The effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on odor associative learning in rats

Alcohol was administered to pregnant females via a liquid diet that contained either 35% ethanol-derived calories (35% EDC) or 0% EDC on gestation days 6-20. An ad lib lab chow group (LC) was also included. In Experiment 1, odor-aversion learning was examined in 10-day-old offspring. While both the 0% EDC and LC groups displayed odor aversions, the 35% EDC offspring did not. In Experiment 2, learning was assessed in an appetitive paradigm in three-day-old offspring. Once again, the 35% EDC offspring showed no evidence of learning. Experiment 3 examined odor-aversion learning in adults. Both alcohol-exposed offspring and controls learned the odor association equally well. These findings suggest that odor associative learning is a sensitive indicator for alcohol-related learning deficits in rat pups although these deficits may dissipate as the offspring matures. Since odor associations play a critical role in neonatal behaviors, these deficits may help explain other behavioral anomalies noted following prenatal alcohol exposure.     

Developmental thermoregulatory deficits in prenatal ethanol exposed long- and short-sleep mice.

Sensitivity to alcohol may influence the severity of prenatal alcohol effects. To examine this hypothesis, the ontogeny of thermoregulation was measured in prenatal ethanol exposed offspring of mice selected for differences in alcohol sensitivity. Pregnant long-sleep (LS) and short-sleep (SS) mice were exposed to 3 or 4 g/kg ethanol or an isocaloric amount of maltose-dextrin twice per day from day 7 through 18 of pregnancy. Doses were given six hours apart via gavage. Nonintubated lab chow controls were included for both genotypes. Offspring were fostered at birth to lactating mice of an outbred strain. Offspring temperatures were measured at 0, 60, and 120 min away from the nest on alternating days from 7 through 21 days of age. LS and SS offspring prenatally exposed to the high ethanol dose showed lower temperatures at the 60 and 120 min time points on each day of testing compared to all other treatment groups. Temperatures of offspring prenatally exposed to the low ethanol dose did not differ from controls. These results suggest a relatively steep dose-response curve for thermoregulatory deficits in LS and SS offspring prenatally exposed to alcohol. Genetically-based alcohol sensitivity did not influence the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on this response.     

What did the doctor say--what did the patient hear? Operational knowledge in clinical communication

OBJECTIVES: We aim to introduce Piaget's concept of 'operational knowledge' from the cognitive theory of learning--as a contribution to the broader understanding of clinical interaction. METHOD: Our study involves a theoretical presentation of different kinds and levels of human understanding, illustrated by a case story in which the difference between operational and figurative knowledge was demonstrated. This study used the case story of a male patient aged 80, who was suffering from ulcerative colitis. We appealed to the reader's perceived relevance of these perspectives, in order to understand what was going on between doctor and patient. RESULTS: The case story demonstrates the phenomenon of operational knowledge in the patient, the close links between communicative action and cognitive understanding, and the importance for the doctor of reflecting upon this level of interaction. CONCLUSION: According to the patient-centred clinical method, the doctor should explore the social and emotional context of the patient in order to understand the meaning of the illness. We suggest that a cognitive dimension should also be added, and that the concept of 'operational knowledge' might be useful for such investigations.      

Work in progress: radioprotection of human breast cancer cells by elevation of intracellular cyclic AMP

MCF-7 human breast cancer cells that were treated for one hour prior to X irradiation with the cyclic AMP-inducing agent 1-methyl-3-isobutylxanthine displayed a slight but significant increase in surviving fraction over untreated controls at each radiation dose level. This was accompanied by a two-fold increase in the level of intracellular cyclic AMP.