notated using video coding after each session, alongside coach and athlete estimations of shots and errors made. Finally, regression analyses explained the variance in the criterion variables of athlete and coach RPE. Repeated-measures analyses of variance and interclass correlation coefficients revealed that coaches significantly (P &lt; .01) underestimated athlete session RPE, with only moderate correlation (r = .59) demonstrated between coach and athlete. However, athlete drill RPE (P = .14; r = .71) and mental exertion (P = .44; r = .68) were comparable and substantially correlated. No significant differences in estimated stroke count were evident between athlete and coach (P = .21), athlete notational analysis (P = .06), or coach notational analysis (P = .49). Coaches estimated significantly greater unforced errors than either athletes or notational analysis (P &lt; .01). Regression analyses found that 54.5% of variance in coach RPE was explained by intended session exertion and coach drill RPE, while drill RPE and peak HR explained 45.3% of the variance in athlete session RPE. Coaches misinterpreted session RPE but not drill RPE, while inaccurately monitoring error counts. Improved understanding of external- and internal-load monitoring may help coach-athlete relationships in individual sports like tennis avoid maladaptive training. 
24509704	A descriptive analysis of internal and external loads for elite-level tennis drills. 	Planning tennis sessions accentuating physical development requires an understanding of training load (TL). The aims were to describe the external and internal TL of drills and analyze relationships between ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), TL, and other measures. Fourteen elite-level junior tennis athletes completed 259 individual drills. Six coaches helped devise classifications for all drills: recovery/defensive, open pattern, accuracy, 2-on-1 open, 2-on-1 net play, closed technical, point play, and match play. Notational analysis on stroke and error rates was performed postsession. Drill RPE and mental exertion were collected postdrill, while heart rate (HR) was recorded continuously. Recovery/defensive, open pattern, and point play were significantly greater than closed technical drills (P &lt; .05) for RPE and mental exertion, as were accuracy drills and match play (P &lt; .05). Recovery/defensive, open-pattern, accuracy, and 2-on-1 open drills had higher stroke rates than match play (P &lt; .05). Error rates of closed technical drills were significantly higher than for open pattern, 2-on-1 drills, point play, and match play (P &lt; .05). No HR differences were observed (P &gt; .05) between categories. Substantial correlations existed for drill RPE and TL with mental exertion (r &gt; .62) for several categories. TL was substantially correlated with total strokes (r &gt; .65), while HR and stroke and error rates were in slight to moderate agreement with RPE and TL (r &lt; .51). Recovery/defensive drills are highest in physiological stress, making them ideal for maximizing physicality. Recovery/defensive drills compromised training quality, eliciting high error rates. In contrast, 2-on-1 net-play drills provided the lowest error rates, potentially appropriate for error-amelioration practice. Open-pattern drills were characterized by significantly higher stroke rates, suggesting congruence with high-repetition practice. Finally, with strong relationships between physical and mental perception, mental exertion may complement currently used monitoring strategies (TL and RPE). 
24444243	The effect of performance context and skill level on the frequency of flow experiences. 	The main purpose of this study was to examine interaction effects between skill level and performance contexts on the experience of flow in adolescent tennis players. The study employed a factorial design to examine differences in flow frequency between competition and training settings and the independent groups factor of ranking list and club players. Junior tennis players (55 males, 29 females) completed the Dispositional Flow Scale-2 in training and competition settings. A repeated-measure ANCOVA, with years of tennis experience and training hours per week as covariates, showed a significant main effect for skill level, F(1, 82) = 6.67, p&lt;0.05, η2 p = 0.08, a significant main effect for performance contexts, F(1, 82) = 7.69, p &lt; 0.01, η2 p = 0.09, and a significant disordinal interaction, F(1, 82) = 9.93, p &lt; 0.01, η2 p = 0.11. Lower skilled athletes experienced flow with similar frequency across performance contexts, whereas advanced players experienced flow more often during training than competition. Qualitative results showed that club players' involvement in both performance contexts was mainly based on intrinsic reasons, whereas ranking list players reported intrinsic reasons for training, but a high number of extrinsic reasons for competition. Future studies should take propositions of the flow model into account in order to advance theoretical developments on interaction effects and shed more light into the complex processes underlying flow in sport. 
23687933	Evaluation of elite table tennis players' technique effectiveness. 	This study constructed a technique effectiveness evaluation formula for table tennis players based on the relationship between the scoring rate and usage rate of techniques and established the evaluation criteria through the examination of 224 matches of the world's top 35 players. It also built a competition performance formula with the score difference theory for the exploration of the correlation between player technique effectiveness and competition performance. The results showed the three indices--the technique effectiveness of the first and third strokes (TE₁,₃), the second and fourth strokes (TE₂,₄) and the after fourth strokes (TE(&gt;₄))--could help better evaluate the technique effectiveness of elite players. The comparative analysis of Chinese elite table tennis players and players from other countries and regions revealed that Chinese players as a whole were &quot;excellent&quot; in all the examined techniques except in the male's &quot;first and third strokes&quot;; while players from other countries and regions were overall &quot;general&quot;. The case analysis of two world top players further indicated that correlation analysis of technique effectiveness and competition performance could help identify the technique indices highly correlated with player competition performance. 
23687954	Dynamics of players' relative positioning during baseline rallies in tennis. 	This study analysed how the relative positioning of players on court influenced patterns of interpersonal coordination in baseline rallies in tennis. We developed a model (PA index) that assigns a weight to the position of each player on court and determines a positional advantage, based on the relative proportionality between the lateral and longitudinal displacement values during rallies. To test the model, data from 27 randomly-selected baseline rallies from three ATP World Tour matches (professional tennis players' tournaments organized by Association of Tennis Professionals) on clay were analysed. Results revealed that the PA index of players on court described their interpersonal coordination dynamics during baseline rallies. It also identified the emergence of rally breaks in the interpersonal coordination patterns of competing dyads that led to a point being scored. Data suggest that positional advantage data may assist coaches in the design of training tasks to enhance players' court coverage and performance during competitive interactions, acting as a valuable tool for performance analysis in tennis. 
23799825	Recovery from repeated on-court tennis sessions: combining cold-water immersion, compression, and sleep recovery interventions. 	To investigate the effects of combining cold-water immersion (CWI), full-body compression garments (CG), and sleep-hygiene recommendations on physical, physiological, and perceptual recovery after 2-a-day on-court training and match-play sessions. In a crossover design, 8 highly trained tennis players completed 2 sessions of on-court tennis-drill training and match play, followed by a recovery or control condition. Recovery interventions included a mixture of 15 min CWI, 3 h of wearing full-body CG, and following sleep-hygiene recommendations that night, while the control condition involved postsession stretching and no regulation of sleeping patterns. Technical performance (stroke and error rates), physical performance (accelerometry, countermovement jump [CMJ]), physiological (heart rate, blood lactate), and perceptual (mood, exertion, and soreness) measures were recorded from each on-court session, along with sleep quantity each night. While stroke and error rates did not differ in the drill session (P &gt; .05, d &lt; 0.20), large effects were evident for increased time in play and stroke rate in match play after the recovery interventions (P &gt; .05, d &gt; 0.90). Although accelerometry values did not differ between conditions (P &gt; .05, d &lt; 0.20), CMJ tended to be improved before match play with recovery (P &gt; .05, d = 0.90). Furthermore, CWI and CG resulted in faster postsession reductions in heart rate and lactate and reduced perceived soreness (P &gt; .05, d &gt; 1.00). In addition, sleep-hygiene recommendations increased sleep quantity (P &gt; .05, d &gt; 2.00) and maintained lower perceived soreness and fatigue (P &lt; .05, d &gt; 2.00). Mixed-method recovery interventions (CWI and CG) used after tennis sessions increased ensuing time in play and lower-body power and reduced perceived soreness. Furthermore, sleep-hygiene recommendations helped reduce perceived soreness. 
23986524	Effects of two different resistance-training programs on mean tennis-serve velocity in adolescents. 	The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the transferability of 2 different resistance training protocols on service velocity and its precision consistency in junior tennis players. Thirty-six male athletes (15.03 ± 1.64 years) were randomly assigned to a machine-based resistance-training group (RG, n = 12), a plyometric training group (PG, n = 12), and a control group (CG, n = 12). For a period of 8 weeks, both intervention groups resistance trained 2 days per week in addition to their regular tennis training, whereas the CG had no extra training. Mean service velocity over 20 maximum-velocity serves increased significantly more in PG (3.78%; p &lt; .05) when compared with CG, whereas no such changes could be found in the RG (1.18%; p &gt; .05). Service precision did not change from pre- to posttest in all three groups (p &gt; .05). Only the plyometric training program tested, improved mean service velocity over 20 maximum-velocity serves in junior tennis players but did not affect service precision. 
23458278	Winning matches in Grand Slam men's singles: an analysis of player performance-related variables from 1991 to 2008. 	This study examines factors that lead to winning matches in men's singles Grand Slam tennis, and proposes guidelines for coaches and professional tennis players both in training and preparation for Grand Slam competitions. Using longitudinal data between 1991 and 2008 retrieved from the official website of the Association of Tennis Professionals, we analysed player performance over 9,144 matches in men's singles Grand Slam tournaments. To predict match outcome, 16 variables were classified into one of three categories: player skills and performance, player characteristics and match characteristics. The three categories were entered sequentially into a logistic regression model to predict the dependent variable: the chance of winning a men's singles Grand Slam match. The final altered model explains 79.4% of the variance (Nagelkerke's pseudo R (2)) in match outcomes and correctly predicted 90.6% of cases. The importance of serving, receiving, and break points is further confirmed. The positive effect of stature diminishes when players are taller than 186 cm. We recommend more training in returning skills; to avoid overestimation of the positive impact of stature, left hand and professional experience; and that a male player begins his professional tennis career by participating in the US Open or Wimbledon. 
23630121	Functional movement scores and longitudinal performance outcomes in elite track and field athletes. 	Subjects with scores on the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) assessment of ≤14 or with at least 1 bilateral asymmetry have been shown to have greater future injury incidence than subjects with FMS scores &gt;14 or no movement asymmetries. To determine if FMS injury risk factors extend to longitudinal competitive performance outcomes in elite track and field athletes. Elite track and field athletes were examined (N = 121), each completing an FMS before the 2011 competitive season. Best competition marks for the year were obtained from athletes' actual performances for 2010 and 2011. Performance change between 2010 and 2011 was examined in cohorts of FMS scores ≤14 (LoFMS) vs &gt;14 (HiFMS), athletes with bilateral asymmetry in at least 1 of the 5 FMS movements vs athletes with no asymmetry, and athletes who scored 1 on the deep-squat movement vs athletes who scored 2 or 3. HiFMS had a significantly different change in performance from 2010 to 2011 (0.41% ± 2.50%, n = 80) compared with LoFMS (-0.51% ± 2.30%, P = .03, n = 41). Athletes with no asymmetries had a longitudinal improvement in performance (+0.60% ± 2.86%, n = 50) compared with athletes with at least 1 asymmetry (-0.26% ± 2.10%, P = .03, n = 71). Athletes who scored 1 on the deep-squat movement had a significantly different change in performance (-1.07 ± 2.08%, n = 22) vs athletes who scored 2 (0.13% ± 2.28%, P = .03, n = 87) or 3 (1.98% ± 3.31%, P = .001, n = 12). Functional movement ability, known to be associated with the likelihood of future injury, is also related to the ability to improve longitudinal competitive performance outcomes. 
23751941	Repeated sprints, high-intensity interval training, small-sided games: theory and application to field sports. 	Due to the broad spectrum of physical characteristics necessary for success in field sports, numerous training modalities have been used develop physical preparedness. Sports like rugby, basketball, lacrosse, and others require athletes to be not only strong and powerful but also aerobically fit and able to recover from high-intensity intermittent exercise. This provides coaches and sport scientists with a complex range of variables to consider when developing training programs. This can often lead to confusion and the misuse of training modalities, particularly in the development of aerobic and anaerobic conditioning. This review outlines the benefits and general adaptations to 3 commonly used and effective conditioning methods: high-intensity interval training, repeated-sprint training, and small-sided games. The goals and outcomes of these training methods are discussed, and practical implementations strategies for coaches and sport scientists are provided. 
23881526	Peak-power estimation equations in 12- to 16-year old children: comparing linear with allometric models. 	This study examined the efficacy of peak-power estimation equations in children using force platform data and determined whether allometric modeling offers a sounder alternative to estimating peak power in pediatric samples. Ninety one boys and girls aged 12-16 years performed 3 countermovement jumps (CMJ) on a force platform. Estimated peak power (PP(est)) was determined using the Harman et al., Sayers SJ, Sayers CMJ, and Canavan and Vescovi equations. All 4 equations were associated with actual peak power (r = 0.893-0.909, all p &lt; .01). There were significant differences between PP(est) using the Harman et al., Sayers SJ, and Sayers CMJ equations (p &lt; .05) and actual peak power (PP(actual)). ANCOVA also indicated sex and age effect for PPactual (p &lt; .01). Following a random two-thirds to one-third split of participants, an additive linear model (p = .0001) predicted PPactual (adjusted R(2) = .866) from body mass and CMJ height in the two-thirds split (n = 60). An allometric model using CMJ height, body mass, and age was then developed with this sample, which predicted 88.8% of the variance in PP(actual) (p &lt; .0001, adjusted R(2) = .888). The regression equations were cross-validated using the one-third split sample (n = 31), evidencing a significant positive relationship (r = .910, p = .001) and no significant difference (p = .151) between PP(actual) and PP(est) using this equation. The allometric and linear models determined from this study provide accurate models to estimate peak power in children. 
24261013	The development of skill and knowledge during a sport education season of track and field athletics. 	The purpose of this study was to examine the relative effectiveness of 2 forms of physical education instruction on students' skill and technical performance, as well as content knowledge in 3 track and field events. Students from 6 classes in 3 Portuguese schools completed 900-min units conducted under the auspices of sport education or a more traditional teacher-directed format. Classes were randomly assigned to these conditions within each school. Although both groups improved significantly from pretest to posttest, the sport education classes outperformed the traditional classes in both technique and skill execution. Only the sport education group made significant improvements in content knowledge. When the students in the traditional group were tested at the point in time where they would usually complete a unit of physical education (450 min), there were no significant improvements in any of the study's variables. The explanation given for the superior performance outcomes of the sport education classes lies in the nature of formal competition and team affiliation, which are cornerstones of this pedagogical model. That is, students take their learning experiences more seriously than in traditional and often inauthentic classes. In terms of content knowledge, the fact that sport education has a level of content-embedded accountability that holds students accountable for their officiating duties is postulated as a significant contributor to their increased understanding of rules and protocols of athletic events. 
22880704	Effects of phase ratio and velocity conversion coefficient on the performance of the triple jump. 	Phase ratio is a measure of effort distribution in the triple jump. Hop-dominant, balanced, and jump-dominant techniques were three triple jump techniques defined based on phase ratio. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the phase ratio on the performance of the triple jump. Three-dimensional kinematic data of 13 elite male triple jumpers were obtained during a competition. Computer simulations were performed using a biomechanical model of the triple jump to optimise the phase ratio for the longest actual distance using each of the three techniques for a given athlete with altered velocity conversion coefficients. The velocity conversion coefficient affected which technique achieved the longest actual distance. The actual distance obtained using the hop-dominant technique was significantly longer than that obtained using the other two techniques (P = 0.007, P = 0.001) when the velocity coefficient was between 0.35 and 0.55. The actual distance obtained using the jump-dominant technique was significantly longer than that obtained using the other two techniques (P = 0.001, P = 0.002) when the velocity coefficient was between 0.80 and 1.30. No consistent optimum technique across participants and no significant difference in performance among the three techniques were found (P &gt; 0.524) when the velocity coefficient was between 0.60 and 0.75. 
22832201	Muscle strength, body composition, and performance of an elite shot-putter. 	Although muscle mass and strength are thought to be closely related to throwing performance, there are few scientific data about these parameters in elite shot-putters. The purpose of this case report was to present longitudinal data for muscle strength and body composition in relation to performance of an elite male shot-putter. A male national champion with the best rotational shot-put performance of 20.36 m (in 2010) was followed from 2003 to 2011 (current age: 29 y). Data regarding body composition (dual X-ray absorptiometry), as well as 1-repetition-maximum muscle strength (bench press, squat, snatch) and rotational shot-put performance, were collected every February for the last 9 y, 4 wk before the national indoor championship event. The athlete's personal-best performances in squat, bench press, and snatch were 175 kg, 210 kg, and 112.5 kg, respectively. His peak total lean body mass was 92.4 kg, bone mineral density 1.55 g/cm2, and lowest body fat 12.9%. His shot-put performance over these 9 years was significantly correlated with 1-repetition-maximum squat strength (r = .93, P &lt; .01), bench press (r = .87, P &lt; .01), and snatch (r = .92, P &lt; .01). In contrast, shot-put performance was not significantly correlated with any of the body-composition parameters. The results of this case study suggest that elite rotational shot-put performance may not be directly correlated with lean body mass. Instead, it seems that it is closely related with measures of muscle strength. 
22158915	Effect of pseudoephedrine on 800-m-run times of female collegiate track athletes. 	Pseudoephedrine (PSE) is an over-the-counter decongestant that might have ergogenic effects. The World Anti-Doping Agency has prohibited large doses (&gt;150 μg/mL) of PSE, while the National College Athletic Association (NCAA) does not include it on their banned-substance list. This study examined the effect of body-weight dosing of PSE on 800-m-run times of NCAA female runners. Fifteen NCAA female track athletes volunteered to participate in the randomized, double-blind, crossover design. Participants were given 2.5 mg/kg PSE or placebo in trials separated by a week. Ninety minutes postingestion, participants completed an 800-m individual time trial on an indoor track. Finishing time was recorded with an automated video timing device. Heart rate and anxiety state scores were recorded immediately after each trial. Fourteen runners completed both trials, and 1 was an outlier: N=13. Despite the dose being well above normal therapeutic levels (144±17 mg), there was no significant difference (P=.92) in 800-m times between PSE (2:39.447±9.584) and placebo (2:39.372±9.636) trials, in postexercise heart rate (P=.635; PSE=177.9±14.5 beats/min, placebo=178.4±18.5 beats/min), or in anxiety-state levels (P=.650; PSE=38.4±11.6, placebo=38.1±8.8). A 2.5-mg/kg dose of PSE had no effect on 800-m performance for female NCAA runners. More research is needed to determine if PSE should be a specified banned substance. 
25277018	Effects of conversation on situation awareness and working memory in simulated driving. 	In the present research, we investigated the hypothesis that working memory mediates conversation-induced impairment of situation awareness (SA) while driving. Although there is empirical evidence that conversation impairs driving performance, the cognitive mechanisms that mediate this relationship remain underspecified. Researchers have reported that a phonological working memory task decreased drivers' SA for vehicles located behind them whereas a visuospatial working memory task impaired SA for vehicles ahead. Conversation, therefore, might impair SA for vehicles behind the driver by preferentially taxing the phonological loop. A 20-questions task was used as a proxy for natural conversation. In Experiment I, driving performance was measured across three within-subjects conversation conditions (i.e., no conversation, driver asks questions, driver answers questions) with the use of a driving simulator. In Experiment 2, participants drove in the same simulator while either conversing (20-questions task) or not Participants estimated the positions of other vehicles after the screens were blanked at the end of each trial. Speed monitoring and responses to visual probes were impaired by the 20-questions conversation task (Experiment 1). As predicted, conversation impaired SA for the location of other vehicles more for vehicles located behind the driver than for those in front (Experiment 2). Conversation impairs drivers' SA of vehicles behind them by taxing working memory's phonological loop and impairs SA generally by taxing working memory's central executive. Provides a theoretical framework that links driver SA to working memory and a mechanism for understanding why conversation impairs driving performance. 
24384308	Lexical factors and cerebral regions influencing verbal fluency performance in MCI. 	To evaluate assumptions regarding semantic (noun), verb, and letter fluency in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer disease (AD) using novel techniques for measuring word similarity in fluency lists and a region of interest (ROI) analysis of gray matter correlates. Fifty-eight individuals with normal cognition (NC, n=25), MCI (n=23), or AD (n=10) underwent neuropsychological tests, including 10 verbal fluency tasks (three letter tasks [F, A, S], six noun categories [animals, water creatures, fruits and vegetables, tools, vehicles, boats], and verbs). All pairs of words generated by each participant on each task were compared in terms of semantic (meaning), orthographic (spelling), and phonemic (pronunciation) similarity. We used mixed-effects logistic regression to determine which lexical factors were predictive of word adjacency within the lists. Associations between each fluency raw score and gray matter volumes in sixteen ROIs were identified by means of multiple linear regression. We evaluated causal models for both types of analyses to specify the contributions of diagnosis and various mediator variables to the outcomes of word adjacency and fluency raw score. Semantic similarity between words emerged as the strongest predictor of word adjacency for all fluency tasks, including the letter fluency tasks. Semantic similarity mediated the effect of cognitive impairment on word adjacency only for three fluency tasks employing a biological cue. Orthographic similarity was predictive of word adjacency for the A and S tasks, while phonemic similarity was predictive only for the S task and one semantic task (vehicles). The ROI analysis revealed different patterns of correlations among the various fluency tasks, with the most common associations in the right lower temporal and bilateral dorsal frontal regions. Following correction with gray matter volumes from the opposite hemisphere, significant associations persisted for animals, vehicles, and a composite nouns score in the left inferior frontal gyrus, but for letter A, letter S, and a composite FAS score in the right inferior frontal gyrus. These regressions also revealed a lateralized association of the left subcortical nuclei with all letter fluency scores and fruits and vegetables fluency, and an association of the right lower temporal ROI with letter A, FAS, and verb fluency. Gray matter volume in several bihemispheric ROIs (left dorsal frontal, right lower temporal, right occipital, and bilateral mesial temporal) mediated the relationship between cognitive impairment and fluency for fruits and vegetables. Gray matter volume in the right lower temporal ROI mediated the relationship between cognitive impairment and five fluency raw scores (animals, fruits and vegetables, tools, verbs, and the composite nouns score). Semantic memory exerts the strongest influence on word adjacency in letter fluency as well as semantic verbal fluency tasks. Orthography is a stronger influence than pronunciation. All types of fluency task raw scores (letter, noun, and verb) correlate with cerebral regions known to support verbal or nonverbal semantic memory. The findings emphasize the contribution of right hemisphere regions to fluency task performance, particularly for verb and letter fluency. The relationship between diagnosis and semantic fluency performance is mediated by semantic similarity of words and by gray matter volume in the right lower temporal region. 
24930168	A strategically timed verbal task improves performance and neurophysiological alertness during fatiguing drives. 	The objective of this study was to investigate if a verbal task can improve alertness and if performance changes are associated with changes in alertness as measured by EEG. Previous research has shown that a secondary task can improve performance on a short, monotonous drive. The current work extends this by examining longer, fatiguing drives. The study also uses EEG to confirm that improved driving performance is concurrent with improved driver alertness. A 90-min, monotonous simulator drive was used to place drivers in a fatigued state. Four secondary tasks were used: no verbal task, continuous verbal task, late verbal task, and a passive radio task. When engaged in a secondary verbal task at the end of the drive, drivers showed improved lane-keeping performance and had improvements in neurophysiological measures of alertness. A strategically timed concurrent task can improve performance even for fatiguing drives. Secondary-task countermeasures may prove useful for enhancing driving performance across a range of driving conditions. 
23421514	Are stimulus-response rules represented phonologically for task-set preparation and maintenance? 	Accounts of task-set control generally assume that the current task's stimulus-response (S-R) rules must be elevated to a privileged state of activation. How are they represented in this state? In 3 task-cuing experiments, we tested the hypothesis that phonological working memory is used to represent S-R rules for task-set control by getting participants to switch between 2 sets of arbitrary S-R rules and manipulating the articulatory duration (Experiment 1) or phonological similarity (Experiments 2 and 3) of the names of the stimulus terms. The task cue specified which of 2 objects (Experiment 1) or consonants (Experiment 2) in a display to identify with a key press. In Experiment 3, participants switched between identifying an object/consonant and its color/visual texture. After practice, neither the duration nor the similarity of the stimulus terms had detectable effects on overall performance, task-switch cost, or its reduction with preparation. Only in the initial single-task training blocks was phonological similarity a significant handicap. Hence, beyond a very transient role, there is no evidence that (declarative) phonological working memory makes a functional contribution to representing S-R rules for task-set control, arguably because once learned, they are represented in nonlinguistic procedural working memory. 
23791081	Different motor tasks impact differently on cognitive performance of older persons during dual task tests. 	Dual task paradigm states that the introduction of a second task during a cognitive or motor performance results in a decreased performance in either task. Treadmill walk, often used in clinical applications of dual task testing, has never been compared to overground walk, to ascertain its susceptibility to interference from a second task. We compared the effects of overground and treadmill gait on dual task performance. Gait kinematic parameters and cognitive performance were obtained in 29 healthy older adults (mean age 75 years, 14 females) when they were walking freely on a sensorized carpet or during treadmill walking with an optoelectronic system, in single task or dual task conditions, using alternate repetition of letters as a cognitive verbal task. During overground walking, speed, cadence, step length stride length, and double support time (all with P value&lt;0.001) and cognitive performance (number of correct words, P&lt;0.001) decreased substantially from single to dual task testing. When subjects walked at a fixed speed on the treadmill, cadence decreased significantly (P=0.005), whereas cognitive performance remained unaffected. Both motor and cognitive performances decline during dual task testing with overground walking. Conversely, cognitive performance remains unaffected in dual task testing on the treadmill. In the light of current dual task paradigm, these findings may have relevant implication for our understanding of motor control, as they suggest that treadmill walk does not involve brain areas susceptible to interference from the introduction of a cognitive task. 
23897024	On the relationship between discrete and repetitive lifting performance in military tasks. 	Military manual handling requirements range from discrete lifts to continuous and repetitive lifting tasks. For the military to introduce a discrete lifting assessment, the assessment must be predictive of the various submaximum lifting tasks personnel are required to perform. This study investigated the relationship between discrete and repetitive military lifting to assess the validity of implementing a discrete lifting test. Twenty-one soldiers from the Australian Army completed a whole-body box-lifting assessment as a one repetition maximum (1RM) and a series of submaximal lifting repetitions (% 1RM). Performance was measured between the number of lifting repetitions that could be performed at different intensities between 58 and 95% 1RM. A strong curvilinear relationship existed across the entire submaximal lifting range (r = 0.72, p ≤ 0.05). The model developed demonstrated a low predictive error (standard error of the estimate = 7.2% 1RM) with no differences detected in the relationship when comparing individuals of high and low strength. Findings support the use of a discrete functional lifting assessment in providing coverage of a broad range of military lifting tasks. Parallels can be drawn between the trend reported in the current study and weight-training exercises reported in the literature. 
24575723	Imposing a pause between the eccentric and concentric phases increases the reliability of isoinertial strength assessments. 	This study analysed the effect of imposing a pause between the eccentric and concentric phases on the biological within-subject variation of velocity- and power-load isoinertial assessments. Seventeen resistance-trained athletes undertook a progressive loading test in the bench press (BP) and squat (SQ) exercises. Two trials at each load up to the one-repetition maximum (1RM) were performed using 2 techniques executed in random order: with (stop) and without (standard) a 2-s pause between the eccentric and concentric phases of each repetition. The stop technique resulted in a significantly lower coefficient of variation for the whole load-velocity relationship compared to the standard one, in both BP (2.9% vs. 4.1%; P = 0.02) and SQ (2.9% vs. 3.9%; P = 0.01). Test-retest intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were r = 0.61-0.98 for the standard and r = 0.76-0.98 for the stop technique. Bland-Altman analysis showed that the error associated with the standard technique was 37.9% (BP) and 57.5% higher (SQ) than that associated with the stop technique. The biological within-subject variation is significantly reduced when a pause is imposed between the eccentric and concentric phases. Other relevant variables associated to the load-velocity and load-power relationships such as the contribution of the propulsive phase and the load that maximises power output remained basically unchanged. 
23442272	Characteristics of lower extremity work during the impact phase of jumping and weightlifting. 	Jumping and weightlifting tasks involve impact phases, where work is performed by the lower extremity to absorb energies present at contact. This study compared the lower extremity kinematic and kinetic strategies to absorb energy during the impact phase of jumping and weightlifting activities. Ten women experienced in jumping and weightlifting performed 4 tasks (landing from a jump, drop landing, clean, and power clean) in a motion analysis laboratory. Work performed at the hip, knee, and ankle were calculated during the landing and receiving phases of jumping and weightlifting tasks, respectively. Additionally, segment and joint kinematics and net joint moments were determined. The most lower extremity work was performed in the clean and drop landing, followed by landing from a jump, and the least work was performed in the power clean (p &lt; 0.05). For all tasks, work performed by the knee extensors was the greatest contributor to lower extremity work. Knee extensor net joint moment was greater in the power clean than jump and drop landings, and greater in the clean than all other tasks (p &lt; 0.05). Knee flexion angle was not different between the power clean and jump landing (p &gt; 0.05) but greater in the drop landing and clean (p &lt; 0.05). A common characteristic of the impact phase of jumping and weightlifting tasks is a large contribution of knee extensor work. Further, the correspondence in kinematics between impact phases of jumping and weightlifting tasks suggests that similar muscular strategies are used to perform both types of activities. Weightlifting tasks, particularly the clean, may be important exercises to develop the muscular strength required for impact actions due to their large knee extensor net joint moments. 
22692125	Acute effect of passive static stretching on lower-body strength in moderately trained men. 	The purpose of this investigation was conducted to determine the acute effect of passive static stretching (PSS) of the lower-body musculature on lower-body strength in a 1 repetition maximum (1RM) squat exercise in young (18-24 years.) moderately trained men (n = 17). Two supervised warm-up treatments were applied before each performance testing session using a counterbalanced design on nonconsecutive days. The first treatment consisted of an active dynamic warm-up (AD) with resistance machines (i.e., leg extension/leg flexion) and free weights (i.e., barbell squat), whereas the second treatment added PSS of the lower body plus the AD treatment. One repetition maximum was determined using the maximum barbell squat following a progressive loading protocol. Subjects were also asked to subjectively evaluate their lower-body stability during 1RM testing sessions for both the AD and PSS treatments. A significant decrease in 1RM (8.36%) and lower-body stability (22.68%) was observed after the PSS treatment. Plausible explanations for this observation may be related to a more compliant muscle tendon unit and/or altered or impaired neurologic function in the active musculature. It is also possible that strength was impaired by the PSS because of joint instability. The findings of this study suggest that intensive stretching such as lower-body PSS should be avoided before training the lower body or performing the 1RM in the squat exercise in favor of an AD dynamic warm-up using resistance training equipment in the lower-body musculature. 
22130393	The effect of load reductions on repetition performance for commonly performed multijoint resistance exercises. 	The purpose of this study was to compare 4 different loading schemes for the free weight bench press, wide grip front lat pull-down, and free weight back squat to determine the extent of progressive load reductions necessary to maintain repetition performance. Thirty-two recreationally trained women (age = 29.34 ± 4.58 years, body mass = 59.61 ± 4.72 kg, height = 162.06 ± 4.04 cm) performed 4 resistance exercise sessions that involved 3 sets of the free weight bench press, wide grip front lat pull-down, and free weight back squat, performed in this exercise order during all 4 sessions. Each of the 4 sessions was conducted under different randomly ordered loading schemes, including (a) a constant 10 repetition maximum (RM) load for all 3 sets and for all 3 exercises, (b) a 5% reduction after the first and second sets for all the 3 exercises, (c) a 10% reduction after the first and second sets for all the 3 exercises, and (d) a 15% reduction after the first and second sets for all the 3 exercises. The results indicated that for the wide grip front lat pull-down and free weight back squat, a 10% load reduction was necessary after the first and second sets to accomplish 10 repetitions on all the 3 sets. For the free weight bench press, a load reduction between 10 and 15% was necessary; specifically, a 10% reduction was insufficient and a 15% reduction was excessive, as evidenced by significantly &gt;10 repetitions on the second and third sets for this exercise (p ≤ 0.05). In conclusion, the results of this study indicate that a resistance training prescription that involves 1-minute rest intervals between multiple 10RM sets does require load reductions to maintain repetition performance. Practitioners might apply these results by considering an approximate 10% load reduction after the first and second sets for the exercises examined, when training women of similar characteristics as in this study. 
22964859	The effects of rest interval length manipulation of the first upper-body resistance exercise in sequence on acute performance of subsequent exercises in men and women. 	The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of manipulating rest interval (RI) length of the first upper-body exercise in sequence on subsequent resistance exercise performance. Twenty-two men and women with at least 1 year of resistance training experience performed resistance exercise protocols on 3 occasions in random order. Each protocol consisted of performing 4 barbell upper-body exercises in the same sequence (bench press, incline bench press, shoulder press, and bent-over row) for 3 sets of up to 10 repetitions with 75% of 1 repetition maximum. Bench press RIs were 1, 2, or 3 minutes, whereas other exercises were performed with a standard 2-minute rest interval. The number of repetitions completed, average power, and velocity for each set of each exercise were recorded. Gender differences were observed during the bench press and incline press as women performed significantly (p ≤ 0.05) more repetitions than men during all RIs. The magnitude of decline in velocity and power over 3 sets of the bench press and incline press was significantly higher in men than women. Manipulation of RI length during the bench press did not affect performance of the remaining exercises in men. However, significantly more repetitions were performed by women during the first set of the incline press using 3-minute rest interval than 1-minute rest interval. In men and women, performance of the incline press and shoulder press was compromised compared with baseline performances. Manipulation of RI length of the first exercise affected performance of only the first set of 1 subsequent exercise in women. All RIs led to comparable levels of fatigue in men, indicating that reductions in load are necessary for subsequent exercises performed in sequence that stress similar agonist muscle groups when 10 repetitions are desired. 
23121475	Effect of cluster set configurations on power clean technique. 	The purpose of this investigation was to examine the effects of cluster set configurations on power clean technique. Ten male, recreational weightlifters performed three sets of six repetitions at 80% of one repetition max with 0 (P0), 20 (P20) or 40 seconds (P40) inter-repetition rest. During the first and second set of P0, the catch and first pull were in a more forward position during repetition 6 as compared to repetition 1, respectively. During the second set of P40, differences in horizontal displacement were found between repetitions 1 and 6 for the second pull and the loop. During the third set of P40, differences in horizontal displacement were found between repetitions 1 and 6 for the first pull, transition, and beginning of the second pull. No differences in horizontal displacement were found between repetitions 1 and 6 during P20. During each set of P0, vertical displacement decreased between repetitions 1 and 6 (1.02 ± 0.07 m vs. 0.94 ± 0.06 m; Mean ± s). Cluster set configurations led to the maintenance of vertical displacement throughout all sets. The results demonstrate cluster set configurations with greater than 20 seconds inter-repetition rest maintain weightlifting technique to a greater extent than a traditional set configuration. 
24568257	Adult-acquired flatfoot deformity and age-related differences in foot and ankle kinematics during the single-limb heel-rise test. 	Cross-sectional laboratory study. To compare single-limb heel-rise performance and foot-ankle kinematics between persons with stage 2 adult-acquired flat foot deformity (AAFD) and healthy controls. The inability to perform a single-limb heel rise is considered a positive functional diagnostic test for AAFD. However, which foot motions contribute to poor performance of this task are not known. Fifty individuals participated in this study, 20 with stage 2 AAFD (mean ± SD age, 57.6 ± 11.3 years), and 15 older participants (age, 56.8 ± 5.3 years) and 15 younger participants (age, 22.2 ± 2.4 years) without AAFD as control groups. Forefoot (sagittal plane) and rear foot (sagittal and frontal planes) kinematics were collected using a 3-D motion analysis system. Heel-rise performance (heel height) and kinematics (joint angles, excursions) were evaluated. One-way and 2-way analyses of variance were used to examine differences in heel-rise performance and kinematics between groups. Individuals with AAFD and older controls demonstrated lower heel-rise height than those in the younger control group (P&lt;.001). Persons with AAFD demonstrated higher degrees of first metatarsal dorsiflexion (P&lt;.001), lower ankle plantar flexion (P&lt;.001), and higher subtalar eversion (P = .027) than those in the older control group. Persons with AAFD demonstrated lower ankle excursion (P&lt;.001) and first metatarsal excursion (P&lt;.001) than those in the older control group, but no difference in subtalar excursion (P = .771). Persons with stage 2 AAFD did not achieve sufficient heel height during a single-leg heel rise. Both forefoot and rear foot kinematics in the sagittal plane, as opposed to the frontal plane, contributed to the lower heel height in participants with stage 2 AAFD. Older controls demonstrated lower heel-rise height than younger controls, indicating that clinical expectations of heel-rise performance may need to be adjusted for age. 
24458894	Relationship between cognition and gait performance in older adults receiving physical therapy interventions in the home. 	Persons undergoing physical therapy home services often have difficulty with mobility and gait. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there was a relationship between gait and a rating of cognitive functioning in persons undergoing home-care physical therapy services. Patients over the age of 65 (n = 11,601) seen by a home-care agency between 2007 and 2008 were included in the retrospective analysis, and 10,953 (mean +/- standard deviation age 83.2 +/- 7.1; 31%) met the criteria of being able to ambulate independently or with an assistive device. All patients attempted to perform the modified Clinical Test of Sensory Integration and Balance plus either the Performance Oriented Measurement Assessment (POMA) or the Dynamic Gait Index (DGI). Mental function was scored as part of the Outcome and Assessment Information Set. A multivariate model with adjustment for age and sex identified gait performance as measured by the DGI to be independently associated with the likelihood that a patient required cognitive prompting (p = 0.03). Both the DGI and POMA scores were independently associated with requiring assistance/dependence with cognitive tasks. There was a strong relationship between cognition and gait performance in persons undergoing physical therapy interventions in the home. Changes in gait may be related to cognitive decline. 
24238471	Impact of age and obstacles on navigation precision and reaction time during blind navigation in dual-task conditions. 	Navigation without vision is a skill that is often employed in our daily lives, such as walking in the dark at night. Navigating without vision to a remembered target has previously been studied. However, little is known about the impact of age or obstacles on the attentional demands of a blind navigation task. This study examined the impacts of age and obstacles on reaction time (RT) and navigation precision during blind navigation in dual-task conditions. The aims were to determine the effects of age, obstacles, and auditory stimulus location on RT and navigation precision in a blind navigation task. Ten healthy young adults (24.5±2.5 years) and ten healthy older adults (69.5±2.9 years) participated in the study. Participants were asked to walk to a target located 8m ahead. In half the trials, the path was obstructed with hanging obstacles. Participants performed this task in the absence of vision, while executing a discrete RT task. Results demonstrated that older adults presented increased RT, linear distance travelled (LDT), and obstacle contact; that obstacle presence significantly increased RT compared to trials with no obstacles; and that an auditory stimulus emitted early versus late in the path increased LDT. Results suggest that the attentional demands of blind navigation are higher in older than young adults, as well as when obstacles are present. Furthermore, navigation precision is affected by age and when participants are distracted by the secondary task early in navigation, presumably because the secondary task interferes with path estimation. 
24459696	Center of pressure path during Sit-to-walk tasks in young and elderly humans. 	This study aimed to investigate differences in total center of pressure (TCOP) paths during a Sit-to-Walk task in young and elderly subjects. Nine young and 19 elderly subjects were asked to repeat five Sit-to-Walk tasks. The COP paths were computed during the rising from vertical forces. For 4 young and 17 elderly subjects, the TCOP moved on the anterior-posterior axis during the 1st period (from the beginning of the rising to maximal force under the swing leg) and then joined the stance foot during the 2nd period (from maximal force to the toe off). For the two other paths observed in young subjects, the duration of the 2nd period was increased (33% of total duration vs. 18%, P = 0.02) or the area of TCOP displacement during the 1st period was decreased. During the Sit-to-Walk task, different TCOP paths can be described in relation to age. These profiles are influenced by the level of postural stability required before initiating the first step. After further validation, the analysis of TCOP paths could be used to estimate the level of postural ability, especially in the elderly. 
23442280	Using a practical approach for determining the most effective stretching strategy in female college division I volleyball players. 	The purpose of this investigation was to quantify the effects that a practical bout of static stretching (SS) and dynamic stretching (DS) has on maximal countermovement jump (CMJ) height across a time spectrum of 25 minutes in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I varsity volleyball players. Eleven female varsity volleyball players (mean ± SD; age 20.00 ± 1.55 years; height 1.78 ± 0.08 m; mass 74.55 ± 12.18 kg) volunteered for this investigation. Three days of randomized experimental testing (SS, DS, control) were completed. The SS protocol consisted of stretching 7 muscle groups. The DS protocol consisted of the volleyball team's actual DS routine of equal duration (30 seconds) to SS. Poststretch performance measures of CMJ were determined at 1, 5, 15, and 25 minutes poststretch. Countermovement jump had an acute significant trial-by-time interaction, indicating that DS was found to produce significantly higher scores than the SS and control session at 1 and 5 minutes poststretch, but not at 15 and 25 minutes poststretch. Additionally, there was a timing interaction within trials where SS scores were significantly lower at 1 minute poststretch compared with 5 and 25 minutes poststretch, and DS scores were significantly higher at 1 and 5 minutes poststretch compared with 15 and 25 minutes poststretch. Athletes engaging in competitive power sports should continue to utilize their DS routine but may need to do so within 5 minutes before activity. 
23981346	Contrast loading: power output and rest interval effects on neuromuscular performance. 	This study examined the effect of rest interval after the execution of a jump-squat set with varied external mechanical-power outputs on repeated-jump (RJ) height, mechanical power, and electromyographic (EMG) activity. Twelve male volleyball players executed 6 RJs before and 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 min after the execution of 6 repetitions of jump squats with a load: maximized mechanical-power output (Pmax), 70% of Pmax, 130% of Pmax, and control, without extra load. RJ height did not change (P = .44) after the jump squats, mechanical power was higher (P = .02) 5 min after the 130%Pmax protocol, and EMG activity was higher (P = .001) after all exercise protocols compared with control. Irrespective of the time point, however, when the highest RJ set for each individual was analyzed, height, mechanical power, and EMG activity were higher (P = .001-.04) after all loading protocols compared with control, with no differences observed (P = .53-.72) among loads. Rest duration for a contrast-training session should be individually determined regardless of the load and mechanical-power output used to activate the neuromuscular system. The load that maximizes external mechanical-power output compared with a heavier or a lighter load, using the jump-squat exercise, is not more effective for increasing jumping performance afterward. 
