Sensory evaluation of dairy supplements enriched with reduced iron, ferrous sulfate or ferrous fumarate / Evaluación sensorial de suplementos lácteos enriquecidos con hierro reducido, sulfato ferroso o fumarato ferroso

Objective. To determine the degree of liking of the Oportunidades programme dietary supplements (DS) -purees and beverages- added with different iron salts (IS): reduced iron (RI), ferrous sulphate (FS) or ferrous fumarate (FF) during 24 weeks of storage. Materials and methods. The DS were evaluated through a hedonic scale for aroma, flavour and colour attributes; at time zero and every eight weeks, each panel member evaluated three DS with same flavour and presentation but different IS. Seventy women participated as panel members. Results. The chocolate and banana DS exhibited a change in preference by colour and flavour due to storage. DS with FS or RI showed the least preference by flavour and colour in the context of the three IS considered. The chocolate and neutral DS enriched with FS changed their colour and flavour. Conclusion. DS were, in general, well-liked; nonetheless, for purees enriched with FS and for beverages enriched with RI, the less-liked attributes were colour and flavour.

Objetivo. Determinar el nivel de agrado de los suplementos alimenticios (SA) (papillas y bebidas) del Programa Oportunidades, adicionados con diferentes sales de hierro (SH): hierro reducido (HR), sulfato ferroso (SF) o fumarato ferroso (FF), durante 24 semanas de almacenamiento. Material y métodos. Se evaluaron mediante una escala hedónica los atributos olor, sabor y color; a tiempo cero y cada ocho semanas, cada juez evaluó tres suplementos, mismo sabor, presentación y diferente SH. Participaron 70 mujeres. Resultados. Los SA sabor chocolate y plátano presentaron modificación del agrado por color y sabor durante el almacenamiento. Los SA con SF o HR presentaron el menor agrado para sabor y olor por efecto de las SH. En los SA sabor chocolate y natural adicionados con SF se afectó el color y el sabor. Conclusión. Los SA en general presentaron agrado; sin embargo, en las papillas adicionadas con SF y las bebidas con HR los atributos limitantes fueron color y sabor.

Reinstatement of short-latency responses after asymptotic Pavlovian conditioning training by the presentation of an extraneous stimulus

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the progressive disappearance of short-latency conditioned responses, or inhibition of delay, observed in Pavlovian conditioning with long inter-stimulus intervals, could be reverted by the presentation of a novel stimulus. In one experiment, two groups of rabbits received extensive training with a short (250 ms) or a long (1500 ms) tone that overlapped and terminated with a periorbital shock unconditioned stimulus. After training, the presentation of an extraneous stimulus prior to tone onset produced a reinstatement of short latency CRs in the group trained with the long CS, but did not affect CR latency in the group trained with the short CS. This finding is consistent with Pavlov's (1927) view that conditioning with long conditioned stimuli involves the acquisition of response tendencies in the early portion of the stimulus that are subsequently suppressed by the development of an inhibitory process.

A study to evaluate the effect of oral stereognosis in acceptance of fixed prosthesis.

Aims: The aim of the study was to evaluate and compare the oral stereognostic ability and satisfaction for fixed prosthesis in human being. Materials and Methods: The present study was carried out on 40 subjects, the purpose being to investigate the relation of oral perception to diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Two types of cast metal crowns-one had morphology closely resembling original tooth and other one confirmed to ideal contours were constructed on endodontically treated posterior tooth. One cast metal crown was randomly selected from two cast metal crown and fitted on prepared tooth. Oral stereognostic score of subject was determined by correct response to questionnaire based on the recognition ability of subjects. Patient satisfaction level was checked by psychometric parameter Likert scale. Same procedure was repeated with other type of cast metal crown. Results: Data obtained were compared by paired and unpaired two sample t-test. Oral stereognostic score and satisfaction score were found to be higher for cast metal crown with morphology resembling to original tooth due to recognition and discriminatory ability of subjects and recall-memory. Oral stereognostic level was found to be higher in younger than older subjects. The level of satisfaction was found to be higher in older subjects than younger subjects. Conclusion: It was concluded that acceptance of fixed prosthesis is not only based on dentist's routine procedure of treatment and patient's judgment about oral health, function, and esthetics, but also depends upon patient's oral perception and discriminatory skill for external morphology of fixed prosthesis.

