Associations Between Primary Residence and Mental Health in Global Marginalized Populations.

Scholars suggest that marginalized people in non-urban areas experience higher distress levels and fewer psychosocial resources than in urban areas. Researchers have yet to test whether precise proximity to urban centers is associated with mental health for marginalized populations. We recruited 1733 people who reported living in 45 different countries. Participants entered their home locations and completed measures of anxiety, depression, social support, and resilience. Regression and thematic analyses were used to determine what role distance from legislative and urban centers may play in mental health when marginalized people were disaggregated. Greater distance from legislative center predicted higher anxiety and resilience. Greater distance from urban center also predicted more resilience. Thematic analyses yielded five categories (e.g., safety, connection) that further illustrated the impact of geographic location on health. Implications for community mental health are discussed including the need to better understand and further expand resilience in rural areas.

First Measurement of the Total Neutron Cross Section on Argon between 100 and 800 MeV.

We report the first measurement of the neutron cross section on argon in the energy range of 100-800 MeV. The measurement was obtained with a 4.3-h exposure of the Mini-CAPTAIN detector to the WNR/LANSCE beam at LANL. The total cross section is measured from the attenuation coefficient of the neutron flux as it traverses the liquid argon volume. A set of 2631 candidate interactions is divided in bins of the neutron kinetic energy calculated from time-of-flight measurements. These interactions are reconstructed with custom-made algorithms specifically designed for the data in a time projection chamber the size of the Mini-CAPTAIN detector. The energy averaged cross section is 0.91±0.10(stat)±0.09(syst) b. A comparison of the measured cross section is made to the GEANT4 and FLUKA event generator packages, where the energy averaged cross sections in this range are 0.60 and 0.68 b, respectively.

The Massive Auditory Lexical Decision (MALD) database.

The Massive Auditory Lexical Decision (MALD) database is an end-to-end, freely available auditory and production data set for speech and psycholinguistic research, providing time-aligned stimulus recordings for 26,793 words and 9592 pseudowords, and response data for 227,179 auditory lexical decisions from 231 unique monolingual English listeners. In addition to the experimental data, we provide many precompiled listener- and item-level descriptor variables. This data set makes it easy to explore responses, build and test theories, and compare a wide range of models. We present summary statistics and analyses.

Sensorimotor influences on speech perception in infancy.

The influence of speech production on speech perception is well established in adults. However, because adults have a long history of both perceiving and producing speech, the extent to which the perception-production linkage is due to experience is unknown. We addressed this issue by asking whether articulatory configurations can influence infants' speech perception performance. To eliminate influences from specific linguistic experience, we studied preverbal, 6-mo-old infants and tested the discrimination of a nonnative, and hence never-before-experienced, speech sound distinction. In three experimental studies, we used teething toys to control the position and movement of the tongue tip while the infants listened to the speech sounds. Using ultrasound imaging technology, we verified that the teething toys consistently and effectively constrained the movement and positioning of infants' tongues. With a looking-time procedure, we found that temporarily restraining infants' articulators impeded their discrimination of a nonnative consonant contrast but only when the relevant articulator was selectively restrained to prevent the movements associated with producing those sounds. Our results provide striking evidence that even before infants speak their first words and without specific listening experience, sensorimotor information from the articulators influences speech perception. These results transform theories of speech perception by suggesting that even at the initial stages of development, oral-motor movements influence speech sound discrimination. Moreover, an experimentally induced "impairment" in articulator movement can compromise speech perception performance, raising the question of whether long-term oral-motor impairments may impact perceptual development.

Does early motor development contribute to speech perception?

At the end of the target article, Keven & Akins (K&A) put forward a challenge to the developmental psychology community to consider the development of complex psychological processes - in particular, intermodal infant perception - across different levels of analysis. We take up that challenge and consider the possibility that early emerging stereotypies might help explain the foundations of the link between speech perception and speech production.

The organization and reorganization of audiovisual speech perception in the first year of life.