22317680	Relationship between state anxiety and success rate in game performance, coach's evaluation among Japanese university volleyball players. 	The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between state anxiety and individual athletic game performance. The subjects were 54 male players of 4 teams (The average age was 20.5 (SD=1.09) years), who participated in the Kanto university men's volleyball league games in the spring of year 2010. The subjects were asked to respond to a Japanese version of the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), which was measured at 4 time periods (the day before, the day of game, just before the game, just after the game) for each of a total of 40 games (each team played 10 games). The results were as follows: (1) Relationships between state anxiety and success rate in game performance (spike, reception, block) showed different correlation depending on each game performance. (2) The group of players who performed well in games collected by coaches scored lower than the more badly-performing group in the score of state anxiety on the day of game and just after the game. (3) The temporal change of the score of state anxiety from just before the game to just after the game was different depending on whether they performed well or not in games. 
22660959	Evaluation of two methods of the jump float serve in volleyball. 	A novel jump-focused (JF) technique of the jump float serve was compared with the conventionally used contact-focused (CF) method. Seven elite male (height: 195 ± 6 cm) and two elite female (height: 181 and 182 cm) volleyball players were videoed at 60 Hz performing both techniques. Horizontal and vertical ball contact coordinates, pre- and postcontact ball velocities, and initial projection angles were determined. The JF technique resulted in a significantly higher mean contact height, t(8) = 4.12, p = .006, d = 0.72, initial serve speed, t(8) = 4.71, p = .006, d = 2.03, and significantly flatter initial projection angle, t(8) = 2.53, p = .036, d = 0.63, relative to the CF technique. The precontact vertical ball velocity was also significantly higher, t(8) = 8.04, p = .004, d = 2.86. The higher precontact vertical ball velocity suggests it is more difficult to make accurate contact with the ball during the JF technique. However, this method promotes a more favorable ball trajectory and a greater initial serve speed. When combining the random lateral movement patterns inherent in any float serve, with the reduced flight time associated with the JF technique, a more challenging passing scenario can be presented to the defensive team in comparison with the current CF technique. 
23249768	The acute effect of drop jump protocols with different volumes and recovery time on countermovement jump performance. 	The aim of this study was to investigate the acute effect of (a) a drop jump (DJ) protocol with 1 set per 5 repetitions and (b) a DJ protocol with 2 sets per 5 repetitions on countermovement jump (CMJ) height performance in volleyball players at recovery times of (a) 2 minutes, (b) 6 minutes, and (c) 12 minutes. The subjects were 10 male Division I college volleyball players. They were instructed to perform a pretest of 3 CMJs and then randomly assigned to perform (a) a DJ protocol with 1 set per 5 repetitions and (b) a DJ protocol with 2 sets per 5 repetitions. After the DJ, 3 CMJs were completed in 2, 6, and 12 minutes. A 2-way repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to examine the differences between training volumes and recovery times in CMJ height (H(CMJ)) and maximum ground reaction force. Both DJ training volumes significantly increased the H(CMJ). The H(CMJ) at post 2 minutes was greater than those at the pretest (p = 0.008), post 6 minutes (p = 0.004), and post 12 minutes (p = 0.002). In addition, the H(CMJ) at post 6 minutes was significantly greater than that at post 12 minutes (p = 0.018). Drop jumps in lower volume (e.g., within 10 repetitions) and short recovery time (e.g., within 2 minutes) can produce a positive acute effect on CMJ performance. 
21904238	Vertical jumping tests in volleyball: reliability, validity, and playing-position specifics. 	Vertical jumping is known to be important in volleyball, and jumping performance tests are frequently studied for their reliability and validity. However, most studies concerning jumping in volleyball have dealt with standard rather than sport-specific jumping procedures and tests. The aims of this study, therefore, were (a) to determine the reliability and factorial validity of 2 volleyball-specific jumping tests, the block jump (BJ) test and the attack jump (AJ) test, relative to 2 frequently used and systematically validated jumping tests, the countermovement jump test and the squat jump test and (b) to establish volleyball position-specific differences in the jumping tests and simple anthropometric indices (body height [BH], body weight, and body mass index [BMI]). The BJ was performed from a defensive volleyball position, with the hands positioned in front of the chest. During an AJ, the players used a 2- to 3-step approach and performed a drop jump with an arm swing followed by a quick vertical jump. A total of 95 high-level volleyball players (all men) participated in this study. The reliability of the jumping tests ranged from 0.97 to 0.99 for Cronbach's alpha coefficients, from 0.93 to 0.97 for interitem correlation coefficients and from 2.1 to 2.8 for coefficients of variation. The highest reliability was found for the specific jumping tests. The factor analysis extracted one significant component, and all of the tests were highly intercorrelated. The analysis of variance with post hoc analysis showed significant differences between 5 playing positions in some of the jumping tests. In general, receivers had a greater jumping capacity, followed by libero players. The differences in jumping capacities should be emphasized vis-a-vis differences in the anthropometric measures of players, where middle hitters had higher BH and body weight, followed by opposite hitters and receivers, with no differences in the BMI between positions. 
22808710	College students' perspectives, goals, and strategies in sport education. 	We examined the perspective, goals, and strategies of students enrolled in collegiate physical education courses. Our aim was to determine the extent to which a model developed by Allen (1986) describing student-social systems in high schools would approximate those in a collegiate setting. Forty-six students from two elective volleyball classes completed online surveys and participated in group interviews. It was determined that while specific parts of the original model were appropriate for describing college students' agendas for physical education, participation in the Sport Education model provided a more complimentary (in contrast to adversarial) link between the students' quest for good grades and their socializing strategies. A more appropriate model is presented. 
23768185	Food ingredients as anti-obesity agents: a review. 	Overweight and obesity have a major impact on global health; their prevalence has rapidly increased in all industrialized countries in the past few decades and diabetes and hypertension are their direct consequences. Pharmacotherapy provides reinforcement for obesity treatment, but should be an adjunctive support to diet, exercise, and lifestyle modification. At present, only orlistat and sibutramine have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for long-term use, but sibutramine was withdrawn for sale by the European Medicines Agency. The development of functional foods for the prevention and/or treatment of obesity suppose an opportunity for the food market and involve the knowledge of the mechanisms of appetite and energy expenditure as well as the metabolic sensation of satiety. Strategies for weight control management affect gut hormones as potential targets for the appetite metabolic regulation, stimulation of energy expenditure (thermogenesis), and modifications in the metabolic activity of the gut microbiota. Functional foods for obesity may also include bioactive fatty acids, phenolic compounds, soybean, plant sterols, dietary calcium, and dietary fiber. This review intends to offer an overview of the present situation of the anti-obesity agents currently used in dietary therapy as well as some functional food ingredients with potentially anti-obesity effects. 
19128355	Soybean beta-conglycinin as the main allergen in a patient with food-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis by tofu: food processing alters pepsin resistance. 	Food-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis (FDEIA) due to soybeans is a rare disorder. The allergen responsible for FDEIA due to soybeans has not yet been determined. We characterized the clinical features of a patient with FDEIA due to tofu, who was well tolerant to drinking soy milk. We then sought to identify the responsible soybean allergen(s) in that patient. We further studied whether different stabilities of the allergen(s) to pepsin digestion between two soybean products are related to their clinical allergenicity. Skin prick tests and provocation tests using soybean products were performed to detect the responsible food and other factors that induced the allergic symptoms. Specific IgE to various soybean allergens were examined by ImmunoCAP, ELISA and protein microarray assays. Immunoblotting for soybeans and soybean products using the patient's serum was also performed. Soybean products were serially digested by pepsin to disclose the stability of the allergens. Provocation with ingestion of tofu and exercise induced the allergic symptoms, while ingestion of soy milk and exercise did not. Immunoblot analysis, ELISA and protein microarray assay revealed that beta-conglycinin mainly reacts with IgE antibodies in the patient's serum. By immunoblot analysis, beta-conglycinin in soy milk completely disappeared after pepsin digestion within 20 min, whereas beta-conglycinin in tofu was almost intact after more than 120 min of pepsin digestion. We identified beta-conglycinin as the causative allergen in a patient with FDEIA induced by tofu. The difference in resistance to pepsin digestion between tofu and soy milk suggests that the presence of undigested allergens in the digestive tract is a prerequisite for the development of FDEIA. 
17684221	Whole- and refined-grain intakes and the risk of hypertension in women. 	Prospective studies linking whole- and refined-grain intakes with the risk of hypertension, a major cardiovascular disease risk factor, remain limited. We aimed to determine whether baseline intake of whole or refined grains is associated with subsequent development of hypertension. We conducted a prospective cohort study in 28 926 female US health professionals aged &gt;or=45 y who were free of baseline cardiovascular disease, cancer, and hypertension in 1992. Baseline whole- and refined-grain intakes were assessed from semiquantitative food-frequency questionnaires. We identified 8722 incident cases of hypertension from annual questionnaires during 10 y of follow-up. After adjustment for known hypertension risk factors, the relative risks (RRs) (and 95% CIs) of incident hypertension were 1.00 (reference), 0.96 (0.89, 1.03), 0.95 (0.88, 1.02), 0.92 (0.85, 0.99), and 0.89 (0.82, 0.97) across the increasing quintiles of baseline whole-grain intake (P for trend = 0.007). When functional cutoffs were used, women who consumed 0.5 to &lt;1, 1 to &lt;2, 2 to &lt;4, and &gt;or=4 whole-grain servings/d had multivariate RRs (95% CIs) of 0.93 (0.87, 1.00), 0.93 (0.87, 0.99), 0.92 (0.85, 0.99), and 0.77 (0.66, 0.89), respectively, compared with those who consumed &lt;0.5 whole-grain servings/d. In contrast, refined-grain intake was not associated with the risk of hypertension. The multivariate RRs of hypertension across the increasing quintiles of refined-grain intake were 1.00, 0.97, 0.94, 0.99, and 0.97 (P for trend = 0.80). Higher whole-grain intake was associated with a reduced risk of hypertension in middle-aged and older women, which suggests a potential role for increasing whole-grain intake in the primary prevention of hypertension and its cardiovascular complications. 
15809667	Choice and availability of takeaway and restaurant food is not related to the prevalence of adult obesity in rural communities in Australia. 	To establish whether choice and availability of takeaway and restaurant food consumption are associated with increased obesity. Crossroads Undiagnosed Disease Study: a cross-sectional study undertaken between June 2001 and March 2003. A regional centre and six shire capitals of variables size in rural Victoria, Australia. In total, 1454 residents of randomly selected households. Obesity (by body mass index (BMI) or waist circumference), weekly recreational activity, self-reported frequency of takeaway consumption, number of local takeaway and restaurant food outlets in the area. The prevalence of obesity ranged from 25.5-30.8% and was higher than the general Australian population among both men and women. Those in the regional centre were less likely than those in large and small shire capitals to participate in recreational activity of 150 min or more (39.7 vs 48.4%, 46.0% respectively, P=0.023) and yet reported better access to facilities and amenities for physical activity. Recreational activity of &gt; or =150 min/week was associated with 0.75 (0.58-0.97) fold less risk of obesity. BMI was unrelated to takeaway consumption. Waist circumference was significantly lower among those eating no takeaways, but similar whether takeaways were consumed &lt;1/month or &gt; or =1/week. Increased takeaway consumption was associated with increased consumption of higher fat preparations of dairy and meat products. Availability of takeaway outlets and restaurants was unrelated to obesity. The obesity epidemic exists among those without significant consumption of or availability to takeaway foods. In a setting of easy availability of food, the obesity epidemic relates strongly to reduced physical activity, but not to consumption of takeaway food. 
24894668	'Sticking to a healthy diet is easier for me when I exercise regularly': cognitive transfer between physical exercise and healthy nutrition. 	Long-term rehabilitation success depends on regular exercise and healthy nutrition. The present study introduces a new framework to explain this association on a psychosocial level. The exercise-nutrition relationship was investigated by exploring the sequential mediation of habit strength and transfer cognitions. Analyses were performed at two measurement points in time (at 12 and 18 months after rehabilitation), involving 470 medical rehabilitation patients who participated in an exercise intervention. Patients filled in paper-pencil questionnaires assessing exercise (t1) and habit strength, transfer cognitions and healthy nutrition at follow-up (t2). Habit strength and transfer cognitions mediated the relationship between exercise and nutrition. Findings suggest that habit strength and transfer cognitions are important factors underlying the relationship between exercise and nutrition. 
24094944	Measuring habitual physical activity in adults with cystic fibrosis. 	The aim of the present study was to determine whether different methods of recording physical activity (PA), i.e., accelerometers vs questionnaires, provided similar information in adults with cystic fibrosis (CF). 20 CF (age 33 ± 8SD yrs, FEV1 68 ± 16% predicted) and 11 age-matched healthy controls completed the Habitual Activity Estimation Scale (HAES) questionnaire and wore a biaxial accelerometer (SenseWear Pro3 Armband). Exercise tolerance was measured in CF. Patients had similar values in PA compared with controls. None of PA categories estimated by HAES questionnaire correlated with PA categories measured by the accelerometer; in CF the HAES questionnaire overestimated the effective levels of PA measured by the accelerometer. There were no differences between weekdays and weekend days PA levels provided by the accelerometer. In CF the questionnaire detected different time reported during the &quot;somewhat inactive&quot; and &quot;somewhat active&quot; categories (z = 2.651; p = 0.008; z = -2.651; p = 0.008), weekdays vs weekend; patients reported more time spent in activity (somewhat active &amp; very active) during the weekend (z = -2.203; p = 0.02). Peak oxygen uptake correlated with accelerometer activities of &quot;moderate&quot; (&gt;4.8 metabolic equivalents (METS)) and &quot;vigorous&quot; (&gt;7.2 METS) intensity (r = 0.503, p = 0.02; r = 0.545, p = 0.01). In adults with cystic fibrosis PA levels are better evaluated by the accelerometer and are similar to the controls. PA measured by the accelerometer is similar during the week and correlates with exercise tolerance. 
23419502	[Physical activity, physical fitness, and overweight in children and adolescents: evidence from epidemiologic studies]. 	Physical activity and fitness play a significant role in prevention of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents. Current understanding and evidence from epidemiologic studies provide useful insights to better understand how they relate to each other and how to develop future intervention strategies. This paper summarizes the most relevant information from cross-sectional and longitudinal studies on the relationships between physical activity, physical fitness, and overweight in early life. According to current scientific evidence: (i) High levels of physical activity during childhood and adolescence, particularly vigorous physical activity, are associated to lower total and central adiposity at this age and later in life; (ii) the level of physical fitness, especially aerobic fitness, is inversely related to current and future adiposity levels; (iii) overweight children and adolescents with a high fitness level have a healthier cardiovascular profile than their overweight, low fit peers and a similar profile to their normal weight, low fit peers. This suggests that high fitness levels may counteract the negative consequences attributed to body fat. These findings suggest that increasing physical fitness in overweight children and adolescents may have many positive effects on health, including lower body fat levels. 
24213306	Objectively measured habitual physical activity and sedentary behaviour in obese and non-obese Malaysian children. 	The present study examined objectively measured physical activity in Malaysian children and compared the differences in physical levels between obese and healthy weight children. Eighty-six obese children were matched for age and sex with 86 healthy weight children with median age 9.5 years. Habitual physical activity and sedentary behaviour were measured over 5 days using Actigraph accelerometers. Time spent sedentary was significantly higher in the obese group (90% vs. 86% of daytime; p = 0.001). Moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity was significantly higher in the healthy weight group (1.2 vs. 0.7% of daytime, p &lt; 0.001). In both healthy weight and obese children, physical activity levels were exceptionally low, although moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity was significantly lower in the obese group than the healthy weight group. Efforts to prevent and treat obesity in Malaysian children will need a substantial focus on the promotion of reductions in sedentary behaviour and increases in physical activity. 
23001468	Health-related quality of life in relation to walking habits and fitness: a population-based study of 75-year-olds. 	To assess health-related quality of life (HRQL) in relation to walking habits and fitness status in older persons. A second aim was to examine fitness status as a mediator in the relation between walking habits and HRQL. A cross-sectional population-based sample of 75-year-olds from Gothenburg, Sweden, was examined (n = 698, response rate 61 %). Walking habits were assessed as weekly frequency and duration. HRQL was assessed with the Short Form-36 (SF-36) and fitness with maximal and self-selected gait speed, chair-stand, stair-climbing capacity, grip strength and one-leg stance. The proportion of 75-year-olds who attained recommended levels of moderate physical activity (≥ 150 min/week), described as walking, was 60 %. This was positively associated with most subscales of SF-36 and with all fitness tests except grip strength. Maximal gait speed was the fitness test with the highest correlations to all SF-36 subscales. Fitness, described with maximal gait speed, was a partial mediator in most relations between walking habits and SF-36. After adjustment for confounders, associations between regular walking and SF-36 were no longer significant, except for Role Physical, General Health and Role Emotional in women. Attaining recommended levels of walking, as well as a high fitness status, is positively associated with several aspects of HRQL in older persons. Fitness, described with maximal gait speed, seems to have a partial role in the relation between walking habits and HRQL, suggesting that other mechanisms are also involved. 
22867426	Sport selection in under-17 male roller hockey. 	Characteristics of 32 international and 41 local under-17 (U-17) (14.5-16.5 years) roller hockey players were considered in the context of discrimination by competitive level using training history, anthropometry, skeletal maturation, and several laboratory and field performance tests. More international (42%) than local (22%) players were advanced in maturity status. International players had slightly less hockey experience (years), but had more practice sessions and match time (minutes) during the season. Local players were shorter and attained better performance in the 25-m dash, while international players performed better in sit-ups, ball throw and 20-m shuttle run. The fatigue index derived from the Wingate anaerobic test was higher among local players, while peak torques of knee extension and flexion were greater in international players. Stepwise discriminant function correctly classified 85% of players by competitive level based on grip strength, ratio of eccentric and concentric knee extension, number of training sessions, playing time and fatigue index. The results suggested an interaction among strength, anaerobic fitness and training plus game time as factors in discriminating international from local level players and by inference in the selection and development of youth roller hockey players. 
22594650	The relationship between maximal exercise-induced increases in serum IL-6, MPO and MMP-9 concentrations. 	The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that exercise would induce inflammatory response characterized by increased pro-inflammatory cytokines - interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), adhesion molecule, matrix metalloprotease-9 (MMP-9) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) levels. Additional aim was to elucidate the possible source of maximal exercise-induced increase in MMP-9 concentration. To examine our hypothesis, 26 professional male ice hockey players [age 25 ± 1 (mean ± SEM) years; BMI 25.8 ± 0.4 kg/m(2) ] performed an incremental bicycle test until exhaustion, when maximal oxygen consumption was recorded. Venous blood samples were collected 30 min before and 2 min after exercise. There was an increase in the count of leucocytes (8.7 ± 1.8 versus 5.7 ± 1.3 × 10(9) cells per l) and IL-6 (1.24 ± 0.17 versus 0.69 ± 0.13 pg/ml), MPO (72 ± 7 versus 50 ± 4 ng/ml) and MPP-9 (139 ± 9 versus 110 ± 6 ng/ml) concentrations (P &lt; 0.05) comparing post- and pre-exercise levels. Maximal exercise-induced increase in MPO correlated with the increases in IL-6 (P &lt; 0.05, R = 0.54) and MMP-9 (P &lt; 0.01, R = 0.62) concentrations. Furthermore, increase in IL-6 correlated with the increase in MMP-9 concentrations (P &lt; 0.05, R = 0.60). Maximal exercise induces an inflammatory response characterized by leucocytosis and increased IL-6, MPO and MMP-9 concentrations. Correlations between increased MPO (marker of neutrophils degranulation) and both increased IL-6 and MMP-9 concentrations may suggest that neutrophils could be the main source of these inflammatory biomarkers during maximal exercise. Furthermore, correlation between increases in serum IL-6 and MMP-9 concentrations may suggest that IL-6 could exert modulatory effects on MMP-9 release during maximal exercise. 
22395275	Relationship of off-ice and on-ice performance measures in high school male hockey players. 	The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of off-ice performance measures with on-ice turning, crossover, and forward skating performance in high school male hockey players. Thirty-eight players aged 15-18 (mean age ± SD: 16.4 ± 1.1 years; height: 177.9 ± 6.8 cm; weight: 72.5 ± 8.9 kg) participated in this study. On-ice tests included a forward sprint, short radius turns, and crossover turns. Off-ice tests included a 40-yd sprint, vertical jumps, horizontal jumps, and a dynamic balance test using a Y balance testing device. Five off-ice variables correlated with all on-ice performance measures. These variables included the 40-yd sprint, lateral bound right to left limb, double limb horizontal hop, balance on right in posterolateral direction, and composite balance performance on the right. Hierachical regression demonstrated that off-ice sprint time was most predictive of on-ice skating performance, accounting for 65.4% of the variability in forward skate time, 45.0% of the variability in left short radius time, 21.8% of the variance in right short radius time, 36.2% of the variance in left crossover time, and 30.8% of the variability in right crossover time. When using off-ice tests to evaluate hockey players, the 40-yd sprint is the best predictor of skating performance. Based on our regression equation, for every 1-second difference in the 40-yd sprint time, there will be approximately a 0.6-second difference in the 34.5-m on-ice sprint. The 40-yd sprint predicts forward skating performance and to a lesser degree; it also predicts crossover and tuning performance. 
21604228	The use of GPS to evaluate activity profiles of elite women hockey players during match-play. 	The aim of the study was to assess the match-play activity patterns of elite women field-hockey players using a global positioning system (SPI Elite, GPSports, Fyshwick, Australia). The activity of 25 players was analysed for 13 international matches, totalling 158 player-match analyses. Overall mean playing time was 48 ± 4 min but this varied according to playing position (defenders: 56 ± 11 min; midfielders: 50 ± 10 min; forwards: 38 ± 7 min; P &lt; 0.001, d = 0.57-1.92). In total, 55.5 ± 6.3% of match time was spent performing low-intensity exercise (standing: 5.8 ± 2.7%; walking: 49.7 ± 5.6%). Moderate-intensity exercise accounted for 38.1 ± 5.0% (jogging: 25.8 ± 3.5%; running: 12.3 ± 2.9%) of player match-time, with the remainder made up of high-intensity exercise (fast running: 4.9 ± 1.4%; sprinting: 1.5 ± 0.6%). Forwards spent more time performing moderate- (41.4%) and high-intensity (7.7%) exercise than defenders and midfield players (P &lt; 0.001). This is the first study to use a global positioning system to assess the activity characteristics of elite female hockey players and demonstrate that these characteristics differ according to playing position. These differences are probably attributable to the ways in which substitution of players occurs. 
20850711	Intensive physical activity increases peripheral blood dendritic cells. 	We analyzed the frequency and absolute numbers of circulating myeloid and plasmacytoid DCs in peripheral blood and evaluated their maturation status to test the hypothesis that significant physical stress to the body might induce measurable changes in DCs subsets, phenotype and function, which would complete existing knowledge about the response of the cellular immune system to an acute exercise in top sportsmen. We evaluated the heart rate and draw blood samples before and after the physical load in 18 profesional ice-hockey players. We observed an increase in leukocytes numbers with a predominant increase in the population of DCs and lymphocytes after exercise. Both myeloid and plasmacytoid DCs increased significantly. We found a correlation between the increase of peripheral blood DCs and serum epinephrine and norepinephrine levels. Increase in peripheral blood DCs also correlates with the extent of heart rate elevation during exercise. 
20962922	Cellular responses in skeletal muscle to a season of ice hockey. 	We hypothesized that a season of ice hockey would result in extensive remodeling of muscle. Tissue sampled from the vastus lateralis of 15 players (age = 20.6 ± 0.4 years; mean ± SE) prior to (PRE) and following (POST) a season was used to characterize specific adaptations. Measurement of representative metabolic pathway enzymes indicated higher maximal activities in POST than in PRE (p &lt; 0.05) for succinic dehydrogenase (3.26 ± 0.31 vs. 3.91 ± 0.11 mol mg protein(-1) min(-1)), citrate synthase (7.26 ± 0.70 vs. 8.70 ± 0.55 mol mg protein(-1) min(-1)), and phosphofructokinase (12.8 ± 1.3 vs. 14.4 ± 0.96 mol mg protein(-1) min(-1)) only. The season resulted in an increase in Na+-K+-ATPase concentration (253 ± 6.3 vs. 265 ± 6.0 pmol g(-1) wet weight), a decrease (p &lt; 0.05) in maximal activity of the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (107 ± 4.2 micromol g protein(-1) min(-1) vs. 92.0 ± 4.6 micromol g protein(-1) min(-1)), and no change in the distribution (%) of fibre types. A smaller (p &lt; 0.05) cross-sectional area (CSA) for both type I (-11.7%) and type IIA (-18.2%) fibres and a higher (p &lt; 0.05) capillary count/CSA for type I (+17.9%) and type IIA (+17.2%) were also found over the season. No changes were found in peak oxygen consumption (51.4 ± 1.2 mL kg(-1) min(-1) vs. 52.3 ± 1.3 mL kg(-1) min(-1)). The results suggest, based on the alterations in oxidative and perfusion potentials and muscle mass, that the dominant adaptations are in support of oxidative metabolism, which occurs at the expense of fibre CSA and possibly force-generating potential. 
19114742	Positional performance profiling of elite ice hockey players. 	The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether positional profiling is possible for elite ice hockey players by examining anthropometric characteristics and physiological performance. In addition, performance ranges and percentiles were determined for each position (forwards, defensemen, and goalkeepers) on all dependent variables. A retrospective, cross-sectional study design was used with performance data from ice hockey players (mean age = 18.0 +/- 0.6 years) attending the 2001 (n = 74), 2002 (n = 84), and 2003 (n = 92) Combines. Four anthropometric characteristics and 12 performance tests were the dependent variables. A 3 x 3 (position x year) 2-way ANOVA was used to determine whether any significant interactions were present. No significant interactions were observed, so the data were collapsed over the 3-year period and positional characteristics were analyzed using a 1-way ANOVA. Defenders were heavier and/or taller compared with the other 2 positions (P &lt;or= .01), whereas goalkeepers showed greater body-fat percentage compared with that of forwards (P = .001). It was found that goalkeepers had significantly lower strength measures for the upper body (P &lt;or= .043) and lower anaerobic capacity (P &lt;or= .039) values compared with at least one other position, but they had greater flexibility (P &lt;or= .013). No positional differences were observed for the broad jump, vertical jump, aerobic power, or curl-ups. The current findings provide evidence supporting the use of anthropometric measurements, upper body strength, and anaerobic capacity to effectively distinguish among positions for elite-level ice hockey players. 
22628185	Major, non-chromosomal, birth defects and maternal physical activity: a systematic review. 	We reviewed the published literature to assess the association between maternal periconceptional physical activity and the risk for major, non-chromosomal, birth defects and whether this varies by pre-pregnancy obesity. We conducted a systematic literature search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL databases. Data were abstracted from all articles that met our inclusion criteria and included information on physical activity intensity (mild, moderate, and vigorous) and modality (i.e., standing, lifting, other). We assessed occupational and recreational physical activity separately. The quality of included articles was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Of 3316 screened articles, 11 were included in this review. Of the four studies that assessed prolonged standing, two reported a positive association with risk for some birth defects; null associations were observed in the other two studies. Associations between heavy lifting or other occupational physical activity exposures and risk for birth defects were inconsistent. A protective association between leisure-time physical activity (i.e., active sports, swimming) and some birth defects (e.g., neural tube defects), was suggested by the results of two studies. Only one study reported assessment of possible effect modification by maternal body mass index (BMI). Our review suggests that there may be some associations between occupational and leisure-time physical activities and some, major non-chromosomal, birth defects, but relatively limited published research exists on these associations. Further research in this area should include differentiation of birth defects phenotypes, valid assessments of all domains of physical activity, including household and transportation activity, and account for the potential influence of pre-pregnancy BMI. 
23200875	Prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of all domains of physical activity in Brazilian adults. 	To estimate the prevalence and sociodemographic indicators associated with physical inactivity in leisure, commuting, work, and household in adults in Florianopolis, Brazil. Population-based cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2009 to January 2010, with adults between 20 to 59 years of age (n=1720). Sociodemographic indicators and physical inactivity in each domain were assessed by a validated questionnaire, applied through face-to-face interviews. The prevalence of physical inactivity in each domain was: leisure (52.5%); commuting (50.4%); work (80.9%); and household (57.6%). Women were 27% more inactive in leisure, while men were significantly more inactive at commuting and household (p&lt;0.001). Older adults were more inactive in leisure (p=0.04) and commuting (p=0.05). Physical inactivity in leisure was higher in black adults and those who living with a partner and with lower educational level and lower income. In commuting, those living with a partner and who had higher income were more inactive. Physical inactivity at work was higher in white or brown adults, who had higher educational level and higher income. Physical inactivity in household was found to be higher in adults with higher educational level and higher income. Sociodemographic indicators presented different associations with physical inactivity in each domain. 
22415107	Effect of physical activity on functional performance and knee pain in patients with osteoarthritis : analysis with marginal structural models. 	A previous analysis of the Osteoarthritis Initiative study reported a dose-response relationship between physical activity and improved physical function in adults with knee osteoarthritis, using conventional statistical methods. These methods are subject to bias when confounders are affected by prior exposure. We used baseline and 1-, 2-, and 3-year follow-up data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative study of 2545 US adults with knee osteoarthritis recruited between 2004 and 2006 from 4 clinical sites. Physical activity was measured using the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly, and outcomes were functional performance measured by the timed 20-meter walk test and self-reported knee pain measured by the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index. We estimated the effect of physical activity on each outcome using inverse probability-weighted (IPW) estimators of marginal structural models. For each outcome, we fitted 2 separate IPW models adjusting for concurrent or lagged confounders. The mean differences in walking speed for the second, third, and fourth quartiles of physical activity relative to the first were 0.48 (95% confidence interval = -0.12 to 1.08), 0.45 (-0.23 to 1.13), and 0.46 (-0.29 to 1.22) meters/min based on the IPW model adjusting for concurrent confounders. When adjusting for lagged confounders, the results were 1.35 (0.64 to 2.07), 1.33 (0.54 to 2.14), and 1.26 (0.40 to 2.12). Both IPW models indicated that physical activity did not affect knee pain. Physical activity has no effect on knee pain and may have either a very small effect or no effect on functional performance in adults with knee osteoarthritis. 
23127429	Dobutamine Cardiolite(®) stress testing with low-level treadmill exercise demonstrates improved image quality, less medication and fewer patient side effects. 	Some form of exercise is helpful to achieve target heart rate (THR) in patients undergoing dobutamine Technetium-99 Sestamibi (Cardiolite(®)) stress tests. The outcomes of low-level exercise (slow treadmill walking) and isometric exercises to achieve THR during dobutamine Cardiolite(®) stress tests have not been examined. The purpose of this study was to determine if patients who walked on a treadmill during their dobutamine Cardiolite(®) stress test had better outcomes than those who used isometric exercises. The outcomes measured were the amount of dobutamine and atropine sulfate (atropine) used, duration of dobutamine infusion and quality of cardiac images. A convenience sample of 30 patients per group who required a dobutamine Cardiolite® stress test was recruited from April to September, 2008. Descriptive statistics were reported for each group. The subjects who walked on the treadmill required a lower dose of dobutamine (P = 0.028) and a decreased time of dobutamine infusion (P = 0.031) to achieve their target heart rate. Heart-to-liver ratio results (P = 0.08) and image quality (P &lt; 0.0001) were better with the subjects who walked on the treadmill. No difference in atropine usage was found in either group. These outcomes suggest that the patient who walked on a treadmill during the dobutamine Cardiolite(®) stress test achieved the target heart rate faster, required less dobutamine and had better image quality than those who performed isometric exercises. 
15691903	Measuring peripheral resistance and conduit arterial structure in humans using Doppler ultrasound. 	The purpose of this study was to establish valid indexes of conduit and resistance vessel structure in humans by using edge detection and wall tracking of high-resolution B-mode arterial ultrasound images, combined with synchronized Doppler waveform envelope analysis, to calculate conduit artery blood flow and diameter continuously across the cardiac cycle. Nine subjects aged 36.7 (9.2) yr underwent, on separate days, assessment of brachial artery blood flow and diameter response to 5-, 10-, and 15-min periods of forearm ischemia in the presence and absence of combined sublingual glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) administration. Two further sessions examined responses to ischemic exercise, one in combination with GTN. The peak brachial artery diameter was observed in response to the combination of ischemic exercise and GTN; a significant difference existed between resting brachial artery diameter and peak brachial artery diameter, indicating that resting diameter may be a poor measure of conduit vessel structure in vivo. Peak brachial artery flow was also observed in response to a combination of forearm ischemia exercise and GTN administration, the response being greater than that induced by periods of ischemia, GTN, or ischemic exercise alone. These data indicate that noninvasive indexes of conduit and resistance vessel structure can be simultaneously determined in vivo in response to a single, brief, stimulus and that caution should be applied in using resting arterial diameter as a surrogate measure of conduit artery structure in vivo. 
15258775	The age-dependent decrease in the myogenic response of retinal arterioles as studied with the Retinal Vessel Analyzer. 	To study the age-dependent change in myogenic response of retinal arterioles. Fifty-one healthy volunteers with at least ten persons in each of the five age decades (I-V) between 20 and 69 years were subjected to diameter measurement of retinal arterioles using the Retinal Vessel Analyzer (RVA) during rest and during an increase in the systemic blood pressure when lifting hand weights. The transmural pressure in the retinal arterioles during the procedures was estimated from the blood pressure and the intraocular pressure and was compared to the accompanying diameter response. The retinal arteriolar diameter showed a significant decrease as a function of increasing weight for the two younger age groups below the age of 40 years (P=0.007, group I, and P=0.049, group II), compatible with perfect autoregulation, whereas no such change was observed in persons above this age (P=0.41, 0.053, 0.29 for groups III-V, respectively). Studies on autoregulation in retinal disease should consider the normal age-related decrease in diameter response of retinal arterioles when the blood pressure is changed. 
15261124	Should simultaneous exercise become the standard for adenosine myocardial perfusion imaging? 	Concomitant low-level treadmill exercise with adenosine pharmacologic stress (AdenoEx) during radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging has become commonly used in recent years, particularly in large-volume laboratories. A number of studies have demonstrated a beneficial impact of AdenoEx protocols. These benefits include decreased side effects, improved safety and patient tolerance, improved target-to-background ratios because of less subdiaphragmatic activity, and improved sensitivity and defect reversibility. In light of these benefits, recent reviews and guidelines call for the addition of low-level exercise to adenosine stress whenever possible. 
11753463	Evaluation of exercise-induced stunning using myocardial perfusion imaging. 	A late reduction (i.e. 1 hour post exercise) in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) in patients with ischaemic heart disease was recently reported with radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). This was ascribed to possible stunning provoked by exercise-induced ischaemia. The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the possible relationship between exercise-induced ischaemia and late (1 hour) post-exercise myocardial stunning. Forty-eight patients who underwent standard treadmill exercise with 99m Tc-MIBI MPI were analysed according to their rest and stress perfusion images. A normal group of 15 subjects, 23 patients with previous infarction and 10 with objective evidence of ischaemia were identified. Absolute change, i.e. exercise LVEF minus rest LVEF, and relative change, i.e. absolute change divided by resting LVEF (expressed as a percentage) were determined. The mean absolute change in LVEF was not significant within the normal and infarction groups but was statistically significant within the ischaemic group. The mean relative ( %) change within the normal and infarction groups was not significant, but was significant within the ischaemic group. The difference in mean absolute changes between the normal and infarction group was not significant but both these groups were statistically different when compared with the ischaemic group. No statistically significant difference in mean relative changes was found between the normal and infarction groups. The mean relative change in the ischaemic group tended to be larger than in the infarction group. The presence of a late regional wall motion abnormality or decreased LVEF after exercise (i.e. stunning) may be an important additional indicator of underlying myocardial ischaemia. 
11545125	Skeletal muscle perfusion during exercise using Gd-DTPA bolus detection. 	The study was performed to evaluate if skeletal muscle perfusion can be determined during exercise using an IV bolus injection of Gd-DTPA. A fast spoiled gradient echo sequence (T1 weighted) was used with intermittent imaging during one-legged plantar flexion at different workloads. Between repetitive flexions, a 2-sec rest allowed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the lower legs and measurements of the blood flow in the popliteal artery by ultrasonography for subsequent calculation of muscle perfusion. Maximal signal intensity, upslope and downslope of the bolus, mean transit time, and integrated curve area were measured within regions of interest bilaterally. The skeletal muscle perfusion estimated by ultrasonography increased in the exercising leg from 4 ml x 100 g(-1) x min(-1) at rest to 38 ml at low, 86 ml at medium, and 110 ml x 100 g(-1) x min(-1) at high workload. The SImax increased from 1.38 +/- 0.12 to 1.58 +/- 0.15 and the negative slope of the peak nonsignificantly from - 2.38 +/- 1.75 to - 12.05 +/- 9. 71. All obtained MRI parameters could visually separate the muscles into exercising, nonexercising, and presumably low active muscles. It is concluded that the signal intensity curve using a fast spoiled gradient echo sequence did not overall quantitatively mirror the perfusion, evaluated as the blood flow measured by ultrasonography. However, the signal intensity seemed to follow the blood flow velocity within a limited range of 15-60 cm x sec(-1), corresponding to 35-90 ml x 100 g(-1) x min(-1). Nonetheless, it might be useful when studying ischemia or endothelial dysfunction in skeletal muscles during exercise. 
11098457	[Age-correlation of blood pressure induced myogenic autoregulation of human retinal arterioles in 40 volunteers]. 	For the first time noninvasive measurement of the myogenic response of retinal arterioles is possible by the use of the Retinal-Vessel-Analyzer (RVA). This study investigates the influence of age on retinal autoregulation. In 40 healthy volunteers continuous measurement of a retinal arteriole over a 9-min period was performed. After a 3-min baseline measurement isometric exercise caused a rise in blood pressure of 15-30 mm Hg. During the last 3 minutes recovery was documented. Volunteers were split into a group of 20 younger (18-34 yrs.) and 20 older subjects (35-57 yrs.). For statistical analysis the Mann-Whitney test was used. All volunteers showed a rise in blood pressure. Significant differences in the blood-pressure rise were followed by a myogenic response of 1% up to 10% vasoconstriction. An individual autoregulation-curve was defined with negative gradient. Significant differences between the younger and the older volunteers can be identified by this methodology. Age has a significant influence on the myogenic response in human retinal arterioles. Age should be considered as a factor in clinical studies on retinal autoregulation. 
24384865	Dehydration enhances pain-evoked activation in the human brain compared with rehydration. 	Negative effects of dehydration on the human brain and cognitive function have been reported. In this study, we examined the effects of dehydration on pain thresholds and cortical activations in response to pain, compared with rehydration with an oral rehydration solution (ORS) by functional magnetic resonance imaging. Five healthy adult men were subjected to dehydration and rehydration on 2 different days. The condition on the first day was randomly assigned to each subject. They completed a 40-minute exercise protocol using a walking machine after 12 hours of fasting under both conditions. For rehydration, the subjects consumed up to 3000 mL ORS starting from the night before the test day. After exercise, a painful stimulus (cold pressor test) was applied to the subjects' medial forearm in a magnetic resonance imaging scanning gantry, and pain-evoked brain activation was analyzed. On the rehydration day, each of the subjects consumed an average of 2040 mL (range; 1800-2500 mL) ORS. Physiological data revealed that subjects when dehydrated lost more weight from exercise than subjects when rehydrated had a larger heart rate increase, a higher tympanic temperature, and a higher urine osmolality. Subjective data revealed that the subjects reported significantly stronger thirst while dehydrated than while rehydrated with ORS, although the levels of hunger and anxiety and mood did not significantly differ between conditions. The cold pressor test robustly activated the pain-related neural network, notably the anterior cingulate cortex, insula, and thalamus. Such activations in the dehydrated subjects were greater than those in the rehydrated subjects in terms of peak and cluster, accompanied by a decrease in pain threshold (P = 0.001). Our findings suggest that dehydration brings about increased brain activity related to painful stimuli together with enhanced thirst, whereas rehydration with ORS alleviates thirst and decreases brain activity related to painful stimuli. 
24212001	Analysis of the strain of the great saphenous vein in motion. 	This research probes into the strain changes of the great saphenous vein (GSV) during step exercises. Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) were used to process and develop Gauge Factors (GF=4.79 ± 0.247), 5 males and 5 females with an average age of 20 ± 0.6 years were asked to engage in step exercises (with step height of 25 cm), and the strain changes of the GSV in the lower limbs of the dorsal venous arch were measured. The results show that the effect the exercise has on the vein vessel is not prominent within 0.87 min; between 0.87 and 13.71 min, the average rates of the strain changes in the GSV show a linear increase; after 13.4 ± 0.31 min, the linear curve of the increase rate is alleviated. This shows that to prevent varicose veins in the lower limbs, continuous exercise between 0.87 to 13.71 minutes has better effects in training. Exercising for over 13.71 minutes has its beneficial effects, but the effects are considerably less obvious than exercising for 0.87~13.71 min. 
24305681	The effects of high-intensity exercise on neural responses to images of food. 	Acute bouts of high-intensity exercise modulate peripheral appetite regulating hormones to transiently suppress hunger. However, the effects of physical activity on central appetite regulation have yet to be fully investigated. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to compare neural responses to visual food stimuli after intense exercise and rest. Fifteen lean healthy men [mean ± SD age: 22.5 ± 3.1 y; mean ± SD body mass index (in kg/m(2)): 24.2 ± 2.4] completed two 60-min trials-exercise (EX; running at ∼70% maximum aerobic capacity) and a resting control trial (REST)-in a counterbalanced order. After each trial, an fMRI assessment was completed in which images of high- and low-calorie foods were viewed. EX significantly suppressed subjective appetite responses while increasing thirst and core-body temperature. Furthermore, EX significantly suppressed ghrelin concentrations and significantly enhanced peptide YY release. Neural responses to images of high-calorie foods significantly increased dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activation and suppressed orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and hippocampus activation after EX compared with REST. After EX, low-calorie food images increased insula and putamen activation and reduced OFC activation compared with REST. Furthermore, left pallidum activity was significantly elevated after EX when low-calorie images were viewed and was suppressed when high-calorie images were viewed, and these responses correlated significantly with thirst. Exercise increases neural responses in reward-related regions of the brain in response to images of low-calorie foods and suppresses activation during the viewing of high-calorie foods. These central responses are associated with exercise-induced changes in peripheral signals related to appetite-regulation and hydration status. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01926431. 