Desempenho de crianças normais em testes temporais auditivos em campo livre / Performance of typical children in free field auditory temporal tests

BACKGROUND: auditory temporal processing. AIM: to determine the performance profile of normal hearing children in temporal sequence and order detection and identification tasks in free-field. METHOD: forty three children with ages raging from 7 to 11 years and 5 months were evaluated in two behavioral tests - frequency patterns test (FPT) and duration patterns test (DPT) - child's version by Auditec. Both tests were applied at 60 dBNA in free-field. Children were requested to provide two types of answers: nonverbal (NV) being murmuring for FPT and manual for DPT, and verbal (V), nomination for TPF and TPD. For both tests (FPT and DPT), ten repetitions of six sequence patterns totalizing 60 stimuli were presented to each child. RESULTS: the performance on FPT with a non-verbal response was significantly better when compared to V response for all of the subjects. Significant performance improvements with age were observed in VFPT, NVDPT and VDPT. The performance on FPT was better than the performance on PDT. The results of this study showed similar performance on temporal sequence and order detection and identification tasks when compared to other studies conducted with Brazilian population in which these tasks were applied with supra-aural earphones. CONCLUSION: the values obtained for FPT and DPT can be considered the parameter of normal performance for Auditec's child version in free-field for children with ages between 7 to 11 years and 5 month.

TEMA: processamento temporal auditivo. OBJETIVO: determinar o perfil de desempenho de crianças com audição normal nas tarefas de detecção e identificação da ordem e seqüência temporal em campo livre. MÉTODO: avaliou-se 43 crianças com idade entre 7 anos e 11 anos e 5 meses em dois testes comportamentais -Teste de Padrões de Freqüência (TPF) e Teste de Padrões de Duração (TPD) - versão infantil da Auditec. Os testes foram aplicados em campo livre a 60 dBNA. Foram solicitados dois tipos de respostas: não verbal (NV) sendo o murmúrio para o TPF e manual para o TPD, e verbal (V), nomeação pra TPF e TPD. Para ambos os testes (TPF e TPD) foram apresentadas 10 repetições dos 6 padrões seqüenciais, totalizando 60 estímulos para cada criança. RESULTADOS: o desempenho no TPF com resposta NV foi significativamente superior à resposta V para todos os sujeitos. Constatou-se melhora significativa do desempenho com a idade para o TPFV, TPDNV e TPDV. O desempenho no TPF foi superior ao TPD. Os resultados deste estudo demonstraram semelhante desempenho nas tarefas de detecção e identificação da ordem e seqüência temporal quando comparados com outros estudos realizados na população brasileira, nos quais estas tarefas foram aplicadas com fones supra-aurais. CONCLUSÃO: os valores obtidos para o TPF e TPD podem ser considerados como referência de normalidade para a versão infantil da Auditec em campo livre em crianças de 7 anos a 11 anos e 5 meses.

Benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes: word and pseudoword discrimination / Epilepsia benigna da infância com pontas centro-temporais: discriminação entre palavras e pseudopalavras

In the active phase of benign childhood epilepsy with centro-temporal spikes (BCECTS) there may be a fall in scholastic performance. OBJECTIVE: To study lexical decision in children with BCECTS. METHOD: 42 children with BCECTS were compared with a control group with respect to their hits and response time in a visual discrimination of words and pseudowords task (DWPT). RESULTS: The children with BCECTS had a lower percentage of hits for words and pseudowords and showed longer response times for pseudowords. They also frequently showed inferior reading and writing performance in the school performance test. The percentage of hits for pseudowords was lower when there was bilateral, asynchronous epileptiform activity. CONCLUSIONS: The DWPT provided contributions for reading assessments in children with BCECTS. The results indicated the need for attention in detecting reading difficulties in children with BCECTS.

