Sociobiology of Rape in Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos): Responses of the Mated Male.

Male mallards respond to rapes of their mate by intervening aggressively against the rapist or rapists, by attempting to force a copulation with the rape victim, or both. Aggressive intervention is more likely against a solitary male than against a group, and forced copulations are more likely immediately after a rape and especially when the rape appears to have been successful. This behavior pattern reflects, strategies consistent with maximizing individual male fitness.

Neighbor Recognition in Two "Solitary" Carnivores: The Raccoon (Procyon lotor) and the Red Fox (Vulpes fulva).

Male raccoons and red foxes were trapped alive and exposed to each other in captivity. Animals of each species trapped close to one another demonstrated a higher frequency of initial dominance-subordinance relationships and lower frequencies of more intense aggressive interactions than did animals trapped at greater distances from each other. This suggests the existence of neighbor recognition and thus a rudimentary social structure within these free-living "solitary" species.

Reconstruction of natural RNA sequences from RNA shape, thermodynamic stability, mutational robustness, and linguistic complexity by evolutionary computation.

The process of designing novel RNA sequences by inverse RNA folding, available in tools such as RNAinverse and InfoRNA, can be thought of as a reconstruction of RNAs from secondary structure. In this reconstruction problem, no physical measures are considered as additional constraints that are independent of structure, aside of the goal to reach the same secondary structure as the input using energy minimization methods. An extension of the reconstruction problem can be formulated since in many cases of natural RNAs, it is desired to analyze the sequence and structure of RNA molecules using various physical quantifiable measures. In prior works that used secondary structure predictions, it has been shown that natural RNAs differ significantly from random RNAs in some of these measures. Thus, we relax the problem of reconstructing RNAs from secondary structure into reconstructing RNAs from shapes, and in turn incorporate physical quantities as constraints. This allows for the design of novel RNA sequences by inverse folding while considering various physical quantities of interest such as thermodynamic stability, mutational robustness, and linguistic complexity. At the expense of altering the number of nucleotides in stems and loops, for example, physical measures can be taken into account. We use evolutionary computation for the new reconstruction problem and illustrate the procedure on various natural RNAs.

Adverse behavioral reactions attributed to triazolam in the Food and Drug Administration's Spontaneous Reporting System.

Reports of adverse behavioral reactions to triazolam, a triazolobenzodiazepine ultra-short-acting hypnotic, were examined in the postmarketing surveillance Spontaneous Reporting System of the Food and Drug Administration. Reports for triazolam of confusion, amnesia, bizarre behavior, agitation, and hallucinations were compared with reports of these reactions for temazepam, another short-acting hypnotic. Analysis of individual case reports from marketing through 1985 for triazolam vs temazepam showed 133 vs two for confusion, 109 vs three for amnesia, 59 vs two for bizarre behavior, 58 vs four for agitation, and 40 vs one for hallucinations. Considering extent of use, reporting rates for triazolam were 22 to 99 times those for temazepam, depending on the reaction. Reactions to triazolam tended to occur at higher doses and in older patients. This and an updated analysis of aggregate reports for the first 7 years of marketing of each drug with reporting rates and adjustment for various factors suggest a higher occurrence of these reactions with triazolam, but selection factors cannot be completely ruled out. When treating insomnia, physicians should emphasize sleep hygiene practices as alternatives to drug therapy; if drug therapy is required, they should prescribe hypnotics at the lowest recommended doses for the shortest clinically necessary durations and discontinue medication use should any adverse reactions occur.

The fitness of categories and vice versa.

Two basic propositions are developed as useful in an evolutionary analysis of the origins of complex biobehavioral categories: 1. Such categories derive from the gradual accumulation of a very large number of categoric alternatives, each of which is very small, and 2. Fitness considerations provide valuable insight into the ultimate decision process whereby these micro-categories, and thus eventually, all more complex categories, are achieved.

Ultrasound biomicroscopic detection of anterior ocular segment foreign body after trauma.

PURPOSE: To describe the role of ultrasound biomicroscopy in the detection and localization of foreign bodies in anterior ocular segment foreign body after trauma. METHODS: In a prospective study, ultrasound biomicroscopy was performed in five eyes of five consecutive patients with suspected anterior ocular segment foreign body. RESULTS: In all five eyes, ultrasound biomicroscopy detected and precisely localized small foreign bodies (metallic in two eyes, stone in one eye, plastic in one eye, and ceramic in one eye) in the cornea (one eye), superficial sclera (one eye), and anterior ocular segment (three eyes). Operative procedures to remove the intraocular foreign bodies (three cases) were guided by the ultrasound biomicroscopy information. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound biomicroscopy is a noninvasive method for detecting anterior segment intraocular foreign bodies after perforating trauma. It can be used to accurately diagnose foreign bodies and assist in surgical management, particularly when direct visualization is obscured because of the trauma. In eyes with partial-thickness corneoscleral lacerations or sealed full-thickness corneoscleral laceration and suspected anterior ocular segment foreign body, ultrasound biomicroscopy is a safe and effective method for detecting and localizing foreign bodies in the anterior ocular segment.