The period between six and 12 months is a sensitive period for language learning during which infants undergo auditory perceptual attunement, and recent results indicate that this sensitive period may exist across sensory modalities. We tested infants at three stages of perceptual attunement (six, nine, and 11 months) to determine 1) whether they were sensitive to the congruence between heard and seen speech stimuli in an unfamiliar language, and 2) whether familiarization with congruent audiovisual speech could boost subsequent non-native auditory discrimination. Infants at six- and nine-, but not 11-months, detected audiovisual congruence of non-native syllables. Familiarization to incongruent, but not congruent, audiovisual speech changed auditory discrimination at test for six-month-olds but not nine- or 11-month-olds. These results advance the proposal that speech perception is audiovisual from early in ontogeny, and that the sensitive period for audiovisual speech perception may last somewhat longer than that for auditory perception alone.

The acoustic properties of bilingual infant-directed speech.

Does the acoustic input for bilingual infants equal the conjunction of the input heard by monolinguals of each separate language? The present letter tackles this question, focusing on maternal speech addressed to 11-month-old infants, on the cusp of perceptual attunement. The acoustic characteristics of the point vowels /a,i,u/ were measured in the spontaneous infant-directed speech of French-English bilingual mothers, as well as in the speech of French and English monolingual mothers. Bilingual caregivers produced their two languages with acoustic prosodic separation equal to that of the monolinguals, while also conveying distinct spectral characteristics of the point vowels in their two languages.

Perioperative ingestion of caffeine and postoperative headache.

The interruption of daily consumption of caffeine-containing beverages can cause headache and other symptoms within 8 hours. Resumption of caffeine alleviates these symptoms. Surgical patients routinely fast preoperatively and may have postoperative symptoms from caffeine withdrawal. In the current study, we determined whether perioperative caffeine consumption altered the incidence of postoperative headache. After institutional approval of the study design, 233 surgical outpatients were surveyed about history of headaches, caffeine consumption, and the presence and severity of headaches postoperatively. Of the 233 patients, 190 (82%) drank caffeinated beverages daily (mean daily consumption, 290 mg of caffeine). Postoperative headaches occurred in 22% of patients who routinely drank caffeinated beverages but in only 7% of those who did not (P < 0.03). Other factors associated with postoperative headaches included a history of frequent headaches (P < 0.0001), age of 50 years or younger (P < 0.002), and amount of daily caffeine ingested (P < 0.01). Among daily caffeine drinkers, those who drank caffeinated beverages on the day of the surgical procedure had a lower incidence of postoperative headaches than did those who abstained (17% versus 28%; P < 0.04). Postoperative headaches may be related to several factors. Perioperative intake of caffeine altered postoperative well-being. Caffeine given preoperatively may limit postoperative withdrawal headaches among the millions of daily drinkers of caffeinated beverages. A randomized, prospective, and blinded trial to test this hypothesis is warranted.

Prophylactic intravenous administration of caffeine and recovery after ambulatory surgical procedures.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether prophylactic intravenous administration of caffeine, to daily caffeine users, decreases the frequency of postoperative headache and shortens recovery time. DESIGN: The study was a prospective, randomized, double-blind investigation with predetermined sample size and statistical power. MATERIAL AND METHODS: After Mayo Institutional Review Board approval and informed consent were obtained, 300 adult ambulatory surgical patients were enrolled in this study, which included randomization to receive either placebo or caffeine (200 mg intravenously) in the postanesthesia care unit. While recuperating, patients were allowed their choice of postoperative beverages. Before dismissal, patients completed a questionnaire providing details about intake of caffeine and tobacco, history of headache, and demographic data. Patients were considered "at risk" for symptoms of caffeine withdrawal if they did not drink a caffeinated beverage after the surgical procedure. RESULTS: Completed questionnaires were obtained from 234 patients. Patients at risk for symptoms of caffeine withdrawal were less likely to have a postoperative headache if they received caffeine intravenously rather than placebo-10% versus 23% (P < 0.05). Time until recovery was not significantly different between caffeine and placebo study groups. CONCLUSION: We conclude that prophylactic intravenous administration of caffeine was beneficial for those patients at risk for symptoms of caffeine withdrawal. For patients who consume caffeinated beverages on a daily basis, we recommend prophylactic administration of caffeine on the day of an ambulatory surgical procedure and anesthesia.