23849898	Effect of base layer materials on physiological and perceptual responses to exercise in personal protective equipment. 	Ten men (non-firefighters) completed a 110 min walking/recovery protocol (three 20-min exercise bouts, with recovery periods of 10, 20, and 20 min following successive bouts) in a thermoneutral laboratory while wearing firefighting personal protective equipment over one of four base layers: cotton, modacrylic, wool, and phase change material. There were no significant differences in changes in heart rate, core temperature, rating of perceived exertion, thermal discomfort, and thermal strain among base layers. Sticking to skin, coolness/hotness, and clothing humidity sensation were more favorable (p &lt; 0.05) for wool compared with cotton; no significant differences were identified for the other 7 clothing sensations assessed. Separate materials performance testing of the individual base layers and firefighting ensembles (base layer + turnout gear) indicated differences in thermal protective performance and total heat loss among the base layers and among ensembles; however, differences in heat dissipation did not correspond with physiological responses during exercise or recovery. 
23378525	The effect of air permeability characteristics of protective garments on the induced physiological strain under exercise-heat stress. 	The high values of thermal resistance (Rct) and/or vapor resistance (Ret) of chemical protective clothing (CPC) induce a considerable thermal stress. The present study compared the physiological strain induced by CPCs and evaluates the relative importance of the fabrics' Rct, Ret, and air permeability in determining heat strain. Twelve young (20-30 years) healthy, heat-acclimated male subjects were exposed fully encapsulated for 3h daily to an exercise-heat stress (35°C and 30% relative humidity, walking on a motor-driven treadmill at a pace of 5 km h(1) and a 4% inclination, in a work-rest cycle of 45 min work and 15 min rest). Two bipack CPCs (PC1 and PC2) were tested and the results were compared with those attained by two control suits-a standard cotton military BDU (CO1) and an impermeable material suit (CO2). The physiological burden imposed by the two bilayer garments was within the boundaries set by the control conditions. Overall, PC2 induced a lower strain, which was closer to CO1, whereas PC1 was closer to CO2. Air permeability of the PC2 cloth was almost three times higher than that of PC1, enabling a better heat dissipation and consequently a lower physiological strain. Furthermore, air permeability characteristic of the fabrics, which is associated with its construction and weave, significantly correlated with the physiological strain, whereas the correlation with Rct, Ret, and weight was poor. The results emphasize the importance of air permeability in reducing the physiological strain induced by CPCs. 
23472953	Effect of clothing layers in combination with fire fighting personal protective clothing on physiological and perceptual responses to intermittent work and on materials performance test results. 	Personal protective clothing (PPC) shields firefighters from thermal and other occupational hazards; however, it also contributes to physiological and perceptual strain. This study examined the effect of clothing layers worn under structural fire fighting turnout gear (TOG) on physiological and perceptual responses during alternating work/recovery cycles and assessed the clothing ensembles' (PPC + base layer) material performance. Values are reported as mean ± standard error of the mean. Ten men (age, 21 ± 0.3 yr; height, 1.74 ± 0.02 m; weight, 74.3 ± 2.3 kg; VO2max, 58.9 ± 2.0 mL/kg/min) completed a 110-min alternating work/recovery walking protocol (three 20-min exercise bouts/10-, 20-, and 20-min recovery sessions) in a thermo-neutral (21.0°C, 58.7% RH) laboratory while wearing a cotton t-shirt (COT) or COT and a station uniform (SU) shirt under fire fighting TOG (COT+TOG and COT+SU+TOG, respectively). Changes in heart rate (HR), core temperature (Tco), skin temperature (Tsk), rating of perceived exertion (RPE), and thermal sensations (TS) were compared across exercise and recovery periods. During exercise sessions, HR, Tco, Tsk, and RPE reached similar levels for COT+TOG and COT+SU+TOG. During Recoveries 1, 2, and 3, mean chest Tsk decreased by 3.96, 6.64, and 6.49°C, respectively, for COT+TOG compared with 2.24, 3.78, and 4.09°C for COT+SU+TOG (p &lt; 0.05 for each period). Change in TS differed during Exercise 1; however, mean peak TS corresponded to &quot;hot&quot; for both ensembles. This study demonstrates that the additional layer of clothing in the COT+SU+TOG ensemble imposed no greater level of physiological or perceptual strain during moderate-intensity work bouts compared with the COT+TOG ensemble. However, some modest benefits were experienced during the recovery sessions for the COT+TOG ensemble as evidenced by a lower chest Tsk. In addition, materials performance testing revealed COT+SU+TOG provided greater thermal protection (64.8 ± 1.9 vs. 56.4 ± 0.3 cal/cm(2); p &lt; 0.05) and equivalent heat dissipation compared with COT+TOG. These findings could guide departmental decisions about the use of station shirts. 
22779314	Pneumatic muscle actuator (PMA) task-specific resistance for potential use in microgravity exercise. 	A pneumatic muscle actuator (PMA) is a device that mimics the behavior of skeletal muscle by contracting and generating force when activated. This type of actuator has a high power to weight ratio and unique characteristics which make it ideal for human interaction. PMAs, however, are difficult to control due to nonlinear dynamics. Our objective was to control a PMA as a source of task-specific resistance in simulated isokinetic strength training. Task-specific resistance will benefit those in need of strength training through a joint's range of motion, including astronauts who need to counteract muscle atrophy during prolonged spaceflight. The lightweight, clean, and compact PMA driven by pressurized air is able to produce resistance in microgravity. An open-loop control method based on a three-element phenomenological inverse model was developed to control the PMA. A motor was simultaneously controlled to act as simulated human quadriceps working against the PMA-produced resistance. For ankle weight replacement resistance profiles, the PMA control method produced resistance and PMA displacement tracking errors (RMSE) of 0.36-1.61 Nm and 0.55-1.59 mm, respectively. Motor position (simulated joint angle) tracking errors ranged from 0.47 to 2.82 degrees. Results indicate that the inverse model based control system produces task-specific PMA resistance and displacement. Closed-loop motor control was able to simulate isokinetic movement successfully. More complicated resistance profiles reveal the need for closed-loop control. Future work focuses on advancing both the PMA control strategies and the capabilities of the human simulator so that actual human operator applications can be realized. 
22146411	A composite athletic tape with hyperelastic material properties improves and maintains ankle support during exercise. 	Controlled laboratory testing using a single-group, prospective, repeated-measures design. To compare the material properties of a hyperelastic athletic tape to a conventional tape and to compare the passive ankle support of these tapes before and after exercise. The near-linear material properties of conventional athletic tape may interfere with ankle motion, resulting in reduced athletic performance. Conventional athletic tape is also known to lose much of its initial support during exercise. It was assumed that a tape constructed of Kevlar fibers embedded in a silicon matrix would possess hyperelastic material properties that would improve ankle support. A tensile testing machine was used to determine the tensile material properties of 11 samples of conventional and hyperelastic tape. The ankles of 11 young, healthy athletes were taped, one ankle with conventional tape and the other ankle with hyperelastic tape. The passive ankle support of each tape was measured with an instrumented linkage (the ankle flexibility tester) before and after 30 minutes of exercise. The composite tape had a significantly higher load to failure than the conventional tape. It had significantly lower initial stiffness and higher late stiffness than conventional tape, thus demonstrating highly hyperelastic behavior. The hyperelastic tape maintained a significantly higher portion of its support during the 30 minutes of exercise than the conventional tape. Composite athletic tape with highly hyperelastic properties can be constructed and maintains a larger portion of its support during short-duration exercises (less than 30 minutes) than conventional athletic tape. 
21186468	Beat-rate dependent mitral flow patterns for in vitro hemodynamic applications. 	The conservative surgery approach for restoring the functionality of heart valves has predominated during the last two decades, particularly for the mitral valve. In vitro pulsatile testing is a key methodology for the investigation of heart valve hemodynamics, and particularly for the ideation, validation and optimization of novel techniques in heart valve surgery. Traditionally, however, pulsatile mock loops have been developed for the study of aortic valve substitutes, and scarce attention has been paid in replicating the mitral flow patterns with due hemodynamic fidelity. In this work we provide detailed analytical expressions to produce beat-rate dependent, physiologic-like mitral flow patterns for in vitro applications. The approach we propose is based on a biomechanical analysis of the factors which govern hemodynamic changes in the mitral flow pattern, namely in terms of E and A wave contours and E/A peaks ratio, when switching from rest to mild exercise conditions. The patterns from the model we obtained were in good agreement with clinical literature data in terms of i) gradual superimposition of the E and A wave, which yielded a single peak at 96 bpm; ii) decrease in the E/A ratio with increasing heart rate; iii) amount of flow delivered by each of the two waves. The proposed method provides a physiologically representative, beat-rate dependent analytical expression of the mitral flow pattern, which can be used in in vitro hydrodynamic investigations to accurately replicate the changes that the flow waves experience when the heart rate shifts from rest to mild exercise conditions. 
21197855	Torso undergarments: their merit for clothed and armored individuals in hot-dry conditions. 	The aim of this study was to evaluate how the textile composition of torso undergarment fabrics may impact upon thermal strain, moisture transfer, and the thermal and clothing comfort of fully clothed, armored individuals working in a hot-dry environment (41.2 degrees C and 29.8% relative humidity). Five undergarment configurations were assessed using eight men who walked for 120 min (4 km x h(-1)), then alternated running (2 min at 10 km x h(-1)) and walking (2 min at 4 km x h(-1)) for 20 min. Trials differed only in the torso undergarments worn: no t-shirt (Ensemble A); 100% cotton t-shirt (Ensemble B); 100% woolen t-shirt (Ensemble C); synthetic t-shirt (Ensemble D: nylon, polyethylene, elastane); hybrid shirt (Ensemble E). Thermal and cardiovascular strain progressively increased throughout each trial, with the average terminal core temperature being 38.5 degrees C and heart rate peaking at 170 bpm across all trials. However, no significant between-trial separations were evident for core or mean skin temperatures, or for heart rate, sweat production, evaporation, the within-ensemble water vapor pressures, or for thermal or clothing discomfort. Thus, under these conditions, neither the t-shirt textile compositions, nor the presence or absence of an undergarment, offered any significant thermal, central cardiac, or comfort advantages. Furthermore, there was no evidence that any of these fabrics created a significantly drier microclimate next to the skin. 
21135627	Influences on preschool children's physical activity: exploration through focus groups. 	This study explored mothers' perceptions of influences on preschoolers' physical activity. Six semistructured focus groups with 23 mothers were conducted across a range of socioeconomic position locations. Mothers identified 4 key areas of influence: child fundamentals (eg, sex, personality), parent power (eg, rules, support), people to share with (eg, peers, adults), and places and things (eg, physical environments, toys). No substantial differences in themes were identified among socioeconomic position groups. Influences on preschoolers' physical activity are multidimensional, multifactorial, and support the use of ecological models to conceptualize and understand the influencing factors. Associations among factors influencing preschoolers' physical activity should be further investigated through quantitative research. 
21404879	Mother-daughter resemblance in BMI and obesity-related behaviors. 	This study sought to determine the association between mother-daughter resemblance in body mass index (BMI) and obesity-related behaviors and whether connectedness moderated those associations. Seventy-six girl scouts (ages 9 to 13 years) were objectively assessed for BMI and surveyed via questionnaire. Sixty-eight parents also completed questionnaires assessing height, weight, and obesity-related behaviors. Significant relationships were found for television viewing (beta = .351, p = .002), eating while watching television (beta = .468, p &lt; .001), fruit consumption (beta = .374, p = .005) and vegetable consumption (beta = .243, p = .050). Connectedness moderated the maternal BMI and daughter BMI Z-score relationship (beta = .307, p = .026), and mother-daughter TV viewing (beta = .258, p = .043). Connectedness may influence girls' BMI and behavioral resemblance to mothers. Specific pathways leading to greater similarity between parent and child relative weight need further study. 
21184950	Clustering of obesity-related risk behaviors in children and their mothers. 	To examine the clustering and patterns of obesity-related behaviors in children and their mothers and the concordance between mother and child pairs. Primary school-aged children and their mothers in Victoria, Australia, participated (data from 549 mothers, 352 children, and 304 mother/child pairs). Examination of behavior patterns included 1) assessment of the overlap in national physical activity, screen-time, and fruit and vegetable consumption guidelines being met; and 2) cluster analysis of positive (consumption of fruits and vegetables) and negative (consumption of energy dense food/drink) dietary behaviors, sedentary behavior/screen-time, and physical activity. Only partial overlap was observed between groups meeting national recommendations for sedentary behavior and consumption of fruit and vegetables and energy-dense food. Less than 40% of mothers and children were meeting sedentary behavior guidelines. In both mothers and children five clusters were identified. With the exception of a single cluster in children with high levels of physical activity, clusters of healthy and unhealthy behavior were concordant in mothers and their children (p &lt; .0001), particularly those defined by sedentary behaviors and consumption of energy-dense food/drink. Complex patterns of obesity-related behaviors exist in children and their mothers. The concordance of clusters between children and their mothers suggests that modeling of sedentary behavior and creation of a child's eating environment by parents may be particularly important influences on children's behavior. 
20484244	Factors related to accelerometer-derived physical activity in Pacific children aged 6 years. 	The objective of this study was to investigate potential factors related to Pacific children's moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). A total of 393 Pacific children aged 6 years and their mothers were invited to participate. Participants wore accelerometers over 8 days; height, weight, and waist circumference were measured, and mothers reported on individual, social, and perceived environmental factors. Generalized estimation equation models were used to identify associates of children's daily MVPA. In all, 135 children and 91 mothers were included in analyses. Children spent 24% of time in MVPA; 99% of days had ≥60 minutes of MVPA. Higher maternal MVPA, male sex, longer sunlight hours, and rain-free days were associated with children's MVPA. Approaches for improving activity in Pacific children may be most efficacious if strategies for inclement weather and the encouragement of activity in mothers and, in particular, their daughters are included. Also, 60 minutes of daily MVPA may be insufficient to protect Pacific children from increased body size. 
19326197	Postnatal women's feeling state responses to exercise with and without baby. 	Health research has demonstrated that physical activity during the postnatal period may play a crucial role in managing the physical and psychological challenges that women face during these times of transition. To promote physical activity during the postnatal period, mother-and-baby exercise classes are offered through several health and fitness organizations. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a moderate aerobic exercise session on feeling states when women exercised with their baby present compared to without their baby present. Postnatal women (N = 23) participated in two 45-min exercise sessions: one with baby present and one without baby present. Exercise sessions were counterbalanced. The State Scale of the State-trait Anxiety Inventory and the Exercise-induced Feeling Inventory were used to assess feeling states pre- and post-exercise. To examine changes in feeling states during the exercise sessions and whether the changes differed between conditions, five separate mixed model ANCOVAs were conducted. There were no differences (P &gt; .05) in feeling states when women exercised with or without their babies. However, both exercise conditions, showed significant improvements in feeling states from pre- to post-exercise session (P &lt; or = .001) on the Exercise-induced Feeling Inventory subscales and the State Scale of the State-trait Anxiety Inventory. Exercising with baby present may be an effective option that allows mothers to balance care duties and a physically active lifestyle, while achieving psychological benefits associated with exercise participation. 
19945366	Family influence on disordered eating: the role of body image dissatisfaction. 	Research has linked an appearance-focused family culture (including parental commentary about weight/size) with increased disordered eating and body image dissatisfaction in daughters. Since body image dissatisfaction is also a risk factor for disordered eating, body image dissatisfaction may contribute to the link between family focus on appearance and disordered eating. This correlational study included a sample of 268 college women who completed the Family Influence Scale, Bulimia Test - Revised, Body Shape Questionnaire, and a series of items about their parents' comments about their weight/size. Both family appearance focus and daughters' body image dissatisfaction predicted increased disordered eating in daughters. Additionally, body image dissatisfaction partially mediated the influence of family appearance focus on daughters' disordered eating. No specific type of parental comments regarding weight/size emerged as a superior predictor of eating disturbance, but encouragement to control weight/size was a stronger predictor of body dissatisfaction than other types of parental comments. 
22907132	Playing for health? Revisiting health promotion to examine the emerging public health position on children's play. 	Concerns over dwindling play opportunities for children have recently become a preoccupation for health promotion in western industrialized countries. The emerging discussions of play seem to be shaped by the urgency to address the children's obesity epidemic and by societal concerns around risk. Accordingly, the promotion of play from within the field appears to have adopted the following principles: (i) particular forms of play are critical for increasing children's levels of physical activity; and (ii) play should be limited to activities that are not risky. In this article, we argue that these emerging principles may begin to re-shape children's play: play is predominantly instrumentalized as a means to promote children's physical health, which may result in a reduction of possibilities for children to play freely and a restriction of the kinds of play designated as appropriate for physical health. We argue that within this context some of the social and emotional elements of health and well-being that children gain through diverse forms of playing are neglected. This has implications for health promotion because it suggests a narrowing of the conception of health that was originally advocated for within the field. Additionally, this reveals a curious paradox; despite the urgency to promote physical activity through play, this position may limit the range of opportunities for children to freely engage in play, in effect reducing their activity levels. We propose an example that promotes play for children and better aligns with the conception of health as outlined in the Ottawa Charter. 
24045411	Changes in community readiness among key school stakeholders after Ready for Recess. 	School community readiness (CR) for health promotion efforts may be critical to the effectiveness of school-based interventions aimed at promoting youth physical activity and reducing childhood obesity. The purpose of this study was to: (i) identify key informants who scored highest on school CR at baseline and (ii) determine the effects of Ready for Recess on changes in CR among school key informants from baseline to post-intervention. Key informants (N = 98) across 17 schools participated in CR interviews. Interview questions focused on school CR for physical activity and childhood obesity efforts across six dimensions. At baseline, principals scored higher than teachers in overall readiness and knowledge of the issue and higher than recess staff and nurses in leadership. Leadership readiness decreased across key informants at post-intervention and principals demonstrated greater decreases when compared with recess staff. Baseline disparities between principals and other key informants suggest principals may have overestimated the readiness of staff implementing the intervention. Declines among principals indicate that they may not have been prepared to deliver adequate support to successfully implement the intervention. These results illuminate the importance of assessing/improving school readiness prior to interventions. The CR model may provide an opportunity to improve school-based physical activity interventions. 
23416457	An assessment of schoolyard features and behavior patterns in children's utilization and physical activity. 	Careful research that elucidates how behavior relates to design in the context of elementary school grounds can serve to guide cost-efficient design with the goal of encouraging physical activity (PA). This work explores patterns in children's PA behavior within playground spaces with the specific goal of guiding healthy playground design. Data on children's utilization and PA behavior in 6 playgrounds divided into 106 observation zones were collected in 2005 and 2006 at Denver elementary school playgrounds using the System for Observing Play and Leisure Activity in Youth. Analyses of variance and t tests determined whether there were differences in utilization and behavior patterns across observations zones and between genders. This study provides evidence that children prefer to use certain types of playground zones and that they are more likely to practice moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in some zones. The authors observed statistically significant differences between genders. Boys were more likely to engage in MVPA in zones without equipment, girls were more likely to use zones with equipment. This work suggests that the inclusion or omission of specific playground features may have an impact on the way that children use the spaces. 
23359246	Children's enjoyment of play during school lunchtime breaks: an examination of intraday and interday reliability. 	Enjoyment and play during school lunchtime are correlated with children's physical activity. Despite this, there is an absence of studies reporting children's enjoyment of play during school lunchtime breaks. The purpose of this study was to examine the intraday and interday reliability of children's enjoyment of school lunchtime play. Surveys used to assess children's enjoyment of lunchtime play were distributed to and completed by 197 children (112 males, 85 females), aged 8-12 years attending an elementary school in Victoria, Australia. Children completed the surveys during class before lunch (expected enjoyment) and after lunch (actual enjoyment) for 5 days. The intra- and interday enjoyment of school lunchtime play reliability were determined using a weighted kappa. Intraday kappa values ranged from fair (0.31) to substantial (0.75) within each of the 5 days (median kappa = 0.41). In comparison, &quot;expected&quot; (0.09-0.40; median 0.30) and &quot;actual&quot; (0.05-0.46; median 0.28) interday enjoyment of lunchtime play displayed low reliability. Children's enjoyment of lunchtime play appears to be more consistent within days than across days. The findings suggest that assessment of children's enjoyment of lunchtime play once on a single day would be representative of a particular day but not necessarily that particular school week. 
23359387	System for Observing Staff Promotion of Activity and Nutrition (SOSPAN). 	Frontline-staff are critical to achieving policies related to child physical activity and nutrition (PAaN) in out-of-school-time programs (OSTP). Recent policies call upon staff to demonstrate behaviors related to PAaN. Currently, no instrument exists to measure these behaviors. This study fills the gap between policy mandates and staff behaviors by describing the development of the System for Observing Staff Promotion of Activity and Nutrition (SOSPAN) in OSTP. SOSPAN items were aligned with existing OSTP policies. Reliability and validity data of SOSPAN were collected across 8 OSTP: 4 summer day camps and 4 afterschool programs. Validity of SOSPAN staff behaviors/management of PA was established using the percent of children active measured concurrently via direct observation. A total of 6437 scans were performed. Interrater percent agreement ranged from 74%-99% across PAaN behaviors. Children's activity was associated with staff facilitative behaviors/management, such as playing with the children and providing 2 or more activities for children to choose, while prohibitive behaviors/management, such as waiting in line were related to increased sedentary behavior. Staff nutrition behaviors were observed in less than 0.6% of scans. SOSPAN is a reliable and valid tool to assess staff behaviors/management of PAaN in OSTPs. 
23219635	An exploration of the professional identity embedded within UK cardiorespiratory physiotherapy curricula. 	To explore whether consensus exists about content and professional identity represented within pre-registration cardiorespiratory physiotherapy (CPT) curricula, and to establish whether the curricula feature contemporary themes evident in policy and professional guidance in order to test whether CPT education is demonstrating responsiveness and relevance to practice. An exploratory qualitative case study design employing documentary analysis of curricula materials related to CPT. Fourteen UK higher education institutions offering undergraduate physiotherapy qualifying programmes agreed to participate. Relevant curriculum documentation was requested, such as student module guides, programme handbooks and institutional module descriptors, encompassing information including indicative content, teaching and learning methods, and modes of assessment. Document analysis combined deduction (through content analysis) and induction (through thematic analysis). Consensus was observed on core content, underpinning philosophy and professional identity across institutions. The projected identity appeared to be strongly biomedical in focus, and was less well influenced by some of the contemporary aspects promoted by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, such as promotion of a patient-centred model of practice and acknowledgement of the emotional challenges existing within this area of work. Continuing critical review of the content and approach promoted within curricula is needed to ensure that learning remains relevant and responsive to current agendas. This study supports the need for course teams to reconsider the emphasis within individual curricula to ensure that responsiveness and relevance to the practice setting are made explicit. 
21948123	Responsibility of sport and exercise medicine in preventing and managing chronic disease: applying our knowledge and skill is overdue. 	The rapidly increasing burden of chronic disease is difficult to reconcile with the large, compelling body of literature that demonstrates the substantial preventive and therapeutic benefits of comprehensive lifestyle intervention, including physical activity, smoking cessation and healthy diet. Physical inactivity is now the fourth leading independent risk factor for death caused by non-communicable chronic disease. Although there have been efforts directed towards research, education and legislation, preventive efforts have been meager relative to the magnitude of the problem. The disparity between our scientific knowledge about chronic disease and practical implementation of preventive approaches now is one of the most urgent concerns in healthcare worldwide and threatens the collapse of our health systems unless extraordinary change takes place. The authors believe that there are several key factors contributing to the disparity. Reductionism has become the default approach for healthcare delivery, resulting in fragmentation rather than integration of services. This, in turn, has fostered a disease-based rather than a health-based model of care and has produced medical school curricula that no longer accurately reflect the actual burden of disease. Trying to 'fit' prevention into a disease-based approach has been largely unsuccessful because the fundamental tenets of preventive medicine are diametrically opposed to those of disease-based healthcare. A clinical discipline within medicine is needed to adopt disease prevention as its own reason for existence. Sport and exercise medicine is well positioned to champion the cause of prevention by promoting physical activity. This article puts forward a strong case for the immediate, increased involvement of clinical sport and exercise medicine in the prevention and treatment of chronic disease and offers specific recommendations for how this may begin. 
20542978	Practice management of musculoskeletal injuries in active children. 	Although increasing participation in physical activities has significant health benefits, there are no guidelines to help professionals decide when it is safe to return to activity after injury. To examine the specific criteria (eg, strength, pain) that expert sport medicine clinicians use for return to activity decisions in children with musculoskeletal injuries. The authors conducted an online cross-sectional survey of certified Canadian sport medicine doctors (MDs) and sport rehabilitation specialists (physiotherapists (PTs) or athletic therapists (ATs)). The authors asked how they would measure each of the following signs in the context of a knee injury: sport-specific skills, pain, swelling, strength, range of motion (ROM) and balance. Clinicians also ranked the importance of each sign with respect to influencing their recommendations for each of five clinical vignettes. The overall response rate was 33.6% (464/1380) with similar rates for each profession. For each clinical sign, all three professions preferred the same measure to determine readiness to return to play: standardised testing for sport-specific skills, impact on function for pain, palpation for swelling, manual muscle testing for strength, visual inspection for ROM and standing on one leg with eyes closed for balance. Regarding importance of specific signs for return to activity, all professions had similar responses for one vignette, but MDs differed from PTs and ATs for the remaining four. Finally, pain was ranked as the no 1 or 2 most important sign in all five vignettes by 41.0% of MDs, 18.1% of ATs and 11.3% of PTs, whereas sport-specific skills was chosen by 9.6% MDs, 12.0% ATs and 16.1% PTs. Our results provide the foundation for future work leading towards the development of interdisciplinary consensus guidelines. 
23199556	Effect of aerobic interval training on erythrocyte rheological and hemodynamic functions in heart failure patients with anemia. 	Anemia disturbs hemorheological/hemodynamic properties, whereas aerobic interval training (AIT) achieves a superior aerobic fitness in patients with heart failure (HF). This study investigated whether AIT influences functional capacity by modulating hemorheological/hemodynamic functions in HF patients with/without anemia. Sixty HF patients were divided into non-anemic (HF-NA, hemoglobin &gt;/= 12 g/dL in women/ &gt;/= 13 g/dL in men; n=30) and anemic (HF-A, hemoglobin&lt;11 g/dL in women/&lt;12 g/dL in men; n=30) groups, and 30 normal counterparts were enrolled as a control group. These HF patients performed AIT (3-minute intervals at 40% and 80%VO(2peak)) on a bicycle ergometer for 30 min/day, 3 days/week for 12 weeks. Erythrocyte rheological and central/peripheral hemodynamic characteristics were determined by slit-flow ektacytometer and bioreactance-based device/near infrared spectrometer, respectively. In both HF-NA and HF-A groups, the AIT regimen 1) reduced blood senescent/spherical erythrocyte counts, 2) diminished the values of critical shear stresses for disaggregation and half-maximal deformation of erythrocytes, 3) enhanced cardiac output during exercise, 4) heightened VO(2peak) and O2 uptake efficiency slope (OUES), and 5) decreased plasma myeloperoxidase and interleukin-6 levels. However, AIT increased the amounts of blood distributed to the frontal cerebral lobe and vastus lateralis muscle during exercise in HF-NA group but not in HF-A group. Additionally, HF-A group exhibited fewer the enhancements of VO(2peak) and OUES caused by AIT than HF-NA group did. AIT improves aerobic capacity and efficiency by depressing aggregability and enhancing deformability of erythrocytes in patients with HF. However, anemic comorbidity attenuates the adaptations of cerebral/muscular hemodynamic responses to exercise following this regimen. 
23337795	[Exercise-induced renal ischemia after kidney transplantation: report of two cases]. 	Renal transplant patients are high cardiovascular risk patients. Regular ultrasound surveillance of the renal transplant artery and the iliac artery upstream from the anastomosis is required to detect potential arterial stenosis. The purpose of this article was to illustrate the hemodynamic impact of exercise in such patients and the screening efficiency of Doppler ultrasound stress testing. Two renal transplant patients were hospitalized in our center for impaired renal function, worsening hypertension, and intermittent claudication. This association of peripheral vascular disease and renal dysfunction led us to perform a Doppler ultrasound stress test to search for vascular stenosis upstream from the graft. Hemodynamic fluctuations in the ipsilateral leg were recorded during flexion-extension exercises. Iliac artery lesions were found in both patients: the Doppler examination showed decreased systolic velocity in the graft artery during exercise, compatible with iliac steal syndrome. Surgical treatment was performed in both patients. After surgery, the control Doppler ultrasound stress test showed that systolic flow did not decline in the graft vessels during exercise. Renal function stabilized in one patient and improved in the other; claudication disappeared after surgery. Doppler ultrasound stress testing can be a valuable tool for detecting exercise-induced renal graft ischemia in transplant patients. Its screening performance should be determined in a larger population before routine use. 
21551009	Hypoxic exercise training causes erythrocyte senescence and rheological dysfunction by depressed Gardos channel activity. 	Despite enhancing cardiopulmonary and muscular fitness, the effect of hypoxic exercise training (HE) on hemorheological regulation remains unclear. This study investigates how HE modulates erythrocyte rheological properties and further explores the underlying mechanisms in the hemorheological alterations. Twenty-four sedentary males were randomly divided into hypoxic (HE; n = 12) and normoxic (NE; n = 12) exercise training groups. The subjects were trained on 60% of maximum work rate under 15% (HE) or 21% (NE) O(2) condition for 30 min daily, 5 days weekly for 5 wk. The results demonstrated that HE 1) downregulated CD47 and CD147 expressions on erythrocytes, 2) decreased actin and spectrin contents in erythrocytes, 3) reduced erythrocyte deformability under shear flow, and 4) diminished erythrocyte volume changed by hypotonic stress. Treatment of erythrocytes with H(2)O(2) that mimicked in vivo prooxidative status resulted in the cell shrinkage, rigidity, and phosphatidylserine exposure, whereas HE enhanced the eryptotic responses to H(2)O(2). However, HE decreased the degrees of clotrimazole to blunt ionomycin-induced shrinkage, rigidity, and cytoskeleton breakdown of erythrocytes, referred to as Gardos effects. Reduced erythrocyte deformability by H(2)O(2) was inversely related to the erythrocyte Gardos effect on the rheological function. Conversely, NE intervention did not significantly change resting and exercise erythrocyte rheological properties. Therefore, we conclude that HE rather than NE reduces erythrocyte deformability and volume regulation, accompanied by an increase in the eryptotic response to oxidative stress. Simultaneously, this intervention depresses Gardos channel-modulated erythrocyte rheological functions. Results of this study provide further insight into erythrocyte senescence induced by HE. 
19720954	Influence of altered blood rheology on ventricular-vascular response to exercise. 	Blood (or plasma) rheology is related to cardiovascular risk. Mechanisms of this association are unclear but may be partially related to impaired left ventricular (LV) function and increased central blood pressure (BP) during light activity. This study aimed to test these hypotheses. Twenty patients (14 men; aged 61+/-12 years) with polycythemia rubra vera (n=16) or hemochromatosis (n=4) were studied at rest and during exercise at approximately 50% of maximal heart rate before and after venesection (500 mL; volume replaced with saline) to elicit an acute decrease in plasma viscosity at stable BP. Controls (n=20) underwent the same protocol with 25-mL venesection. Central BP and augmentation index were determined by tonometry. Resting LV systolic (peak longitudinal systolic strain rate and strain) and diastolic functions were determined by tissue-Doppler echocardiography. Venesection with blood volume replacement decreased viscosity (1.46+/-0.10 to 1.41+/-0.11 centipoise), protein, and hemoglobin (P&lt;0.05 for all) and increased strain rate and strain (P&lt;0.001 for both) in patients but not in controls (P&gt;0.10 for all). There was no change in LV diastolic function (P&gt;0.12 for all). Exercise augmentation index in patients was reduced after venesection (24+/-12% to 17+/-9%; P=0.001) despite no significant change in other BP variables. Hemodynamics (resting or exercise) were not significantly changed in controls. Exercise central systolic BP correlated with triglycerides (r=0.59; P&lt;0.001). However, neither exercise hemodynamic changes nor LV functional changes correlated with any biochemical changes after venesection (P&gt;0.05). We conclude that an acute change in blood rheology improves ventricular-vascular interaction by enhanced LV systolic function and reduced light-exercise central BP. 
19632413	Optimal conduit size of the extracardiac Fontan operation based on energy loss and flow stagnation. 	In the extracardiac Fontan operation, larger conduits are used when considering the patients' growth rate. However, larger conduits may cause inefficient flow due to turbulence or stagnation, resulting in late problems such as thrombosis or stenosis. Our objective was to reveal the physiologic effects of respiration and exercise using numerical models, based on the energy loss and flow stagnation, and to determine optimal conduit size. For the Fontan operation, a conduit from 14 to 22 mm was created based on angiographic data from 17 Fontan patients (mean age, 36.0 months; mean body surface area, 0.53 m(2)). Respiratory-driven flow of the superior and inferior vena cava was determined at rest and during exercise on two levels (0.5 and 1.0 W/kg) by magnetic resonance imaging flow studies. Flow stagnation was defined as the volume of the region where flow velocity was less than 0.01 m/second at both the expiratory and inspiratory phases. In larger conduits, backward flow at the expiratory phase was prominent. Energy loss was small even during exercise, but the change was slightly larger between 14 and 16 mm than other conduit sizes (14 mm, 5.759 mW; 16 mm, 4.881 mW; and 22 mm, 4.199 mW during 1.0 W/kg exercise). Stagnation volume at the expiratory phase increased with an increase of conduit size (14 mm, 9.20% vs 22 mm, 33.9% conduit volume at rest). Fontan circulation is a low-energy system even during exercise. Larger conduits were proven to have redundant spaces, thus 16 and 18 mm conduits were optimal. 
18503123	Blood rheology abnormalities and vascular cell adhesion mechanisms in sickle cell trait carriers during exercise. 	Sickle cell trait (SCT) is usually considered a benign disorder compared with sickle cell anemia (SS hemoglobinopathy). However, several authors have reported cases of exercise-related sudden death in this population. Among the mechanisms that could be involved in these fatal complications, vaso-occlusive processes, such as those occurring in SS hemoglobinopathy, may play a role. In sickle cell anemia, these vaso-occlusive processes involve inflammatory and adhesion molecules such as the cell adhesion molecules (CAM family), which play a role in the firm adhesion of reticulocytes and leukocytes to endothelial cells, and the selectins, which play a role in leukocyte and platelet rolling on the vascular wall. Recent results suggest that adhesion phenomena could be amplified in SCT carriers during exercise compared with non-carriers. Other mechanisms like alterations in blood coagulation and/or hemorheological properties can also favor the occurrence of vaso-occlusive processes. Although few studies have reported coagulation disturbances in SCT carriers at rest, we recently observed no difference between this population and control subjects in response to exercise. In contrast, by studying the behavior of several hemorheological parameters in response to several types of exercise, we detected hemorheological abnormalities in individuals with SCT. These abnormalities included higher red blood cell rigidity and higher blood viscosity in the SCT carriers compared with the non-carriers, particularly during the late recovery period (24 and 48 h after exercise). Therefore, we can suggest that the risks for microvascular complications in SCT carriers in response to exercise could be dependent on alterations in blood rheology and vascular adhesion processes. 
24191294	Why don't people diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) get enough exercise? 	Our aim was to assess physical activity, attitudes and future intentions among a sample of individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs). A cross-sectional interview was conducted with a convenience sample of 49 adults with SSDs and in receipt of community mental health services. Interview questions elicited information about exercise behaviour across time, including reasons for expressed preferences. Participants reported variable current physical activities. They were much more likely to report past exercise than current exercise or intentions for future exercise. Participants were more likely to report physical than psychological benefits as incentives for exercise. Social influence and the opportunity for social interaction emerged as reasons for exercising. Barriers to exercise included physical health problems, disinterest and one's psychiatric illness. Community mental health services should routinely integrate targeted interventions that promote exercise. Social support for exercise, strategies to increase self-efficacy and education about the multifaceted benefits of exercise are necessary considerations in the development of such interventions. 
23785044	The effects of cognitive remediation on functional outcomes among people with schizophrenia: a randomised controlled study. 	Cognitive remediation is an intervention to overcome cognitive deficits through drills and use of strategies. Previous studies have reported positive effects for cognitive remediation on neurocognition, but researchers' allegiance effects are not always adequately controlled. Furthermore, its efficacy amongst the Asian population has not been established. Hence, this study aimed to determine if cognitive remediation would have positive effects on neurocognition and functioning within an English-speaking Asian population, when compared against the effects of a credible and balanced control provided by therapists blinded to the study hypothesis. A total of 70 participants with schizophrenia who attended vocational training or day rehabilitation programmes were randomised to receive a 60-hour programme of either cognitive remediation or physical exercise. Neurocognition and functional outcomes were measured at baseline, upon completion of treatment, 6 months after treatment and 1 year after treatment. Participants who received cognitive remediation had significantly greater improvement in all neurocognitive domains. Furthermore, the cognitive remediation group achieved greater attainment of vocational or independent living skills and better functional outcomes at post-intervention and at the end of the 1-year follow-up. When compared against a credible intervention such as physical exercise, cognitive remediation was able to show significant positive effects on both neurocognition and functional outcomes among the Asian population of schizophrenia patients. 
23352022	Counseling and exercise intervention for smoking reduction in patients with schizophrenia: a feasibility study. 	Smoking cessation is possible for individuals with schizophrenia but the relapse rate is high. It is necessary to develop more flexible approaches to help these patients. The aim of this study was to examine the feasibility of an intervention approach that integrates counseling and exercise for participants with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. A single group prospective design was used in this study. A sample of inpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder participated in a program called &quot;oxygen group&quot;, a program combining five sessions of smoking reduction counseling and three sessions of moderate intensity exercise over an 8-week period. Tobacco consumption, motivation, carbon monoxide level, anxiety and depression, smoking self-efficacy, nicotine dependence and waist circumference were measured pre- and post-intervention. Participants reported their satisfaction with the study characteristics after completion of the intervention. Smoking consumption and CO level were assessed at 6-week post-intervention follow-up. Twelve individuals (mean age 45.7±10.8years) were recruited. Participant attendance was 81.3%. There were no dropouts. Significant decreases were found for tobacco consumption (P=.04) and CO rate (P=.003) at the end of the intervention and were maintained at 6-week follow-up. Compared to baseline levels, there were no changes in depression and anxiety. Smoking cessation motivation increased significantly. This intervention appears feasible and acceptable to patients with schizophrenia and there were promising findings regarding smoking reduction. Larger trials to test the intervention are warranted. 
22176559	A systematic review of correlates of physical activity in patients with schizophrenia. 	The present review evaluates systematically the published quantitative studies of correlates of PA in patients with schizophrenia. EMBASE, PsycINFO, PubMed, ISI Web of Science, CINAHL and PEDro were searched from their inception to 1 July 2011 combining the medical subject heading 'schizophrenia' with 'physical activity' or 'physical inactivity' or 'exercise' or 'health education' or 'health behaviour' or 'health promotion'. Out of 68 potentially eligible studies, 25 papers (n = 25,013) evaluating 36 correlates were included. Correlates consistently associated with lower PA participation are the presence of negative symptoms and cardio-metabolic comorbidity. Also, side-effects of antipsychotic medication, lack of knowledge on cardiovascular disease risk factors, no belief in the health benefits, a lower self-efficacy, other unhealthy lifestyle habits and social isolation correlated with lower PA participation. The quality of the PA measurement was not related to the proportion of significant associations (χ(2) = 3.8, P = 0.07). Current gaps in literature that need to be examined more in detail are the role of environmental and policy-level factors on PA participation in patients with schizophrenia. All correlates should be confirmed in prospective studies, and interventions to improve the modifiable variables should be developed and evaluated. 
23364487	Under-reporting of energy intake in elderly Australian women is associated with a higher body mass index. 	Identify the extent of under-reporting of energy intake and the characteristics associated with implausible intakes in elderly women. Dietary intake was assessed using a 3-day weighed food record. Protein intake was validated by 24-hour urinary nitrogen. To examine under-reporting, participants were grouped according to their energy intake and compared to the Goldberg cut-off equation. Logistic regression was performed to assess the influence of body mass index (BMI) and social-demographic factors on under-reporting. Community dwelling elderly women from Perth, Western Australia. 217 elderly women aged 70-80 years. Under-reporters had a higher physical activity level (p&lt;0.001) compared with acceptable-reporters. The under-reporters also had a higher body weight (p=0.006), body mass index (BMI) (p=0.001), waist (p=0.011), hip circumference (p&lt;0.001), whole body fat mass (p&lt;0.001) and percentage body fat (p&lt;0.001) than acceptable-reporters. Under-reporters had a significantly lower intakes of protein, fat, carbohydrate and alcohol (p&lt;0.001) and fewer reported food items, compared with acceptable reporters. However, 24-hour urinary nitrogen was only marginally different between the two groups (p=0.053). Participants with a higher BMI were more likely to under-report their energy intake (BMI=25-29.9: odds ratio=2.98[95% CI=1.46-6.09]; BMI≥30: 5.84[2.41-14.14]). Under-reporting energy intake in elderly women was associated with a higher BMI, body fat and higher self-reported physical activity levels. A higher BMI (≥25) appears to be most significant factor in determining if elderly women will underreport their food intake and may be related to body image. These results have implications for undertaking surveys of food intake in elderly women. 
22150320	Blogging for weight loss: personal accountability, writing selves, and the weight-loss blogosphere. 	Body weight is a key concern in contemporary society, with large proportions of the population attempting to control their weight. However, losing weight and maintaining weight loss is notoriously difficult, and new strategies for weight loss attract significant interest. Writing about experiences of weight loss in online journals, or blogging, has recently expanded rapidly. Weight-loss bloggers typically write about daily successes and failures, report calorie consumption and exercise output, and post photographs of their changing bodies. Many bloggers openly court the surveillance of blog readers as a motivation for accountability to their weight-loss goals. Drawing from a sample of weight-loss blogs authored by women, we explore three issues arising from this practice of disclosing a conventionally private activity within an online public domain. First, we examine motivations for blogging, focusing on accountability. Secondly, we consider the online construction of self, exploring how weight-loss bloggers negotiate discourses around fatness, and rework selves as their bodies transform. Finally, we consider the communities of interest that form around weight-loss blogs. This 'blogosphere' provides mutual support for weight loss. However, participating in online social spaces is complicated and bloggers must carefully manage issues of privacy and disclosure. 