Na fase ativa da epilepsia benigna da infância com pontas centrotemporais (EBICT) pode ocorrer queda de desempenho escolar. OBJETIVO: Estudar a decisão lexical em crianças com EBICT. MÉTODO: 42 crianças com EBICT foram comparadas a grupo controle quanto a acertos e tempo de resposta em tarefa de discriminação visual entre palavras e pseudopalavras (DVPPS). RESULTADOS: As crianças com EBICT tiveram percentual menor de acertos para palavras e pseudopalavras e maior tempo de resposta para pseudopalavras e tiveram, mais frequentemente, desempenho inferior em escrita e leitura em teste de desempenho escolar. Houve relação significativa entre os resultados do DVPPS e o teste de desempenho escolar. A percentagem de acerto de pseudopalavras foi menor quando havia atividade epileptiforme bilateral e assíncronia no eletrencefalograma. CONCLUSÃO: O DVPPS mostrou contribuições na avaliação da leitura em crianças com EBICT. Os resultados apontam para a necessidade de atenção na detecção de dificuldades de leitura em crianças com EBICT.

Influência de paradigmas temporais em testes de processamento temporal auditivo / Influence of temporal aspects in auditory temporal processing tests

TEMA: processamento temporal auditivo. OBJETIVO: comparar o desempenho de crianças, em testes de processamento temporal auditivo de acordo com diferentes paradigmas temporais como intervalo inter-estímulos, duração do estímulo e tipo de tarefa solicitada (discriminação ou ordenação). MÉTODO: foram avaliadas 27 crianças de 9 a 12 anos. Para analisar o efeito de cada variável temporal, foi desenvolvida e aplicada uma adaptação do teste americano "Repetition Test", contendo quatro testes de discriminação e de ordenação de frequência, e quatro testes de discriminação e de ordenação de duração. Para investigar a variável "tipo de tarefa solicitada", foram elaborados testes envolvendo discriminação e ordenação de frequência e discriminação e ordenação de duração. Para investigar a variável "duração do estímulo", foram elaborados testes de discriminação e ordenação de freqüência com estímulos de 200ms e 100ms e testes de discriminação e ordenação de duração com estímulos de 200/400ms e 300/600ms. Para investigar a variável "intervalo inter-estímulos", foram elaborados testes com intervalos inter-estímulos variáveis aleatoriamente entre 50ms e 250ms. RESULTADOS: em relação à variável intervalo inter-estímulos, não houve diferença estatisticamente significante entre a média de acertos quando os intervalos variavam de 50 a 250 ms, em todos os testes realizados; em relação à duração do estímulo, o grupo apresentou pior desempenho para estímulos com menor duração (100ms) em comparação com estímulos maiores, mas apenas nos testes envolvendo freqüência; em relação à ordem solicitada, o grupo apresentou pior desempenho nas tarefas de ordenação, se comparada com discriminação. CONCLUSÃO: variáveis temporais como duração do estímulo e tipo de ordem solicitada (discriminação e ordenação) podem interferir no desempenho de crianças em testes de processamento temporal auditivo.

BACKGROUND: auditory temporal processing. AIM: to compare the performance of children in auditory temporal processing tests according to different temporal variables such as inter-stimulus interval, stimuli duration and type of task (discrimination or ordering). METHOD: 27 children, with ages between 9 to 12 years, were evaluated. In order to analyze the effect of temporal variables, an adaptation of the American "Repetition test" was developed, containing four tests of frequency discrimination and ordering, and four tests of temporal discrimination and ordering. In order to investigate the variable 'type of requested task', tests involving frequency and temporal discrimination and ordering were elaborated. In order to evaluate the variable 'stimulus duration', frequency discrimination and ordering tests were elaborated, with stimulus durations of 200ms and 100 ms. In addition, temporal discrimination and ordering tests were carried out, with stimulus durations of 200/400ms and 300/600ms. In order to evaluate the variable 'inter-stimulus interval', tests were elaborated with randomly variable inter-stimulus intervals, ranging between 50ms and 250ms. RESULTS: regarding inter-stimulus interval, there was no statistically significant difference between the average number of correct answers when intervals varied between 50 and 250ms, in all of the tests. Regarding stimulus duration, the research group presented a poor performance for when stimulus had a shorter duration (100ms), compared to those with longer duration, but only in the tests involving frequency. Regarding order, the research group presented a poor performance in ordering tasks when compared to discrimination tasks. CONCLUSION: temporal variables such stimuli duration and type of task (discrimination and ordering) can interfere in the performance of children in tests of auditory temporal processing.