Comparison of analgesic requirements after liver transplantation and cholecystectomy.

In a prospective study of 10 patients who underwent liver transplantation and 10 patients who underwent cholecystectomy, we analyzed the postoperative analgesic requirements and the resultant plasma morphine concentrations. Analgesia was more intense, with less medication, and the plasma morphine concentration was significantly lower in the liver transplant group than in the cholecystectomy group. This finding is most likely attributable to endogenous factors rather than to altered morphine pharmacokinetics.

Atypical hyperplasia, proliferative fibrocystic change, and exogenous hormone use.

BACKGROUND: The association between breast cancer development and exogenous hormone use (EHU) is suggested by indirect clinical evidence. We undertook this study to better define the relationship that EHU has with proliferative fibrocystic change (PFC) and atypical hyperplasia (AH). METHODS: Women diagnosed with AH without associated carcinoma from January 1990 to December 1999 were compared with control subjects who underwent breast biopsy procedures during the same interval and who were diagnosed with either a proliferative fibrocystic change (PFC) or a nonproliferative fibrocystic change (NPFC). EHU was defined as the use of estrogen or progesterone taken together or separately within 3 months of biopsy. RESULTS: EHU was significantly higher in patients with AH compared with women with NPFC (P =.01). This observation was also significant if all proliferative change (both AH and PFC) was compared with NPFC (P =.03); it was not significant when PFC alone was compared with NPFC. No significant difference in EHU was demonstrated between women with AH and those with PFC. CONCLUSIONS: There is strong association between AH and EHU. These results support the theory that a continuum exists between hyperplasia and carcinoma and that EHU may influence the transition from one to the other in an undefined subset of women. We encourage our patients with AH to discontinue EHU.

Viscoelastic stress/strain behavior of pharmaceutical tablets: analysis during unloading and postcompression periods.

The processes of nonequilibrium generation and decay of axial and radial stresses within tablet compacts were analyzed in terms of three-dimensional linear viscoelastic theory. A rotary tablet press was instrumented to measure punch and die wall stresses during the compression and postcompression periods. Following compression, tablets were permitted to remain at the compression site within the die, and the die wall stress was followed. Microcrystalline cellulose, spray-processed lactose, and sulfacetamide are known to have different compression characteristics and were found to differ significantly in their viscoelastic parameters. Compacts assumed their final viscoelastic state prior to the time of punch separation. Theory permits separation of material behavior into dilation and distortion components. Dilation, thought to be dependent on voids, was elastic in all cases. Distortion effects could be described well by a Kelvin solid model. Results indicate that viscoelastic properties are functions of compression conditions and may be useful in adjusting compression conditions to avoid problems such as capping.

Effects of polyoxypropylene 15 stearyl ether and propylene glycol on percutaneous penetration rate of diflorasone diacetate.

Theoretical models for percutaneous penetration are described, and a diffusion apparatus useful in the evaluation of transport kinetics of drugs applied to skin is discussed. Experimental data are presented for: (a) the flux of diflorasone diacetate through hairless mouse skin, (b) the percutaneous penetration profile of propylene glycol, (c) the effects of vehicle concentrations of polyoxypropylene 15 stearyl ether and propylene glycol on the percutaneous flux of diflorasone diacetate, (d) skin--vehicle partition coefficients of diflorasone diacetate, (e) the solubility profile of diflorasone diacetate as a function of solvent concentration, and (f) the alteration of the skin's resistance to the penetration of diflorasone diacetate due to propylene glycol. Excess solvent in a vehicle caused a decrease in the percutaneous flux of diflorasone diacetate. Formulations containing 0.05 and 0.1% diflorasone diacetate had similar penetration rates when the solvent concentration was optimized for each percentage of diflorasone diacetate.