22320706	Weight, body mass index and behaviour change in a commercially run lifestyle programme for young people. 	  There are few practical, scalable, community-based solutions that provide ongoing support to combat the recent rapid rise in obesity in young people. A commercial weight management organisation (CWMO) has developed a tailored version of its programme for young people. The present study assessed the programme's impact on self-reported body weight, body mass index (BMI; kg m(-2) ) and health-related behaviour changes in participating young people.   Seventy-nine current young members completed a web-based questionnaire on age, height, weight and self-reported eating and activity behaviours for when they joined the programme and at the time of survey. Inclusion criteria were age 11-15 years old and membership for at least 1 month. Subjects completed the questionnaire online via the CWMO website. This was a retrospective observational study without a control group. All data were self-reported.   Mean (SD) age was 13.4 (1.4) years and start weight was 78.5 (16.7) kg; 67% were &gt;99th centile for BMI. Mean (SD) attendance was 23 (19) weeks; weight change was -5.0 (4.5) kg; BMI change was -2.5 (2.0) kg m(-2) ; and BMI Z-score change was -0.5 (0.4) (all P &lt; 0.001). Height increased by 0.01 (0.03) m (P &lt; 0.01); however, height Z-score remained unchanged. Regression analysis showed that BMI Z-score change was related to increased fruit and vegetable intake (P = 0.012), as well as a decrease in avoidance of moderate and intense activity (both P &lt; 0.003).   This programme for overweight and obese young people helped implement behaviour and lifestyle changes that were associated with significant reductions in self-reported weight and BMI Z-score, without compromising growth in height. 
21526331	Barriers to physical activity: a study of self-revelation in an online community. 	The importance of regular physical activity to overall health has been well established, yet adults in the United States are leading increasingly sedentary lives. Research suggests that lowering perceived barriers to exercise is an effective strategy for encouraging physical activity. This article describes the top barriers that emerged from a qualitative analysis of message board traffic from a three-month healthy lifestyle intervention that promoted physical activity and healthy eating. The findings further elaborate known barriers to physical activity-two of which are not reported as key barriers in prior research-and illustrate the value of a grounded approach to studying health and fitness behaviors. Based on our analysis, we identify design considerations for technologies that encourage and support physical activity. Understanding the needs of a population is a critical step in the design process, and this paper offers unique insights for those working in this growing domain. 
21478502	The Copenhagen Hip and Groin Outcome Score (HAGOS): development and validation according to the COSMIN checklist. 	Valid, reliable and responsive Patient-Reported Outcome (PRO) questionnaires for young to middle-aged, physically active individuals with hip and groin pain are lacking. To develop and validate a new PRO in accordance with the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) recommendations for use in young to middle-aged, physically active patients with long-standing hip and/or groin pain. Preliminary patient interviews (content validity) included 25 patients. Validity, reliability and responsiveness were evaluated in a clinical study including 101 physically active patients (50 women); mean age 36 years, range 18-63 years. The Copenhagen Hip and Groin Outcome Score (HAGOS) consists of six separate subscales assessing Pain, Symptoms, Physical function in daily living, Physical function in Sport and Recreation, Participation in Physical Activities and hip and/or groin-related Quality of Life (QOL). Test-retest reliability was substantial, with intraclass correlation coefficients ranging from 0.82 to 0.91 for the six subscales. The smallest detectable change ranged from 17.7 to 33.8 points at the individual level and from 2.7 to 5.2 points at the group level for the different subscales. Construct validity and responsiveness were confirmed with statistically significant correlation coefficients (0.37-0.73, p &lt; 0.01) for convergent construct validity and for responsiveness from 0.56 to 0.69, p &lt; 0.01. HAGOS has adequate measurement qualities for the assessment of symptoms, activity limitations, participation restrictions and QOL in physically active, young to middle-aged patients with long-standing hip and/or groin pain and is recommended for use in interventions where the patient's perspective and health-related QOL are of primary interest. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00716729. 
21836170	What proportion of youth are physically active? Measurement issues, levels and recent time trends. 	The aim of this review is to summarise issues surrounding the measurement of physical activity (PA) by self-report and accelerometry in youth (2-18 years old). Current levels and temporal trends in PA and sport participation and the effect of assessment method on data interpretation will be summarised. Relevant papers were extracted from a computerised literature search of MEDLINE and personal databases. Additional papers were extracted from reference lists of recently published reviews. The criterion validity (direct comparison with an objective method) of self-reported instruments is low to moderate, with correlation coefficients generally between 0.3 and 0.4. Self-report instruments overestimate the intensity and duration of PA and sport participation. The interpretation of PA data from accelerometry is a challenge, and specific issues include the definition of intensity thresholds and the influence of age on intensity thresholds. Recent data on self-reported PA in youth suggest that between 30% and 40% are sufficiently active. Prevalence values for sufficiently active youth measured by accelerometry range between 1% and 100%, depending on the intensity thresholds used. Sport participation is likely to contribute to higher levels of PA. The available evidence does not support the notion that PA levels and sport participation in youth have declined in recent decades. The number of youth meeting current PA guidelines varies by assessment method and the intensity thresholds used when PA is measured by accelerometry. The available evidence does not firmly support the notion that PA in young people has declined during the last decades. It is unlikely that any self-report method is sufficiently accurate for examining cross-cultural differences and temporal trends in young people's PA and sport participation over time. Surveillance systems therefore need to strive for an international standardisation using objective measurements of PA to complement existing self-report instruments. 
24560168	Different hip rotations influence hip abductor muscles activity during isometric side-lying hip abduction in subjects with gluteus medius weakness. 	The purpose of this study was to establish the effects of different hip rotations during isometric side-lying hip abduction (SHA) in subjects with gluteus medius (Gmed) weakness by investigating the electromyographic (EMG) amplitude of the Gmed, tensor fasciae latae (TFL) activity, and gluteus maximus (Gmax), and the activity ratio of the Gmed/TFL, Gmax/TFL, and Gmed/Gmax. Nineteen subjects with Gmed weakness were recruited for this study. Subjects performed three isometric hip abductions: frontal SHA with neutral hips (SHA-N), frontal SHA with hip medial rotation (SHA-MR), and frontal SHA with hip lateral rotation (SHA-LR). Surface EMG amplitude was measured to collect the EMG data from the Gmed, TFL, and Gmax. A one-way repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to determine the statistical significance of the Gmed, TFL, and Gmax EMG activity and the Gmed/TFL, Gmax/TFL, and Gmed/Gmax EMG activity ratios. Gmed EMG activity was significantly greater in SHA-MR than in SHA-N. TFL EMG activity was significantly greater in SHA-LR than in SHA-N. The Gmed/TFL and Gmed/Gmax EMG activity ratios were also significantly greater in SHA-MR than in SHA-N or SHA-LR. The results of this study suggest that SHA-MR can be used as an effective method to increase Gmed activation and to decrease TFL activity during SHA exercises. 
24360637	Can we use accelerometry to monitor balance exercise performance in older adults? 	While home-based balance exercises are recommended to reduce the risk of falling and fractures in older adults, adherence to exercise remains suboptimal. The long-term objective of this research is to advance body-worn sensor techniques to measure at-home exercise performance and promote adherence. In this study, a method of distinguishing 5 types of walking using hip- and ankle-worn accelerometers was developed and evaluated in a target clinical population. A secondary objective was to evaluate the method's sensitivity to sensor placement. Eighteen community-dwelling, older females (≥50 years) with low bone mass wore triaxial accelerometers at the left hip and each ankle while performing 5 walking tasks at home: 4 walking balance exercises (figure 8, heel-toe, sidestep, backwards) and straight-line walking. Sensor data were separated into low (0.5-2 Hz) and high (2-10 Hz) frequency bands, and root-mean-square values (energy) were computed for each sensor, axis, and band. These 18 energy estimates were used as inputs to a neural network classifier with 5 outputs, corresponding to each task. Using a leave-one-out cross-validation protocol, the neural network correctly classified 82/90 test instances (91% accuracy). Compared to random selection accuracy of 20% (i.e., 1 in 5), the results indicated excellent separation between tasks. Reducing the sensor set to one hip and one ankle resulted in 6.7-8.9% reduction in accuracy. Our findings can be used in the development of tools used to deliver exercise performance metrics (e.g., % completed) or recognize walking and balance exercise activities using body-worn accelerometers. 
24441944	Noninvasive respiration movement sensor based on distributed Bragg reflector fiber laser with beat frequency interrogation. 	A distributed Bragg reflector fiber laser-based respiration movement monitoring system has been proposed and experimentally demonstrated. To fabricate the sensing element for respiration monitoring, a fixture that consists of a plastic plate, a section of elastic textile is employed to experience and transfer the belly expansion induced pressure onto the cross-section of the laser cavity. By tracing the change of the beat signal that generates between two polarization lasing modes, the information of the respiration movement can be extracted in real time. Experimental studies have demonstrated that the system is able to detect both respiration waveform and rate simultaneously. Moreover, the recorded results show that the different gestures as well as the physiology conditions can be distinguished by monitoring the amplitude and period change of the waveform. It is anticipated that the proposed fiber laser-based sensor would be highly suitable for respiratory monitoring. 
24158470	Attenuation of systolic blood pressure and pulse transit time hysteresis during exercise and recovery in cardiovascular patients. 	Pulse transit time (PTT) is a cardiovascular parameter of emerging interest due to its potential to estimate blood pressure (BP) continuously and without a cuff. Both linear and nonlinear equations have been used in the estimation of BP based on PTT. This study, however, demonstrates that there is a hysteresis phenomenon between BP and PTT during and after dynamic exercise. A total of 46 subjects including 16 healthy subjects, 13 subjects with one or more cardiovascular risk factors, and 17 patients with cardiovascular disease underwent graded exercise stress test. PTT was measured from electrocardiogram and photoplethysmogram of the left index finger of the subject, i.e., a pathway that includes predominately aorta, brachial, and radial arteries. The results of this study showed that, for the same systolic BP (SBP), PTT measured during exercise was significantly larger than PTT measured during recovery for all subject groups. This hysteresis was further quantified as both normalized area bounded by the SBP-PTT relationship (AreaN) and SBP difference at PTT during peak exercise plus 20 ms (ΔSBP20). Significant attenuation of both AreaN (p &lt;; 0.05) and ΔSBP20 (p &lt;; 0.01) is observed in cardiovascular patients compared with healthy subjects, independent of resting BP. Since the SBP-PTT relationship are determined by the mechanical properties of arterial wall, which is predominately mediated by the sympathetic nervous system through altered vascular smooth muscle (VSM) tone during exercise, results of this study are consistent with the previous findings of autonomic nervous dysfunction in cardiovascular patients. We further conclude that VSM tone has a nonnegligible influence on the BP-PTT relationship and thus should be considered in the PTT-based BP estimation. 
24109859	Exercise muscle fatigue detection system implementation via wireless surface electromyography and empirical mode decomposition. 	Surface electromyography (sEMG) is an important measurement for monitoring exercise and fitness. A wireless Bluetooth transmission sEMG measurement system with a sampling frequency of 2 KHz is developed. Traditional muscle fatigue is detected from the median frequency of the sEMG power spectrum. The regression slope of the linear regression of median frequency is an important muscle fatigue index. As fatigue increases, the power spectrum of the sEMG shifts toward lower frequencies. The goal of this study is to evaluate the sensitivity of empirical mode decomposition (EMD) quantifying the electrical manifestations of the local muscle fatigue during exercising in health people. We also compared this method with the raw data and discrete wavelet transform (DWT). Five male and five female volunteers participated. Each subject was asked to run on a multifunctional pedaled elliptical trainer for about 30 minutes, twice a week, and there were a total of six recording times for each subject with a wireless EMG recording system. The results show that sensitivity of the highest frequency component of EMD is better than the highest frequency component of DWT, and raw data. 
23086500	Experimental heart rate regulation in cycle-ergometer exercises. 	The heart rate can be effectively used as a measure of the exercise intensity during long duration cycle-ergometer exercises: precisely controlling the heart rate (HR) becomes crucial especially for athletes or patients with cardiovascular/obesity problems. The aim of this letter is to experimentally show how the nonlocal and nonswitching nonlinear control that has been recently proposed in the literature for the HR regulation in treadmill exercises can be effectively applied to cycle-ergometer exercises at constant cycling speed. The structure of the involved nonlinear model for the HR dynamics in cycle-ergometer exercises is mathematically inspired by the structure of a recently identified and experimentally validated nonlinear model for the HR dynamics in treadmill exercises: the role played by the treadmill speed is played here by the work load while the zero speed case for the treadmill exercise is here translated into the cycling operation under zero work load. Experimental results not only validate the aforementioned nonlinear model but also demonstrate the effectiveness--in terms of precise HR regulation--of an approach which simply generalizes to the nonlinear framework the classical proportional-integral control design. The possibility of online modifying the HR reference on the basis of the heart rate variability (HRV) is also suggested and experimentally motivated. 
24928339	Trends in leisure time physical activity, smoking, body mass index and alcohol consumption in Danish adults with and without diabetes: a repeat cross-sectional national survey covering the years 2000 to 2010. 	In recent decades there has been an increased focus on non-pharmacological treatment of diabetes. The aim of this study was to investigate trends in leisure time physical activity (PA), smoking, body mass index (BMI), and alcohol consumption reported in 2000, 2005 and 2010 by Danish subjects with diabetes. Data comprised level of leisure time PA (inactive; moderate active; medium active; high active); smoking; BMI; and alcohol consumption, provided by The Danish Health and Morbidity Surveys. Participants older than 45 years with or without diabetes were included from cross-sectional analyses from 2000, 2005 and 2010. In participants with diabetes, leisure time PA levels increased from 2000 to 2010: The percentage of those that were physically active increased from 53.5% to 78.2% (p&lt;0.001; women) and from 67.8% to 79.1% (p=0.01; men). The prevalence of daily smokers was reduced from 27.2% to 16.4%, p=0.015, in women with diabetes. In men with diabetes, BMI increased from 27.2 ± 4.0 to 28.6 ± 5.1 kgm(-2), p=0.003, and men who exceeded the maximum recommendation for alcohol consumption increased from 9.4% to 19.0%, p=0.007. The leisure time PA level was reduced in participants with diabetes compared to participants without diabetes throughout the study. The percentage of physically active Danish participants older than 45 years with diabetes increased from 2000 to 2010, and the most beneficial trends in life style were observed among the women. These trends may have serious implications for cardiovascular risk in Danish patients with diabetes. 
23777901	Sexual activity in Brazilian women aged 50 years or older within the framework of a population-based study. 	This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of sexual activity, factors associated with being sexually active, and sexual self-perception in women 50 years or older living in a Brazilian city. This population-based study applied a questionnaire to a random sample of 622 Brazilian women 50 years or older, representative of a population of 131,800 women, to obtain data on sexual activity and women's perception of their sexual life as part of a broader study that dealt with women's health. Associations between sexual activity, women's perception of their sexual life, and demographic, behavioral, and medical characteristics were determined. Overall, 36.7% of the participants reported being sexually active. Of these, 53.5% classified their sexual life as very good or good. Multiple regression analysis showed that the main factors associated with the absence of sexual activity were not having a partner (prevalence ratio [PR], 0.16; 95% CI, 0.12-0.23; P &lt; 0.001), aging (PR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.94-0.96; P &lt; 0.001), and current or past smoking of five or more cigarettes per day (PR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.63-0.98; P = 0.034), whereas being sexually active was associated with the practice of physical activity (PR, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.02-1.41; P = 0.032). A woman's classification of her sexual life as very poor, poor, or fair was associated with current or past use of natural remedies to treat menopausal symptoms (PR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.06-1.81; P = 0.020). The main factors associated with the absence of sexual activity are not having a sexual partner, aging, and smoking, whereas weekly physical activity is associated with being sexually active. A poorer classification of a woman's sexual life is associated with her having used natural remedies to treat menopausal symptoms. 
23521491	Dietary intake of polyphenols and major food sources in an institutionalised elderly population. 	Polyphenols are bioactive compounds widely found in fruit, vegetables and beverages of plant origin. Epidemiological studies have suggested an association between polyphenol intake and health; antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic and other bioactivities may contribute to these beneficially protective effects. To date, most epidemiological studies describing polyphenol intake have been limited by the information available in nutrient databases. The present study aimed to determine the total and individual polyphenol intake among institutionalised elderly people living in Asturias (North of Spain) and to identify the major dietary sources of polyphenol classes and subclasses. The study sample comprised 304 subjects with a mean age of 73.2 years for men and 76.8 years for women. Dietary intake was assessed by means of a food frequency questionnaire. Phenol content was estimated from the Phenol-Explorer database, as developed at the French National Institute for Agricultural Research. The contribution of each food to the total and subgroup intake of polyphenols was calculated as a percentage. Except for flavonones, total polyphenol intake, groups and subgroups, was higher in men than women. The main polyphenol groups contributing to total polyphenol intake were flavonoids (62%) and phenolic acids (35.5%). We identified red wine, coffee, apples, oranges and green beans as the major food sources providing total polyphenol intake. Flavonoid and lignan intake was lower for those aged &gt;80 years. Smoking habit, red wine consumption, physical activity and a Mediterranean diet score were associated with a greater polyphenol intake. The present study provides information on polyphenol intake in an elderly Mediterranean population with a level of detail that has not been achieved previously. The identification of age and lifestyle factors associated with the intake of polyphenols may be useful in future studies regarding polyphenols. 
22447666	A model of knowledge translation in health: the Active Healthy Kids Canada Report Card on physical activity for children and youth. 	The health of Canadian children and youth has deteriorated in the past few decades and physical inactivity is a powerful contributor. Active Healthy Kids Canada (AHKC; www.activehealthykids.ca) is a national not-for-profit organization with a mission to inspire the nation to engage all children and youth in physical activity by providing expertise and direction to policy makers and the public on how to increase and effectively allocate resources and attention toward physical activity for Canadian children and youth. Annually, for the past 7 years, the AHKC Report Card has consolidated and translated research knowledge to drive social action for policy change relating to physical activity among children and youth. Original published articles and key surveillance data from national and regional surveys are reviewed. A group of content experts from across Canada meet semiannually to review the evidence and assign letter grades. The AHKC Report Card has played a key role in informing discussions that have led to action on physical inactivity in Canada. Further evidence of the Report Card's influence is in the replication of the model in several other jurisdictions, including Saskatchewan and Ontario, Canada; Louisiana, United States; South Africa; Mexico; and Kenya. 
22818941	The pandemic of physical inactivity: global action for public health. 	Physical inactivity is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. We summarise present global efforts to counteract this problem and point the way forward to address the pandemic of physical inactivity. Although evidence for the benefits of physical activity for health has been available since the 1950s, promotion to improve the health of populations has lagged in relation to the available evidence and has only recently developed an identifiable infrastructure, including efforts in planning, policy, leadership and advocacy, workforce training and development, and monitoring and surveillance. The reasons for this late start are myriad, multifactorial, and complex. This infrastructure should continue to be formed, intersectoral approaches are essential to advance, and advocacy remains a key pillar. Although there is a need to build global capacity based on the present foundations, a systems approach that focuses on populations and the complex interactions among the correlates of physical inactivity, rather than solely a behavioural science approach focusing on individuals, is the way forward to increase physical activity worldwide. 
21762093	Effects of Tai Chi exercise on physical and psychological health of older people. 	Tai Chi is a traditional Chinese form of conditioning exercise derived from martial arts and rooted in eastern philosophy and Chinese Medicine. Based on the inter-relatedness of mind, body and spirit this form of exercise focuses on producing an inner calmness which is thought to have both physical and psychological therapeutic value. This article provides a brief overview of selected current evidence examining the relationship between Tai Chi and physical, neurocognitive and psychosocial outcomes in older people. This is an emerging and growing area of research and improvements have often been reported in health functioning, physical and emotional health, reducing falls, fear of falling and risk of falls, and possibly enhancing cardiovascular functioning in older adults although the effects on bone density, cognitive and immunological functioning are less clear. Results overall are inconsistent and health improvements have not been evident in all studies. Tai Chi is becoming increasingly popular in practice, and more recent evidence is emerging which is based on experimental and longitudinal designs, although many of the proposed benefits of Tai Chi are yet to be validated in large, randomised controlled trials. 
24835563	Ground reaction forces during treadmill running in microgravity. 	Astronauts perform treadmill exercise during long-duration space missions to counter the harmful effects of microgravity exposure upon bone, muscle, and cardiopulmonary health. When exercising in microgravity, astronauts wear a harness and bungee system that provides forces that maintain attachment to the treadmill. Typical applied forces are less than body weight. The decreased gravity-replacement force could result in differences in ground-reaction force at a given running speed when compared to those achieved in normal gravity, which could influence the adaptive response to the performed exercise. Seven astronauts (6 m/1 f) who completed approximately 6-month missions on the International Space Station (ISS) completed a preflight (1G) and multiple in-flight (0G) data collection sessions. Ground-reaction forces were measured during running at speeds of 8.0 kph and greater on an instrumented treadmill in the lab and on the ISS. Ground-reaction forces in 0G were less than in 1G for a given speed depending upon the gravity-replacement force, but did increase with increased speed and gravity-replacement force. Ground-reaction forces attained in 1G during slower running could be attained by increasing running speed and/or increasing gravity-replacement forces in 0G. Loading rates in 1G, however, could not be replicated in 0G. While current gravity-replacement force devices are limited in load delivery magnitude, we recommend increasing running speeds to increase the mechanical loads applied to the musculoskeletal system during 0G treadmill exercise, and to potentially increase exercise session efficiency. 
24919381	The metabolic cost of an integrated exercise program performed during 14 days of bed rest. 	Exercise countermeasures designed to mitigate muscle atrophy during long-duration spaceflight may not be as effective if crewmembers are in negative energy balance (energy output &gt; energy input). This study determined the energy cost of supine exercise (resistance, interval, aerobic) during the spaceflight analogue of bed rest. Nine subjects (eight men and one woman; 34.5 +/- 8.2 yr) completed 14 d of bed rest and concomitant exercise countermeasures. Body mass and basal metabolic rate (BMR) were assessed before and during bed rest. Exercise energy expenditure was measured during and immediately after [excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC)] each of five different exercise protocols (30-s, 2-min, and 4-min intervals, continuous aerobic, and a variety of resistance exercises) during bed rest. On days when resistance and continuous aerobic exercise were performed daily, energy expenditure was significantly greater (2879 +/- 280 kcal) than 2-min (2390 +/- 237 kcal), 30-s (2501 +/- 264 kcal), or 4-min (2546 +/- 264 kcal) exercise. There were no significant differences in BMR (pre-bed rest: 1649 +/- 216 kcal; week 1: 1632 +/- 174 kcal; week 2:1657 +/- 176 kcal) or body mass (pre-bed rest: 75.2 +/- 10.1 kg; post-bed rest: 75.2 +/- 9.6 kg). These findings highlight the importance of energy balance for long-duration crewmembers completing a high-intensity exercise program with multiple exercise sessions daily. 
23766501	Effects of prolonged space flight on human skeletal muscle enzyme and substrate profiles. 	Our primary goal was to determine the effects of 6-mo flight on the International Space Station (ISS) on selected anaerobic and aerobic enzymes, and the content of glycogen and lipids in slow and fast fibers of the soleus and gastrocnemius. Following local anesthesia, biopsies were obtained from nine ISS crew members ∼45 days preflight and on landing day (R+0) postflight. We subdivided the crew into those who ran 200 min/wk or more (high treadmill, HT) in-flight from those who ran &lt;100 min/wk (low treadmill, LT). In the LT group, there was a loss of lipid in soleus type I fibers, and muscle glycogen significantly increased in soleus fiber types postflight. Soleus cytochrome oxidase (CO) activity was significantly depressed postflight in the type I fiber. This was attributed to the LT group where CO activity was reduced 59%. Otherwise, there was no change in the crew mean for type I or IIa fiber glycolytic or mitochondrial enzyme activities pre- vs. postflight in either muscle. However, two of the three HT subjects (Subjects E and H) showed significant increases in both β-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase and citrate synthase in the soleus type I fibers, and Subject E, exhibiting the largest increase in soleus oxidative enzymes, was the only subject to show a significant decrease in glycolytic enzyme activity. It is apparent that crew members performing adequate treadmill running can maintain calf muscle enzymes, which suggests that increased fatigue with weightlessness cannot be directly caused by a decline in muscle enzyme capacity. 
23079865	Space physiology VI: exercise, artificial gravity, and countermeasure development for prolonged space flight. 	When applied individually, exercise countermeasures employed to date do not fully protect the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems during prolonged spaceflight. Recent ground-based research suggests that it is necessary to perform exercise countermeasures within some form of artificial gravity to prevent microgravity deconditioning. In this regard, it is important to provide normal foot-ward loading and intravascular hydrostatic-pressure gradients to maintain musculoskeletal and cardiovascular function. Aerobic exercise within a centrifuge restores cardiovascular function, while aerobic exercise within lower body negative pressure restores cardiovascular function and helps protect the musculoskeletal system. Resistive exercise with vibration stimulation may increase the effectiveness of resistive exercise by preserving muscle function, allowing lower intensity exercises, and possibly reducing risk of loss of vision during prolonged spaceflight. Inexpensive methods to induce artificial gravity alone (to counteract head-ward fluid shifts) and exercise during artificial gravity (for example, by short-arm centrifuge or exercise within lower body negative pressure) should be developed further and evaluated as multi-system countermeasures. 
24022767	Space physiology within an exercise physiology curriculum. 	Compare and contrast strategies remain common pedagogical practices within physiological education. With the support of an American Physiological Society Teaching Career Enhancement Award, we have developed a junior- or senior-level undergraduate curriculum for exercise physiology that compares and contrasts the physiological adaptations of chronic terrestrial exercise (TEx) and microgravity (μG). We used a series of peer-reviewed publications to demonstrate that many of the physiological adaptations to TEx and μG are opposite. For example, TEx typically improves cardiovascular function and orthostatic tolerance, whereas μG can lead to declines in both. TEx leads to muscle hypertrophy, and μG elicits muscle atrophy. TEx increases bone mineral density and red blood cell mass, whereas μG decreases bone mineral density and red blood cell mass. Importantly, exercise during spaceflight remains a crucial countermeasure to limit some of these adverse physiological adaptations to μG. This curriculum develops critical thinking skills by dissecting peer-reviewed articles and discussing the strengths and weaknesses associated with simulated and actual μG studies. Moreover, the curriculum includes studies on both animals and humans, providing a strong translational component to the curriculum. In summary, we have developed a novel space physiology curriculum delivered during the final weeks of an exercise physiology course in which students gain critical new knowledge that reinforces key concepts presented throughout the semester. 
23713218	Cardiovascular responses to rowing on a novel ergometer designed for both resistance and aerobic training in space. 	Astronauts are required to perform both resistance and aerobic exercise while in orbit. This study assessed the aerobic energy yield and related physiological measurements using a nongravity dependent flywheel device designed for both resistance and aerobic exercise (RAD) in space. Eight physically active men and women performed all-out rowing on the RAD. For comparison, exercise was also carried out employing a commercially available rowing ergometer (C2). Peak oxygen uptake during exercise using RAD and C2 averaged 3.11 +/- 0.49 and 3.18 +/- 0.50 L x min(-1), respectively. Similarly, peak plasma lactate concentration (9.6 vs. 11.2 mmol x L(-1)), heart rate (183 vs. 184 bpm), and rate of perceived exertion (15.8 vs. 16.0) were comparable across exercise using the two devices. Collectively, the results suggest that this novel exercise modality offers cardiovascular and metabolic responses, and thus aerobic exercise stimulus that is equally effective as that evoked by established technology for indoor rowing. Given the need for physiologically sound and highly effective exercise countermeasures that features small mass and envelope, and allows for resistance and aerobic exercise in a single apparatus, we believe this novel hardware should be considered for use in space. 
23789385	[Comparative efficacy of different regimens of locomotor training in long-term space flights by the data of biomechanical and electromyographic parametrs of walking]. 	Biomechanical and electromyographic characteristics of locomotion were investigated before and after space flight on the 3rd, 7th and 10th day after landing in 18 cosmonauts--crewmembers of long-term ISS space flights. It was shown that microgravity causes the development of significant changes in biomechanical and electromyographic characteristics of walking. Decrease of the angular displacement amplitude in leg joints, reduction of the length of the double step, increase of the electromyographic cost of locomotion were recorded after flight. It was also shown that interval locomotor physical training in long-term space flights in the regimen of alternation running and walking prevents physiological cost of locomotor movements increase after space flight and provides more effective maintenance of the neuromuscular system functions after flight. After flight smaller changes of biomechanical and electromyographic characteristics of walking were observed in cosmonauts who used locomotor training in interval regimen. 
23666380	The effect of sex and fatigue on lower limb kinematics, kinetics, and muscle activity during unanticipated side-step cutting. 	To determine how sex and fatigue affect lower limb kinematics, kinetics, and muscle activity during unanticipated side-step cutting. Twenty-three physically active subjects (men 11, women 12) performed 10 successful trials of cutting manoeuvres each to either side under unanticipated conditions in response to 2 light emitting diodes before and after fatigue conditions. Data were analysed and compared regarding sex and fatigue conditions using two-way repeated measures analysis of variance. After fatigue-inducing exercise, women demonstrated larger impulses of ground reaction force (IGRF) during the first 50 ms (2.4 ± 0.8 vs. 2.1 ± 0.9, P &lt; 0.05) than did men. Significant primary effects of sex indicated that women showed a smaller hip flexion angle at initial contact (40.4 ± 6.9° vs. 49.7 ± 9.1°, P &lt; 0.05) and at maximum flexion angle (41.3 ± 7.7° vs. 51.4 ± 9.0°, P &lt; 0.05) compared with men. Significant primary effects of fatigue were observed in the gluteus maximus muscle during 50 ms before initial contact (+21.5 ± 48.3 %, P &lt; 0.05) and in the semimembranosus muscle during 50 ms before initial contact (-6.2 ± 20.1 %, P &lt; 0.05) and the first 50 ms of side-step cutting (-7.9 ± 26.6 %, P &lt; 0.05). Our results suggest that sex differences, especially larger IGRF in a fatigue state combined with less hip flexion angle, lead to women having a higher risk for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. These findings may contribute to understanding the underlying mechanism of injury and development of preventive exercises against ACL injury. 
23442280	Using a practical approach for determining the most effective stretching strategy in female college division I volleyball players. 	The purpose of this investigation was to quantify the effects that a practical bout of static stretching (SS) and dynamic stretching (DS) has on maximal countermovement jump (CMJ) height across a time spectrum of 25 minutes in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I varsity volleyball players. Eleven female varsity volleyball players (mean ± SD; age 20.00 ± 1.55 years; height 1.78 ± 0.08 m; mass 74.55 ± 12.18 kg) volunteered for this investigation. Three days of randomized experimental testing (SS, DS, control) were completed. The SS protocol consisted of stretching 7 muscle groups. The DS protocol consisted of the volleyball team's actual DS routine of equal duration (30 seconds) to SS. Poststretch performance measures of CMJ were determined at 1, 5, 15, and 25 minutes poststretch. Countermovement jump had an acute significant trial-by-time interaction, indicating that DS was found to produce significantly higher scores than the SS and control session at 1 and 5 minutes poststretch, but not at 15 and 25 minutes poststretch. Additionally, there was a timing interaction within trials where SS scores were significantly lower at 1 minute poststretch compared with 5 and 25 minutes poststretch, and DS scores were significantly higher at 1 and 5 minutes poststretch compared with 15 and 25 minutes poststretch. Athletes engaging in competitive power sports should continue to utilize their DS routine but may need to do so within 5 minutes before activity. 
24334285	Monitoring training with heart rate-variability: how much compliance is needed for valid assessment? 	To establish the minimum number of days that heart-rate-variability (HRV, ie, the natural logarithm of square root of the mean sum of the squared differences between R-R intervals, Ln rMSSD) data should be averaged to achieve correspondingly equivalent results as data averaged over a 1-wk period. Standardized changes in Ln rMSSD between different phases of training (normal training, functional overreaching (FOR), overall training, and taper) and the correlation coefficients of percentage changes in performance vs changes in Ln rMSSD were compared when averaging Ln rMSSD from 1 to 7 d, randomly selected within the week. Standardized Ln rMSSD changes (90% confidence limits, CL) from baseline to overload (FOR) were 0.20 ± 0.28, 0.33 ± 0.26, 0.49 ± 0.33, 0.48 ± 0.28, 0.47 ± 0.26, 0.45 ± 0.26, and 0.43 ± 0.29 on days 1 to 7, respectively. Correlations (90% CL) over the same time sequence and training phase were -.02 ± .23, -.07 ± .23, -.17 ± .22, -.25 ± .22, -.26 ± .22, -.28 ± .21, and -.25 ± .22 on days 1 to 7. There were almost perfect quadratic relationships between standardized changes/r values vs the number of days Ln rMSSD was averaged (r2 = .92 and .97, respectively) in trained triathletes during FOR. This indicates a plateau in the increase in standardized changes/r values' magnitude after 3 and 4 d, respectively, in trained triathletes. Practitioners using HRV to monitor training adaptation should use a minimum of 3 (randomly selected) valid data points per week. 
24414148	Does a 3-min all-out test provide suitable measures of exercise intensity at the maximal lactate steady state or peak oxygen uptake for well-trained runners? 	To examine whether a 3-min all-out test can be used to obtain accurate values for the maximal lactate steady state (vMLSS) and/or peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) of well-trained runners. The 15 male volunteers (25 ± 5 y, 181 ± 6 cm, 76 ± 7 kg, VO2peak 69.3 ± 9.5 mL · kg-1 · min-1) performed a ramp test, a 3-min all-out test, and several submaximal 30-min runs at constant paces of vEND (mean velocity during the last 30 s of the 3-min all-out test) itself and vEND +0.2, +0.1, -0.1, -0.2, -0.3, or -0.4 m/s. vMLSS and vEND were correlated (r = .69, P = .004), although vMLSS was lower (mean difference: 0.26 ± 0.32 m/s, 95% CI -.44 to -.08 m/s, P = .007, effect size = 0.65). The VO2peak values derived from the ramp and 3-min all-out tests were not correlated (r = .41, P = .12), with a mean difference of 523 ± 1002 mL (95% CI 31 to 1077 mL). A 3-min all-out test does not provide a suitable measure of vMLSS or VO2peak for well-trained runners. 
24501145	Acute physical exercise affected processing efficiency in an auditory attention task more than processing effectiveness. 	Research on effects of acute physical exercise on performance in a concurrent cognitive task has generated equivocal evidence. Processing efficiency theory predicts that concurrent physical exercise can increase resource requirements for sustaining cognitive performance even when the level of performance is unaffected. This hypothesis was tested in a dual-task experiment. Sixty young adults worked on a primary auditory attention task and a secondary interval production task while cycling on a bicycle ergometer. Physical load (cycling) and cognitive load of the primary task were manipulated. Neither physical nor cognitive load affected primary task performance, but both factors interacted on secondary task performance. Sustaining primary task performance under increased physical and/or cognitive load increased resource consumption as indicated by decreased secondary task performance. Results demonstrated that physical exercise effects on cognition might be underestimated when only single task performance is the focus. 
23429229	The effect of two movement strategies on shoulder resultant joint moment during elastic resistance exercise. 	Despite the common use of elastic resistance in training, only the static loading characteristics have been studied, whereas the dynamic components remain undetermined. The purpose was to determine the effect of two movement strategies on the shoulder resultant joint moment (RJM) during internal/external rotation exercise with elastic load. Ten healthy subjects performed sweep and step movement strategies over a constant range of motion and cadence (1:1). Shoulder RJM was determined using a Newtonian model with elastic force measured by force transducer, joint angle by electrogoniometer, and limb acceleration by accelerometer. Relative to the sweep strategy, the step strategy revealed a 49% increase in angle-specific RJM during the initial phase, RJM was reduced to 67-69% during midrange, and increased to over 110% at the end of the repetition. These RJM differences were wholly attributable to strategy-dependent changes in limb acceleration. Shoulder RJM in the sweep strategy was almost entirely explained by moment of elastic force. Movement strategy can substantially alter shoulder loading despite constant range of motion and cadence, impacting the magnitude and nature of the stimulus for neuromuscular adaptation. These acceleration-dependent changes in shoulder RJM may be important to consider for exercise efficacy and safety. 
24444212	Quiet eye training: the acquisition, refinement and resilient performance of targeting skills. 	How we learn and refine motor skills in the most effective manner and how we prevent performance breakdown in pressurised or demanding circumstances are among the most important questions within the sport psychology and skill acquisition literature. The quiet eye (QE) has emerged as a characteristic of highly skilled perceptual and motor performance in visually guided motor tasks. Defined as the final fixation that occurs prior to a critical movement, over 70 articles have been published in the last 15 years probing the role that the QE plays in underpinning skilled performance. The aim of this review is to integrate research findings from studies examining the QE as a measure of visuomotor control in the specific domain of targeting skills; motor skills requiring an object to be propelled to a distant target. Previous reviews have focused primarily on the differences in QE between highly skilled performers and their less skilled counterparts. The current review aims to discuss contemporary findings relating to 1. The benefits of QE training for the acquisition and refinement of targeting skills; 2. The effects of anxiety upon the QE and subsequent targeting skill performance and 3. The benefits of QE training in supporting resilient performance under elevated anxiety. Finally, potential processes through which QE training proffers this advantage, including improved attentional control, response programming and external focus, will be discussed and directions for future research proposed. 
24367956	Effects of exergaming on executive function and motor skills in children with autism spectrum disorder: a pilot study. 	Executive function (EF) and motor deficits have consistently been documented in studies of people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We investigated the effects of a pilot 30-session Makoto arena training intervention, a light and sound speed-based exergame, on response speed, EF, and motor skills in school-aged children with ASD. Strong correlations were seen between certain EF and motor scores, suggesting a relationship between the two constructs. Participants increased their average reaction speed (effect size = 1.18). Significant improvement was seen in the EF areas of working memory and metacognition and the motor area of strength and agility. Findings suggest that use of exergaming, specifically the Makoto arena, has the potential to be a valuable addition to standard intervention for children with ASD who have motor and EF impairments. 
20010905	Inaccuracies in food and physical activity diaries of obese subjects: complementary evidence from doubly labeled water and co-twin assessments. 	To study whether eating or physical-activity (PA) habits differ between obese and non-obese monozygotic (MZ) co-twins independent of genetic effects. Rare MZ pairs discordant for obesity (n=14, body mass index difference 5.2+/-1.8 kg m(-2)) and weight-concordant control pairs (n=10, 1.0+/-0.7 kg m(-2)), identified through a population-based registry of 24-28-year-old twins (n=658 MZ pairs), completed 3-day food and PA diaries and eating behavior questionnaires. Each twin was asked to compare his/her own eating and PA patterns with the co-twin's behavior by structured questionnaires. Accuracy of energy intake was validated by doubly labeled water. Non-obese co-twins consistently reported that their obese twin siblings ate more food overall, consumed less healthy foods and exercised less than the non-obese co-twins do. However, no differences in energy intake (9.6+/-1.0 MJ per day vs 9.8+/-1.1 MJ per day, respectively) in the food diaries or in the mean PA level (1.74+/-0.02 vs 1.79+/-0.04, respectively) in the PA diaries were found between obese and non-obese co-twins. A considerable underreporting of energy intake (3.2+/-1.1 MJ per day, P=0.036) and overreporting of PA (1.8+/-0.8 MJ per day, P=0.049) was observed in the obese, but not in the non-obese co-twins. On the basis of rare MZ twin pairs discordant for obesity, the co-twin assessments confirmed substantial differences in eating and PA behavior between obese and non-obese persons. These may be overlooked in population studies using food and PA diaries because of considerable misreporting by the obese. 
16252279	Bulimia nervosa in an elderly male: a case report. 	There is increasing knowledge regarding demographics, comorbid psychiatric disorders, and symptoms characteristic of males suffering from eating disorders. The current case report describes the history, symptom progression, and successful treatment of an elderly bulimic male whose presentation was atypical. This case underscores the need to consider the presence of an eating disorder regardless of age and gender, when a patient complains of unexplained nausea, abdominal pain, or vomiting. 
16026718	The impact of SCHIP enrollment on adolescent-provider communication. 	Effective communication between physicians and adolescents is critical to convey health information, provide counseling and identify emerging health problems. This article addressed two questions: (a) After an adolescent enrolls in a State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), is there a change reported in communication between the adolescent and his/her health care provider; and (b) Is there a relationship between respondent's characteristics and change observed within specific content areas? Adolescent preventive care guidelines developed by national organizations provided the study framework. Surveys were mailed to 3472 12-19-year-olds in a SCHIP; 1689 responded (response rate = 49%). Frequencies described the study population, chi-square analysis explored differences in adolescent-provider communication before and after enrollment, and multiple linear regressions were used to determine relationships between respondents' characteristics and provider communication topics. There were substantial increases after enrollment in SCHIP in the general area of communication between adolescents and their health care providers. Specifically, the presence of a special health care need had a significant influence on most communication areas. Further, females were more likely than males to talk about sexual health (p = .049) and diet and exercise (p &lt; or = .001); older more likely than younger to discuss sexual health (p = .026) and mental health feelings (p = .023); and white more likely than nonwhite to have better overall communication with the provider after enrollment (p = .029) but Whites also were more likely to experience more negative mental health feelings after enrollment in SCHIP (p = .029). Practice guidelines define the content of preventive services; but, it appears that many adolescents do not receive adequate guidance from their physicians. For the group of adolescents in this study who had recently enrolled in SCHIP, there was a reported increase in their communication with their health care provider. The positive changes in communication suggest that encouraging providers and adolescents to discuss risky behaviors is a feasible, achievable goal. 
15149925	Exploring self-care among dementia caregivers:the role of perceived support in accomplishing exercise goals. 	Support provided by family and friends may influence the extent to which older women who are primary caregivers for a spouse with dementia adhere to an exercise routine. The current study reports on qualitative interviews with 30 older female caregivers taking part in an exercise intervention regarding the support they received for their exercise goals. Results indicate that nearly all women received some level of verbal encouragement from family and friends, though far fewer had exercise partners or someone to stay with their husbands while they exercised. To reflect the wide variation observed in the amount of exercise support received and needed by caregivers, a typology of support situations was constructed as follows: Self-reliant, Well-supported, Under-supported, and Superfluous support. Implications for future exercise interventions targeting this population are discussed. 
11348579	Repeated measurement of habitual food intake increases under-reporting and induces selective under-reporting. 	The aim of the current study was to measure differences in reporting behaviour between a first occasion of 7 d food recording and a second occasion of 7 d food recording 12 weeks later, in a group of elderly men (n 17) and women (n 17). Half the group followed an exercise intervention. The mean age was 61 (sd 5) years and mean BMI was 26.2 (sd 3.8) kg/m2. Reported energy intake was compared with energy expenditure as calculated from measured BMR and physical activity assessed with a tri-axial accelerometer for movement registration. Total under-reporting was divided into undereating and under-recording. Undereating was calculated from the change in body mass over the recording week and the under-recording was measured using the water balance technique. In the first period, the total under-reporting was 21 % and increased to 27% in the second period In the first period there was no indication for subjects eating less during the recording week, however, in the second period subjects lost body mass during the food recording indicating undereating. The amount of under-recording was calculated at 21% in the first period and 18% in the second period of recording (P 0.28). During the second period subjects selectively under-reported their fat intake and over-reported their protein intake. In conclusion, repeated assessment of food intake caused a higher quantitative and a qualitative under-reporting of food intake. The effect of interventions (dietary or otherwise) on habitual food intake might be confounded by changes in food-reporting behaviour. 
