Exploratory procedures of tactile images in visually impaired and blindfolded sighted children: How they relate to their consequent performance in drawing

The aim of the present study was to compare the types of exploratory procedures employed by children when exploring bidimensional tactile patterns and correlate the use of these procedures with the children's shape drawing performance. 18 early blind children, 20 children with low vision and 24 age-matched blindfolded sighted children aged approximately 7 or 11 years were included in the study. The children with a visual handicap outperformed the sighted children in terms of haptic exploration and did not produce less recognizable drawings than their sighted counterparts. Close relationships were identified between the types of exploratory procedures employed by the children and their subsequent drawing performance, regardless of visual status. This close link between action and perception in the haptic modality indicates the importance of training blind children in exploratory procedures at an early age.     

A genetic marker for the maternal identification of Atlantic salmon × brown trout hybrids

Interspecific hybridization between Atlantic salmon and brown trout is well documented, but why it should vary so much among populations is not clear. Determining the maternal origin of hybrids can provide insights into the mechanisms underlying interspecific hybridization, but this information is lacking in many studies. Here we present a species-specific mitochondrial DNA marker for the identification of the maternal origin of hybrids. This marker involves only one PCR step followed by fragment analysis, can be integrated within PCR multiplexing for existing nuclear markers for hybrid identification, and is therefore faster and more cost-effective than previous methods.     

Childhood Abuse and Fear of Childbirth—A Population‐based Study

Abstract: Background: Childhood abuse affects adult health. The objective of this study was to examine the association between a self‐reported history of childhood abuse and fear of childbirth. Methods: A population‐based, cross‐sectional study was conducted of 2,365 pregnant women at five obstetrical departments in Norway. We measured childhood abuse using the Norvold Abuse Questionnaire and fear of childbirth using the Wijma Delivery Expectancy Questionnaire. Severe fear of childbirth was defined as a Wijma Delivery Expectancy Questionnaire score of ≥85. Results: Of all women, 566 (23.9%) had experienced any childhood abuse, 257 (10.9%) had experienced emotional abuse, 260 (11%) physical abuse, and 290 (12.3%) sexual abuse. Women with a history of childhood abuse reported severe fear of childbirth significantly more often than those without a history of childhood abuse, 18 percent versus 10 percent (p = 0.001). The association between a history of childhood abuse and severe fear of childbirth remained significant after adjustment for confounding factors for primiparas (adjusted OR: 2.00; 95% CI: 1.30–3.08) but lost its significance for multiparas (adjusted OR: 1.17; 95% CI: 0.76–1.80). The factor with the strongest association with severe fear of childbirth among multiparas was a negative birth experience (adjusted OR: 5.50; 95% CI: 3.77–8.01). Conclusions: A history of childhood abuse significantly increased the risk of experiencing severe fear of childbirth among primiparas. Fear of childbirth among multiparas was most strongly associated with a negative birth experience. (BIRTH 37:4 December 2010)     

The evolutionary origin of the vasopressin/V2-type receptor/aquaporin axis and the urine-concentrating mechanism

In this mini-review, current evidence for how the vasopressin/V2-type receptor/aquaporin axis developed co-evolutionary as a crucial part of the urine-concentrating mechanism will be presented. The present-day human kidney, allowing the concentration of urine up to a maximal osmolality around 1200 mosmol kg(-1)-or urine to plasma osmolality ratio around 4-with essentially no sodium secreted is the result of up to 3 billion years evolution. Moving from aquatic to terrestrial habitats required profound changes in kidney morphology, most notable the loops of Henle modifying the kidneys from basically a water excretory system to a water conserving system. Vasopressin-like molecules has during the evolution played a significant role in body fluid homeostasis, more specifically, the osmolality of body liquids by controlling the elimination/reabsorption of fluid trough stimulating V2-type receptors to mobilize aquaporin water channels in the renal collector tubules. Recent evidence supports that all components of the vasopressin/V2-type receptor/aquaporin axis can be traced back to early precursors in evolutionary history. The potential clinical and pharmacological implications of a better phylogenetic understanding of these biological systems so essential for body fluid homeostasis relates to any pathological aspects of the urine-concentrating mechanism, in particular deficiencies of any part of the vasopressin-V2R-AQP2 axis causing central or nephrogenic diabetes insipidus-and for broader patient populations also in preventing and treating disturbances in human circadian regulation of urine volume and osmolality that may lead to enuresis and nocturia.     

The neglected maxillary process of the palatine bone.

In most recent anatomy textbooks as well as in the latest anatomical nomenclature, the maxillary process of the palatine bone is not mentioned at all. The maxillary process is, however with rare exceptions, always present as an important part of the closure of the hiatus sinus maxillaris. In our material consisting of 200 disarticulated, macerated skull bones and 25 specimens of maxillary sinus, the maxillary process was missing in only 5 cases (2.2%). This process develops in the second year of life and displays different shapes. It can be long and slender or wide and round shaped. Its upper margin is more or less concave, corresponding to the margin of the hiatus over which it is bent. Its inferior margin can be smooth or irregular. In instances in which maxillary sinus is double, the os palatinum has two maxillary processes, so that both sinuses are partly closed with the maxillary process of the palatine bone.