Unloading and postcompression viscoelastic stress versus strain behavior of pharmaceutical solids.

The viscoelastic properties of several compacts composed of drugs and direct compression excipients have been measured during the stress unloading and postcompression phases of the tablet compression process. Measurements of applied strains and the resultant stresses, generated in the tablet structure under compaction, were made using a rotary press. The press was instrumented to measure punch and die wall stresses at normal operating speeds. The three-dimensional viscoelastic theory, used in data analysis, provides for the separate characterization of tablet behavior into its dilation and distortion components. The tablets investigated were found to behave elastically in dilation, but to have both viscous and elastic contributions to their stress/strain relaxation in distortion. This latter behavior could be modeled well as a Kelvin solid. Data derived from an elastic-in-dilation, Kelvin-in-distortion analysis of tablets, compressed at similar machine speeds but at various peak pressures, were found to vary widely depending on tablet composition. Dependence of the viscous and elastic parameters on compression conditions was found to be predictive of conditions under which capping or lamination of the compact would occur.

Raw soybeans for gestating swine.

An experiment was conducted to determine the influence of feeding ground raw soybeans to swine during gestation on reproductive performance for three consecutive parities. Sixty crossbred gilts were bred and randomly assigned to two dietary treatments with 30 gilts/treatment. The diets were formulated to contain 14% crude protein with either soybean meal (SBM) or raw soybeans (RSB) serving as the source of supplemental protein. All animals were fed in individual gestation stalls and were given 1.81 kg of feed/d. Upon entering the farrowing house at approximately 110 d of gestation, all animals, regardless of previous treatment, were fed the same lactation diet (15% protein corn-soybean meal diet) until the pigs were weaned (28 d). After completing three parities, 88 of a possible 90 litters were farrowed by each dietary group. Total number of live pigs at parturition and 21 d for three parities were: (SBM) 887, 732 and (RSB) 924, 765, respectively. Average pig birth and 21-d weights for each dietary group were (SBM) 1.52, 5.42 and (RSB) 1.59, 5.41 kg, respectively. Pigs from dams fed RSB had higher average pig birth weights (P less than .05), but weaning weights were not affected. There were no significant differences in maternal weight changes during gestation. Milk samples were collected within 6 h after parturition, 3 and 14 d of lactation. Percentage milk fat for each time period was: (SBM) 5.6, 9.0, 7.0 and (RSB) 6.3, 10.7, 6.5, respectively. Sows fed RSB had a higher milk fat at 3 d (P less than .05) but a lower milk fat at 14 d (P less than .1) than did the sows fed SBM. The study indicated RSB can be effectively utilized in gestation diets fed to swine.

Bioavailability of calcium in sun-cured alfalfa meal and effect of dietary calcium concentration on bone and plasma characteristics during two phases of gestation in gilts.

A study was conducted with gravid gilts to determine the bioavailability of Ca in sun-cured alfalfa meal (AM) and the effect of dietary Ca concentration on bone and blood characteristics during two phases of gestation. Two Ca sources (AM and CaCO3), three dietary concentrations of Ca (50, 75, and 100% of the NRC requirement), and two gestation phases (55 and 105 d) were used in a 2 x 3 x 2 factorial arrangement in a randomized design with five replications (60 gravid gilts). Response criteria were as follows: 1) plasma Ca, P, and alkaline phosphatase (AKP) measured at the onset and at 25-d intervals and 2) metacarpal (MC) and metatarsal (MT) bone breaking strength (kilograms), ash content (percentage), density (grams/cubic centimeter), and ash density (grams of ash/cubic centimeter) at the conclusion of the experiment. Plasma Ca, P, and AKP concentrations were similar between Ca sources. Because the response between Ca sources was similar, the data were pooled among sources. There was a linear decline in plasma P and AKP (P < or = .05) as dietary Ca concentration increased. As gestation progressed from 0 to 100 d, there was a decline (P < .05) in plasma Ca and P. There were no differences in bone breaking strength and ash between Ca sources in either the MC or MT. No differences in bone strength between gestation phases occurred. A gestation phase x dietary Ca concentration interaction (P < .05) was observed for bone ash in both bones.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Effect of calcium source, dietary calcium concentration, and gestation phase on various bone characteristics in gestating gilts.