10214638	Exploring biases in self-reported exercising behavior heuristics based on recency, frequency, and preference. 	This study investigated biases in the recall of frequency and duration of physical exercise. Following an initial computer-administered self-report interview, 77 subjects maintained diaries for four weeks, in which they recorded the day, time, duration, and type of each exercising bout. Then the interview was administered again, and subjects recalled they exercised more often and for shorter durations than they recorded in their diaries. While social desirability may explain the overestimation of the number of days exercised, the underestimation of exercise duration poses a puzzle. The heuristic of frequency, recency, or prototype could not account for this underestimation. Alternative explanations are explored. Self-reported estimates of exercising duration and frequency should not be taken at face-value until the processes and heuristics used to record and recall exercising behaviors are better understood. 
17539441	Neck exercises compared to muscle activation during aerial combat maneuvers. 	Performing specific neck strengthening exercises has been proposed to decrease the incidence of neck injury and pain in high performance combat pilots. However, there is little known about these exercises in comparison to the demands on the neck musculature in flight. Eight male non-pilots performed specific neck exercises using two different modalities (elastic band and resistance machine) at six different intensities in flexion, extension, and lateral bending. Six Royal Australian Air Force Hawk pilots flew a sortie that included combinations of three +Gz levels and four head positions. Surface electromyography (EMG) from selected neck and shoulder muscles was recorded in both activities. Muscle activation levels recorded during the three elastic band exercises were similar to in-flight EMG collected at +1 Gz (15% MVIC). EMG levels elicited during the 50% resistance machine exercises were between the +3 Gz (9-40% MVIC) and +5 Gz (16-53% MVIC) ranges of muscle activations in most muscles. EMG recorded during 70% and 90% resistance machine exercises were generally higher than in-flight EMG at +5 Gz. Elastic band exercises could possibly be useful to pilots who fly low +Gz missions while 50% resistance machine mimicked neck loads experienced by combat pilots flying high +Gz ACM. The 70% and 90% resistance machine intensities are known to optimize maximal strength but should be administered with care because of the unknown spinal loads and diminished muscle force generating capacity after exercise. 
2660283	Three bodies of practice in a traditional South Indian martial art. 	This paper describes three interconnected conceptions of the body in kalarippayattu, the martial tradition of Kerala, South India. It traces continuities and discontinuities among concepts and practices recorded in classic source texts and contemporary martial practice for each of the three 'bodies of practice'. The first is the fluid body of humors and saps. The second is the body as superstructure composed of bones, muscles, and vital spots (marma-s), which supports the fluid body. The concepts and practices of the first two bodies are based on the regional tradition of Ayurveda. They constitute the external physical body (sthula-śarira). The third, subtle or interior body (suksma-śarira) is thought to be encased within the physical body. It provides an experiential map of practice and is the basis for higher stages of meditation. The long-term practice of the martial art (1) makes the body fluid so that healthful congruence of the humors occurs, (2) establishes an intuitive and practical knowledge of vital points (marma) useful in fighting (prayogam) and in treating injuries, and (3) purifies the subtle body and awakens the internal vital energy (prana-vayu) that is manifest as the power (śakti) of the master in combat or medical practice. The paper concludes with a discussion of the interrelationship between these three concepts of the body in the accomplished practice of the martial practitioner. 
24345601	Effectiveness of a web-based physical activity intervention for adults with Type 2 diabetes-a randomised controlled trial. 	This study examined the effectiveness of a fully automated web-based programme to increase physical activity in adults with Type 2 diabetes. Between May and July 2010, participants were randomly allocated into either a 12-week intervention (n=195) or a control (n=202) group. Participants were adults diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, residing in Australia. Participants were assessed at baseline, 12 and 36weeks. The primary physical activity outcome was self-reported minutes of total physical activity. Secondary physical activity outcomes included minutes spent walking, and engaged in moderate, and vigorous physical activity. Additional measures included website satisfaction and website usage. The intervention consisted of a 12-week web-based physical activity intervention developed based on the Theory of Planned Behavior and self-management framework. Data were analysed from 2011 to 2012. There was a significant group-by-time interaction (X(2) (df=1)=6.37, p&lt;.05) for total physical activity favouring the intervention group d=0.11, for those who completed the intervention, however this was not significant in the intention-to-treat analysis d=0.01. The intervention yielded high website satisfaction and usage. In general, there is some evidence for the effectiveness of web-based interventions for improving physical activity levels; however it is clear that maintaining improvements remains an issue. 
24355575	Associations between building design, point-of-decision stair prompts, and stair use in urban worksites. 	Incidental forms of physical activity such as stair use offer frequent opportunities for energy expenditure and may contribute to the prevention and control of chronic diseases. This study analyzes the associations between building characteristics, stair prompts, and stair use in large urban worksites. Bootstrapped generalized mixed models were used to analyze self-reported stair use, using data from 1348 surveys of city employees and fourteen building assessments conducted in New York City in 2012. 57% of respondents reported climbing ≥1 flights of stairs daily at the workplace. Model results show that stair prompts were associated with a 3.21 increased likelihood of stair use. Naturally lit stairwells and stairwell visibility were also positively associated. Higher floor residency and BMI were negatively related, as were gender, stairwell distance from lobby entrances, the total number of floors in each building, and building averages for BMI and gender. Residual heterogeneity measured by adjusted median odds ratios indicates that buildings can have a moderate effect on the likelihood of stair use beyond those of individual characteristics. Specific building features and stair prompts may potentially be leveraged to positively influence rates of incidental physical activity and contribute to improvements in population health. 
25078514	Developing Interventions for Children's Exercise (DICE): a pilot evaluation of school-based exercise interventions for primary school children aged 7 to 8 years. 	Developing Interventions for Children's Exercise (DICE) is an initiative aimed at determining effective school-based exercise programs. To assess feasibility, we conducted a pilot study of exercise sessions which varied in duration and frequency. Exercise interventions were delivered to Year 3 pupils (age 7-8 years; n = 73) in primary schools within Yorkshire, UK. Evaluations were conducted using focus group sessions, questionnaires and observations. The study revealed positive aspects of all interventions, including favorable effects on children's concentration during lessons and identified the value of incorporation of the DICE concept into curriculum lessons. Children appeared enthused and reported well-being and enjoyment. Areas requiring attention were the need for appropriate timetabling of sessions and ensuring the availability of space. The concept and sessions were well-accepted by teachers who confirmed their full support of any future implementation There appears to be potential for the encouragement and empowerment of teachers to support physical activity and healthy school environments, and to take an interest in the health of their pupils. Ultimately, these findings should assist in the design of successful exercise interventions in the school setting. 
23968284	A multi-modal training programme to improve physical activity, physical fitness and perceived physical ability in obese children. 	Actual and perceived physical abilities are important correlates of physical activity (PA) and fitness, but little research has explored these relationships over time in obese children. This study was designed: (a) to assess the feasibility of a multi-modal training programme promoting changes in PA, fundamental motor skills and real and perceived physical abilities of obese children; and (b) to explore cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships between real and perceived physical competence in boys and girls. Forty-one participants (9.2 ± 1.2 years) were assessed before and after an 8-month intervention with respect to body composition, physical fitness, self-reported PA and perceived physical ability. After treatment, obese children reported improvements in the body mass index, PA levels, gross motor performance and actual and perceived physical abilities. Real and perceived physical competence was correlated in boys, but not in girls. Results indicate that a multi-modal programme focused on actual and perceived physical competence as associated with the gradual increase in the volume of activity might be an effective strategy to improve adherence of the participants and to increase the lifelong exercise skills of obese children. 
23860624	An age-tailored intervention sustains physical activity changes in older adults: a randomized controlled trial. 	A randomized controlled trial compared an age-tailored intervention to increase physical activity levels in older adults to an age-neutral intervention. Both interventions communicated activity planning strategies and messages to improve self-efficacy. On top of this, the age-tailored intervention also included two lifespan components that targeted present orientation and emotional focus, and fostered strategies of selection, optimization, and compensation. A total of 386 German older adults (aged 60-95 years) were randomized to receive either the age-tailored intervention (age-specific strategy training and short-term emotional focus) or the age-neutral intervention. Physical activity was measured by questionnaires at baseline (T1) and at 6-month (T2) and 12-month follow-ups (T3). Latent true change modeling was applied by creating latent change scores (T2 - T1 and T3 - T2). After controlling for gender, age, and physical and mental health, allocation to the age-tailored intervention predicted a latent physical activity difference at T3 - T2, but not at T2 - T1. Compared to the age-neutral intervention, the age-tailored intervention led to superior maintenance of physical activity within these older adults. 
24268766	Twelve month follow up of a falls prevention program in older adults from diverse populations in Australia: a qualitative study. 	Several randomised trials demonstrate that multi dimensional falls prevention programs are effective in reducing falls in older adults. There is a need to examine the impact of these programs in real life settings where diverse populations exist. The aim of this study was to examine the acceptability and impact on sustained participation in falls prevention activities of a combined exercise and education falls prevention program. A semi structured telephone interview was conducted with 23 participants 12 months following the completion of a 15 week falls prevention program tailored to diverse communities in Victoria, Australia and provided in both a group and home based format. Reported benefits of the falls prevention program included physical improvements in joint flexibility, mobility and balance and enjoyment derived from both the exercises and socialisation. Recall of the educational component was minimal as were ongoing behavioral changes to reduce the risk of falling other than exercise. Participation in sustained exercise for falls prevention following the completion of the program was also inconsistent. Future improvements of such programs could focus upon ensuring the exercises prescribed are sufficiently challenging for each individual in order to be of physical benefit, altering the educational style to be goal directed and more enjoyable, and integrating further strategies to support sustained participation in falls prevention behavioral changes. Linking participants with alternate ongoing exercise opportunities or potential sources of ongoing support may be advantageous in enhancing long term participation in exercise for falls prevention following cessation of the program. 
24045411	Changes in community readiness among key school stakeholders after Ready for Recess. 	School community readiness (CR) for health promotion efforts may be critical to the effectiveness of school-based interventions aimed at promoting youth physical activity and reducing childhood obesity. The purpose of this study was to: (i) identify key informants who scored highest on school CR at baseline and (ii) determine the effects of Ready for Recess on changes in CR among school key informants from baseline to post-intervention. Key informants (N = 98) across 17 schools participated in CR interviews. Interview questions focused on school CR for physical activity and childhood obesity efforts across six dimensions. At baseline, principals scored higher than teachers in overall readiness and knowledge of the issue and higher than recess staff and nurses in leadership. Leadership readiness decreased across key informants at post-intervention and principals demonstrated greater decreases when compared with recess staff. Baseline disparities between principals and other key informants suggest principals may have overestimated the readiness of staff implementing the intervention. Declines among principals indicate that they may not have been prepared to deliver adequate support to successfully implement the intervention. These results illuminate the importance of assessing/improving school readiness prior to interventions. The CR model may provide an opportunity to improve school-based physical activity interventions. 
23945726	Community-based exergaming program increases physical activity and perceived wellness in older adults. 	Exergaming may be an effective strategy to increase physical activity participation among rural older adults. This pilot project examined the effects of a 24-wk exergaming and wellness program (8 wk onsite exergaming, 16-wk wellness newsletter intervention) on physical activity participation and subjective health in 46 rural older adults. Sociodemographic data and self-reported physical activity were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Cochran's Q, respectively. Qualitative data were reviewed, categorized on the basis of theme, and tabulated for frequency. Increased physical activity and perceived health were the most reported perceived positive changes. Significant increases in physical activity participation were maintained among participants who were physically inactive at baseline. Best-liked features were physical activity and socialization. Findings suggest that this pilot exergaming and wellness program is effective in increasing physical activity in sedentary rural older adults, increasing socialization, and increasing subjective physical health among rural older adults. 
23531461	Fun and fit: evaluation of a pediatric exercise program. 	While the components of effective pediatric exercise interventions have been identified in structured research settings, recent reviews have highlighted the need for translating these interventions into accessible programs. In this paper we evaluate a behavioral intervention-based exercise program designed to serve community children and teens at risk for adult obesity. Measures of weight, strength, cardiovascular fitness, and exercise intensity improved significantly over the course of this program, and qualitative assessments indicated that attitudes towards exercise also improved. Our experiences suggest that structured, protocol-driven exercise interventions can be successfully translated into effective programs accessible to children of different ages and socioeconomic levels. 
23746621	Systematic review of the effects of physical exercise training programmes in children and young adults with congenital heart disease. 	Most patients with congenital heart disease (ConHD) do not perform regular physical exercise. Consensus reports have stated that exercise should be encouraged and regularly performed in these patients, but this is not common practise. We reviewed the literature on actual evidence for either negative or positive effects of physical exercise training programmes in children and young adults with ConHD. Using the Medline database, we systematically searched for articles on physical exercise training programmes in ConHD. A total of 31 articles met all inclusion criteria; in total, 621 subjects (age range 4 to 45 years) were included. Most studies used training programmes with a duration of 12 weeks. On average, the number of training sessions was 3 times per week. In 12 studies, training intensity was set at a percentage of peak heart rate. Outcome measures reported were PeakVO2, activity levels and muscle strength. Twenty-three studies (72%) found a significant positive change in the main outcome measure after the physical exercise training period. None of the studies reported negative findings related to physical exercise training in ConHD. Cardiac effects have hardly been studied. In most studies, participation in a physical exercise training programme was safe and improved fitness in children and young adults with ConHD. We recommend that patients with ConHD participate in physical exercise training. Cardiac effects need to be studied more extensively. 
23799691	Predictors of success of a lifestyle intervention in relation to weight loss and improvement in glucose tolerance among individuals at high risk for type 2 diabetes: the FIN-D2D project. 	The authors assessed the predictors of success of a lifestyle intervention (weight loss ≥ 5% and improved glucose tolerance) in individuals at high risk for type 2 diabetes in a 1-year follow-up in a primary health care setting. High-risk individuals for type 2 diabetes were identified by opportunistic screening in the implementation of the Finnish National Diabetes Prevention Program (FIN-D2D). All together, 3880 individuals participated in the 1-year follow-up. Sociodemographic characteristics, health status and behavior, family history of diabetes, clinical factors, and health care provider were considered possible predictors of lifestyle intervention success. In sum, 19.3% of individuals lost at least 5% of weight, and 32.6% with abnormal glucose tolerance at baseline showed improvement in glucose tolerance. Abnormal glucose tolerance was the strongest predictor of weight loss and improvement in glucose tolerance. High attendance at lifestyle intervention visits, being outside of labor force, and high body mass index at baseline were also related to weight loss, and high education was related to improvement in glucose tolerance. In &quot;real-life settings,&quot; glucose tolerance status, number of intervention visits, employment status, education, and body mass index explained the success of lifestyle intervention. These factors may help in targeting interventions, although they may not be generalized to other cultural settings. 
24355575	Associations between building design, point-of-decision stair prompts, and stair use in urban worksites. 	Incidental forms of physical activity such as stair use offer frequent opportunities for energy expenditure and may contribute to the prevention and control of chronic diseases. This study analyzes the associations between building characteristics, stair prompts, and stair use in large urban worksites. Bootstrapped generalized mixed models were used to analyze self-reported stair use, using data from 1348 surveys of city employees and fourteen building assessments conducted in New York City in 2012. 57% of respondents reported climbing ≥1 flights of stairs daily at the workplace. Model results show that stair prompts were associated with a 3.21 increased likelihood of stair use. Naturally lit stairwells and stairwell visibility were also positively associated. Higher floor residency and BMI were negatively related, as were gender, stairwell distance from lobby entrances, the total number of floors in each building, and building averages for BMI and gender. Residual heterogeneity measured by adjusted median odds ratios indicates that buildings can have a moderate effect on the likelihood of stair use beyond those of individual characteristics. Specific building features and stair prompts may potentially be leveraged to positively influence rates of incidental physical activity and contribute to improvements in population health. 
24485546	&quot;Go4Life&quot; exercise counseling, accelerometer feedback, and activity levels in older people. 	Older people are more sedentary than other age groups. We sought to determine if providing an accelerometer with feedback about activity and counseling older subjects using Go4Life educational material would increase activity levels. Participants were recruited from independent living areas within assisted living facilities and the general public in the Rochester, MN area. 49 persons aged 65-95 (79.5±7.0 years) who were ambulatory but sedentary and overweight participated in this randomized controlled crossover trial for one year. After a baseline period of 2 weeks, group 1 received an accelerometer and counseling using Go4Life educational material (www.Go4Life.nia.nih.gov) for 24 weeks and accelerometer alone for the next 24 weeks. Group 2 had no intervention for the first 24 weeks and then received an accelerometer and Go4Life based counseling for 24 weeks. There were no significant baseline differences between the two groups. The intervention was not associated with a significant change in activity, body weight, % body fat, or blood parameters (p&gt;0.05). Older (80-93) subjects were less active than younger (65-79) subjects (p=0.003). Over the course of the 48 week study, an increase in activity level was associated with a decline in % body fat (p=0.008). Increasing activity levels benefits older patients. However, providing an accelerometer and a Go4Life based exercise counseling program did not result in a 15% improvement in activity levels in this elderly population. Alternate approaches to exercise counseling may be needed in elderly people of this age range. 
24964227	Physical activity intervention effects on perceived stress in working mothers: the role of self-efficacy. 	Working mothers often report elevated stress, and efforts to improve their coping resources are needed to buffer the detrimental effects of stress on health. This study examined the impact of changes in physical activity, self-efficacy, and self-regulation across the course of a brief intervention on subsequent levels of stress in working mothers. Participants (N = 141) were randomly assigned to an intervention or control condition (2:1 ratio). The intervention was conducted in Illinois between March 2011 and January 2012 and consisted of two group-mediated workshop sessions with content based on social cognitive theory. Participants completed measures of physical activity, self-efficacy, self-regulation, and perceived stress at baseline, immediately postintervention, and 6-month follow-up. Stress levels declined across the 6-month period in both groups. Changes in stress were negatively associated with changes in self-efficacy and self-regulation among intervention participants only. Regression analyses revealed the intervention elicited short-term increases in physical activity, self-efficacy, and self-regulation, but only changes in self-efficacy predicted perceived stress at 6-month follow-up. These results suggest that enhancing self-efficacy is likely to improve working mothers' perceived capabilities to cope with stressors in their lives. Future interventions should continue to focus on increasing self-efficacy to promote improvements in physical activity and psychological well-being in this population. 
24418413	Self-monitoring has potential for home exercise programmes in patients with haemophilia. 	Haemophiliacs who have had to keep a physically inactive lifestyle due to bleeding during childhood are likely to have little motivation for exercise. The purpose of this study is to clarify the effectiveness of the self-monitoring of home exercise for haemophiliacs. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with intervention over 8 weeks at four hospitals in Japan. Subjects included 32 male outpatients aged 26-64 years without an inhibitor who were randomly allocated to a self-monitoring group and a control group. Individual exercise guidance with physical activity for improvement of their knee functions was given to both groups. The self-monitoring materials included an activity monitor and a feedback system so that the self-monitoring group could send feedback via the Internet and cellular phone. The self-monitoring was performed by checking exercise adherence and physical activity levels, bleeding history and injection of a coagulation factor. Both groups showed significant improvements in exercise adherence (P &lt; 0.001) and physical function such as the strength of knee extension (P &lt; 0.001), range of knee extension (P &lt; 0.001), range of ankle dorsiflexion (P &lt; 0.01), a modified Functional Reach (P &lt; 0.05) and 10 metre gait time (P &lt; 0.01). In particular, improvements in exercise adherence (P &lt; 0.05), self-efficacy (P &lt; 0.05), and strength of knee extension (P &lt; 0.05) were significant in the self-monitoring group compared with those in the control group. No increase in bleeding frequency and pain scale was noted. The self-monitoring of home exercise for haemophilic patients is useful for the improvement of exercise adherence, self-efficacy and knee extension strength. 
23711351	Comparing finger and forehead sensors to measure oxygen saturation in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. 	Oxyhaemoglobin saturation of arterial blood is commonly measured using a finger sensor attached to a pulse oximeter (SpO(2)). We sought to compare SpO(2) measured using finger and forehead sensors with oxyhaemoglobin saturation in arterialized capillary samples (ACS) in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) during exercise. During aerobic exercise, SpO(2) was measured continuously by two pulse oximeters: one connected to a finger sensor and to a forehead sensor. Before and after the task, ACS were collected to provide a minimally invasive reference measure of oxyhaemoglobin saturation. Patients with COPD were eligible for inclusion if they desaturated when walking by &gt;4% from resting levels to &lt;90%. Current smokers and those prescribed supplemental oxygen were excluded. Fourteen participants completed the study (forced expiratory volume in 1 s = 35 ± 10% predicted). Compared with ACS, SpO(2) measured via the finger sensor was 2% lower (limit of agreement 3%), and SpO(2) measured via the forehead sensor was 2% higher (limit of agreement 4%). Differences were not systematic. The change in oxygen saturation during exercise was similar among the finger sensor (-7; 95% confidence interval (CI): -4 to -10%), forehead sensor (-7; 95% CI: -3 to -10%) and ACS (-6; 95% CI: -3 to -9%). Oxygen saturation measured using the forehead sensor was higher than that measured in ACS. Assuming that oxygen saturation in ACS is slightly less than arterial blood, forehead sensors may yield measures more concordant with arterial blood. Both sensors detected exercise-induced desaturation. 
24428147	Adapting the Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionnaire for Japanese pregnant women. 	To assess the psychometric properties of the Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionnaire (PPAQ) for women who read and speak Japanese. This longitudinal study used a self-report questionnaire and quantitative biometric and instrumental measurements (actigraph) to assess the reliability and criterion validity. A university hospital in Tokyo, Japan. Sixty-nine pregnant women living in Tokyo and its suburbs were recruited. The test-retest reliability of the Japanese version of the Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionnaire (PPAQ-J) was evaluated through intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) between PPAQ-J results administered three times (at recruitment, 7 and 14 days later). Criterion validity was assessed by comparing results to actigraph measures using Spearman's correlation coefficients. Participants wore the actigraph over the 2-week research period. Data from 58 participants were analyzed for test-retest reliability. The data of 54 participants were used to analyze criterion validity. The ICCs for the first and second and for the first and third PPAQ-J questionnaires were ≥0.56 for total activity and activities broken down by intensity and type (in metabolic equivalents [METs] × hours/day). To evaluate criterion validity, Spearman's correlation coefficients were calculated between the first measurement of the PPAQ-J and three published cut-points used to classify actigraph data (minutes/day); correlations ranged from .02 to .35 for total activity, -.21 to -.25 for vigorous activity, -.09 to .38 for moderate activity, and .01 to .28 for light activity. The PPAQ-J is a psychometrically sound and comprehensive measure of physical activity in pregnant Japanese women. 
25084185	Outcome measures of behavioral weight loss programs in perimenopause. 	Obesity and being overweight are associated with many comorbid conditions and are major contributing factors to cardiovascular disease. The increased proportion of overweight and obese people in Western societies has been attributed largely to behaviors that include sedentary lifestyle and dietary excess. Women are at particular risk during perimenopause, when hormones change and metabolism slows. The purpose of this review was to examine published studies of weight loss programs for perimenopausal women using behavioral change strategies of diet alone, regular physical activity alone, or both in combination to determine the range of potential outcomes and reduction of cardiovascular risks. Based on the findings from this review, practice applications and recommendations for future research are proposed. 
23715211	Time-scheduled delivery of computer health animations: &quot;Installing&quot; healthy habits of computer use. 	The development of modern technology brings convenience to our lives but removes physical activity from our daily routines, thereby putting our lives at risk. Extended computer use may contribute to symptoms such as visual impairment and musculoskeletal disorders. To help reduce the risk of physical inactivity and promote healthier computer use, this study developed a time-scheduled delivery of health-related animations for users sitting in front of computers for prolonged periods. In addition, we examined the effects that the program had on the computer-related health behavior intentions and actions of participants. Two waves of questionnaires were implemented for data collection before and after intervention. The results showed that the animation program indeed had a positive effect on participants' healthy computer use actions in terms of breathtaking, body massages, and body stretches. It also helped to bridge the intention-action gap of the health behaviors. The development and evaluation were documented, and users' experiences/suggestions were discussed at the end. 
21116202	Efficacy and safety of concurrent training in systemic sclerosis. 	The optimal training model for patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) is unknown. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of a 12-week combined resistance and aerobic training program (concurrent training) in SSc patients. Eleven patients with no evidence of pulmonary involvement were recruited for the exercise program. Lower and upper limb dynamic strengths (assessed by 1 repetition maximum [1RM] of a leg press and bench press, respectively), isometric strength (assessed by back pull and handgrip tests), balance and mobility (assessed by the timed up-and-go test), muscle function (assessed by the timed-stands test), Rodnan score, digital ulcers, Rayland's phenomenon, and blood markers of muscle inflammation (creatine kinase and aldolase) were assessed at baseline and after the 12-week program. Exercise training significantly enhanced the 1RM leg press (41%) and 1RM bench press (13%) values and back pull (24%) and handgrip strength (11%). Muscle function was also improved (15%), but balance and mobility were not significantly changed. The time-to-exhaustion was increased (46.5%, p = 0.0004), the heart rate at rest condition was significantly reduced, and the workload and time of exercise at ventilatory thresholds and peak of exercise were increased. However, maximal and submaximal &amp;OV0312;o2 were unaltered (p &gt; 0.05). The Rodnan score was unchanged, and muscle enzymes remained within normal levels. No change was observed in digital ulcers and Raynaud's phenomenon. This is the first study to demonstrate that a 12-week concurrent training program is safe and substantially improves muscle strength, function, and aerobic capacity in SSc patients. 
19734238	What constitutes effective manual handling training? A systematic review. 	Injuries caused by manual handling are a major burden to society. Manual handling training programmes have been designed to reduce the likelihood of injury among the workforce; however, concerns have been raised over the efficacy of current manual handling training methods. To undertake a systematic review of the literature examining the effectiveness of different approaches to training in manual handling. Peer-reviewed publications along with published conference proceedings published in English, between 1980 and 2009, on the topic of manual handling training comprised the search criteria. A published checklist for reviewing papers was selected, which formed the basis for assessing the quality of the papers reviewed. A total of 1827 papers were located. Following elimination of duplicates, 221 papers were collected and reviewed. Of these, 53 papers were intervention studies with the primary aim of investigating the effectiveness of manual handling training. The review identified little evidence supporting the effectiveness of both technique- and educational-based manual handling training. In addition, there was considerable evidence supporting the idea that the principles learnt during training are not applied in the working environment. Strength and flexibility training shows promise; however, further research is needed to ascertain whether such an intervention is sustainable over the long term. The evidence collected indicates that manual handling training is largely ineffective in reducing back pain and back injury. High priority should be given to developing and evaluating multidimensional interventions, incorporating exercise training to promote strength and flexibility, which are tailored to the industrial sector. 
20934619	Fall prevention in Australia: policies and activities. 	Fall prevention recommendations and plans have been prolific in Australia since 1986, but Commonwealth recommendations have rarely been acted on from a national perspective and the funds for prevention at a national level have been limited. At a state level, although increasing annually, funds for fall prevention have also remained as only a low proportion of total health spending. Several Australian states have developed their own strategic plans and their activities have developed separately and uniquely, although referring to national guidelines. This article presents a perspective of Australian fall prevention policy over time, provides insights into the current focus, and draws on some specific examples of activities from the 2 most populous Australian states (New South Wales and Victoria) and from our largest geographic state, Western Australia. 
18540005	Identifying and assessing interests and concerns of priority populations for work-site programs to promote physical activity. 	The work site has been identified as an ideal context for promoting physical activity. Assessing employee interest, identifying who could most benefit, and understanding impact of work-related barriers on potential participation is key. We conducted focus groups and surveyed the employee population of a large urban hospital. Using the &quot;stages of change&quot; construct, employees were categorized based on their motivation to exercise into exerciser, intender, and nonintender groups. Intenders were significantly more interested in most physical activity programs at work than were exercisers (p &lt; .05). Intenders also found environmental and personal barriers to be more significant deterrents to participation than did exercisers (p &lt; .01). Half of nonintenders reported interest in physical activity programs. Interest in physical activity programs at work is strong for employees who are not currently exercising. Both structural changes to promote safe environments and time allotments through work-related policies may encourage participation, especially for the priority populations of nonexercising employees. 
19953832	Evaluation of a walking school bus for promoting physical activity in youth. 	Walking to and from school has potential to increase daily physical activity among children. A Walking School Bus (WSB) intervention was implemented for 2 years in 2 schools with a third school as a control. The primary aim evaluated school-wide prevalence of walking to school by self-report 6 times (fall, winter, spring). The secondary aims compared objective physical activity levels among a subsample of research participants (intervention [INT] = 201, control [CON] = 123) and between frequency of walking to school groups. INT and CON participants wore an accelerometer during 4 time periods to assess daily physical activity and were measured for body mass index (BMI) and body fat each fall and spring. School-wide prevalence of walking to school frequently (&gt; 50% of the time each week) was 27% higher in the WSB schools than in the control school. INT obtained significantly more daily physical activity than CON (78.0 [38.9] vs 60.6 [27.7] min/d, P &lt; .05). In addition, across all schools, frequent walkers obtained 25% more physical activity (P &lt; .05), gained 58% less body fat (P &lt; .05), and attenuated BMI by 50% (P &lt; .05) compared with passive commuters. This study suggests a WSB intervention may increase frequency of walking to school and establishes a link with increased daily physical activity. 
23324485	Assessing state-level active living promotion using network analysis. 	Physical inactivity is a growing problem in the United States, one that is being addressed through the development of active living communities. However, active living promotion requires collaboration among organizations that may not have previously shared goals. A network analysis was conducted to assess Hawaii's active living promotion network. Twenty-six organizations playing a significant role in promoting active living in Hawaii were identified and surveyed about their frequency of contact, level of collaboration, and funding flow with other agencies. A communication network was identified linking all agencies. This network had many long pathways, impeding information flow. The Department of Health (DOH) and the State Nutrition and Physical Activity Coalition (NPAC) were central nodes, but DOH connected state agencies while NPAC linked county and voluntary organizations. Within the network, information sharing was common, but collaboration and formal partnership were low. Linkages between county and state agencies, between counties, and between state agencies with different core agendas were particularly low. Results suggest that in the early stages of development, active living networks may be divided by geography and core missions, requiring work to bridge these divides. Network mapping appears helpful in identifying areas for network development. 
19163542	Temporal trend analysis in personal health records. 	The creation of a universal standard for electronic medical records (EMR) remains a work in progress. The existence of a standard EMR that can be accessed by medical professionals anywhere in the world as well as by the patient will have a significant impact on the way that medicine is practiced. In addition to having information readily available, it would present the possibility to do individual trend analysis on each patient based on information accumulated over a lifetime. This information would permit diagnosis based on the individual rather than solely on population statistics. A comprehensive system for performing trend analysis on the multitude of data types relevant to medical decision making requires the creation and integration of a number of methods. A general approach based on a hybrid combination of automated decision support methods is described and illustrated for using trend data applied to cardiac diagnosis. The methods are general and can be applied to any application area. 
16531126	Respiratory control at exercise onset: an integrated systems perspective. 	The near-immediate increase in breathing that accompanies the onset of constant load, dynamic exercise has remained a topic of interest to respiratory physiologists for the better part of a century. During this time, several theories have been proposed and tested in an attempt to explain what has been called the phase I response of exercise hyperpnoea, or the fast neural drive to breathe, and much controversy still remains as to what mediates this response. 'Central motor command' and 'afferent feedback' mechanisms, as described in animal models, have been centre stage in the debate, with much supportive evidence for their involvement. This review presents three relatively recent and controversial mechanisms and examines the increasing evidence for their involvement in the initial phase of exercise hyperpnoea: (1) the vascular distension hypothesis, (2) the vestibular feedback hypothesis and (3) the behavioral state hypothesis. Some outstanding fundamental questions and directions for future research are presented throughout, always with a focus on mechanistic efficacy in the integrated system response. 
24078491	The effects of tai chi on depression, anxiety, and psychological well-being: a systematic review and meta-analysis. 	Tai chi, also called taiji or tai chi chuan, is a form of mind-body exercise that originated from China. It combines Chinese martial arts and meditative movements that promote balance and healing of the mind and body, involving a series of slowly performed, dance-like postures that flow into one another. As it comprises mental concentration, physical balance, muscle relaxation, and relaxed breathing, tai chi shows great potential for becoming widely integrated into the prevention and rehabilitation of a number of medical and psychological conditions. A growing body of clinical research has begun to evaluate the efficacy of tai chi as a therapy for a variety of health issues. A systematic review and meta-analysis were carried out on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-experimental (Q-E) trials that studied the effects of tai chi on psychological well-being. Drawn from English and Chinese databases, 37 RCTs and 5 Q-E studies published up to May 31, 2013 were included in the systematic review. The methodological quality of the RCTs was evaluated based on the following criteria: adequate sequence generation, allocation concealment, blinding, completeness of outcome data, selective reporting, and other potential biases. Statistical analyses were performed using Review Manager version 5.0. The studies in this review demonstrated that tai chi interventions have beneficial effects for various populations on a range of psychological well-being measures, including depression, anxiety, general stress management, and exercise self-efficacy. Meta-analysis was performed on three RCTs that used depression as an outcome measure (ES=-5.97; 95% CI -7.06 to -4.87), with I2=0%. In spite of the positive outcomes, the studies to date generally had significant methodological limitations. More RCTs with rigorous research design are needed to establish the efficacy of tai chi in improving psychological well-being and its potential to be used in interventions for populations with various clinical conditions. 
23749481	Effects of qigong exercise on upper limb lymphedema and blood flow in survivors of breast cancer: a pilot study. 	Qigong exercise is a popular method for relieving the side effects of conventional cancer treatments in survivors of breast cancer, yet its effects are not empirically assessed. This study aimed to investigate the effects of qigong exercise on upper limb lymphedema, arterial resistance, and blood flow velocity in survivors with breast cancer and mastectomy. This study was conducted as a prospective clinical trial. Eleven survivors of breast cancer with qigong experience (mean age = 58.3 ± 10.1 years) were assigned to the experimental group and 12 survivors of breast cancer without qigong experience (mean age = 53.8 ± 4.2 years) were assigned to the control group. They all had breast cancer-related lymphedema. All procedures were completed within one session. After baseline measurements were taken, the experimental group performed 18 Forms Tai Chi Internal Qigong for approximately 6 minutes while the control group rested for similar duration in a sitting position. Both groups were then reassessed. All participants were measured on their affected upper limb circumference (by using tape measures), peripheral arterial resistance, and blood flow velocities (using a Doppler ultrasound machine). The between-group differences were not significant for all outcome measures at baseline (P &gt; .05). The circumferences of the affected upper arm, elbow, forearm and wrist decreased after qigong exercise (P &lt; .05). However, no significant difference was found in the circumference measures between the 2 groups posttest (P &gt; .0125). In terms of vascular outcomes, the resistance index decreased and the maximum systolic arterial blood flow velocity (SV) and minimum diastolic arterial blood flow velocity (DV) increased significantly after qigong exercise (P &lt; .05). The between-group difference was close to significant for SV (P = .018) and was significant for DV (P &lt; .001) posttest. Qigong exercise could reduce conventional cancer therapy side effects such as upper limb lymphedema and poor circulatory status in survivors of breast cancer. However, such effects may be temporary, and further studies must be conducted to explore longer term effects. 
23834544	Effect of skill level on cardiorespiratory and metabolic responses during Tai Chi training. 	Nowadays, Tai chi chuan (TCC) is practiced by millions worldwide with a range of skill levels. However, the effect of skill level on physiological response to TCC performance has yet to be clarified. In this study, physiological parameters during practicing simplified 24-form TCC were investigated and compared in 10 young high-level (HL) male TCC athletes and 10 ordinary-level (OL) male TCC practitioners with similar age and body size. Significantly higher energy expenditure, heart rate, oxygen uptake and tidal volume were found in HL group than OL group during TCC performance. The respiratory frequency and exhalation time were similar between the two groups during practicing TC; however, significantly less inhalation time was found in HL group (1.02±0.2 s) than OL group (1.12±0.28 s). Our results suggested that skill level may have considerable impact on metabolic and cardiorespiratory responses to TCC performance. TCC practitioners with different skill levels may practice TCC in different ways, which was supposed to lead to distinguishable response between the two groups. 
24280465	The sustaining effects of Tai chi Qigong on physiological health for COPD patients: a randomized controlled trial. 	To evaluate the sustaining effects of Tai chi Qigong in improving the physiological health for COPD patients at sixth month. A randomized controlled trial. Subjects were in three randomly assigned groups: Tai chi Qigong group, exercise group, and control group. The 206 subjects were recruited from five general outpatient clinics. Tai chi Qigong group completed a 3-month Tai chi Qigong program. Exercise group practiced breathing and walking as an exercise. Control group received usual care. Primary outcomes included six-minute walking distance and lung functions. Secondary outcomes were dyspnea and fatigue levels, number of exacerbations and hospital admissions. Tai chi Qigong group showed a steady improvement in exercise capacity (P&lt;.001) from baseline to the sixth month. The mean walking distance increased from 298 to 349 meters (+17%). No significant changes were noted in the other two groups. Tai chi Qigong group also showed improvement in lung functions (P&lt;.001). Mean forced expiratory volume in 1s increased from .89 to .99l (+11%). No significant change was noted in the exercise group. Deterioration was found in the control group, with mean volume decreased from .89 to .84l (-5.67%). Significant decreased in the number of exacerbations was observed in the Tai chi Qigong group. No changes in dyspnea and fatigue levels were noted among the three groups. Tai chi Qigong has sustaining effects in improving the physiological health and is a useful and appropriate exercise for COPD patients. 
22927546	Foot forces induced through Tai Chi push-hand exercises. 	The low impact forces of Tai Chi push-hand exercises may be particularly suited for older people and for those with arthritis; however, the biomechanics of push-hand exercises have not previously been reported. This paper examines the ground reaction forces (GRFs) and plantar force distributions during Tai Chi push-hand exercises in a stationary stance with and without an opponent. Ten male Tai Chi practitioners participated in the study. The GRFs of each foot were measured in three perpendicular directions using two force plates (Kistler). The plantar force distribution of each foot was measured concurrently using an insole sensor system (Novel). The results showed that the average maximum vertical GRF of each foot was not more than 88% ± 6.1% of the body weight and the sum of the vertical forces (103% ± 1.4%) generated by the two feet approximately equals the body weight at any one time. The horizontal GRFs generated by the two feet were in the opposite directions and the measured mean peak values were not more than 12% ± 2.8% and 17% ± 4.3% of the body weight in the medio-lateral and antero-posterior directions respectively. Among the nine plantar areas, the toes sustained the greatest plantar force. This study indicates that push-hand exercises generate lower vertical forces than those induced by walking, bouncing, jumping and Tai Chi gait, and that the greatest plantar force is located in the toe area, which may have an important application in balance training particularly for older adults. 
23143590	The effect of Tai Chi on health-related quality of life in people with elevated blood glucose or diabetes: a randomized controlled trial. 	The aim was to assess the effects of a Tai Chi-based program on health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) in people with elevated blood glucose or diabetes who were not on medication for glucose control. 41 participants were randomly allocated to either a Tai Chi intervention group (N = 20) or a usual medical-care control group (N = 21). The Tai Chi group involved 3 × 1.5 h supervised and group-based training sessions per week for 12 weeks. Indicators of HR-QOL were assessed by self-report survey immediately prior to and after the intervention. There were significant improvements in favor of the Tai Chi group for the SF36 subscales of physical functioning (mean difference = 5.46, 95% CI = 1.35-9.57, P &lt; 0.05), role physical (mean difference = 18.60, 95% CI = 2.16-35.05, P &lt; 0.05), bodily pain (mean difference = 9.88, 95% CI = 2.06-17.69, P &lt; 0.05) and vitality (mean difference = 9.96, 95% CI = 0.77-19.15, P &lt; 0.05). The findings show that this Tai Chi program improved indicators of HR-QOL including physical functioning, role physical, bodily pain and vitality in people with elevated blood glucose or diabetes who were not on diabetes medication. 
24199974	Three months of Tai Chi Chuan exercise can reduce serum triglyceride and endothelin-1 in the elderly. 	Endothelin-1 (ET-1) and circulating hormones play important roles in maintaining cardiovascular function. Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) is known to be good for health. This study evaluated the effect of 3 months of TCC training on serum ET-1, blood lipids, and other circulating hormones in the elderly. Twenty-two TCC trainees and 20 normal subjects were included in this study. The TCC trainees practiced classical Yang's TCC 40 min per session, 7 times per week, for 3 months. The hemodynamics and serum ET-1 and lipids before and after TCC were compared. The percentage change in serum ET-1 and triglyceride (TG) were decreased significantly after 3 months of TCC, as compared to the control group. In the TCC group, the percentage decrease in serum ET-1 and TG after 3 months of TCC were -36.6 (-63.4 to -14.0)% and -22.5 (-30.7 to 4.9)%, respectively. TCC exercise for 3 months can reduce serum ET-1 and TG in the elderly. 
24485546	&quot;Go4Life&quot; exercise counseling, accelerometer feedback, and activity levels in older people. 	Older people are more sedentary than other age groups. We sought to determine if providing an accelerometer with feedback about activity and counseling older subjects using Go4Life educational material would increase activity levels. Participants were recruited from independent living areas within assisted living facilities and the general public in the Rochester, MN area. 49 persons aged 65-95 (79.5±7.0 years) who were ambulatory but sedentary and overweight participated in this randomized controlled crossover trial for one year. After a baseline period of 2 weeks, group 1 received an accelerometer and counseling using Go4Life educational material (www.Go4Life.nia.nih.gov) for 24 weeks and accelerometer alone for the next 24 weeks. Group 2 had no intervention for the first 24 weeks and then received an accelerometer and Go4Life based counseling for 24 weeks. There were no significant baseline differences between the two groups. The intervention was not associated with a significant change in activity, body weight, % body fat, or blood parameters (p&gt;0.05). Older (80-93) subjects were less active than younger (65-79) subjects (p=0.003). Over the course of the 48 week study, an increase in activity level was associated with a decline in % body fat (p=0.008). Increasing activity levels benefits older patients. However, providing an accelerometer and a Go4Life based exercise counseling program did not result in a 15% improvement in activity levels in this elderly population. Alternate approaches to exercise counseling may be needed in elderly people of this age range. 
