Dominance and the social behavior of adult female bonnet macaques (Macaca radiata)

Female bonnet macaques are ranked according to naturally occurring dyadic aggressive interactions. Several possible correlates of these ranks are examined. Maternal rank and early life history are found to be highly correlated with rank. In addition, a number of social relationships (female/female presentations, female/female mounts, contact among females and aggression) are found to be related to rank. The meaning of rank outside of head to head encounters is discussed. This research was supported in part by the California Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, Davis, California 95616.     

Clinical Significance of Dysuria in Women

During a community survey 22% of women were found to have had dysuria in the previous year and half had had dysuria at some time in their lives. Various measurements were made in a random sample of 282 of these women. The means and the variances of the systolic and diastolic blood pressures in women with a past history of dysuria tended to be higher than in women who gave no such history. There were no significant differences in the means of plasma urea, plasma creatinine, and renal concentrating power between women with and without a previous history of dysuria, but a significant impairment of renal concentrating power was found in an additional group of 30 women who dated the onset of their dysuria to childhood.These findings suggest that urinary tract infection in adult women does not usually lead to progressive impairment of kidney function, whereas infection in childhood is more often associated with kidney damage.     

Randomised,double blind,placebo controlled crossover trial of sustained release morphine for the management of refractory dyspnoea

Objective To determine the efficacy of oral morphine in relieving the sensation of breathlessness in patients in whom the underlying aetiology is maximally treated.Design Randomised, double blind, placebo controlled crossover study.Setting Four outpatient clinics at a hospital in South Australia.Participants 48 participants who had not previously been treated with opioids (mean age 76, SD 5) with predominantly chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (42, 88%) were randomised to four days of 20 mg oral morphine with sustained release followed by four days of identically formulated placebo, or vice versa. Laxatives were provided as needed.Main outcome measures Dyspnoea in the morning and evening as shown on a 100 mm visual analogue scale, quality of sleep, wellbeing, performance on physical exertion, and side effects as measured at the end of the four day treatment period.Results 38 participants completed the study; three withdrew because of definite and two because of possible side effects of morphine (nausea, vomiting, and sedation). Participants reported significantly different dyspnoea scores when treated with morphine: an improvement of 6.6 mm (95% confidence interval 1.6 mm to 11.6 mm) in the morning and of 9.5 mm (3.0 mm to 16.1 mm) in the evening (P = 0.011 and P = 0.006, respectively). During the period in which they were taking morphine participants also reported better sleep (P = 0.039). More participants reported distressing constipation while taking morphine (9 v 1, P = 0.021) in spite of using laxatives. All other side effects were not significantly worse with morphine, although the study was not powered to address side effects.Conclusions Sustained release, oral morphine at low dosage provides significant symptomatic improvement in refractory dyspnoea in the community setting.     

Lesions of tuberculosis in mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni)

Lesions of tuberculosis in mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni) were present in all visceral organs. The tubercles were composed of large rounded macrophages which contained numerous intracytoplasmic acid-fast bacilli. The lesions were not encapsulated and mineralization was not observed.     

A dual laser analysis of the migration of XRITC-labeled, FITC-labeled, and double-labeled lymphocytes in sheep

Substituted rhodamine isothiocyanate (XRITC) has been used to study lymphocyte migration in sheep. After being labeled in vitro with XRITC, lymphocytes appeared in the efferent lymph of single lymph nodes with the same kinetics as cells labeled with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC). The recovery of intravenously injected XRITC-labeled cells was followed in lymph for several days. The kinetics and recoveries were compared with data obtained using FITC, chromium-51, and indium-111. XRITC was found to be a suitable label and, using dual laser (argon and krypton) flow cytometry, it could be analyzed simultaneously with FITC. In addition, it was possible to relabel FITC-stained cells with XRITC after they were recovered in lymph. The migratory characteristics of such double-labeled cells were not different from single-labeled cells.     

Induction of hepatic aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activity in rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) exposed to coal liquids

1. The hepatotoxic response of rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) to a middle distillate (MD) and heavy distillate (HD) coal liquid was determined following administration by injection or in food. Hepatic aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) activity was compared to the known AHH inducer, benzo(a)pyrene. 2. Acute toxicities (LD50) of 1500 and 1410 mg/kg were obtained 120 hr after intraperitoneal injection (i.p.) for MD and HD coal liquids, respectively. Only the HD induced AHH activity when injected at 5% and 10% of the acute LD50. 3. Ingestion of 7 or 70 mg HD/kg body weight for 1 week resulted in AHH induction at 5-7 times that of control values. Levels of hepatic AHH activity in fish treated at 7 mg HD/kg declined to 2.6 times control values 7 days after exposure. Maximum induction was observed for the 70 mg HD/kg group that was provided control food for 1 week following 2 weeks of exposure. 4. The hepatic index (HI) or liver to body weight ratio generally increased along with increased activity in the enzyme response system.