Sixty gravid crossbred gilts were allotted to a 2 x 3 x 2 factorial arrangement of treatments: two Ca sources (sun-cured alfalfa meal and CaCO3), three dietary concentrations of Ca (50, 75, and 100% of NRC requirements), and two phases of gestation (55 and 105 d). The objectives were to determine the effect of Ca source, dietary Ca concentration, and gestation phase on bone characteristics (bone breaking strength, bone ash percentage, bone density, and bone ash density in the rib, thoracic, and coccygeal bones), to correlate bone responses to determine relative bone activity, and to determine reliability of the coccygeal bones as indicators of Ca status in the body. At 55 d, rib strength and coccygeal ash content were lower (P < .01) than at 105 d of gestation. A gestation phase x Ca concentration (P < .05) interaction occurred. As Ca concentration increased, thoracic strength and rib ash responded quadratically during each gestation phase, for which at 55 d a minima and at 105 d a maxima was produced at 75% of NRC. A Ca source x Ca concentration (P < .05) interaction occurred. Gilts fed alfalfa had the lowest rib bone and ash density when fed 75% of NRC for Ca, whereas gilts fed CaCO3 were highest at this level of Ca compared with the other concentrations. Generally, all bones were positively correlated with respect to their response to dietary Ca concentration. Few negative correlations were observed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Sodium nitroprusside may modulate Escherichia coli antioxidant enzyme expression by interacting with the ferric uptake regulator.

Efforts to explore possible relationships between nitric oxide (NO) and antioxidant enzymes in an Escherichia coli model have uncovered a possible interaction between sodium nitroprusside (SNP), a potent, NO-donating drug, and the ferric uptake regulator (Fur), an iron(II)--dependent regulator of antioxidant and iron acquisition proteins present in Gram-negative bacteria. The enzymatic profiles of superoxide dismutase and hydroperoxidase during logarithmic phase of growth were studied via non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and activity staining specific to each enzyme. Though NO is known to induce transcription of the manganese-bearing isozyme of SOD (MnSOD), treatment with SNP paradoxically suppressed MnSOD expression and greatly enhanced the activity of the iron-containing equivalent (FeSOD). Fur, one of six global regulators of MnSOD transcription, is uniquely capable of suppressing MnSOD while enhancing FeSOD expression through distinct mechanisms. We thus hypothesize that Fur is complacent in causing this behaviour and that the iron(II) component of SNP is activating Fur. E. coli was also treated with the SNP structural analogues, potassium ferricyanide (PFi) and potassium ferrocyanide (PFo). Remarkably, the ferrous PFo was capable of mimicking the SNP-related pattern, whereas the ferric PFi was not. As Fur depends upon ferrous iron for activation, we submit this observation of redox-specificity as preliminary supporting evidence for the hypothesized Fur-SNP interaction. Iron is an essential metal that the human innate immune system sequesters to prevent its use by invading pathogens. As NO is known to inhibit iron-bound Fur, and as activated Fur regulates iron uptake through feedback inhibition, we speculate that the administration of this drug may disrupt this strategic management of iron in favour of residing Gram-negative species by providing a source of iron in an otherwise iron-scarce environment capable of encouraging its own uptake. However, these gains may be counteracted by the oxidative consequences of iron and NO, as the former can catalyse the formation of toxic free radical species while the latter can inhibit enzymes and contribute to the formation of other toxic compounds. The potential consequences of SNP on microbial growth warrant future investigation.