Dietary zinc intake and sex differences in taste acuity in healthy young adults.

BACKGROUND: Previous research suggests that adequate dietary zinc intake may be important in determining the sensory experience of food, appetite and consequently, dietary quality. The aim of this pilot study was to explore relationships between taste sensitivity and dietary zinc intake in healthy young adults (age 20-40 years: 24 male, mean age +/- SD = 27 +/- 4.86 years; 26 female, mean age +/- SD = 23 +/- 2.10). METHOD: A signal detection method was used to assess taste acuity for the four basic tastes: sweet (glucose), sour (citric acid), salt (sodium chloride) and bitter (quinine). A 4-day food diary was used to determine dietary intakes of zinc (mg day(-1)) and salt. RESULTS: Males reported a higher zinc intake than females (P=0.001). Higher dietary zinc intake was associated with better taste acuity for salt in females (P=0.017) but not in males. Acuity for bitter taste appeared to be related to zinc intake in males (P=0.007) but not females. Among those whose average daily zinc intake was below the RNI, males were less sensitive than females to sour (P=0.02) and bitter (P=0.014) taste. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that zinc is more important for taste acuity in males than females and indicate the importance of taking sex differences into account when studying taste acuity.

Zinc status and taste acuity in older Europeans: the ZENITH study.

BACKGROUND: Age-related decline in taste acuity may be both a cause and an effect of depleted zinc and/or increased zinc requirement. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore associations between zinc status and taste acuity in healthy older European adults aged 55-90 y. SAMPLE: Volunteers were recruited within Italy (n = 108 aged 70-90 y), the United Kingdom (UK) (n = 93 aged 55-70) and two regions of France (n = 186), Grenoble (aged 70-90 y) and Clermont-Ferrand (aged 55-70 y). METHODS: A signal detection theory approach was adopted, employing a three-alternative, forced-choice procedure. The data were converted to R-indices and bivariate correlations were computed to explore relationships between serum zinc, erythrocyte zinc and taste acuity. ANOVA was undertaken to determine regional differences in zinc status. RESULTS: Higher erythrocyte zinc status was associated with better acuity for salt (sodium chloride) taste in the sample as a whole (P = 0.012) (n = 385). Higher serum zinc levels were associated with greater sensitivity to sour taste (citric acid) (P = 0.015) only in the older groups (aged 70-90 y). There were no apparent associations between serum or erythrocyte zinc status and acuity for bitter (quinine) or sweet (sucrose) tastes irrespective of age. CONCLUSION: These results agree with those previously suggesting that age-related detriment in sensitivity for salt taste may be associated with depleted zinc.

Dietary strategies and uptake of reduced fat foods.

AIM: This research has sought to identify factors determining consumer uptake and rejection of reduced fat foods. Initial qualitative research implied that use of reduced fat products could be dependent upon which dietary health strategies people adopt. This analysis therefore explores the degree to which various dietary strategies predict uptake of reduced fat products. METHOD: Items were derived from prior qualitative findings and responses to relevant issues surveyed by interview (n = 1004) within selected retail outlets throughout Northern Ireland and England. RESULTS: Logistic regression analysis indicated that concern over health, drive to reduce calorie consumption, to increase intake of fish and poultry and fruit and vegetables consistently predicted consumption across a range of reduced fat products. These dietary strategies appeared to predict uptake of reduced fat foods to a greater degree than perceived taste or price. CONCLUSION: The findings imply that for reduced fat foods to achieve universal acceptance promotional messages need to be translated into commonly adopted dietary health strategies.

Interpreting the 'hidden social geographies' of mental health: ethnographies of inclusion and exclusion in semi-institutional places.

This paper critically evaluates, through use of covert ethnographic materials, an inner-city drop-in as a semi-institutional place where the identities of people with mental health problems are influenced by social processes of inclusion and exclusion. It is demonstrated, through an in-depth interpretative approach, that it is possible to understand more about the micro-geographies which make up deinstitutionalized landscapes, and about the social relations which characterise these. Key to this paper are findings which indicate that people with mental health problems cannot be understood as a straightforwardly homogeneous 'excluded' grouping, and that mainstream processes of boundary maintenance are in operation among these constructed 'others'.

The politics of methodology in 'post-medical geography': mental health research and the interview.

This paper argues that emerging 'post-medical geographies' require attention to the methodological in order to fully appreciate how different geographical knowledges are produced and contextualized within the politics of research relationships. 'Geographies of mental health and illness' are focused upon in order to argue that the 'peopling' of health research should also be accompanied by debate about what sorts of methodologies we employ in accessing these minds/bodies and voices. The research interview is a primary focus here. A critique of psychoanalytic approaches to geographical research argues that such 'models' of interpretation and management can mean that participants or research 'subjects' can be framed in almost diagnostic categories of behaviour. Empirical examples of mental health research in Nottingham are used to argue that more flexible approaches which pay attention to perceived dualisms (such as 'sanity' and 'insanity'), negotiation, embodiment, socio-spatial contexts and content within the interview situation may aid in understanding the politics which encompass geographical health research.