23348061	A 1-year follow-up of effects of exercise programs on well-being in older adults. 	The purpose of this study was to investigate the long-term effects of three types of training on wellbeing and frequency of physical activity and to determine whether preintervention motivation moderates the effects. Sixty-two older adults (M = 75 years old, SD = 5; 61% women) completed 4-mo programs of endurance, functional or strength training, with reassessment of well-being (life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect, vitality) and physical activity 12 mo later. All groups showed small improvements in most measures of well-being at 4 mo. At follow-up, endurance training still had small beneficial effects, while changes with functional and strength training were generally trivial or harmful. Analysis for moderators indicated that autonomously motivated individuals better maintained gains in well-being and had higher frequencies of physical activity at follow-up compared with controlled individuals. Endurance training is recommended for older adults, but the long-term outcomes depend on the individual's motivational regulation at commencement. 
24622227	[Effects of exercise intervention on exercise behavior in community-dwelling elderly subjects: a randomized controlled trial]. 	The objective of the present study was to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of an exercise program in modifying the exercise behavior of the community-dwelling elderly subjects. This study was a single-blinded randomized controlled trial. The subjects included 52 males and 65 females 65 years of age or over who were randomly assigned to an exercise-intervention group or a health-education group. The stages of change in exercise behavior were evaluated before and one-year after the intervention period. The subjects' physical function (muscle strength, balance, walking speed) and self-efficacy in each domain of the physical function were measured during the intervention period. There were no significant differences in the stages of change before the intervention between the two groups. Significant differences in the stages of change were observed in &quot;relapse&quot; of stages at two points in time between the two groups (p&lt;.01). A logistic regression analysis showed that &quot;progression&quot; of stages was associated with improvements in the timed up and go test (AOR 2.7; 95% CI 1.3-5.8) and sit and reach (AOR 1.14; 95%CI 1.0-1.3), while &quot;relapse&quot; of stages was associated with the group allocation (AOR 4.6; 95%CI 1.1-18.8), self-efficacy in &quot;Walking&quot; (AOR 1.54; 95%CI 1.0-2.3) and &quot;Stair climbing&quot; (AOR 0.68; 95%CI 0.5-0.9) with respect to physical activity during the intervention period. The results suggest that exercise intervention in community-dwelling elderly subjects is effective in preventing &quot;relapse&quot; of exercise behavior over long periods. 
24622229	[Participant characteristics and intervention effects of a program to improve the physical function in community-dwelling frail elderly subjects]. 	To examine the intervention effects of a physical function improvement program for community-dwelling frail elderly subjects. The subjects included 309 participants (108 males, 224 females) who took part in &quot;Iki Iki Health Classes,&quot; an exercise training program for frail elderly individuals conducted over three years from April 2008 to March 2011. The average participant age was 75.4±5.8 years in the males and 74.6±5.6 years in the females. Many participants had bone and joint disease with hypertension. The proportion of those with a history of falls (49.0%) was high. Significant improvements from the program were seen in the motor function and in the total scores for the Kihon checklist, grip strength, standing on one leg, timed up-and-go test (TUG), 5-m walking time and 5-m walking maximum time, fear of falling (77.5→70.1%) and subjective health (&quot;good/well good/usually,&quot; increased from 73.6% to 89.1%). A new care-needs certification was issued in 21.6% of the subjects during the period spanning to March 31, 2013. A logistic regression analysis revealed that the deterioration of subjective health was significantly related to the presence of risk factors for new care-needs certification (odds ratio and 95% confidence interval: 4.99 (1.04-23.9), p=0.04). These results suggest that the interventions used in the program to improve the physical function contributed to improving the subjects' mental and physical functions. We speculate that whether improvements in subjective health are linked to roles in normal life and/or social activity participation is important for care prevention. 
23799829	Greater effect of adiposity than physical activity or lean mass on physical function in community-dwelling older adults. 	Adiposity, lean mass, and physical activity (PA) are known to influence physical function in older adults, although the independent influences are not completely characterized. Older adults (N = 156, M age = 68.9 ± 6.7 yr, 85 men) were assessed for body composition via dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, PA by accelerometer, and physical function via timed up-and-go (UP&amp;GO), 30-s chair stand, 6-min walk (6-min WALK), and Star-Excursion Balance Test. In the absence of percentage-body-fat by PA interactions (p &gt; .05), main effects existed such that a higher percentage body fat was associated with poorer performance in UP&amp;GO, 30-s chair stand, and 6-min WALK (p &lt; .05). No significant main effects were found for PA and functional performance. Adiposity explains 4.6-11.4% in physical functional variance (p &lt; .05). Preventing increases in adiposity with age may help older adults maintain functional independence. 
23945665	Older women's personal goals and exercise activity: an 8-year follow-up. 	This study investigated the associations of personal goals with exercise activity, as well as the relationships between exercise-related and other personal goals, among older women. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal designs were used with a sample of 308 women ages 66-79 at baseline. Women who reported exercise-related personal goals were 4 times as likely to report high exercise activity at baseline than those who did not report exercise-related goals. Longitudinal results were parallel. Goals related to cultural activities, as well as to busying oneself around the home, coincided with exercise-related goals, whereas goals related to own and other people's health and independent living lowered the odds of having exercise-related goals. Helping older adults to set realistic exercise-related goals that are compatible with their other life goals may yield an increase in their exercise activity, but this should be evaluated in a controlled trial. 
23294677	Effect of Pilates on sleep quality and quality of life of sedentary population. 	The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an exercise program based on the Pilates Matwork method on sedentary volunteers who self-reported changes in their sleep quality and quality of life. This was a prospective clinical study, in which the variables (level of sleepiness and quality of life) were compared before and after applying a protocol of 12 weeks of an exercise program (2 sessions per week). The level of sleepiness showed significant improvement between before and after the intervention (p: 0.04). Quality of life improved based on all of the emotional components and the physical components (p &lt; 0.05) with the exception of the physical domain (p: 0.09). The results of this study indicate that the sedentary population who participated in this 12 week Pilates program experienced improvements in sleep quality and quality of life. 
23065013	Improving post-intensive care unit neuropsychiatric outcomes: understanding cognitive effects of physical activity. 	Critical illness and its treatment often result in long-term neuropsychiatric morbidities. Consequently, there is a need to focus on means to prevent or ameliorate these morbidities. Animal models provide important data regarding the neurobiological effects of physical activity, including angiogenesis, neurogenesis, and release of neurotrophic factors that enhance plasticity. Studies in noncritically ill patients demonstrate that exercise is associated with increased cerebral blood flow, neurogenesis, and brain volume, which are associated with improved cognition. Clinically, research in both healthy and diseased human subjects suggests that exercise improves neuropsychiatric outcomes. In the critical care setting, early physical rehabilitation and mobilization are safe and feasible, with demonstrated improvements in physical functional outcomes. Such activity may also reduce the duration of delirium in the intensive care unit (ICU) and improve neuropsychiatric outcomes, although data are limited. Barriers exist regarding implementing ICU rehabilitation in routine care, including use of sedatives and lack of awareness of post-ICU cognitive impairments. Further research is necessary to determine whether prior animal and human research, in conjunction with preliminary results from existing ICU studies, can translate into improvements for neuropsychiatric outcomes in critically ill patients. Studies are needed to evaluate biological mechanisms, risk factors, the role of pre-ICU functional level, and the timing, duration, and type of physical activity for optimal patient outcomes. 
22733639	Impact of a behavioral-based intervention on inspiratory muscle training prescription by a multidisciplinary team. 	Our goal was to compare behavioral- and information-based interventions aimed at increasing prescription of inspiratory muscle training (IMT) for people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by interdisciplinary teams during pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). Six hospital PR programs were randomly assigned to a behavioral- or information-based intervention. Both interventions provided evidence supporting IMT and its prescription details. However, the behavioral-based intervention focused on barriers and challenges to IMT prescription informed by a nationwide survey and the theory of planned behavior (TPB). It included hands-on practice and content, in part, was driven by learners' questions. In contrast, the information-based intervention delivered information in a typical didactic education session followed by a demonstration and question period. It was supplemented with evidence-based research articles. The primary outcome was the change in prescription rate of IMT for COPD patients by determining the difference during the 6 months preceding compared to the 6 months during the interventions. Sixty-one health professionals and 488 COPD outpatients within 6 PR programs participated. No COPD patients were prescribed IMT at any of the sites during the 6-month preintervention phase. The behavioral-based intervention resulted in an IMT prescription rate of 10.2% to people with COPD, whereas the information-based intervention resulted in no IMT prescriptions. A behavioral-based intervention that is based on TPB and addresses challenges identified by health professionals is more effective than a traditional lecture approach to increase health professionals' prescription of IMT for patients with COPD. 
22387009	Improvement of the lipid profile with exercise in obese children: a systematic review. 	The objective of this systematic review was to assess the effectiveness of different physical exercise interventions on the lipid profile (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), total cholesterol (TC), and triglycerides (TG)) of obese children. A computerized search was made of seven databases using keywords. Effect sizes (ES) and 95% confidence intervals were calculated, and the heterogeneity (I(2)) of the studies was estimated using Cochran's Q-statistic applied to the effect size means. The studies were grouped according to the intervention program-aerobic alone or combined (aerobic fitness, strength, and flexibility). Seven studies were selected for review as satisfying the inclusion criteria. Six were randomized controlled trials (n=318) and one was a controlled clinical trial (groups not randomly assigned) (n=38). The main cumulative evidence indicates that the programs based on aerobic exercise alone have a moderate (ES=-0.49; I²=87) and a large effect (ES=-0.55; I²=77) on LDL-C and TG concentrations, respectively; and the programs based on combined exercise have a moderate effect (ES=0.50; I²=0) on HDL-C concentration. The programs based on aerobic exercise (60 min, 3 times/week, ≤75% maximum heart rate) improve the LDL-C and TG concentrations. Moreover, the programs based on combined exercise (≥60 min, &gt;75% maximum heart rate) also improve the HDL-C concentration. 
24404882	How does knee pain affect trunk and knee motion during badminton forehand lunges? 	Badminton requires extensive lower extremity movement and a precise coordination of the upper extremity and trunk movements. Accordingly, this study investigated motions of the trunk and the knee, control of dynamic stability and muscle activation patterns of individuals with and without knee pain. Seventeen participants with chronic knee pain and 17 healthy participants participated in the study and performed forehand forward and backward diagonal lunges. This study showed that those with knee pain exhibited smaller knee motions in frontal and horizontal planes during forward lunge but greater knee motions in sagittal plane during backward lunge. By contrast, in both tasks, the injured group showed a smaller value on the activation level of the paraspinal muscles in pre-impact phase, hip-shoulder separation angle, trunk forward inclination range and peak centre of mass (COM) velocity. Badminton players with knee pain adopt a more conservative movement pattern of the knee to minimise recurrence of knee pain. The healthy group exhibit better weight-shifting ability due to a greater control of the trunk and knee muscles. Training programmes for badminton players with knee pain should be designed to improve both the neuromuscular control and muscle strength of the core muscles and the knee extensor with focus on the backward lunge motion. 
23751868	Critical evaluation of a badminton-specific endurance test. 	To overcome the limitations of traditional 1-dimensional fitness tests in analyzing physiological properties of badminton players, a badminton-specific endurance test (BST) was created. This study aimed at analyzing the influence of various fitness dimensions on BST performance. 18 internationally competing male German badminton players (22.4 ± 3.2 y, 79.2 ± 7.7 kg, 1.84 ± 0.06 m, world-ranking position [WRP] 21-501) completed a straight-sprint test, a change-of-direction speed test, various jump tests (countermovement jump, drop jump, standing long jump), a multistage running test (MST), and the BST. During this on-court field test players have to respond to a computerized sign indicating direction and speed of badminton-specific movements by moving into the corresponding corners. Significant correlations were found between performance in MST and BST (individual anaerobic threshold [IAT], r = .63, P = .005; maximum velocity [Vmax], r = .60, P = .009). A negative correlation (r = -.59, P = .014) was observed between IAT in BST and drop-jump contact time. No further associations between performance indices could be detected. Apart from a small portion explained by MST results (IAT, R2 = .40; Vmax, R2 = .36), the majority of BST performance cannot be explained by the determined physiological correlates. Moreover, it was impossible to predict the WRP of a player on the basis of BST results (r = -.15, P = .55). Neither discipline-specific performance nor basic physiological properties were appropriately reflected by a BST in elite badminton players. This does not substantiate its validity for regular use as a testing tool. However, it may be useful for monitoring on-court training sessions. 
23414453	Perceiving the affordance of string tension for power strokes in badminton: expertise allows effective use of all string tensions. 	Affordances mean opportunities for action. These affordances are important for sports performance and relevant to the abilities developed by skilled athletes. In racquet sports such as badminton, different players prefer widely different string tension because it is believed to provide opportunities for effective strokes. The current study examined whether badminton players can perceive the affordance of string tension for power strokes and whether the perception of affordance itself changed as a function of skill level. The results showed that string tension constrained the striking performance of both novice and recreational players, but not of expert players. When perceptual capability was assessed, perceptual mode did not affect perception of the optimal string tension. Skilled players successfully perceived the affordance of string tension, but only experts were concerned about saving energy. Our findings demonstrated that perception of the affordance of string tension in badminton was determined by action abilities. Furthermore, experts could adjust the action to maintain a superior level of performance based on the perception of affordance. 
20391092	A biomechanical analysis of common lunge tasks in badminton. 	The lunge is regularly used in badminton and is recognized for the high physical demands it places on the lower limbs. Despite its common occurrence, little information is available on the biomechanics of lunging in the singles game. A video-based pilot study confirmed the relatively high frequency of lunging, approximately 15% of all movements, in competitive singles games. The biomechanics and performance characteristics of three badminton-specific lunge tasks (kick, step-in, and hop lunge) were investigated in the laboratory with nine experienced male badminton players. Ground reaction forces and kinematic data were collected and lower limb joint kinetics calculated using an inverse dynamics approach. The step-in lunge was characterized by significantly lower mean horizontal reaction force at drive-off and lower mean peak hip joint power than the kick lunge. The hop lunge resulted in significantly larger mean reaction forces during loading and drive-off phases, as well as significantly larger mean peak ankle joint moments and knee and ankle joint powers than the kick or step-in lunges. These findings indicate that, within the setting of this investigation, the step-in lunge may be beneficial for reducing the muscular demands of lunge recovery and that the hop lunge allows for higher positive power output, thereby presenting an efficient lunging method. 
19417227	Reproducibility of physiological and performance measures from a squash-specific fitness test. 	We examined the reproducibility of performance and physiological responses on a squash-specific incremental test. Eight trained squash players habituated to procedures with two prior visits performed an incremental squash test to volitional exhaustion on two occasions 7 days apart. Breath-by-breath oxygen uptake (Vo2) and heart rate were determined continuously using a portable telemetric system. Blood lactate concentration at the end of 4-min stages was assessed to determine lactate threshold. Once threshold was determined, test speed was increased every minute until volitional exhaustion for assessment of maximal oxygen uptake (Vo2max), maximum heart rate (HRmax), and performance time. Economy was taken as the 60-s mean of Vo2 in the final minute of the fourth stage (below lactate threshold for all participants). Typical error of measurement (TEM) with associated 90% confidence intervals, limits of agreement, paired sample t tests, and least products regression were used to assess the reproducibility of scores. Performance time (TEM 27 s, 4%, 90% CI 19 to 49 s) Vo2max (TEM 2.4 mL.kg-1.min-1, 4.7%, 90% CI 1.7 to 4.3 mL.kg-1.min-1), maximum heart rate (TEM 2 beats.min-1, 1.3%, 90% CI 2 to 4 beats.min-1), and economy (TEM 1.6 mL.kg-1.min-1, 4.1%, 90% CI 1.1 to 2.8 mL.kg-1.min-1) were reproducible. The results suggest that endurance performance and physiological responses to a squash-specific fitness test are reproducible. 
19567921	Validity of a squash-specific test of change-of-direction speed. 	We examined the validity and reproducibility of a squash-specific test designed to assess change-of-direction speed. 10 male squash and 10 male association-football and rugby-union players completed the Illinois agility run (IAR) and a squash change-of-direction-speed test (SCODS) on separate days. Tests were repeated after 24 h to assess reproducibility. The best time from three attempts was recorded in each trial. Performance times on the IAR (TE 0.27 s, 1.8%, 90% CI 0.21 to 0.37 s; LOA -0.12 s+/-0.74; LPR slope 1, intercept -2.8) and SCODS (TE 0.18 s, 1.5%, 90% CI 0.14 to 0.24 s; LOA 0.05 s+/-0.49; LPR slope 0.95, intercept 0.5) were reproducible. There were no statistically significant differences in performance time between squash (14.75+/-0.66 s) and nonsquash players (14.79+/-0.41 s) on the IAR. Squash players (10.90+/-0.44 s) outperformed nonsquash players (12.20+/-0.34 s) on the SCODS (P&lt;.01). Squash player rank significantly correlated with SCODS performance time (Spearman's rho=0.77, P&lt;.01), but not IAR performance time (Spearman's rho=0.43, P=.21). The results suggest that the SCODS test is a better measure of sport-specific capability than an equivalent nonspecific field test and that it is a valid and reliable tool for talent identification and athlete tracking. 
17852692	Relationships between sprinting, agility, and jump ability in female athletes. 	The aim of this study was to assess the relationships between various field tests in female athletes. Altogether, 83 high school soccer, 51 college soccer, and 79 college lacrosse athletes completed tests for linear sprinting, countermovement jump, and agility in a single session. Linear sprints (9.1, 18.3, 27.4, and 36.6 m) and agility tests (Illinois and pro-agility) were evaluated using infrared timing gates, while countermovement jump height was assessed using an electronic timing mat. Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficients (r) were used to determine the strength and directionality of the relationship between tests and coefficients of determination (r2) were used to examine the amount of explained variance between tests. All of the performance scores were statistically correlated with each other; however, the coefficients of determination were low, moderate, and high depending on the test pairing. Linear sprint split times were strongly correlated with each other (r= 0.775 to 0.991). The relationship between countermovement jump height and linear sprinting was stronger with the longer distances (27.4 and 36.6 m) than with the shorter distances (9.1 and 18.3 m), and showed a stronger relationship within the college athletes (r= -0.658 to -0.788) than high school soccer players (r= -0.491 to -0.580). The Illinois and pro-agility tests were correlated (r &gt; or = 0.600) with each other as well as with linear sprint times. The results of this study indicate that linear sprinting, agility, and vertical jumping are independent locomotor skills and suggest a variety of tests ought to be included in an assessment protocol for high school and college female athletes. 
16849042	Recent crosse designs increase ball velocity: implications for injury in women's lacrosse. 	The aim of this preliminary investigation was to describe the kinematics of ball release from 24 different lacrosse stick models during the performance of an overhand pass. Multiple trials (N=120) of an overhand lacrosse pass, performed by an elite female lacrosse athlete, were captured in the sagittal plane using two-dimensional videography and analysed using motion analysis software. On average, there was a tendency for balls to release earlier from wood crosses (180.8+/-16.0 degrees ) than from synthetic crosses (183.6+/-6.0 degrees ) (p&gt;0.15) and earlier from non-planar linear (179.7+/-6.7 degrees ) and non-planar curvilinear (182.5+/-9.5 degrees ) crosse heads than from traditional, planar-headed sticks (185.6+/-11.7 degrees ). Peak angular velocities of the stick shaft were lower for the wood as compared to the synthetic crosses (p&lt;0.001) with mean values of 15.4+/-0.6rads(-1) and 16.6+/-0.7rads(-1), respectively. Similarly, the resultant velocity of the ball at release was significantly lower (p&lt;0.001) for the wood crosses (13.9+/-0.8ms(-1)) as compared to the synthetic crosses (14.8+/-0.6ms(-1)). These results indicate that changes in the material composition and design of lacrosse sticks are changing the timing and rate at which balls release from the crosse pocket. Strict rule enforcement, good coaching, the mandatory use of protective equipment and continuous monitoring of changes in stick technology will be required if the frequency and severity of ocular, head and facial injuries are to be controlled. 
16368611	Effects of swing-weight on swing speed and racket power. 	Measurements are presented of the speed at which six different rods could be swung by four male students. Three of the rods had the same mass but their swing-weight (i.e. moment of inertia) differed by large factors. The other three rods had the same swing-weight but different masses. Our primary objective was to quantify the effects of mass and swing-weight on swing speed. The result has a direct bearing on whether baseball, tennis, cricket and golf participants should choose a heavy or light implement to impart maximum speed to a ball. When swinging with maximum effort, swing speed (V) was found to decrease as swing-weight (Io) increased, according to the relation V = C/Ion, where C is a different constant for each participant and n = 0.27 when Io &gt; 0.03 kg x m2. Remarkably similar results were obtained previously with softball bats (where n = 0.25) and golf clubs (where n = 0.26). Swing speed remained approximately constant as swing mass increased (when keeping swing-weight fixed). The implications for racket power are discussed. 
23158230	Expert versus proxy rating of verbal communicative ability of people with aphasia after stroke. 	In randomized clinical trials of aphasia treatment, a functional outcome measure like the Amsterdam-Nijmegen Everyday Language Test (ANELT), administered by speech-language therapists, is often used. However, the agreement between this expert rating and the judgment of the proxy about the quality of the daily life communication of the person with aphasia is largely unknown. We examined the association between ANELT scores by speech-language therapists and proxy judgments on the Partner Communication Questionnaire both at 3 and 6 months in 39 people with aphasia after stroke. We also determined which factors affected the level of agreement between expert and proxy judgment of the communicative ability at 6 months in 53 people with aphasia. We found moderate agreement (at 3 months r = .662; p = &lt; .0001 and at 6 months r = .565; p = .0001), with proxies rating slightly higher than experts. Less severe aphasia, measured with the Aphasia Severity Rating Scale, was associated with better agreement. In conclusion, although proxies were slightly more positive than experts, we found moderate agreement between expert and proxy rating of verbal communicative ability of people with aphasia after stroke, especially in milder cases. 
22823962	Does instruction in semantic clustering and switching enhance verbal fluency in children? 	This study investigated (1) test-retest reliabilities of Verbal Fluency (VF) outcome measures (i.e., word productivity, clustering, and switching) and (2) the effects of a brief training on semantic clustering to improve performance on a VF task. A total of 81 children enrolled in grades 3-6 completed a traditional VF task twice. In between task administrations half of the children were given instruction on using semantic clustering and switching to improve their VF, while the other half served as a control group. Test-retest reliability coefficients of the control group (N = 40) were substantial for &quot;word productivity over 60 seconds&quot; (riccs varied between 0.45 and 0.64) but only moderate for &quot;clustering&quot; (0.31) and &quot;switching&quot; (0.31). Next only the older children improved on VF after instruction on semantic clustering; the younger children appeared to understand the instruction but had to use up a great deal of cognitive load trying to implement this new strategy. This paper describes (1) the impact of strategy instruction on performance and (2) the need to analyze, at a process level, multi-factorial tasks, so as to gain a better understanding of their functional components. 
21678182	Emotional inhibition: a discourse analysis of disclosure. 	Evidence generated within the emotional disclosure paradigm (EDP) suggests that talking or writing about emotional experiences produces health benefits, but recent meta-analyses have questioned its efficacy. Studies within the EDP typically rely upon a unidimensional and relatively unsophisticated notion of emotional inhibition, and tend to use quantitative forms of content analysis to identify associations between percentages of word types and positive or negative health outcomes. In this article, we use a case study to show how a qualitative discourse analysis has the potential to identify more of the complexity linking the disclosure practices and styles that may be associated with emotional inhibition. This may illuminate the apparent lack of evidence for efficacy of the EDP by enabling more comprehensive theorisations of the variations within it. 
22616276	Language ability in the intermediate-scoring group of hearing-impaired children. 	Language development is a key issue in hearing-impaired children. However, interpersonal differences complicate our understanding of the situation. The bimodal or trimodal distribution of language scores in our other reports in this publication imply the presence of fundamental differences among these groups. The characteristic aspects of each group were profiled according to language data. We divided 268 children with prelingual severe to profound hearing impairment into 3 groups according to their trimodal distribution observed on histogram-based analysis of their responses to the Test of Question-Answer Interaction Development. Test results in several language domains, including productive and comprehensive vocabulary, productive and comprehensive syntax, and academic achievement, were profiled and compared among these 3 groups. Significant differences were observed in the results of the Word Fluency Test, the Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised, and the Syntax Test of Aphasia among the 3 groups. No significant difference was observed between groups who were lower-scoring and intermediate-scoring on the academic achievement tests referred to as Criterion Referenced Test-II and the Standardized Comprehension Test for Abstract Words. Only the higher-scoring group showed excellent results. The demographic factors were not significantly different among the 3 groups. Relatively poor academic achievement despite fair language production was the dominant feature of the intermediate-scoring group. This profile might correlate with academic failure in school. 
21305386	Identifying the processes underpinning anticipation and decision-making in a dynamic time-constrained task. 	A novel, representative task was used to examine skill-based differences in the perceptual and cognitive processes underlying performance on a dynamic, externally paced task. Skilled and less skilled soccer players were required to move and interact with life-size, action sequences involving 11 versus 11 soccer situations filmed from the perspective of a central defender in soccer. The ability of participants to anticipate the intentions of their opponents and to make decisions about how they should respond was measured across two separate experiments. In Experiment 1, visual search behaviors were examined using an eye-movement registration system. In Experiment 2, retrospective verbal reports of thinking were gathered from a new sample of skilled and less skilled participants. Skilled participants were more accurate than less skilled participants at anticipating the intentions of opponents and in deciding on an appropriate course of action. The skilled players employed a search strategy involving more fixations of shorter duration in a different sequential order and toward more disparate and informative locations in the display when compared with the less skilled counterparts. The skilled players generated a greater number of verbal report statements with a higher proportion of evaluation, prediction, and planning statements than the less skilled players, suggesting they employed more complex domain-specific memory representations to solve the task. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications are discussed. 
19967599	Generalization of the effects of phonological training for anomia using structural equation modelling: a multiple single-case study. 	Structural Equation Modelling analysis of three longitudinal er-fMRI sessions was used to test the impact of phonological training and of the generalization process on the pattern of brain connectivity during overt picture naming in two chronic anomic patients. Phonological training yielded a positive effect on the trained material. Six months after the training, a generalization of the positive impact on the untrained items was also observed. Connectivity analysis showed that training and generalization effects shared paralleled cortical patterns of functional integration. These findings may represent the neurophysiological correlate of the training-induced cognitive strategies for the compensation of anomia. 
19581200	Using theory to develop an exercise intervention for patients post stroke. 	Stroke remains a leading cause of disability for older adults. While is it well established in the literature that exercise programs can have significant benefit, many stroke survivors do not receive specific recommendations for exercise or lack the motivation to continue exercising following discharge from rehabilitation. This article describes an exercise intervention developed for subacute stroke survivors that utilizes the self-efficacy theory framework. The rationale for selection of this theoretical framework and specific examples of interventions linked to components of the model are provided. The article describes the motivational/educational program and the sequential follow-up designed to prepare stroke survivors to increase exercise behavior. Theoretical frameworks are useful tools for guiding and organizing research investigations from literature review through development and implementation of the intervention to interpretation of findings. 
23897024	On the relationship between discrete and repetitive lifting performance in military tasks. 	Military manual handling requirements range from discrete lifts to continuous and repetitive lifting tasks. For the military to introduce a discrete lifting assessment, the assessment must be predictive of the various submaximum lifting tasks personnel are required to perform. This study investigated the relationship between discrete and repetitive military lifting to assess the validity of implementing a discrete lifting test. Twenty-one soldiers from the Australian Army completed a whole-body box-lifting assessment as a one repetition maximum (1RM) and a series of submaximal lifting repetitions (% 1RM). Performance was measured between the number of lifting repetitions that could be performed at different intensities between 58 and 95% 1RM. A strong curvilinear relationship existed across the entire submaximal lifting range (r = 0.72, p ≤ 0.05). The model developed demonstrated a low predictive error (standard error of the estimate = 7.2% 1RM) with no differences detected in the relationship when comparing individuals of high and low strength. Findings support the use of a discrete functional lifting assessment in providing coverage of a broad range of military lifting tasks. Parallels can be drawn between the trend reported in the current study and weight-training exercises reported in the literature. 
21533701	Effect of weight-related labels on corticospinal excitability during observation of grasping: a TMS study. 	Recent studies of corticospinal excitability during observation of grasping and lifting of objects of different weight have highlighted the role of agent's kinematics in modulating observer's motor excitability. Here, we investigate whether explicit weight-related information, provided by written labels on the objects, modulate the excitability of the observer's motor system and how this modulation is affected when there is a conflict between label and object's weight. We measured TMS-evoked motor potentials (MEPs) from right hand intrinsic muscles, while subjects were observing an actor lifting objects of different weights, in some trials labeled (heavy/light) in congruent or incongruent way. Results confirmed a weight-related modulation of MEPs based on kinematic cues. Interestingly, any conflict between the labels and the actual weight (i.e., explicit versus implicit information), although never consciously noticed by the observer, deeply affected the mirroring of others' actions. Our findings stress the automatic involvement of the mirror-neuron system. 
20865606	How to lift a box that is too large to fit between the knees. 	Many studies compared lifting techniques such as stoop and squat lifting. Results thus far show that when lifting a wide load, high back loads result, irrespective of the lifting technique applied. This study compared four lifting techniques in 11 male subjects lifting wide loads. One of these techniques, denoted as the weight lifters' technique (WLT), is characterised by a wide foot placement, moderate knee flexion and a straight but not upright trunk. Net moments were calculated with a 3-D linked segment model and spinal forces with an electromyographic-driven trunk model. When lifting the wide box at handles that allow a high grip position, the WLT resulted in over 20% lower compression forces than the free, squat and stoop lifting technique, mainly due to a smaller horizontal distance between the l5S1 joint and the load. When lifting the wide box at the bottom, none of the lifting techniques was clearly superior to the others. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: Lifting low-lying and large objects results in high back loads and may therefore result in a high risk of developing low back pain. This study compares the utility of a WLT, in terms of back load and lumbar flexion, to more familiar techniques in these high-risk lifting tasks. 
17934755	Peak lifting velocities of men and women for the reduced inertia squat exercise using force control. 	The purpose of the research was to determine peak velocities for the reduced inertia squat exercise at various resistance levels based on an isometric strength assessment for both men and women. On a Smith machine modified for pneumatic resistance, 12 males and 12 females previously trained college-age participants performed a maximal isometric strength assessment with knee angles of 90 degrees , 110 degrees , 130 degrees , 150 degrees and 170 degrees (180 degrees = full extension) followed by dynamic maximal effort squats with resistance maintained at 40, 50, 60, 70, and 80% of their lowest maximum isometric strength. No interaction existed between the men and women during isometric strength tests with the men stronger in every joint position (P &lt; 0.05). The lowest isometric strength occurred at 90 degrees without variation. There was an interaction between men and women for peak lifting velocity during the dynamic lifts (P = 0.021) with the men producing higher velocities at all levels of resistance (P &lt; 0.05). The difference in peak velocity between the sexes was greatest at the lowest resistance level and that difference was less significant at the higher resistance levels. The relationship between resistance force and peak lifting velocity is applicable to increasing the efficiency of the squat by maximizing force output per repetition by varying the resistance as the lifter approaches peak velocity similar to isokinetics with preloading and active instead of reactive resistance. 
23787403	Surf lifeguard rescues. 	This study assessed the utility of lifeguard rescue data for providing information on person and situation factors to inform surf bather drowning prevention research. The dataset comprised 872 beach-days (daily lifeguard reports) obtained from 26 beaches over a 95-day period in Victoria, Australia. The rescue rate was 128 per 100,000 in-water bathers. One or more rescues were required on 125 beach-days (14%). Rescue on a beach-day was more likely for offshore wind conditions, relatively high daily air temperatures, and high bather numbers (P &lt; .05). Compared to female bathers, males were more frequently rescued (65%) and more likely (P &lt; .05) to be from a younger age group (30 years or less), although being older was associated with a relatively poorer condition on rescue. Although rescues are proportional to water exposure, frequencies are also influenced by situation and person factors. Bathers at relatively high risk of rescue are hypothesized to be overrepresented in amenable sea and weather conditions, and poor patient condition on rescue may be associated with exposure to a preexisting health condition. 
23498702	The influence of age on aerobic capacity and health indicators of three rescue groups. 	The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between age, aerobic capacity (V(O2max)) and other health indicators among 3 rescue groups. The type of training and the subjective perception of physical fitness obtained via the Assessment Questionnaire of Physical Fitness were also analysed. To obtain V(O2max), 37 firefighters, 22 lifeguards and 59 mine rescue workers had a treadmill test. Their body mass index and body fat percentage were also calculated. The results show a significant decline in V(O2max) of the older participants, which affects the effectiveness of rescue work. Furthermore, the training of all groups was inconsistent and based on individual needs. Variable training and the decline in V(O2max) with age affected the effectiveness of the rescue tasks of each group. 
21827292	A study on multiple drowning syndromes. 	Non-intentional drowning incidents remain a leading cause of mortality in Turkey as well as all over the world. A following related secondary syndrome is composed of those who drown during altruistic attempts to rescue a drowning person. Such 'rescuers' who attempt to rescue a drowning person, may themselves drown, resulting in a tragic multiple death. This study covers the year 2009, and necessary data was found by using internet search engines to identify cases in which a potential rescue attempt resulted with the rescuer's fatal drowning. Thirty-one 'rescuers' and 20 primary drowning victims (PDV) drowned in 28 incidents in which 80% of drowned primary victims (DPV) were children, and 48.4% of the 'rescuers' were children. In 48.4% of the 'rescuers' succeeded in rescuing the PDV's life. Out of them, 38.7% of the 'rescuers' and PDVs were friends/colleagues. The aim of this study is to define and examine multiple drowning syndromes (MDSs) and to suggest preventative measures. An increased awareness of such risks as promotion of swimming and rescue skills could help reducing the MDSs. 
21500049	Analysis of rescue and drowning history from a lifeguarded waterpark environment. 	The objective of this paper is to analyse rescue history from a lifeguarded waterpark environment using four characteristics: gender, age, water depth and type of aquatic attraction together with the actions taken by the guard to minimise the time needed to restore respiration in the case of loss of spontaneous respiration (LSR). Analysis of 63,800,000 guests with 56,000 rescues and 32 LSR rescues shows that children and shallow water both had relatively high levels of rescues [62.6% for children aged 1-12 years and 42% for water depth less than 1.52 m (5 ft)] and LSR rescues [53.2% for children aged 1-12 years and 65.6% for water depth less than 1.52 m (5 ft.)] with 87.5% of the LSR rescues resuming spontaneous respiration and 75% having a poolside neurological rating of Alert. Recommendations are made to train lifeguards in effective scanning and early victim recognition and rescue together with the use of in-water intervention in rescue protocols. 
20737339	Physiological response of beach lifeguards in a rescue simulation with surf. 	The objective of this study was to examine the physiological response of 14 lifeguards in a swimming pool simulation with 1.7 m waves and to study the efficiency of the torpedo buoy. The rescue time was determined with and without material, as were lactate levels, heart rate and VO(2max). The results obtained showed a VO(2 max) rate of 3.4 +/- 0.8 l/min without equipment and 3.3 +/- 0.8 l/min with equipment. Moreover, the time taken to swim towards the victim without equipment decreased by 7.7 s, while towing time was reduced by 10.8 s if said equipment was used. These results show that aquatic rescue makes considerable physiological demands on the swimmer and they also provide important data on the type of training and aptitude levels required by individuals wishing to join these rescue groups. The equipment currently used has a negative affect on the swim. STATEMENT OF RELEVANCE: The study shows that beach rescues make very high physiological demands on rescuers, thus underlining the need to perform entry tests for these highly demanding rescue teams. The auxiliary equipment is a help in the return time of rescue. However, it causes delays in the approach to the victim. 
20634612	Trial of an injury reporting system for surf lifesavers in Australia. 	To pilot an injury reporting form designed for use in Australian surf lifesaving; the need for such a form is to meet legislative requirements and as an initial step in developing an injury prevention program for volunteer surf lifesavers [4]. Competitors at the National Surf Life Saving Championships (NSLSC) held at Kurrawa Beach, Queensland, in 1998/1999 who reported to the medical tent over the course of the five-day event. Twenty-five volunteers of varying experience staffed the medical tent and included one paramedic coordinator, two doctors, three nurses, three physiotherapists and 16 first-aid officers. An injury reporting form was designed using the Australian Sports Injury Data Dictionary [1] and pilot tested at the NSLSC in 1998/1999. The layout and format were based on similar forms used in other sports (eg skiing) with a number of the items altered to be more specific to surf lifesaving competition events. Four strategies were used to assess if the form provided interpretable data: number of forms returned; completeness of data recorded in each section; detailed analysis of difficulties in coding and entering data; detailed feedback from the medical tent personnel about the usability of the form. A total of 433 completed forms were returned and from these both descriptive and injury incidence data were obtained. Medical tent personnel reported the form to be generally usable, though they suggested some changes to it. The injury reporting form was found to be an effective tool to describe injuries and calculate injury incidence. Following minor revisions, a modified form was designed to improve the quality and accuracy of the information obtained; this form has been used nationally since 2001. 
23740470	Sociosexuality in mainland China. 	The construct of sociosexuality or sociosexual orientation describes the extent to which people will have casual, uncommitted sexual relationships. The Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI) has been used to measure sociosexuality in many countries, but not in China. The aims of this study were to explore sociosexuality in a cross-section of the Chinese adult population, to quantify sex differences in sociosexuality, and to examine the sociodemographic correlates and the impact of the high sex ratio. The study consisted of a cross-sectional survey using a self-completion questionnaire. It was administered to adults of reproductive age in three provinces: Zhejiang, Guizhou, and Yunnan. While questionnaires were received from 7,424 participants, total SOI scores could be computed only for the 4,645 (63 %) who completed all seven items of the SOI. The mean score for men and women combined was 21.0, very low compared with most other countries, indicating restricted sociosexuality. The men (n = 2,048) had a mean of 27, showing more restricted sociosexuality than in all other countries where the SOI has been used. Wealth was the strongest independent correlate of high (unrestricted) sociosexuality in men and women. The effect size for the difference between the sexes was moderate (Cohen's d = .64), and comparable to more developed countries, perhaps reflecting relative gender equality in contemporary China. Despite the very high sex ratio, which is theorized to lead to restricted sexuality, its influence was difficult to determine, since differences in sociosexuality between high and low sex ratio areas within this population were inconsistent. 
24161637	Stressors relating to patient psychological health following stoma surgery: an integrated literature review. 	To summarize empirical evidence relating to stressors that may affect patients' psychosocial health following colostomy or ileostomy surgery during hospitalization and after discharge. An extensive search was performed on the CINAHL®, Cochrane Library, PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, Science Direct, and Web of Science electronic databases. Eight articles were included with three qualitative and five quantitative research designs. Most studies were conducted in Western nations with one other in Taiwan. Following colostomy or ileostomy surgery, common stressors reported by patients during hospitalization included stoma formation, diagnosis of cancer, and preparation for self-care. After discharge, stressors that patients experienced encompassed adapting to body changes, altered sexuality, and impact on social life and activities. This review suggests that patients with stomas experience various stressors during hospitalization and after discharge. Additional research is needed for better understanding of patient postoperative experiences to facilitate the provision of appropriate nursing interventions to the stressors. To help patients deal with stressors following stoma surgery, nurses may provide pre- and postoperative education regarding the treatment and recovery process and encourage patient self-care. Following discharge, nurses may provide long-term ongoing counseling and support, build social networks among patients with stomas, and implement home visit programs. Stoma surgery negatively affects patients' physical, psychological, social, and sexual health. Postoperative education programs in clinical settings mostly focus on physical health and underemphasize psychological issues. More pre- and postoperative education programs are needed to help patients cope with stoma stressors. 
23379861	Women with intellectual disabilities talk about their perceptions of sex. 	Sexuality is learned through sexual socialisation that women with intellectual disabilities (IDs) understand and express. Rules of sexual engagement for these women can include barriers for their socialisation, intimate partner selection, and sexual expression. These rules can become more limiting when coupled with rules of femininity that encourage sexual restraint for women. This ethnography explored how women with IDs perceived their sexuality and how sexuality functioned in their lives. Sources of data included 48 multiple and in-depth interviews and observations with 14 women. This article specifically describes how the women constructed 'sex' and how they described experiencing sex as two of their multiple expressions of sexuality in this study. Most of the women had very limited and exclusively heterosexual sexual experiences, and the majority of women reported practicing abstinence. Criteria they identified for sex included having protected sex, marital and monogamous sex for the purpose of procreation or parenting, and having feelings for a sexual partner. Most held negative perceptions of sex they attributed to fear of the first act, fear of experiencing negative consequences, physiological concerns about the act, and perceived or actual lack of pleasure.   Although the women displayed some sense of self-determinism in their sexual behaviour, negative perceptions of sex resulted in self-imposed abstinence predicated by fear of intercourse, intimacy, or outcome. Central to their sexuality education then is increasing self-efficacy perceptions and performance of safer sex practices to prevent negative sexual consequence. Sexuality education from a positive perspective that enhances their sexual self-determinism and encourages sexual health is recommended. 
23078337	Heterosexual and nonheterosexual young university students' involvement in traditional and cyber forms of bullying. 	Research has consistently found that school students who do not identify as self-declared completely heterosexual are at increased risk of victimization by bullying from peers. This study examined heterosexual and nonheterosexual university students' involvement in both traditional and cyber forms of bullying, as either bullies or victims. Five hundred twenty-eight first-year university students (M=19.52 years old) were surveyed about their sexual orientation and their bullying experiences over the previous 12 months. The results showed that nonheterosexual young people reported higher levels of involvement in traditional bullying, both as victims and perpetrators, in comparison to heterosexual students. In contrast, cyberbullying trends were generally found to be similar for heterosexual and nonheterosexual young people. Gender differences were also found. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of intervention and prevention of the victimization of nonheterosexual university students. 
22961699	Children, technology, problems, and preferences. 	Increasingly, young people are using various forms of technology in the service of communicating with others, and many have noted the possibility of various dire consequences of this phenomenon, including sexting, cyberbullying, online harassment, and Internet addiction. In our own survey of over 300 adolescents, we found that texting and face-to-face communication were considered the most &quot;convenient&quot; forms of communication, while face-to-face communication and phone conversations were perceived as most likely to lead to &quot;feeling understood&quot; and &quot;feeling intimate.&quot; Face-to-face communication and texting were perceived as most likely to result in feeling regret for sharing too much information. By choosing to communicate through technology, many young people, including our patients, can continue to be social and, at the same time, keep a somewhat safer emotional distance. 