Event related potentials during the visual discrimination of words and pseudowords by children / Potenciais evocados cognitivos na discriminação visual entre palavras e pseudopalavras em crianças

Event related potentials (ERPs) in reading were studied in children in a word and pseudoword discriminating task. Seventy-nine children (9 to 11 year old), all with no elements suggesting brain injury and with school performance compatible with their age were studied. The ERP were registered as there were presented, visually, successively and in a random manner, 100 words and 100 pseudowords. For each stimulus the child pressed a key corresponding to the discrimination between word and pseudoword. The register was carried out for the electrodes of the 10-20 system and the mean amplitudes and latency peaks measured and also the amplitude from 200 to 550 milliseconds. The most significant differences between the ERPs occurred in Cz, with greater negativity for the mean of the amplitude between 425 and 550 milliseconds for pseudowords (N400). The N400 was more precocious in 11 year old. The influence of age was thus evident and also the differences in ERPs between words and pseudowords.

Foram estudadas 79 crianças (9 a 11 anos) sem elementos sugestivos de comprometimento cerebral e com desempenho escolar compatível com a idade. Os PCL foram registrados enquanto eram apresentados, visualmente, sucessivamente e de modo aleatório, 100 palavras e 100 pseudopalavras. Para cada estímulo a criança acionava uma tecla correspondente à discriminação entre palavra e pseudopalavra. O registro foi realizado para os eletrodos do sistema 10-20 e foram feitas medidas de médias de amplitude e de latências de pico e de amplitude de 200 a 550 milissegundos. Em Cz ocorreram as diferenças mais significativas entre os PCL, com maior negatividade da média de amplitude entre 425 e 550 milissegundos para pseudopalavras (N400). O N400 foi mais precoce nas crianças com 11 anos. Evidenciou-se assim a influência da idade e as diferenças no PCL entre palavras e pseudopalavras.

Behavioural and chemical studies of discrimination processes in the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex laticeps nigrosetosus (Forel, 1908) / Estudos químico e comportamental dos processos discriminatórios na formiga cortadeira Acromyrmex laticeps nigrosetosus (Forel, 1908)

Leaf-cutting ants live in symbiosis with a basidiomycete fungus that is exploited as a source of nutrients for ant larvae. Tests of brood transport revealed that Acromyrmex laticeps nigrosetosus workers did not discriminate a concolonial brood from an alien brood. The same result was observed with tests of fungus transport. Adult workers showed no aggressive behaviour to workers from other alien colonies (non-nestmates). There was no qualitative variation in the chemical profiles of larvae, pupae and adult workers from the different colonies. However, quantitative differences were observed between the different colonies. Hypotheses about the lack of intraspecific aggression in this subspecies of ants are discussed.

As formigas cortadeiras vivem em simbiose com um fungo basidiomiceto que é utilizado como fonte de nutriente para suas larvas. Testes de transporte de prole revelaram que as operárias de Acromyrmex laticeps nigrosetosus não discriminaram a prole concolonial de prole estranha. O mesmo resultado foi verificado com testes de transporte do fungo. As operárias adultas não exibiram comportamento agressivo frente a operárias de outras colônias (não companheiras de ninho). Não houve variação qualitativa nos perfis químicos de larvas, pupas e operárias adultas de diferentes colônias. No entanto, diferenças quantitativas foram observadas entre as diferentes colônias. Hipóteses sobre a ausência de agressão intra-específica nesta subespécie de formiga são discutidas.

P3 event-related evoked potential in young adults.

P3 component of event related potential reflects memory and decision making processes. It has been applied as an index of information processing in a wide variety of normal and cognitive impaired subjects. Scalp P3 was elicited in 24 male neurologically and audiologically normal young subjects of 17-20 years (Av. 17.7) of age. Standard auditory 'Oddball' paradigm involving simple discrimination task of concentrating on infrequent (target) stimulus and ignoring frequent (non target) stimulus was employed. Evoked response trials of discriminating 32 target stimuli out of 160 total presented (20% target and 80% non target randomly) were replicated and analysed by computer. Latency of P3 as 305 +/- 18.4 msec and amplitude 6.5 +/- 2.1 uv are being reported which are comparable with age and sex matched subjects of western world.