Evaluation of the efficacy of routine preoperative electrocardiograms.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of routine preoperative electrocardiograms (ECG) in predicting perioperative cardiovascular complications in an essentially healthy population. DESIGN: Retrospective chart review. SETTING: The adult hospital of a large academic medical center. PARTICIPANTS: One thousand ASA class I and II adult patients undergoing a number of different elective surgical procedures. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The mean age of the population was 48 years (range, 18 to 88), and 53% were female. Fifty-seven percent of the population had a preoperative ECG, of which 56.5% were considered normal, 37.8% were abnormal, and 6.6% were considered borderline. Twenty-seven percent of the population presented with cardiovascular risk factors, and of these, 93.2% had an ECG performed. Seventy-three percent of patients had no cardiovascular risk factors, and of these, 44.5% had a preoperative ECG. Patients who had cardiovascular risk factors had significantly more abnormal ECGs than those without (51% v 26.1%,); however, there was no difference in the prevalence of perioperative events between the two groups. The positive predictive value of an abnormal ECG for a perioperative event was slightly greater for patients with cardiovascular risk factors than for those without (42.7% v 34.7%, respectively); however, this difference was not significant. In addition, a normal ECG was just as predictive as an abnormal one. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this study suggest that the practice of routine ECG screening for patients with no cardiovascular risk factors is a poor predictor of perioperative complications in this patient population. A review of the current criteria for ordering preoperative ECGs may reduce the number of unnecessary tests and improve cost-effectiveness.

Calcium: its role in alpha 1-adrenergic stimulation of atrial natriuretic peptide secretion.

alpha 1-Adrenergic agonists increase atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) secretion. The mechanism of alpha 1-adrenergic-stimulated secretion is not known. In this study we examine the calcium dependency of alpha 1-agonist-stimulated ANP secretion. Isolated superfused rat left atria paced at 2 Hz were used for study. Superfusion with 10 microM phenylephrine increased ANP secretion by 2-fold. Lowering the superfusate calcium concentration from 1.8 to 0.2 mM totally negated the secretory response to phenylephrine. To determine whether this reflected a reduction in calcium influx, reduced calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), or both, atria were superfused with 1 microM ryanodine, an inhibitor of SR calcium release. Ryanodine had no effect on phenylephrine-stimulated ANP secretion. Atria were superfused with 10 microM nitrendipine to determine whether calcium influx through voltage-dependent calcium channels was a mechanism of calcium entry for stimulation. Nitrendipine inhibited phenylephrine-stimulated ANP secretion by 49% without interfering with alpha 1-adrenergic antagonist receptor binding. This finding was supported by the observation that phenylephrine-stimulated secretion was 52% lower in nonbeating atria. alpha 1-Adrenergic agonists have been reported to enhance Na-H antiporter activity. To determine whether the resulting rise in intracellular sodium may alter Na-Ca exchange to raise intracellular calcium levels, atria were superfused with the Na-H antiporter inhibitor, 5-(N,N-hexamethylene)amiloride. Superfusion with 25 microM 5-(N,N-hexamethylene)amiloride did not inhibit phenylephrine-stimulated ANP secretion. Lastly, the calcium dependency of the maintenance of an established response to phenylephrine was examined. Atria were superfused with phenylephrine in buffer containing 1.8 mM calcium for 45 min, followed by superfusion with phenylephrine in 0.2 mM calcium for 30 min. There was no fall in phenylephrine-stimulated secretion by atria superfused in 0.2 mM calcium. In contrast, addition of the alpha 1-adrenergic antagonist phentolamine induced an immediate fall in phenylephrine-stimulated ANP secretion. We conclude that 1) calcium influx is necessary to initiate alpha 1-agonist-stimulated ANP secretion; 2) calcium release from the SR does not play a role in alpha 1-agonist-stimulated secretion; 3) calcium entry through L-type calcium channels is responsible for half of the calcium influx; 4) enhanced Na-H antiporter activity does not play a role in alpha 1-agonist-stimulated secretion; and 5) maintenance of alpha 1-agonist-stimulated secretion is not dependent on calcium influx.

Inhibition of mammalian 5-lipoxygenase by 2-benzylaminophenols.

A number of 2-benzylaminophenols, prepared from the corresponding 2-aminophenols by reductive alkylation, have been identified as highly potent inhibitors of 5-lipoxygenase with IC50 values in the nanomolar range. Most compounds were also shown to inhibit the release of the peptidoleukotrienes when administered intraperitoneally in a rat model of peritoneal anaphylaxis. Two compounds evaluated for their effects on anaphylactic contractions in isolated human lung were shown to attenuate the leukotriene-induced component of the response.

Natural syntax rules control action sequence of rats.

Knowledge of the principles by which behavioral sequences are generated is essential to progress in our understanding of neural mechanisms. We describe here a set of natural principles or syntax rules that organize the components of grooming and feeding. The behavioral stream of facial grooming or of taste-elicited ingestive/aversive consummatory actions of rats can be viewed as a long series of individual movements linked together to form functional sequences. In order to ascertain the syntax rules that determine how these actions are linked together, many thousands of spontaneous grooming and elicited ingestive/aversive actions were videotaped and scored with a microcomputer. Techniques of information analysis of sequential stereotypy, tabulation of the sequential transitions between single actions and between action groups, and visual inspection for linear action chains, were employed to expose underlying rules of behavioral sequencing. These analyses revealed two global patterns: action perserveration and transitional reciprocation between sequential pairs and triplets, which together account for approximately 75% of all sequential transitions during grooming and ingestion/aversion. The pattern of transitional reciprocation could be divided further into patterns of alternation between individual actions on the one hand, and between perseverating bouts of actions on the other. Global syntax rules applied equally to actions emitted during grooming or during taste-elicited ingestion/aversion. In addition, a specific rule of linear chaining was found to apply only to facial grooming. These natural rules of action syntax provide insight into the sequential structure of behavior, and lend themselves well to analyses of neural mechanisms.