23006118	The adaptive functions of sexual plasticity: the suppression and surreptitious expression of human sociosexuality. 	Tendencies toward non-monogamy and bisexual expression may constitute primate-wide predispositions that have been conserved in humans. This observation is supported by studies of sexual development and behavior in our primate relatives and sexually permissive premodern tribal cultures including hunter-gatherers. Nevertheless, even in sexually permissive societies, there may be considerable sexual possessiveness and jealousy as well as attempts at parental control of children's marital choices. This is associated with punitive revenge against unfaithful spouses and mate poaching rivals and parent/offspring conflict around marital choices. There is no paradise lost despite the greater sexual freedom. Humans may be adaptively designed to suppress each other's sexuality due to sexual jealousy and parental desires to control children's sexuality but also to surreptitiously evade those restrictions, though there is considerable cross-cultural variability in the level of sexual restrictiveness. 
22545746	How sex puts you in gendered shoes: sexuality-priming leads to gender-based self-perception and behavior. 	Scripts for sexual behavior dictate that women be submissive and tender and that men be assertive and dominant, reflecting the stereotypical view of women as communal and of men as agentic. Six experiments tested the hypothesis that exposure to sexuality cues causes men's and women's momentary self-perceptions and concomitant behavior to become more gender-typical. Using both pictorial and verbal prime materials that were presented both supraliminally and subliminally, we found that sex-priming strengthened gender-based self-perceptions (i.e., faster self-categorization as a woman or man; Study 1), heightened identification with one's own gender (Study 2), increased gender self-stereotyping (Study 3), and elicited greater submissiveness in women's behavior and greater assertiveness in men's behavior (Studies 4 and 5). These findings indicate that sex-priming causes self-perception and social behavior to become &quot;attuned&quot; to gender stereotypes. Study 6 demonstrated that these sex-priming effects can be eliminated by modern gender role primes. The potentially detrimental effects of sex-priming and possible countermeasures are discussed. 
23240841	Problematizing contemporary men/masculinities theorizing: the contribution of Raewyn Connell and conceptual-terminological tensions today. 	Critical studies of men and masculinities (CSMM) have burgeoned in recent times. For this reason, it seems to me a useful moment to reflect on what I see as some tensions, even contradictions, in these studies. In keeping with Chantal Mouffe's espousal of the advantages of agonism rather than consensus, I suggest that heterogeneous theoretical directions in scholarship attending to men/masculinities are by no means to be discouraged. However, the various theoretical tools employed in this scholarship may be incommensurable and thus produce a certain inconsistency or even incoherence. In this context, I suggest that in order to more clearly articulate current theoretical/terminological debates it is important to undertake analysis of key conceptual distinctions and widely used terms, such as notions of structure and patriarchy, gender identities/masculinities/men, hegemony and hegemonic masculinity, and relations between gender and sexuality, amongst others. The aim here is not to produce or require homogeneity in studies of men/masculinities but rather to provide an opportunity to consider the epistemological frameworks which inform the political intentions and goals of this sphere of scholarship. 
22925051	Racialized masculinities and the new homonormativity in LOGO's Noah's Arc. 	Examining the relationship between neoliberalism, race, and gender performance, this article provides an analysis of Noah's Arc, a popular LOGO television series in the United States. More specifically, it focuses on the intricate relationship between specific forms of racialized masculinities and the new homonormativity in this show. This article is divided into six sections. First, an overview of the LOGO series is provided. Next, gay, lesbian, and queer visibility in mainstream U.S. popular culture and the new homonormativity are examined. Third, the relationship between race and masculinity is discussed. Next, a close reading and analysis of the show is provided. Fifth, an exploration of how representations of Noah's Arc queers and &quot;quares&quot; Black masculinity in U.S. culture is undertaken. Finally, some concluding thoughts on representations of racialized masculinities and homonormativity in this popular television series are offered. 
22974432	Social and ethical determinants of sexuality: 4. Sexuality and families. 	To investigate the evolving relationship between sexuality and family formation. New family units exist today whose impact on society needs to be explored. For each main area researched (anthropology, biology, sociology, sexology, ethics) we identified articles dealing with family formation, sexuality and reproduction using PubMed, ScienceDirect, Google, religious websites and texts. The three monotheistic religions and the cultures derived from these have considered sexuality as focused on reproduction. Presently, sexuality has acquired new dimensions, independent from reproduction, as contraception and IVF have separated procreation and sexuality. Thus, the very concept of family has been expanded and so-called 'unusual families' have proved not to be a danger per se for children born and raised within them. Human sexuality has moved away from having a purely reproductive function, but remains a powerful bond keeping families together, irrespective of the gender identity and the biological links of their members. Even among traditional societies, different types of families exist and the situation has become more complex as technical developments have made parenthood possible for people who in the past were excluded from it. 
22145182	Salesclerks, sexual danger, and national identity in Egypt, 1920s-1950s. 	This article investigates change and continuity in anxieties about shopping during the first half of the twentieth century in Egypt to argue that department stores and their salesclerks became critical sites for enacting and challenging new notions of sexuality and citizenship. Retail innovations, such as commission pay, display, free entry, and large commercial staffs, became understood as sexual and moral problems because department stores blurred the boundaries between classes and were public spaces where unrelated men and women could mix. These concerns about sexuality in the 1920s were recycled and amplified in the late 1940s and early 1950s when salesclerks again came under scrutiny during debates over citizenship and ethnicity. I argue that the particular way this latter debate was barnacled by the concerns of the 1920s helped to delineate the broader society's reaction to the challenges of defining Egyptian nationality. 
24279615	Negotiating respectability: migrant women workers' perceptions of relationships and sexuality in free trade zones in Sri Lanka. 	Migration has implications for women's sexual and reproductive health and rights. Our purpose with this study was to explore unmarried migrant women's perceptions of relationships and sexuality in the context of Sri Lankan Free Trade Zones. Sixteen semi-structured qualitative interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. We found that the women's perceptions were influenced by gendered hegemonic notions of respectability and virginity. Complex gender relations both worked in favor of and against women's sexual and reproductive health and rights. Programs for improvement of migrant women's health should be informed by contextualized analysis of gender relations with its various dimensions and levels. 
22908853	Young African women must have empowering and receptive social environments for HIV prevention. 	This paper describes a study which explored the lives of young Ugandan women through their voices, and related the findings to HIV prevention paradigms. The research was conducted in the context of the continuing vulnerability of young Ugandan women to HIV; reflected in disproportionately high prevalence compared to young men. The participants of the study were 15 young women aged 15-19 years, from Busoga Region in Eastern Uganda. Given the focus on young women's voices within norms of gender inequality, a narrative methodology was used as a safe space for participants to speak about their lives, expanding on research experiences with young people. The methods used included drawing; written stories and drama; aspirational writing and diary keeping. Forty-eight narratives, in image and word form, represented everyday experiences in young women's lives, as well as difficult experiences of inequality and resistance. Young women portrayed considerable social barriers to empowerment, and a challenging environment of poverty and educational limitations. Young women's representations were analysed using a gender empowerment and positive sexuality framework. The resulting analysis was then critically applied to HIV prevention paradigms. Evidence from the study showed that prevailing HIV prevention paradigms reinforce the difficulties faced by young women in their sexual lives. This research adds to calls for alternative and wider approaches to HIV prevention, underpinned by gender empowerment. Alternative approaches need to build young African women's voices in the spaces of homes, schools and communities. It is vital, however, that such efforts are embedded in more radical change leading to social environments receptive to the needs of young women. 
23376759	Men's views on gender and sexuality in a Bangladesh village. 	The violation of women's sexual rights is a crucial public health problem, which is often related to the way people view gender and sexuality in a society. This study explores married men's typical views on gender, family, and sexuality in a rural Bangladesh context. Using a qualitative methodological approach, 10 married men were purposively included from a northwest village. The study revealed that married men's views about gender and sexuality are heavily influenced by patriarchal norms. Men think that a wife is the property of her husband and that the wife should obey her husband by giving sex to her husband whenever he wants. Men also think that if women fail to obey their husbands or please them sexually, men are allowed to beat their wives. Interviews explored that the violation of women's sexual rights might be closely related to men's gendered views about women's rights. 
22900575	(W)righting women: constructions of gender, sexuality and race in the psychiatric chart. 	This paper examines the interpretative nature of psychiatry in relation to gender, sexuality and race within the particular time and place of one urban, Canadian, clinical psychiatric setting. We bring women's psychiatric inpatient charts and a critical feminist perspective into dialogue in an effort to focus on gender, sexuality and race in psychiatric narratives on women's madness. The research used a qualitative, retrospective research design to examine the psychiatric narrative as a technique of power as it operates on women. This paper focuses on the overarching theme of 'medicalisation', identified from the analysis of women's psychiatric inpatient charts, including two subthemes: (1) language and composition and (2) decontextualisation. Our analysis suggests that psychiatric chart documentation practices that reproduce gendered, sexualised, and racialised biases and assumptions and decontextualise the social and structural context of women's experiences of madness serve to create the paradox of women's visibility/erasure in psychiatric charts. The paper concludes with an exploration of the significance of women's authorship legitimacy in psychiatric chart documentation. 
18472424	Collective motion and cannibalism in locust migratory bands. 	Plagues of mass migrating insects such as locusts are estimated to affect the livelihood of one in ten people on the planet [1]. Identification of generalities in the mechanisms underlying these mass movements will enhance our understanding of animal migration and collective behavior while potentially contributing to pest-management efforts. We provide evidence that coordinated mass migration in juvenile desert locusts (Schistocerca gregaria) is influenced strongly by cannibalistic interactions. Individuals in marching bands tend to bite others but risk being bitten themselves. Reduction of individuals' capacity to detect the approach of others from behind through abdominal denervation (1) decreases their probability to start moving, (2) dramatically reduces the mean proportion of moving individuals in groups, and (3) significantly increases cannibalism. Similarly, occlusion of the rear visual field inhibits individuals' propensity to march. Abdomen denervation did not influence the behavior of isolated locusts. When within groups, abdominal biting and the sight of others approaching from behind triggers movement, creating an autocatalytic feedback that results in directed mass migration. This &quot;forced march&quot; driven by cannibalistic interactions suggests that we need to reassess our view of both the selection pressure and mechanism that can result in the coordinated motion of such large insect groups. 
23913703	Male philopatry in spider monkeys revisited. 	Dispersal patterns are critical for understanding social systems as they influence social interactions and relationships. Spider monkeys (Ateles spp.) are typically described as being characterized by male philopatry and female dispersal, with these patterns reflected in stronger affiliative and cooperative relationships among males than among females. Recent findings, however, indicate that male-male relationships may not be as uniformly strong as previously thought, which suggests that male philopatry in spider monkeys may not be universal. Here, we report the first confirmed cases of male immigration and group takeover in spider monkeys. Data were collected on one community of Ateles geoffroyi in northwestern Costa Rica. Behavioral and demographic data were recorded during subgroup follows across 6.5 years, and fecal samples of community members were collected for genetic analysis of relatedness. We documented two separate cases of immigration involving multiple males, which resulted in take-over of the study community by extra-community males and the concomitant disappearance of the resident males. In the study community, males were no more closely related to one another, on average, than females were, contrary to what would be expected if males were the more philopatric sex. Comparison of corrected assignment indices for males and females also revealed no evidence of sex-biased dispersal. Our findings suggest that in spider monkeys male immigration may occur under certain demographic circumstances, contributing to a view of greater flexibility in their social system than previously appreciated. This discovery has implications for other species that are typically characterized by male philopatry. 
23990559	Social learning of migratory performance. 	Successful bird migration can depend on individual learning, social learning, and innate navigation programs. Using 8 years of data on migrating whooping cranes, we were able to partition genetic and socially learned aspects of migration. Specifically, we analyzed data from a reintroduced population wherein all birds were captive bred and artificially trained by ultralight aircraft on their first lifetime migration. For subsequent migrations, in which birds fly individually or in groups but without ultralight escort, we found evidence of long-term social learning, but no effect of genetic relatedness on migratory performance. Social learning from older birds reduced deviations from a straight-line path, with 7 years of experience yielding a 38% improvement in migratory accuracy. 
23464047	Temporal stability and change in the social call repertoire of migrating humpback whales. 	Quantifying the stability of a species vocal repertoire is fundamental for further investigations into repertoire function and geographic variation. Changes to the repertoire of sounds used in the song displays of male humpback whales have been well studied. In contrast, little is known about the stability of this species' non-song vocal calls. The stability of the social call repertoire of east Australian humpback whales was investigated from 1997, 2003-2004, and 2008. Out of 46 qualitatively defined call types, 19 were classified as &quot;song-unit calls&quot; that tended to change with the song, and 15 were &quot;inconsistent&quot; and only found in one or two years. Twelve call types were &quot;stable&quot; and present in all years and were commonly produced (64.2% of calls). Stable calls tended to vary in some of the measured call parameters but there was no clear trend between years. This result could indicate that minor changes to calls are not permanent, but reflect individual differences in call production or the graded nature of calls within different social environments. This research has clearly identified stable calls in the call repertoire of humpback whales and while their function is not well understood, their stability suggests an important role in social interactions. 
23079108	Staying put or leaving home: endocrine, neuroendocrine and behavioral consequences in male African striped mice. 	Social flexibility occurs when individuals of both sexes can change their social and reproductive tactics, which in turn can influence the social system of an entire population. However, little is known regarding the extent to which individuals of socially flexible species vary in their social behavior and in the underlying physiological mechanisms that support different social tactics. The present study in African striped mice modeled in captivity three male tactics described from the field: (a) philopatric males remaining in the family; (b) solitary roamers; or (c) group-living breeding males. Sixteen pairs and their offspring were kept in captivity, while one male offspring from the family remained as singly housed after he reached 21 days of age. Differences in behavior, morphology, hormone and neuropeptide levels were tested, and physiological measurements were correlated with behavioral measurements. In standardized arena experiments group-living males (philopatrics and breeders) were significantly more aggressive than singly housed males, in agreement with previous data suggesting that group-living, but not roaming males, are territorial. Philopatric males showed signs of reproductive suppression, small testes, lower testosterone and higher corticosterone levels than their singly housed brothers. Higher levels of arginine vasopressin (AVP) were measured in the PVN and BNST of singly housed males compared to group-living males. Based on these findings we hypothesize that roamers are physiologically primed, and capable, if the opportunity to mate arises, to release AVP, form social bonds and become territorial, thus quickly adopting the tactic as breeding male which would yield a higher reproductive success. 
21732399	Social factors influencing natal dispersal in male white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus). 	White-faced capuchin males disperse from their natal group at around 4.5 years of age, but there is much variation in dispersal timing: our youngest confirmed disperser was 19 months and the oldest 11 years old. In this study, we investigate possible factors influencing dispersal decisions in this species. Between 1983 and 2010, 64 males were born into three study groups in Santa Rosa National Park, Area de Conservación Guanacaste, and Costa Rica. As of August 2010, 21 died or were presumed dead (&lt;14 months), 13 remained natal residents, and 30 were presumed dispersers. We used backward logistic regression to identify proximate factors that predict the occurrence of male natal dispersal. The occurrence of a takeover (significant positive association) and group size (nonsignificant negative association) were included in the model. Male age, number of maternal brothers, and number of adult males were not significant predictors of natal dispersal. The resultant model correctly classified 97% of dispersed and 89% of resident natal males, for an overall success rate of 95%. The occurrence of a group takeover was the strongest predictor of male dispersal, with natal males being 18.7 times more likely to disperse in the context of a group takeover than during peaceful times. A linear regression model showed that the tenure length of a male's probable father influences the age of natal dispersal, explaining 15% of the observed variation in age. However, when our oldest disperser was removed (an outlier) this effect disappeared. Collectively, these results indicate that group instability, as evidenced by the occurrence of a takeover, shorter tenure length of a natal male's father, and smaller group size, triggers natal dispersal in this species while the converse leads to a delay. These data add to our growing evidence of the enormous impact that takeovers have on the behavioral ecology of this species. 
22086240	Traditional versus non-traditional nest-site choice: alternative decision strategies for nest-site selection. 	In order to understand habitat selection, it is important to consider the way individual animals assess the suitability of a future reproductive site. One way of investigating mechanisms (such as those involved in nest site selection) is to examine breeding success and habitat characteristics in terms of animals returning to a place where they have already reproduced and using the same location over successive years or searching for new alternatives. This approach seems especially suitable for testing recent hypotheses suggesting that nest site selection is an integrative process that includes the use of social information (e.g. past breeding success of conspecifics). Determining the factors that elicit conservative or innovative behaviour regarding nest-site selection could be important for improving our understanding of habitat selection decisions in animals. More than half of the nests of the long-distance migratory lesser grey shrike Lanius minor, are built in the same or neighbouring trees. We found no evidence that habitat characteristics influence nest-site tradition. On the contrary, social information in terms of the presence of conspecifics and past reproductive success in terms of complete nest failures due to nest predation (but not detailed information such as variation in fledgling number) influenced nest-site tradition. Hence, social information and past reproductive success may play a role in nest-site choice in this species. Our results further demonstrate that previous experience with a nest site does not appear to be beneficial. 
22256947	Wet season range fidelity in a tropical migratory ungulate. 	1. In migratory populations, the degree of fidelity and dispersal among seasonal ranges is an important population process with consequences for demography, management, sensitivity to habitat change and adaptation to local environmental conditions. 2. Characterizing patterns of range fidelity in ungulates, however, has remained challenging because of the difficulties of following large numbers of marked individuals across multiple migratory cycles and of identifying the appropriate scale of analysis. 3. We examined fidelity to wet season (i.e. breeding) ranges in a recently declining population of wildebeest Connochaetes taurinus Burchell in northern Tanzania across 3 years. We used computer-assisted photographic identification and capture-recapture to characterize return patterns to three wet season ranges that were ecologically discrete and topographically isolated from one another. 4. Among 2557 uniquely identified adult wildebeest, we observed 150 recaptures across consecutive wet seasons. Between the two migratory subpopulations, the probability of remaining faithful to wet season areas ranged between 0·82 and 1·00. Animals from a non-migratory segment of the population (near Lake Manyara National Park) were rarely observed in other wet season ranges, despite proximity to one of the migratory pathways. 5. We found no effect of sex on an individuals' probability of switching wet season ranges. However, the breeding status of females in year i had a strong influence on patterns of range selection in year i + 1, with surviving breeders over three times as likely to switch ranges as non-breeders. 6. Social-group associations between pairs of recaptured animals were random with respect to an individual's wet season range during the previous or forthcoming wet seasons, suggesting that an individual's herd identity during the dry season does not predict wet season range selection. 7. Examining fidelity and dispersal in terrestrial migrations improves our understanding of the constraints that migrants experience when they face rapid habitat changes or fluctuations in environmental conditions. 
21883580	Philopatry and within-colony movements in Columbian ground squirrels. 	Philopatry and dispersal result in selection of habitat locations that may differ in resources and social environment and thus should influence fitness components like survival and reproduction. We examined short-distance movements of young and adult females from natal or previous nesting sites within a colony of Columbian ground squirrels (Urocitellus columbianus) in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, Canada, over a 17-year period. Females of all ages were strongly philopatric, yet a few (10-15%) exhibited movements that took them to new home ranges. We tested three hypotheses to explain the pattern of female natal and breeding movements: (1) that movements of philopatric females promote proximity to close kin; (2) that range shifts favour close kin via bequeathal of territory and (3) that dispersers move to lower density areas where competition for resources is lower. Tests of these three hypotheses revealed that: (1) philopatry and movements of young and older philopatric females led to proximity to mothers and local presence of close kin; (2) breeding dispersal did not result in bequeathal of home range to daughters, but movements of philopatric females suggested that they shared space with close kin and (3) adult females moved to new ranges with lower local densities, though dispersing females also left ranges where local density was significantly lower than for philopatric females. Natal and breeding movements among years produced two opportunities for territorial females: close spatial proximity to close kin via short philopatric movements, and habitats with fewer competitors via longer dispersal movements. 
21883583	Causes and consequences of living in closed societies: lessons from a long-term socio-genetic study on Bechstein's bats. 	Understanding the ecological, behavioural and genetic factors influencing animal social systems is crucial to investigating the evolution of sociality. Despite the recent advances in population genetic methods and the analysis of social interactions, long-term studies exploring the causes and consequences of social systems in wild mammals are rare. Here, we provide a synthesis of 15 years of data on the Bechstein's bat (Myotis bechsteinii), a species that raises its young in closed societies of 10-45 females living together for their entire lives and where immigration is virtually absent. We discuss the potential causes and consequences of living in closed societies, based on the available data on Bechstein's bat and other species with similar social systems. Using a combination of observational and genetic data on the bats together with genetic data on an ecto-parasite, we suggest that closed societies in Bechstein's bats are likely caused by a combination of benefits from cooperation with familiar colony members and parasite pressure. Consequences of this peculiar social system include increased sensitivity to demographic fluctuations and limits to dispersal during colony foundation, which have broad implications for conservation. We also hope to illustrate by synthesizing the results of this long-term study the diversity of tools that can be applied to hypothesize about the factors influencing a species' social system. We are convinced that with the expansion of the number of social mammals for which comparably detailed socio-genetic long-term data are available, future comparative studies will provide deeper insights into the evolution of closed societies. 
22796412	Bioavailable 87Sr/86Sr in different environmental samples--effects of anthropogenic contamination and implications for isoscapes in past migration studies. 	(87)Sr/(86)Sr reference maps (isoscapes) are a key tool for investigating past human and animal migrations. However, there is little understanding of which biosphere samples are best proxies for local bioavailable Sr when dealing with movements of past populations. In this study, biological and geological samples (ground vegetation, tree leaves, rock leachates, water, soil extracts, as well as modern and archeological animal teeth and snail shells) were collected in the vicinity of two early medieval cemeteries (&quot;Thuringians&quot;, 5-6th century AD) in central Germany, in order to characterize (87)Sr/(86)Sr of the local biosphere. Animal tooth enamel is not appropriate in this specific context to provide a reliable (87)Sr/(86)Sr baseline for investigating past human migration. Archeological faunal teeth data (pig, sheep/goat, and cattle) indicates a different feeding area compared to that of the human population and modern deer teeth (87)Sr/(86)Sr suggest the influence of chemical fertilizers. Soil leachates do not yield consistent (87)Sr/(86)Sr, and (87)Sr/(86)Sr of snail shells are biased towards values for soil carbonates. In contrast, water and vegetation samples seem to provide the most accurate estimates of bioavailable (87)Sr/(86)Sr to generate Sr isoscapes in the study area. Long-term environmental archives of bioavailable (87)Sr/(86)Sr such as freshwater bivalve shells and tree cores were examined in order to track potential historic anthropogenic contamination of the water and the vegetation. The data obtained from the archeological bivalve shells show that the modern rivers yield (87)Sr/(86)Sr ratios which are similar to those of the past. However, the tree cores registered decreasing (87)Sr/(86)Sr values over time towards present day likely mirroring anthropogenic activities such as forest liming, coal mining and/or soil acidification. The comparison of (87)Sr/(86)Sr of the Thuringian skeletons excavated in the same area also shows that the vegetation samples are very likely anthropogenically influenced to some extent, affecting especially (87)Sr/(86)Sr of the shallow rooted plants. 
21601460	Strategies of stepping over obstacles: The effects of long-term exercise in older adults. 	Stepping over obstacles challenges stability and is a leading cause of falls in older adult populations. As walking and Tai Chi (TC) exercise have been suggested practices for older adults for fall prevention, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the obstacle-crossing strategies of long-term TC practitioners and exercise walkers. Thirty healthy older women (average age: 65.7 years) with either TC (n=15) experience (average experience: 8.2 years) or walking exercise (n=15; average experience: 8.8 years) participated in this study. We used three trial conditions: (1) normal walking, (2) crossing a 15cm (20% of leg length) obstacle, and (3) crossing a 23cm (30% of leg length) to assess obstacle-crossing strategy. Sagittal plane obstacle-crossing kinematic parameters and plantar pressures were used to evaluate the obstaclecrossing strategy. A MANOVA assessed differences between groups. Individuals with a TC background crossed the obstacle significantly faster with a significantly longer step relative to the exercise walkers. Plantar pressure profiles between the two groups also differed. Exercise walkers showed greater plantar pressure in the forefoot; TC practitioners demonstrated greater medial heel plantar pressure during obstacle-crossing. Our results suggest that obstacle-crossing strategies were affected by the type of longterm exercise. The strategies each group used had important attributes that affect stability during obstacle-crossing. Future studies are needed to understand how obstacle-crossing strategies are adopted and how exercise may influence the strategy used. 
21614943	Tai chi as an intervention to improve balance and reduce falls in older adults: A systematic and meta-analytical review. 	The evidence of tai chi for balance improvement and fall reduction in older adults was updated and reviewed. A systematic review was carried out by two independent reviewers among nine electronic databases to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that examined the effects of tai chi on balance improvement and fall reduction in older adults using such key words as tai chi, falls, balance, and randomized trial. The results based on 13 RCTs indicated that tai chi was effective in improving balance of older adults but may not necessarily be superior to other interventions. Results also showed that in the absence of other interventions, tai chi reduced falls in the nonfrail elderly. Tai chi is recommended as an alternative treatment for improving balance so as to reduce falls. Future research with improved research designs such as more consistent outcome measures on balance and fall reduction and longer postintervention follow-up should be conducted to unravel the efficacy of different types of tai chi. 
21299055	Falls and dizziness in the elderly. 	The complaint of dizziness is one of the most common reasons that older adults feel constrained to visit the doctor's office. Because of a growing number of older people in the industrial society the problem grows. Therapeutic process of elderly people with vertigo and dizziness needs more than vestibular diagnostics. In addition to sufficient anamnesis, presence of visual deficits, extrasensory changes and even psychological circumstances are necessary. Frequently the indication and the encouragement of vestibular rehabilitation have significant value. The initiation of fall prevention may also be essential. 
23072008	Judging sex. 	This Article explores the curious jurisprudence of sexual patterns and how it constructs female sexuality. In modern rape law, the &quot;unchaste character inference&quot; expressly prohibited by the rape shield endures. Though the boundaries that circumscribe appropriate sexual conduct have shifted over time, courts persist in making normative judgments about women's sexuality. Cloaked in the legitimizing rhetoric of sexual patterns, retrograde notions of deviancy are substituting for rational deliberation on the question of consent. As rape shield law enters its fourth decade, it continues to defy reason, both in application and in theory. The proposed evidentiary approach promises to improve judicial decision making in rape cases, while reorienting the law toward the female sexual subject and the contingency of her consent. 
22180924	Maternalism, race, class and citizenship: aspects of illegitimate motherhood in Nazi Germany. 	This article juxtaposes three types of illegitimate motherhood that came in the wake of the Second World War in Nazi Germany. The first found institutional support in the Lebensborn project, an elite effort to raise the flagging birth-rates, which at the same time turned a new page in the history of sexuality. The second came before the lower courts in the form of paternity and guardianship suits that had a long precedent, and the third was a social practice that the regime considered a ‘mass crime' among its female citizenry: namely, forbidden unions between German women and prisoners of war. Through these cases the article addresses issues such as morality, sexuality, paternity, citizenship and welfarism. The flesh-and-blood stories have been culled from the Lebensborn Dossiers and Special Court files, as well as cases from the lower courts. 
19352203	Outcome analysis of sports-related multiple facial fractures. 	In this paper, we report a retrospective study of 236 patients with facial bone fractures from various sports who were treated at the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Inha University Hospital, Incheon, South Korea, between February 1996 and April 2007. The medical records of these patients were reviewed and analyzed to determine the clinical characteristics and treatment of the sports-related facial bone fractures. The highest frequency of sports-related facial bone fractures was in the age group 11 to 20 years (40.3%); there was a significant male predominance in all age groups (13.75:1). The most common causes of the injury were soccer (38.1%), baseball (16.1%), basketball (12.7%), martial arts (6.4%), and skiing or snowboarding (11%). Fractures of the nasal bone were the most common in all sports; mandible fractures were common in soccer and martial arts, orbital bone fractures were common in baseball, basketball, and ice sports, and fractures of the zygoma were frequently seen in soccer and martial arts. The main causes of the sports injuries were direct body contact (50.8%), and the most commonly associated soft tissue injuries were found in the head and neck regions (92.3%). Nasal bone fractures were the most common (54.2%), and tripod fractures were the most common type of complex injuries (4.2%). The complication rate was 3.0%. Long-term epidemiological data regarding the natural history of sports-related facial bone fractures are important for the evaluation of existing preventative measures and for the development of new methods of injury prevention and treatment. 
15817185	Conditioned suppression and freezing as measures of aversive Pavlovian conditioning: effects of discrete amygdala lesions and overtraining. 	Freezing and suppression are measures of conditioned fear that correlate in unlesioned animals. Both the basolateral (BLA) and central (CeN) nuclei of the amygdala are required for conditioned freezing, though there can be recovery with overtraining. The neuroanatomical substrates of conditioned suppression are less clear, with evidence both for a specific requirement of the CeN and for disruption by BLA lesions. The present study investigated the impact of selective excitotoxic lesions of the BLA and CeN upon the acquisition and expression of conditioned fear, measured by freezing and both on-baseline and off-baseline conditioned suppression in the same rats. BLA and CeN lesions both abolished all measures of conditioned fear after 9 trials of fear conditioning. However, when conditioning was extended to 33 trials, whereas rats with combined lesions of both the BLA and CeN continued to show no conditioned fear responses, there was a pattern of recovery observed after selective lesions. There was a partial recovery of freezing with both lesions, and full recovery of conditioned suppression, except for off-baseline suppression in CeN lesioned rats. These results indicate that with few conditioning trials, both the BLA and CeN are required in a serial manner for conditioned fear responses, but that overtraining can mitigate such impairments, likely involving parallel pathways in and through the amygdala. 
24406508	The importance of novelty: male-female interactions among blue-black grassquits in captivity. 	Mate choice is a primary mechanism driving the evolution of sexually selected traits such as elaborate displays and ornaments. In a majority of taxa studied to date, females are seen to actively sample and evaluate multiple males, presumably to optimize mating opportunities. During this process females may encounter males both familiar and novel, a distinction that might influence how mate choice proceeds. Using a socially monogamous passerine, the blue-black grassquit (Volatinia jacarina), we studied how females respond to novel versus familiar (&quot;paired&quot;) males, and how encounters with novel males influence subsequent interactions with their paired males. Additionally, we measured the hormonal response of males after visualizing their paired females interacting with novel males. We found that females were attentive to novel males irrespective of these males' phenotypic attributes, suggesting that in these interactions novelty is highly relevant. After exposure to novel males, females tended to respond aggressively towards their paired males; by contrast, the behaviour of males towards their paired females did not change. Moreover, we did not detect any hormonal responses of males to viewing their paired females interacting with novel males. Together these results suggest that the distinction between familiarity and novelty may hold special relevance for females in mate choice, a finding that bears upon our understanding of the evolution of extra-pair paternity and reproductive behaviour. 
24103891	Early social deprivation impairs pair bonding and alters serum corticosterone and the NAcc dopamine system in mandarin voles. 	Early life stress has a long-term negative impact on emotion, learning, memory and adult sexual behavior, and these deficits most likely impair pair bonding. Here, we investigated whether early social deprivation (ED) affects the formation of pair bonds in socially monogamous mandarin voles (Microtus mandarinus). In a partner preference test (PPT), ED-reared adult females and males did not show a preference for their partner, spent more time exploring the cage of an unfamiliar animal and directed high levels of aggression toward unfamiliar animals. In social interaction test, ED increased exploring behavior only in females, but increased movement around the partner and reduced inactivity in both males and females. Three days of cohabitation did not alter serum corticosterone levels in ED-reared males, but increased corticosterone levels in males that received bi-parental care (PC). Interestingly, serum corticosterone levels in ED- and PC-reared females declined after cohabitation. ED significantly increased basal serum corticosterone levels in males, but had no effect on females. ED significantly up-regulated the levels of dopamine and the mRNA expression of dopamine 1-type receptor (D1R) in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) in females and males. ED suppressed dopamine 2-type receptor mRNA (D2R) expression in females, but increased this in males. After three days of cohabitation, levels of D1R mRNA and D2R mRNA expression changed in opposite directions in PC-reared voles, but in the same direction in ED-reared males, and only the expression of D2R mRNA increased in ED-reared females. Our results indicate that early social deprivation inhibits pair bonding at adulthood. This inhibition is possibly associated with sex-specific alterations in serum corticosterone, levels of dopamine and mRNA expression of two types of dopamine receptors in the NAcc. 
22941056	Singing by male and female Kloss gibbons (Hylobates klossii) in the Peleonan Forest, Siberut Island, Indonesia. 	Kloss gibbons (Hylobates klossii) are endemic to the Mentawai Islands in Indonesia and are one of only two gibbon species in which mated pairs do not sing duets. This is the first long-term study of the factors influencing the singing activity of Kloss gibbons within a northern Siberut Island population and follows two previous studies in central Siberut nearly 30 years ago. We collected data on the presence/absence of male and female singing within the study area on 198 days and within a focal group on 47 days. Rainfall during the time period in which they normally sing inhibits singing in both males and females. Our study supports the hypothesis that male and female songs function in intrasexual resource defence, as singing is associated with singing by same-sex neighbours, and same-sex choruses are more likely to occur after one or more days of silence (from that sex), suggesting there is pressure for individuals to communicate with same-sex neighbours regularly. Singing was not coordinated within a mated pair, suggesting that vocal coordination of the pair has been lost with the loss of the duet and that Kloss gibbon songs do not convey information to neighbours about the strength of the pair bond. On days when males sang predawn, females were more likely to sing after dawn and earlier in the morning. Additionally, the number of groups singing in female choruses was positively associated with the number of males that had sung in the predawn male chorus. We suggest that female songs have an intersexual territory defence as well as an intrasexual function. 
22498693	Isotocin regulates paternal care in a monogamous cichlid fish. 	While the survival value of paternal care is well understood, little is known about its physiological basis. Here we investigate the neuroendocrine contributions to paternal care in the monogamous cichlid, Amatitlania nigrofasciata. We first explored the dynamic range of paternal care in three experimental groups: biparental males (control fathers housed with their mate), single fathers (mate removed), or lone males (mate and offspring removed). We found that control males gradually increase paternal care over time, whereas single fathers increased care immediately after mate removal. Males with offspring present had lower levels of circulating 11-ketotestosterone (11-KT) yet still maintained aggressive displays toward brood predators. To determine what brain regions may contribute to paternal care, we quantified induction of the immediate early gene c-Fos, and found that single fathers have more c-Fos induction in the forebrain area Vv (putative lateral septum homologue), but not in the central pallium (area Dc). While overall preoptic area c-Fos induction was similar between groups, we found that parvocellular preoptic isotocin (IST) neurons in single fathers showed increased c-Fos induction, suggesting IST may facilitate the increase of paternal care after mate removal. To functionally test the role of IST in regulating paternal care, we treated biparental males with an IST receptor antagonist, which blocked paternal care. Our results indicate that isotocin plays a significant role in promoting paternal care, and more broadly suggest that the convergent evolution of paternal care across vertebrates may have recruited similar neuroendocrine mechanisms. 
21695710	Within-group social bonds in white-faced saki monkeys (Pithecia pithecia) display male-female pair preference. 	White-faced saki monkeys (Pithecia pithecia) lack most of the behavioral and physical traits typical of primate monogamy [Fuentes, 1999]. In order to determine if social bonds in this species reflect patterns displayed by pair-bonded groups or larger multimale-multifemale groups, we draw on 17 months of data collected on wild white-faced sakis at Brownsberg Nature Park, Suriname. We analyzed within-group social bonds for three habituated groups (one two-adult and two multiadult groups) by measuring grooming, proximity, and approach/leave patterns between adult and subadult group members. We found that both two-adult and multiadult groups showed significantly stronger social bonds between a single male-female dyad within each group (deemed &quot;primary dyads&quot;). In all three groups, primary dyads were composed of the oldest adult male and a breeding female. These pairs had significantly higher levels of grooming than other within-group dyads and were also in close proximity (&lt;1 m) more often than nonprimary dyads. Grooming in primary dyads was nonreciprocal, and consistently biased toward female investment. Grooming patterns in nonprimary dyads varied, but were often more reciprocal. Grooming and proximity of the primary dyad also changed in relation to infant development. Our results suggest that while white-faced sakis do not show behavioral and physical traits typical of monogamy or pair-bonding, social bonds are strongest between a single male-female pair. Pitheciine social systems range from small group monogamy in Callicebus to large multimale-multifemale groups in Chiropotes and Cacajao. As the middle taxon in this platyrrhine radiation, behavioral strategies of white-faced sakis provide a model for how social bonds and affiliation could be influenced by and affect the evolution of larger group size in primates. 
21644957	The context-dependent effect of multiple paternity on effective population size. 	Effective population size (N(e)) is important because it describes how evolutionary forces will affect a population. The effect of multiple sires per female on N(e) has been the subject of some debate, at the crux of which is the effects of monandry and multiple-paternity (MP) on male variance in reproductive success. In both mating systems, females mate with several males over their lifetimes, but sire offspring with one male at a time in the former and have several sires per clutch in the latter. First, I theoretically show that whether the annual male variance in reproductive success in an MP population is greater or less than that of a monandrous population depends on the distributions of within-clutch paternity. Then, I simulated different distributions of within-clutch paternity under a range of parameters that characterize natural populations to show that an MP population can have an N(e) smaller or larger than that of a monandrous population with otherwise equal dynamics. The N(e(MP)):N(e(Monandry)) ratio increased with mating frequency and female variance in reproductive success, was equalized by long generation times, and was affected by the distribution of within-clutch paternities. The results of this model provide a unifying framework for the debate. 
21651521	Sexual signals and mating patterns in Syngnathidae. 	Male pregnancy in the family Syngnathidae (pipefishes, seahorses and seadragons) predisposes males to limit female reproductive success; sexual selection may then operate more strongly on females and female sexual signals may evolve (sex-role reversal). A bewildering array of female signals has evolved in Syngnathids, e.g. skin folds, large body size, colouration, markings on the body and elaborate courtship. These female sexual signals do not seem quantitatively or qualitatively different from those that evolve in males in species with conventional sex roles where males provide females or offspring with direct benefits. In several syngnathid species, males also evolve ornaments, females are choosy in addition to being competitive and males compete as well as choosing partners. Thus, sex roles form a continuum, spanning from conventional to reversed within this group of fishes. Cases are presented here suggesting that stronger sexual selection on females may be most extreme in species showing classical polyandry (one male mates with several females, such as many species where males brood their eggs on the trunk), intermediate in polygynandrous species (males and females both mate with more than one partner, as in many species where males brood their eggs on the tail) and least extreme, even exhibiting conventional sex roles, in monogamous species (one male mates solely with one female, as in many seahorses and tropical pipefishes). At the same time caution is needed before unanimously establishing this pattern: first, the connection between mating patterns, strength of sexual selection, sex roles and ornament expression is far from simple and straightforward, and second, knowledge of the actual morphology, ecology and behaviour of most syngnathid species is scanty. Basically only a few Nerophis, Syngnathus and Hippocampus species have been studied in any detail. It is known, however, that this group of fishes exhibits a remarkable variation in sex roles and ornamentation, making them an ideal group for the study of mating patterns, sexual selection and sexually selected signals. 
21377487	Hormones of choice: the neuroendocrinology of partner preference in animals. 	Partner preference behavior can be viewed as the outcome of a set of hierarchical choices made by an individual in anticipation of mating. The first choice involves approaching a conspecific verses an individual of another species. As a rule, a conspecific is picked as a mating partner, but early life experiences can alter that outcome. Within a species, an animal then has the choice between a member of the same sex or the opposite sex. The final choice is for a specific individual. This review will focus on the middle choice, the decision to mate with either a male or a female. Available data from rats, mice, and ferrets point to the importance of perinatal exposure to steroid hormones in the development of partner preferences, as well as the importance of activational effects in adulthood. However, the particular effects of this hormone exposure show species differences in both the specific steroid hormone responsible for the organization of behavior and the developmental period when it has its effect. Where these hormones have an effect in the brain is mostly unknown, but regions involved in olfaction and sexual behavior, as well as sexually dimorphic regions, seem to play a role. One limitation of the literature base is that many mate or 'partner preference studies' rely on preference for a specific stimulus (usually olfaction) but do not include an analysis of the relation, if any, that stimulus has to the choice of a particular sexual partner. A second limitation has been the almost total lack of attention to the type of behavior that is shown by the choosing animal once a 'partner' has been chosen, specifically, if the individual plays a mating role typical of its own sex or the opposite sex. Additional paradigms that address these questions are needed for better understanding of partner preferences in rodents. 
20724639	Females use multiple mating and genetically loaded sperm competition to target compatible genes. 	Individuals in socially monogamous species may participate in copulations outside of the pair bond, resulting in extra-pair offspring. Although males benefit from such extra-pair behavior if they produce more offspring, the adaptive function of infidelity to females remains elusive. Here we show that female participation in extra-pair copulations, combined with a genetically loaded process of sperm competition, enables female finches to target genes that are optimally compatible with their own to ensure fertility and optimize offspring viability. Such female behavior, along with the postcopulatory processes demonstrated here, may provide an adaptive function of female infidelity in socially monogamous animals. 
20175595	Male-male and male-female aggression may influence mating associations in wild octopuses (Abdopus aculeatus). 	Abdopus aculeatus engages in frequent aggression and copulation, exhibits male mate-choice, and employs multiple mating tactics. Here we draw upon established hypotheses to compare male-male aggression (MMA) and male-female aggression (MFA), as they relate to their mating behavior in the wild. When contesting for females, males appear to balance mate preference (resource value) with perceived chances of winning contests (resource holding potential). Although males spent more time mating with and contesting for large &quot;Adjacent Guarded&quot; females (those occupying a den within arm's reach of a large &quot;Adjacent Guarding&quot; male), they exhibited higher rates of aggression over nonadjacent &quot;Temporarily Guarded&quot; females that may be more accessible. The major determinant of male-male aggressive success was size, and this factor may dictate the expression of conditional mating tactics in males. &quot;Adjacent Guarding&quot; males were the largest and most aggressively successful males, earning the most time copulating with females. They are considered to have the highest resource holding potential (RHP) in MMA. By contrast, in MFA, some larger individuals fled from smaller individuals, indicating that RHP appears to be a function of both size and sex in intersexual aggression. This result suggests variation in aggressiveness, or potential for severe injury-even sexual cannibalism during MFA. Male-female aggression may also be influenced by the sexual nonreceptivity of some individuals, or attempts by both sexes to increase foraging behavior by delaying mate-guarding activity. 