Posterior chamber intraocular lens implantation after capsular tear: ultrasound biomicroscopy evaluation.

PURPOSE: To evaluate by ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) the exact position of a posterior chamber intraocular lens (PC IOL) implanted above a posterior capsule tear and to correlate the findings with the outcomes and complication rate. SETTING: Department of Ophthalmology, Rabin Medical Center, Petah Tiqva, Israel. METHODS: In a retrospective noncomparative case series, 36 patients (36 eyes) who had extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE) complicated by capsular tear were evaluated. In all cases, a PC IOL was implanted above the remnant of the capsule without suturing. Ultrasound biomicroscopy was performed to study the exact position of the optic and haptic. The outcomes and complication rate were determined from patient examinations performed during a follow-up of 1 to 6 years. RESULTS: Optic tilt was found in 20 of 36 patients (56%). In 17 patients (47%), both haptics were located in the sulcus. In 15 patients (42%), 1 haptic was observed in the sulcus and 1 in the bag or elsewhere. No correlation was found between the position of the optic and the location of the haptics. Minimal postoperative complications were observed, and only 1 patient required another surgery for a dislocated IOL. CONCLUSION: By UBM, half the patients had optic tilt and more than half the IOLs were not implanted in the sulcus, the intended location.

Use of high-frequency ultrasound imaging to improve delineation of anterior uveal melanoma for proton irradiation.

The aim of this study was to evaluate high-frequency ultrasound imaging (HFUI) as an aid in localizing anterior margins of tumours of the eye for proton therapy. Proton irradiation of ocular melanoma requires an accurate assessment of all tumour margins. The tumour is marked surgically by suturing to the sclera four or five tantalum rings on the borders of the tumour defined by transillumination. In order to evaluate the clinical usefulness of high-frequency ultrasound imaging, four and five rings were surgically placed in a patient with an iris/ciliary body melanoma and in a patient with ciliochoroidal melanoma using transillumination to localize the tumour margins. Subsequently margins were verified by HFUI. In the first patient, the distances between the rings and the limbus were measured using calipers during surgery and were compared with HFUI measurements and measurements from planning software. The distances were comparable within 0.5 mm. In the second patient the treatment was planned in two different ways using EYEPLAN software. In the first scenario the shape of the tumour and its relation to the rings were obtained from the surgeon's mapping, the fundus drawing using a transilluminating point light source, and the HFUI. In the second scenario, the shape of the tumour was deduced from the ring positions only. It was observed that the maximum difference between the tumour edge as seen on high-frequency ultrasound images and the rings was 2.6 mm. The tumour volume was underestimated by 39% when tumour shape was obtained from ring positions only. During the past year we have utilized HFUI in 18 patients having tumours involving the anterior segment of the eye, among which four were treated with proton therapy. In conclusion, we believe that high-frequency ultrasound imaging provides additional information with respect to the location of tumour margins in ciliary body and anterior uveal melanoma. Occult extension of the tumour within the ciliary body or posterior iris may not be appreciated by transillumination alone.

In search of behavioral individuality.

Living things are not created identical: In sexually reproducing species, individuals-except monozygotic twins-are different. Although widely acknowledged, behavioral individuality has received relatively little empirical or theoretical attention. Yet it seems likely that research focusing on individual differences will yield important insights for evolutionarily minded students of behavioral biology, including those interested in better understanding Homo sapiens.

Circadian variation in the frequency of myocardial infarction and death associated with acute pulmonary edema.

The records of 103 patients hospitalized for acute pulmonary edema were reviewed to determine the relationship between short-term outcome and time of presentation to the emergency department. Although only 17% of the patients arrived in the emergency department during the early afternoon hours, half of the deaths in the study occurred in this group. Patients presenting between noon and four PM had a significantly higher incidence of acute myocardial infarction (76% v. 28%, p = 0.03) and death (47% v. 9% p = 0.03) compared with patients presenting at other times. Differences in the pathophysiology of daytime versus nocturnal acute pulmonary edema may account for some of the variation in outcome.

Status displays in automated assembly.

The rapid automation of automotive body assembly operations has resulted in a proliferation of the process steps to be monitored and displayed, thereby making the task of the worker more complex. The progression of assembly and associated machine cycling is controlled by programmable logic controllers whose states are displayed on control panels. The significance of the interface between a worker and several panels used in automated assembly is pointed out. Practical problems with the traditional methods of panel design are discussed. The design and layout of select aspects of such control panels are reviewed with examples in reference to six criteria for panel layout.

Ultrasonographic findings of the optic disc in congenital glaucoma.

A 2-month-old female infant with intractable congenital glaucoma and diffuse corneal opacification underwent trabeculectomy with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) injection in both eyes followed by penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) combined with partial cyclocryotherapy in the right eye. The latter procedure was undertaken despite the B-scan ultrasonographic finding of extensive optic disc cupping in order to provide the infant with some degree of improved visual function. The anatomic and functional results are discussed.

Management of out-of-control behavior: the role of the security officer.

Security personnel must be able to work together with others on the hospital staff to make the hospital environment as emotionally and physically safe as possible. To do this they must understand the causes of aggression as well as techniques that must be applied to defuse or contain it.