24406508	The importance of novelty: male-female interactions among blue-black grassquits in captivity. 	Mate choice is a primary mechanism driving the evolution of sexually selected traits such as elaborate displays and ornaments. In a majority of taxa studied to date, females are seen to actively sample and evaluate multiple males, presumably to optimize mating opportunities. During this process females may encounter males both familiar and novel, a distinction that might influence how mate choice proceeds. Using a socially monogamous passerine, the blue-black grassquit (Volatinia jacarina), we studied how females respond to novel versus familiar (&quot;paired&quot;) males, and how encounters with novel males influence subsequent interactions with their paired males. Additionally, we measured the hormonal response of males after visualizing their paired females interacting with novel males. We found that females were attentive to novel males irrespective of these males' phenotypic attributes, suggesting that in these interactions novelty is highly relevant. After exposure to novel males, females tended to respond aggressively towards their paired males; by contrast, the behaviour of males towards their paired females did not change. Moreover, we did not detect any hormonal responses of males to viewing their paired females interacting with novel males. Together these results suggest that the distinction between familiarity and novelty may hold special relevance for females in mate choice, a finding that bears upon our understanding of the evolution of extra-pair paternity and reproductive behaviour. 
22498693	Isotocin regulates paternal care in a monogamous cichlid fish. 	While the survival value of paternal care is well understood, little is known about its physiological basis. Here we investigate the neuroendocrine contributions to paternal care in the monogamous cichlid, Amatitlania nigrofasciata. We first explored the dynamic range of paternal care in three experimental groups: biparental males (control fathers housed with their mate), single fathers (mate removed), or lone males (mate and offspring removed). We found that control males gradually increase paternal care over time, whereas single fathers increased care immediately after mate removal. Males with offspring present had lower levels of circulating 11-ketotestosterone (11-KT) yet still maintained aggressive displays toward brood predators. To determine what brain regions may contribute to paternal care, we quantified induction of the immediate early gene c-Fos, and found that single fathers have more c-Fos induction in the forebrain area Vv (putative lateral septum homologue), but not in the central pallium (area Dc). While overall preoptic area c-Fos induction was similar between groups, we found that parvocellular preoptic isotocin (IST) neurons in single fathers showed increased c-Fos induction, suggesting IST may facilitate the increase of paternal care after mate removal. To functionally test the role of IST in regulating paternal care, we treated biparental males with an IST receptor antagonist, which blocked paternal care. Our results indicate that isotocin plays a significant role in promoting paternal care, and more broadly suggest that the convergent evolution of paternal care across vertebrates may have recruited similar neuroendocrine mechanisms. 
22361153	Evolution: why good dads win. 	Males usually do not provide parental care and with good reason, they may be caring for the offspring of someone else. But there are cases of male-only care even when certainty of paternity is low: why? A new model suggests female choice may provide the answer. 
24440985	Sexy males and choosy females on exploded leks: correlates of male attractiveness in the Little Bustard. 	In their choice of mates, females may use alternative tactics, including a comparative assessment of males in a population, using one or several relative preference criteria. Traits involved in female choice should presumably be variable between, but not within males, thus potentially providing reliable cues of male identity and quality for prospecting females. In lekking species, sexual selection is usually intense, and females can freely choose mates. Studying the Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax, a bird with an exploded lek mating system, we first identified male phenotypic traits that showed higher among, than within variation (plumage pattern, display rates and call structure). Among those and other traits (ornaments and their symmetry, body condition, lek spatial organization and territory quality), we identified phenotypic traits that correlated with male attractiveness toward females. At least four phenotypic male traits were correlated with female attraction, i.e. body condition, lek attendance, ornamental symmetry and display rates. Traits related to the initial female attraction on male territory seem to differ from traits related to the decision of females to stay in the territory of attractive males. 
23579464	Social regulation of electric signal plasticity in male Brachyhypopomus gauderio. 	In animal communication, the social context that elicits particular dynamic changes in the signal can provide indirect clues to signal function. Female presence should increase the expression of male signal traits relevant for mate-choice, while male presence should promote the enhancement of traits involved in male-male competition. The electric fish Brachyhypopomus gauderio produces a biphasic electric pulse for electrolocation and communication. Pulse amplitude predicts the signaler's body size while pulse duration predicts circulating androgen levels. Males enhance pulse amplitude and duration when the numbers of males and females increase simultaneously. Here we tested the relative effects of female presence and male presence on male signal enhancement, and whether the size of the male competitor affected this enhancement. We found that male presence drives the enhancement of both pulse amplitude and second phase duration, independently of the size of the male competitor. Female presence induces the enhancement of pulse duration, but not pulse amplitude. These data suggest that males probably attend to information about a competitor's body size coded by pulse amplitude and attend to aggressiveness coded by a competitor's pulse duration, both potential predictors of fight outcome. Females may be primarily concerned about information on reproductive condition coded by pulse duration. 
22561096	Female lizards ignore the sweet scent of success: Male characteristics implicated in female mate preference. 	Sexual selection molds the morphology, physiology and behavior of males in many animals. At first glance, it seems reasonable to assume that females would use the same male traits and signals in mate choice as males do during male-male competition. However, intra- and intersexual competition may affect traits in the same or the opposite direction, with differing strength. We investigated which color, morphometric and performance traits are selected for through male-male competition and whether female mate preference is based on these same traits and/or dominance status in the three male color morphs of the lizard Podarcis melisellensis. Males with relatively bigger heads and relatively higher bite forces were more likely to win fights and orange males were always dominant over the other morphs. Females, however, preferred scents of bigger males that were in better body condition, and surprisingly had lower bite force capacities. They did not show a preference for scents of any particular color morph or for scents of the more dominant males. These results indicate that intra- and intersexual competition may result in selection for different secondary sexual traits in P. melisellensis. 
22092581	Fitness consequences of social network position in a wild population of forked fungus beetles (Bolitotherus cornutus). 	Social networks describe the pattern of intraspecific interactions within a population. An individual's position in a social network often is expected to influence its fitness, but only a few studies have examined this relationship in natural populations. We investigated the fitness consequences of network position in a wild beetle population. Copulation success of male beetles positively covaried with strength (a measure of network centrality) and negatively covaried with clustering coefficient (CC) (a measure of cliquishness). Further analysis using mediation path models suggested that the activity level of individuals drove the relationships between strength and fitness almost entirely. In contrast, selection on CC was not explained by individual behaviours. Although our data suggest that social network position can experience strong sexual selection, it is also clear that the relationships between fitness and some network metrics merely reflect variation in individual-level behaviours. 
23781684	Dental conditions among competitive university athletes in Nigeria. 	To assess the oral health practices and the prevalence of dental problems among competitive university athletes in Nigeria. A cross-section of athletes that participated at the 2011 Nigerian university games in Benin-city, Nigeria, was studied. The tool of data collection was self-administered questionnaire. The information sought included demographics of the respondents and the sports they are involved in. Other information included prevalence of dental problem, cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption, history of toothache, gingival bleeding and mouth ulcer as well as their care seeking behaviour and pattern of oral health utilization. The response rate was 75.3%. The prevalence of oral health problem among the respondents was 28.3% and dental caries was the commonest reported oral health problem among the respondents. A total of 106 (46.9%), 82 (36.3%) and 92 (40.7%) of the respondents had experienced toothache, gingival bleeding and mouth ulcer respectively. Less than half (40.7%) of the respondents have ever visited the dentist. Among the respondents, 108 (47.8%) reported taking alcohol while 16 (7.1%) indulged in cigarette smoking. Consumption of soft drink always and sometimes were reported by 64 (28.3%) and 98 (43.4%) of the respondents respectively. Respondents who had experienced dental problem during competitions made up 15.9% of the respondents and 66.7% of this group reported that the dental problem affected their performance in the competition. The prevalence of dental conditions among respondents was high and it had adverse impact on performance in competitions. 
20681330	Comparison of perceived exertion ratings during graded peak cycle exercise between cigarette smokers and nonsmokers. 	This study compared differentiated Ratings of Perceived Exertion (RPE) for the chest (RPE-Chest) and legs (RPE-Legs) and undifferentiated ratings (RPE-Overall) between cigarette smokers (n = 10) and nonsmokers (n = 10) during graded, peak cycle exercise. Linear regression analyses expressed RPE-Chest, RPE-Leg, and RPE-Overall as a function of VO2 for smokers and nonsmokers. RPE equivalent to 50, 70, and 90% VO2 peak were compared between. Chest, Leg, and Overall RPE were similar at each % VO2 peak. In the combined smokers and nonsmokers, RPE-Chest was lower (p &lt; .05) than the RPE-Overall at each % VO2 peak. RPE-Leg did not differ from RPE-Overall at 50% VO2 peak, but was higher (p &lt; .05) at 70% and 90% VO2 peak. These results validate Assumption 4 for application of the Borg 15-category scale in that this assumption is also valid for differentiated RPE. Smoking did not influence the intensity of differentiated or undifferentiated RPE during graded cycle exercise. 
24665014	[Balance trainability using the Nintendo Wii balance board in sportive people]. 	A multivariable training has a positive impact on balance skills and risk of injury. To date the effect of this training using the Nintendo Wii balance board in sportive people has not yet been investigated. The aim of this study was to investigate whether training with the Nintendo Wii balance board can improve balance skills. 20 people were randomized into a control and an intervention group each with 10 people who performed a unilateral stance test with eyes open and closed as well as the star excursion balance test before and after the intervention. The control group completed their usual sports and the intervention group an adjunct training with the Nintendo Wii balance board for 4 weeks. Adjunct Training using the Nintendo Wii Balance Board did not improve sportive people's balance skills significantly. The intervention group, however, attained better results in the star excursion balance test, whereas the control group did not show any changes. The unilateral stance tests did not provide significant differences before and after training within both groups. The use of the Nintendo Wii balance board should be further investigated by employing individual difficulty levels. 
23643671	Evolution of World Cup soccer final games 1966-2010: game structure, speed and play patterns. 	There are relatively few performance analysis studies on field sports investigating how they evolve from a structural or tactical viewpoint. Field sports like soccer involve complex, non-linear dynamical systems yet consistent patterns of play are recognisable over time and among different sports. This study on soccer trends helps build a framework of potential causative mechanisms for these patterns. Retrospective correlational study. Broadcast footage of World Cup finals between 1966 and 2010 was used to assess patterns of play and stop periods, type and duration of game stoppages, ball speed, player density (congestion) and passing rates. This involved computer-based ball tracking and other notational analyses. These results were analysed using linear regression to track changes across time. Almost every variable assessed changed significantly over time. Play duration decreased while stoppage duration increased, both affecting the work: recovery ratios. Ball (game) speed increased by 15% over the 44-year period. Play structure changed towards a higher player density with a 35% greater passing rate. Increases in soccer ball speed and player density show similarities with other field sports and suggest common evolutionary pressures may be driving play structures. The increased intensity of play is paralleled by longer stoppage breaks which allow greater player recovery and subsequently more intense play. Defensive strategies dominate over time as demonstrated by increased player density and congestion. The long-term pattern formations demonstrate successful coordinated states within team structures are predictable and may have universal causative mechanisms. 
23707140	Validation of GPS and accelerometer technology in swimming. 	To evaluate the validity of an integrated accelerometer and Global Positioning System (GPS) device to quantify swimming kinematics variables in swimming. Criterion validation study. Twenty-one sub-elite swimmers completed three 100 m efforts (one butterfly, breaststroke and freestyle) in an outdoor 50 m Olympic pool. A GPS device with an integrated tri-axial accelerometer was used to obtain mid-pool velocity and stroke count of each effort. This data was compared to velocity and stroke count data obtained from concurrently recorded digital video of the performance. A strong relationship was detected between the accelerometer stroke count and the video criterion measure for both breaststroke (r&gt;0.98) and butterfly (r&gt;0.99). Also, no significant differences were detected between the GPS velocity and video obtained velocity for both freestyle and breaststroke. There was a significant difference between the GPS velocity and criterion measure for butterfly. Acceptable standard error and 95% limits of agreement were obtained for freestyle (0.13 m s(-1), 0.36 m s(-1)) and breaststroke (0.12 m s(-1), 0.33 m s(-1)) compared to butterfly (0.18 m s(-1), 0.50 m s(-1)). Relative error measurements ranged between 10.2 and 13.4% across the three strokes. The integrated accelerometer and GPS device offers a valid and accurate tool for stroke count quantification in breaststroke and butterfly as well as measuring mid-pool swimming velocity in freestyle and breaststroke. The application of GPS technology in the outdoor training environment suggests advantageous practical benefits for swimmers, coaches and sports scientists. 
24479611	Landing ground reaction forces in figure skaters and non-skaters. 	Researchers and clinicians have suggested that overuse injuries to the lower back and lower extremities of figure skaters may be associated with the repeated high impact forces sustained during jump landings. Our primary aim was to compare the vertical ground reaction forces (GRFs) in freestyle figure skaters (n = 26) and non-skaters (n = 18) for the same barefoot single leg landing on a force plate from a 20 cm platform. Compared with non-skaters, skaters exhibited a significantly greater normalised peak GRF (3.50 ± 0.47 × body weight for skaters vs. 3.13 ± 0.45 × body weight for non-skaters), significantly shorter time to peak GRF (81.21 ± 14.01 ms for skaters vs. 93.81 ± 16.49 ms for non-skaters), and significantly longer time to stabilisation (TTS) of the GRF (2.38 ± 0.07 s for skaters vs. 2.22 ± 0.07 s for non-skaters). Skaters also confined their centre of pressure (CoP) to a significantly smaller mediolateral (M-L) (25%) and anterior-posterior (A-P) (40%) range during the landing phase, with the position of the CoP located in the mid to forefoot region. The narrower and more forward position of the CoP in skaters may at least partially explain the greater peak GRF, shorter time to peak, and longer TTS. Training and/or equipment modification serve as potential targets to decrease peak GRF by distributing it over a longer time period. More comprehensive studies including electromyography and motion capture are needed to fully characterise the unique figure skater landing strategy. 
24575753	Dynamics of the support leg in soccer instep kicking. 	We aimed to illustrate support leg dynamics during instep kicking to evaluate the role of the support leg action in performance. Twelve male soccer players performed maximal instep kicks. Their motions and ground reaction forces were recorded by a motion capture system and a force platform. Moments and angular velocities of the support leg and pelvis were computed using inverse dynamics. In most joints of the support leg, the moments were not associated with or counteracting the joint motions except for the knee joint. It can be interpreted that the initial knee flexion motion counteracting the extension joint moment has a role to attenuate the shock of landing and the following knee extension motion associated with the extension joint moment indirectly contributes to accelerate the swing of kicking leg. Also, appreciable horizontal rotation of the pelvis coincided with increase of the interaction moment due to the hip joint reaction force on the support leg side. It can be assumed that the interaction moment was the main factor causing the pelvis counter-clockwise rotation within the horizontal plane from the overhead view that precedes a proximal-to-distal sequence of segmental action of the swing leg. 
23439348	Decision-making accuracy in reactive agility: quantifying the cost of poor decisions. 	Decision-making accuracy and the time cost of incorrect responses was compared between higher- (n = 14) and lower-standard (n = 14) Australian footballers during reactive agility tasks incorporating feint and nonfeint scenarios. Accuracy was assessed as whether the subject turned in the correct direction to each stimulus. With skill groups pooled, decision accuracy at the first (or only) stimulus (decision time 1) was 94 ± 7%, and it decreased to 83 ± 20% for the second stimulus (decision time 2; p = 0.01; d = 0.69). However, with skill groups separated, decision accuracy was similar between groups at decision time 1 (higher 95 ± 6% vs. lower 92 ± 7%; p = 0.6; d = 0.42), somewhat better in the higher-standard group at decision time 2 (88 ± 22% vs. 78 ± 17%; p = 0.08; d = 0.50). But the decrease in accuracy from decision time 1 to 2 was significant in the lower-standard group only (92 ± 7% to 78 ± 17%; p = 0.02; d = 1.04). However, with skill groups pooled but agility times examined exclusively in trials involving correct or incorrect decisions, incorrect decisions at decision time 1 during feint trials resulted in a shorter agility time (1.73 ± 0.24 seconds vs. 2.03 ± 0.39 seconds; p = 0.008; d = 0.92), whereas agility time was significantly longer in feint (incorrect at decision time 2 only; 2.65 ± 0.41 seconds vs. 1.97 ± 0.36 seconds; p &lt; 0.001; d = 1.76) and nonfeint trials (1.64 ± 0.13 seconds vs. 1.51 ± 0.10 seconds; p = 0.001; d = 1.13). Therefore, although decision-making errors typically worsen reactive agility performance, successful anticipation of a feint can produce performance improvements. Furthermore, higher-standard footballers are less susceptible to such feints, perhaps because of superior anticipation. Training to improve decision-making accuracy, particularly involving feint movements, may therefore principally benefit lesser-skilled players and should be practiced regularly. 
24231129	Planned and reactive agility performance in semiprofessional and amateur basketball players. 	Research indicates that planned and reactive agility are different athletic skills. These skills have not been adequately assessed in male basketball players. To define whether 10-m-sprint performance and planned and reactive agility measured by the Y-shaped agility test can discriminate between semiprofessional and amateur basketball players. Ten semiprofessional and 10 amateur basketball players completed 10-m sprints and planned- and reactive-agility tests. The Y-shaped agility test involved subjects sprinting 5 m through a trigger timing gate, followed by a 45° cut and 5-m sprint to the left or right through a target gate. In the planned condition, subjects knew the cut direction. For reactive trials, subjects visually scanned to find the illuminated gate. A 1-way analysis of variance (P &lt; .05) determined between-groups differences. Data were pooled (N = 20) for a correlation analysis (P &lt; .05). The reactive tests differentiated between the groups; semiprofessional players were 6% faster for the reactive left (P = .036) and right (P = .029) cuts. The strongest correlations were between the 10-m sprints and planned-agility tests (r = .590-.860). The reactive left cut did not correlate with the planned tests. The reactive right cut moderately correlated with the 10-m sprint and planned right cut (r = .487-.485). The results reemphasized that planned and reactive agility are separate physical qualities. Reactive agility discriminated between the semiprofessional and amateur basketball players; planned agility did not. To distinguish between male basketball players of different ability levels, agility tests should include a perceptual and decision-making component. 
24231360	Comparison of athlete-coach perceptions of internal and external load markers for elite junior tennis training. 	To investigate the discrepancy between coach and athlete perceptions of internal load and notational analysis of external load in elite junior tennis. Fourteen elite junior tennis players and 6 international coaches were recruited. Ratings of perceived exertion (RPEs) were recorded for individual drills and whole sessions, along with a rating of mental exertion, coach rating of intended session exertion, and athlete heart rate (HR). Furthermore, total stroke count and unforced-error count were notated using video coding after each session, alongside coach and athlete estimations of shots and errors made. Finally, regression analyses explained the variance in the criterion variables of athlete and coach RPE. Repeated-measures analyses of variance and interclass correlation coefficients revealed that coaches significantly (P &lt; .01) underestimated athlete session RPE, with only moderate correlation (r = .59) demonstrated between coach and athlete. However, athlete drill RPE (P = .14; r = .71) and mental exertion (P = .44; r = .68) were comparable and substantially correlated. No significant differences in estimated stroke count were evident between athlete and coach (P = .21), athlete notational analysis (P = .06), or coach notational analysis (P = .49). Coaches estimated significantly greater unforced errors than either athletes or notational analysis (P &lt; .01). Regression analyses found that 54.5% of variance in coach RPE was explained by intended session exertion and coach drill RPE, while drill RPE and peak HR explained 45.3% of the variance in athlete session RPE. Coaches misinterpreted session RPE but not drill RPE, while inaccurately monitoring error counts. Improved understanding of external- and internal-load monitoring may help coach-athlete relationships in individual sports like tennis avoid maladaptive training. 
24509704	A descriptive analysis of internal and external loads for elite-level tennis drills. 	Planning tennis sessions accentuating physical development requires an understanding of training load (TL). The aims were to describe the external and internal TL of drills and analyze relationships between ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), TL, and other measures. Fourteen elite-level junior tennis athletes completed 259 individual drills. Six coaches helped devise classifications for all drills: recovery/defensive, open pattern, accuracy, 2-on-1 open, 2-on-1 net play, closed technical, point play, and match play. Notational analysis on stroke and error rates was performed postsession. Drill RPE and mental exertion were collected postdrill, while heart rate (HR) was recorded continuously. Recovery/defensive, open pattern, and point play were significantly greater than closed technical drills (P &lt; .05) for RPE and mental exertion, as were accuracy drills and match play (P &lt; .05). Recovery/defensive, open-pattern, accuracy, and 2-on-1 open drills had higher stroke rates than match play (P &lt; .05). Error rates of closed technical drills were significantly higher than for open pattern, 2-on-1 drills, point play, and match play (P &lt; .05). No HR differences were observed (P &gt; .05) between categories. Substantial correlations existed for drill RPE and TL with mental exertion (r &gt; .62) for several categories. TL was substantially correlated with total strokes (r &gt; .65), while HR and stroke and error rates were in slight to moderate agreement with RPE and TL (r &lt; .51). Recovery/defensive drills are highest in physiological stress, making them ideal for maximizing physicality. Recovery/defensive drills compromised training quality, eliciting high error rates. In contrast, 2-on-1 net-play drills provided the lowest error rates, potentially appropriate for error-amelioration practice. Open-pattern drills were characterized by significantly higher stroke rates, suggesting congruence with high-repetition practice. Finally, with strong relationships between physical and mental perception, mental exertion may complement currently used monitoring strategies (TL and RPE). 
24476744	Correlation of Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) level 1 movement screens and golf swing faults. 	Although some research in the past has examined how physical limitations in strength or flexibility affect a golfer's performance, the performance outcome most measured was driving distance. Currently, there are no data that have examined the relationship between selected strength and flexibility variables and golf swing faults. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) level 1 movement screen variables and 14 common golf swing faults. Thirty-six male and female golfers (mean age, 25.4 ± 9.9 years; height, 175.9 ± 16.2 cm; mass, 76.2 ± 14.6 kg; handicap, 14.2 ± 10.4) participated. Twelve physical tests of strength, flexibility, and balance were assessed using the TPI level 1 golf fitness screening tool. Golfers then hit 4 golf shots (with a 5-iron) while being videoed, and those were then analyzed for 14 different golf swing faults (using V1Pro software). Three significant associations between a physical limitation and a particular golf swing fault were found: toe touch and early hip extension (p = 0.015), bridge on right side with both early hip extension (p = 0.050), and loss of posture (p = 0.028). In addition, an odds ratio showed that when a golfer could not overhead deep squat or single leg balance on left side, they were 2-3 times more likely to exhibit a early hip extension, loss of posture, or slide during the golf swing, as compared with those who could perform a correct overhead deep squat. Based on our findings, it is important for the golf fitness professional to particularly address a golfer's core strength, balance, and hamstring flexibility to help avoid common golf swing faults, which affect a golfer's ball striking ability and ultimately their performance. 
24102633	Kinematic analysis of the backstroke start: differences between backstroke specialists and non-specialists. 	The purpose of this study was to clarify factors to perform the hole-entry technique in the backstroke start. A total of 16 well-trained Japanese competitive swimmers were divided into two groups (backstroke specialists and non-specialists) to compare their backstroke start motions. Their backstroke motions were videotaped, and two-dimensional co-ordinates for the swimmers were obtained from the video images using direct linear transformation methods. A non-paired t-test and Mann-Whitney U-test were used to analyse the statistical difference of the kinematic variables between the groups. Backstroke specialists showed a significantly shorter 5 m time (P = 0.009, effect size = -1.54), a significantly higher position of the toe (P = 0.010, effect size = 1.47) at signal and of the hip at toe-off (P = 0.002, effect size = 1.94), a significantly larger hip joint angle at toe-off (P = 0.007, effect size = 1.60) and a significantly higher angular velocities of the hip joints (45-85%; P &lt; 0.05) for the normalised time as compared to that of non-specialists. An earlier initiation of the extension and the maintenance of a higher extension speed at the hip joints were important factors in achieving an arched-back posture, which facilitated and water entrance with a small entry range. 
24533489	Multidimensional performance characteristics in selected and deselected talented soccer players. 	The present study examined whether performance characteristics discriminated between selected and deselected players in talent development programmes. This examination was carried out in talented soccer players, aged 16-18 years using objective measurement instruments. Four domains of multidimensional performance characteristics (physiological, technical, tactical and psychological) were assessed by using a test battery consisting of soccer-specific field tests and questionnaires. Multivariate analyses of covariance revealed that the physiological characteristics peak and repeated shuttle sprint, the technical characteristics of peak and repeated shuttle dribble and the tactical characteristic of 'positioning and deciding', significantly differed between the selected (n=76) and deselected players (n=37), with selected players performing better (P&lt;0.05). Discriminant function analysis showed that the combination of the technical characteristic 'peak dribbling', the tactical characteristic 'positioning and deciding' and the physiological characteristic of 'peak sprinting' classified 69% of talented players correctly. In conclusion, the decisions made by the investigated clubs to either select or deselect players in their talent development programme, whom were aged 16-18 years, were mostly discriminated by aspects of the players' technical, tactical and physiological skill performances. Sports research can play an essential role in investigating the club's perception of important performance characteristics in talented players. 
24499155	The effect of short-duration sprint interval exercise on plasma postprandial triacylglycerol levels in young men. 	It is well established that regular exercise can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, although the most time-efficient exercise protocol to confer benefits has yet to be established. The aim of the current study was to determine the effects of short-duration sprint interval exercise on postprandial triacylglycerol. Fifteen healthy male participants completed two 2 day trials. On day 1, participants rested (control) or carried out twenty 6 s sprints, interspersed with 24 s recovery (sprint interval exercise--14 min for total exercise session). On day 2, participants consumed a high-fat meal for breakfast with blood samples collected at baseline, 2 h and 4 h. Gas exchange was also measured at these time points. On day 2 of control and sprint interval exercise trials, there were no differences (P &lt; 0.05) between trials in plasma glucose, triacylglycerol, insulin or respiratory exchange ratio (RER). The area under the curve for plasma triacylglycerol was 7.67 ± 2.37 mmol · l(-1) x 4 h(-1) in the control trial and 7.26 ± 2.49 mmol · l(-1) x 4 h(-1) in the sprint interval exercise trial. Although the sprint exercise protocol employed had no significant effect on postprandial triacylglycerol, there was a clear variability in responses that warrants further investigation. 
25004634	How well do Polish teenagers meet health behaviour guidelines? 	To estimate the prevalence of meeting health behaviour guidelines regarding eating breakfast, fruit and vegetable consumption and physical activity and to identify adolescents who accumulate the unhealthy behaviours. Cross-sectional study was conducted in 2008 in adolescents aged 13-year-old (N = 574). They self-reported their physical activity (MVPA--Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity), regularity of breakfast eating and fruit and vegetable consumption. The adherence to physical activity and nutritional guidelines were described. Relationships between dependant variables and sex and place of residence were examined. Cluster analysis was used to identify subgroups of youths whose accumulate the unhealthy behaviours. The proportion of adolescents who met each health recommendation varied: 69% ate breakfast on 5 school days, 46.9% consumed at least once a day fruit and vegetable and 27.5% performed recommended daily physical activity. Boys were significantly more active (p &lt; 0.001) and ate breakfast more frequently than girls (p &lt; 0.04). A gender difference in fruit and vegetable intake was not statistically significant. Only 11.5% of adolescents fulfilled all three recommendations, more often boys than girls (p = 0.020). Almost 54% of adolescents had multiple unfavorable health behaviours, and 14,1% all three of them - significantly more often girls than boys (p = 0.011). For adolescents with two risk behaviours, the most prevalent cluster was formed by not meeting the physical activity and fruit and vegetable recommendations. The unhealthy behaviours tend to accumulate among teenagers - more often in girls than in boys, becoming the risk factors for different chronic diseases. Widespread dissemination of healthy lifestyle guidelines among adolescents, their parents and teachers, and undertake interventions aimed to reduce unhealthy behaviours could bring health benefits in the future. 
24060269	Effects of an acute bout of aerobic exercise on immediate and subsequent three-day food intake and energy expenditure in active and inactive men. 	This study examined the effects of an acute bout of low-intensity cycling on food intake and energy expenditure over four days. Thirty healthy, active (n=15) and inactive (n=15) men completed two conditions (exercise and control), in a randomised crossover fashion. The exercise experimental day involved cycling for one hour at an intensity equivalent to 50% of maximum oxygen uptake and two hours of rest. The control condition comprised three hours of rest. Participants arrived at the laboratory fasted overnight; breakfast was standardised and an ad libitum pasta lunch was consumed on each experimental day. Participants kept a food diary and wore an Actiheart to estimate energy intake and expenditure for the remainder of the experimental days and over the subsequent 3 days. Ad libitum lunch energy intake did not differ between conditions (p=0.32, d=0.18) or groups (p=0.43, d=0.27). Energy intake in the active group was greater on the exercise experimental day than on the control experimental day (mean difference=2070 kJ; 95% CI 397 to 3743 kJ, p=0.024, d=0.56) while in the inactive group it was increased on only the third day after exercise (mean difference=2225 kJ; 95% CI 414 to 4036 kJ, p=0.024, d=0.80). There was only a group effect (p=0.032, d=0.89) for free-living energy expenditure, indicating that active participants expended more energy than inactive over this period. Acute low-intensity exercise did not affect energy intake at the meal immediately after exercise, but induces an acute (within the experimental day) and delayed (third day after the experimental day) increase in energy intake in active and inactive participants, respectively with no compensatory changes to daily energy expenditure. These results suggest that active individuals compensate for an acute exercise-induced energy deficit quicker than inactive individuals. 
23263782	Consuming breakfast and exercising longer during high school increases bone mineral density in young adult men. 	We examined the bone mineral densities (BMDs) of young adult men and analyzed the factors associated with BMD differences. Between 1993 and 2002, all male freshmen in the Wakayama Medical University, Japan were recruited into the present study, which included a self-administrated questionnaire survey, anthropometric measurements, and BMD measurements of the spine and hip. Of a total of 387 freshmen, 382 (98.7 %; mean age, 20.3 years; age range, 18-29 years) completed the study. The mean BMDs of the spine (L2-4) and femoral neck (FN) were 1.21 (standard deviation, 0.13) g/cm(2) and 1.12 (0.14) g/cm(2), respectively. The L2-4 BMDs were not associated with age, while FN BMDs were significantly inversely associated with age. The BMDs at L2-4 and FN were significantly associated with body mass index (BMI). After adjustment for age and BMI, multivariate regression analysis indicated that BMDs at L2-4 and FN were associated with current longer exercise duration (L2-4, p = 0.024; FN, p = 0.001), those at L2-4 with milk intake (p = 0.024), and those at FN with consuming breakfast (p = 0.004). Similarly, habits of consuming breakfast and exercising longer (on a weekly basis) during high school were linked with significantly higher L2-4 and FN BMDs. High-impact activities during high school significantly influenced the later BMDs. In conclusion, to maximize peak bone mass, consuming breakfast and completing a longer duration of stronger exercise in the late high school years for at least 10 h per week is recommended. 
23385118	Change in lifestyle through health promotion program without face-to-face intervention in a large-scale Japanese enterprise. 	The aim of this study was to assess the effect of a health promotion program with 2-3-month Internet or printed material support without a face-to-face intervention at a large-scale worksite. An uncontrolled intervention was conducted. In 2005, 22,429 employees underwent a health check-up and a lifestyle assessment. In 2006, 2,096 employees were recruited to participate in an intervention group (IntG), and the remaining 20,228 employees were allocated to a control group (ConG). After one-year follow-up, 1,888 employees in IntG and 15,474 employees in ConG were analyzed by Breslow's lifestyle index, overall prevalence of cardiovascular risk (OPCR) and 10% 10-year risk based on cardiovascular risk factors in 2007. Breslow's lifestyle index (over 5 points) in IntG showed a higher OR (1.13 with a 95% CI of 1.01-1.26) than that in ConG. Compared with those with a poor lifestyle, the subjects who had maintained or improved their lifestyle showed a lower OPCR (OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.79-0.97; OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.74-0.95 [p for trend=0.003]) and 10% 10-year risk trend (OR 0.38, 95% CI 0.31-0.47; OR: 0.29, 0.22-0.37 [p for trend &lt;0.001]). The present study showed that there was a modest lifestyle behavior change using a program without face-to-face contact. The employees who maintained and improved their lifestyle had a lower OPCR and 10% 10-year risk. Future study should increase the number of employees actively attempting to improve their lifestyles at a worksite 
24231019	Relationship between skipping breakfast and bone mineral density in young Japanese women. 	BACK GROUND AND AIMS: It is well known that insufficient nutrient intake leads to poor bone status. To find a simple evaluation method for prevention of nutrition intake disorder, a cross-sectional study with 275 healthy Japanese female students aged 19-25 was conducted. Anthropometric parameters, bone mineral density (BMD) at lumbar and total hip, bone metabolic markers and physical activity were measured in study participants and the frequency of skipping meals (breakfast, lunch, supper), and absolute values for nutrient intakes were assessed using a Diet History Questionnaire. The frequency of skipping breakfast significantly correlate to total energy intake (ρ= -0.276, p&lt;0.001). BMI, total intake of energy, intake of protein, intake of phosphate, and energy expenditure positively correlated significantly to BMD at lumbar and total hip (p&lt;0.05) using simple linear regression. BMI (regression coefficient (b))=0.088, p&lt;0.001), bone alkaline phosphatase (b= -0.050, p=0.012), total energy expenditure (b=0.019, p&lt;0.001), and frequency of skipping breakfast (b= -0.018, p=0.048) were independent risk factors for lower total hip BMD by multiple regression analysis. The total hip BMD in participants who skipped breakfast three or more times was significantly lower than in those who did not skip breakfast (p=0.007). In conclusion, managing the frequency of skipping breakfast and reducing it to &lt;3 times per week may be beneficial for the maintenance of bone health in younger women. Abstract available from the publisher. 
22798563	Nutritional quality of breakfast and physical activity independently predict the literacy and numeracy scores of children after adjusting for socioeconomic status. 	Health-related behaviors [physical activity (PA), nutritional quality of breakfast and sleep]; personal variables (self-esteem, attitudes to PA and gender) and socioeconomic status (SES) (school SES and parental education), were examined in relation to literacy and numeracy scores of 824 grade 3-7 children. Participants completed a questionnaire, and their national literacy and numeracy test scores were retrieved. Mothers (N = 755) completed a telephone interview. Students of highest school SES, maternal education, nutritional quality of breakfast, more sedentary time and female gender had higher literacy scores. SES, maternal education, male gender and total minutes of daily PA were predictors of numeracy with an interaction between greater total PA in boys and greater numeracy. Even though the socioeconomic factors that have predicted children's academic achievement for many decades are still clearly set in place, there are also other modifiable health influences that affect literacy and numeracy and are independent of SES. The current findings provide evidence for health educators and school administrators who may garner support for both breakfast programs and daily school PA for the dual purposes of health promotion as well as for the improvement of literacy and numeracy in settings in which social class may be acting against the educational interests of disadvantaged children. 
25012598	Northward range expansion requires synchronization of both overwintering behaviour and physiology with photoperiod in the invasive Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata). 	Photoperiodic phenological adaptations are prevalent in many organisms living in seasonal environments. As both photoperiod and growth season length change with latitude, species undergoing latitudinal range expansion often need to synchronize their life cycle with a changing photoperiod and growth season length. Since adaptive synchronization often involves a large number of time-consuming genetic changes, behavioural plasticity might be a faster way to adjust to novel conditions. We compared behavioural and physiological traits in overwintering (diapause) preparation in three latitudinally different European Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) populations reared under two photoperiods. Our aim was to study whether behavioural plasticity could play a role in rapid range expansion into seasonal environments. Our results show that while burrowing into the soil occurred in the southernmost studied population also under a non-diapause-inducing long photoperiod, the storage lipid content of these beetles was very low compared to the northern populations. However, similar behavioural plasticity was not found in the northern populations. Furthermore, the strongest suppression of energy metabolism was seen in pre-diapause beetles from the northernmost population. These results could indicate accelerated diapause preparation and possibly energetic adjustments due to temporal constraints imposed by a shorter, northern, growth season. Our results indicate that behavioural plasticity in burrowing may have facilitated initial range expansion of L. decemlineata in Europe. However, long-term persistence at high latitudes has required synchronization of burrowing behaviour with physiological traits. The results underline that eco-physiological life-history traits of insects, such as diapause, should be included in studies on range expansion. 
23483696	Behavioural avoidance and enhanced dispersal in neonicotinoid-resistant Myzus persicae (Sulzer). 	The peach potato aphid Myzus persicae is a major agricultural pest capable of transmitting over 100 plant viruses to a wide range of crops. Control relies largely upon treatment with neonicotinoid insecticides such as thiamethoxam (TMX). In 2009, a strain denoted FRC, which exhibits between 255- and 1679-fold resistance to current neonicotinoids previously linked to metabolic and target site resistance, was discovered in France. Dispersal behaviour may potentially further enhance the resistance of this strain. This study investigated this possibility and is the first to compare the dispersal behaviour of aphid clones of the same species with differing levels of neonicotinoid resistance. Comparing the dispersal behaviour of the FRC strain with that of a clone of lower neonicotinoid resistance (5191A), and a susceptible clone (US1L) highlighted several differences. Most importantly, the FRC strain exhibited an increased ability to locate untreated areas when presented with an environment consisting of both TMX-treated and untreated plant tissue. The altered dispersal behaviour of the FRC may partially account for the high level of neonicotinoid resistance exhibited by this strain in the field. Since the dispersal of aphid vectors is key to the transmission of viruses across crop fields this has implications for current crop protection practice. 
23692142	Risk avoidance in sympatric large carnivores: reactive or predictive? 	1. Risks of predation or interference competition are major factors shaping the distribution of species. An animal's response to risk can either be reactive, to an immediate risk, or predictive, based on preceding risk or past experiences. The manner in which animals respond to risk is key in understanding avoidance, and hence coexistence, between interacting species. 2. We investigated whether cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), known to be affected by predation and competition by lions (Panthera leo) and spotted hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta), respond reactively or predictively to the risks posed by these larger carnivores. 3. We used simultaneous spatial data from Global Positioning System (GPS) radiocollars deployed on all known social groups of cheetahs, lions and spotted hyaenas within a 2700 km(2) study area on the periphery of the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana. The response to risk of encountering lions and spotted hyaenas was explored on three levels: short-term or immediate risk, calculated as the distance to the nearest (contemporaneous) lion or spotted hyaena, long-term risk, calculated as the likelihood of encountering lions and spotted hyaenas based on their cumulative distributions over a 6-month period and habitat-associated risk, quantified by the habitat used by each of the three species. 4. We showed that space and habitat use by cheetahs was similar to that of lions and, to a lesser extent, spotted hyaenas. However, cheetahs avoided immediate risks by positioning themselves further from lions and spotted hyaenas than predicted by a random distribution. 5. Our results suggest that cheetah spatial distribution is a hierarchical process, first driven by resource acquisition and thereafter fine-tuned by predator avoidance; thus suggesting a reactive, rather than a predictive, response to risk. 
25041317	Critical swimming speeds of wild-caught sand-smelt Atherina presbyter larvae. 	Swimming abilities of wild-caught sand-smelt Atherina presbyter larvae were assessed as critical swimming speed (Ucrit ) throughout ontogeny. The mean Ucrit increased with size, ranging from 3·6 to 18·7 cm s(-1) , over the size range of 6·6-21·0 mm LT . This indicates that at hatching A. presbyter larvae, far from being passive floaters, are already capable of active behaviours, which may influence their dispersal patterns. 
24698902	Validity of Bartram's Painted Vulture (Aves: Cathartidae). 	William Bartram described the Painted Vulture (Vultur sacra) as a new species in his 1791 book on travels in Florida and other southeastern states. However, no specimen of this bird survives, and it has not been reported by any subsequent ornithologist. Bartram's detailed description is not presently endorsed by the American Ornithologists' Union and has been widely regarded as a myth, a misdescribed King Vulture Sarcoramphus papa (Linnaeus), a misdescribed Northern Caracara Caracara cheriway (Jacquin), or a garbled mixture of species. In fact, his description bears almost no resemblance to a Northern Caracara, but it does match the King Vulture in all important respects except tail color (which is uniform dark brown in all ages and sexes of King Vultures but was white with a dark brown or black tip in Bartram's description). Most 20th century ornithologists commenting on Bartram's bird have been reluctant to accept his description because of the tail-color discrepancy. Only McAtee (1942) concluded that his description could be fully accurate as written, indicating a bird closely related to, but different from, a typical King Vulture. Paralleling Bartram's description is an apparently independent account and painting of a vulture of uncertain geographic origin by Eleazar Albin (1734). Details of Albin's description, including tail color, are very similar to those of Bartram's description. The only discrepancies are minor differences in color of softparts and tail that seem explicable as intraspecific variation. Available evidence suggests that Bartram knew nothing of Albin's description, and if so, Albin's bird provides quite persuasive support for the validity of Bartram's bird. Equally important, none of the arguments offered historically against the validity of the Painted Vulture is persuasive when examined closely. Together, these and other factors make a strong case for acceptance of Bartram's Painted Vulture as a historic resident of northern Florida and likely other adjacent regions. 
24755963	Effects of domestic air travel on technical and tactical performance and recovery in soccer. 	The current study examined the effects of short-haul air travel on competition performance and subsequent recovery. Six male professional Australian football (soccer) players were recruited to participate in the study. Data were collected from 12 matches, which included 6 home and away matches against the same 4 teams. Together with the outcome of each match, data were obtained for team technical and tactical performance indicators and individual player-movement patterns. Furthermore, sleep quantity and quality, hydration, and perceptual fatigue were measured 2 days before, the day of, and 2 days after each match. More competition points were accumulated (P &gt; .05, d = 1.10) and fewer goals were conceded (P &gt; .05, d = 0.93) in home than in away matches. Furthermore, more shots on goal (P &gt; .05, d = 1.17) and corners (P &gt; .05, d = 1.45) and fewer opposition shots on goal (P &gt; .05, d = 1.18) and corners (P &lt; .05, d = 2.32) occurred, alongside reduced total distance covered (P &gt; .05, d = 1.19) and low-intensity activity (P &lt; .05, d = 2.25) during home than during away matches. However, while oxygen saturation was significantly lower during than before and after outbound and return travel (P &lt; .01), equivocal differences in sleep quantity and quality, hydration, and perceptual fatigue were observed before and after competition away compared with home. These results suggest that, compared with short-haul air travel, factors including situational variables, territoriality, tactics, and athlete psychological state are more important in determining match outcome. Furthermore, despite the potential for disrupted recovery patterns, return travel did not impede player recovery or perceived readiness to train. 
23143931	Effect of airline travel on performance: a review of the literature. 	The need for athletes to travel long distances has spurred investigation into the effect of air travel across multiple time zones on athletic performance. Rapid eastward or westward travel may negatively affect the body in many ways; therefore, strategies should be employed to minimise these effects which may hamper athletic performance. In this review, the fundamentals of circadian rhythm disruption are examined along with additional effects of airline travel including jet lag, sleep deprivation, travel at altitude and nutritional considerations that negatively affect performance. Evidence-based recommendations are provided at the end of the manuscript to minimise the effects of airline travel on performance. 
