Adrenal teratoma in four domestic ferrets (Mustela putorius furo).

Teratomas are histologically complex neoplasms that are composed of structures derived from multiple germ cell layers (ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm). These neoplasms are uncommon in domestic animals and are usually found in the gonads. This paper describes teratomas of the adrenal gland in four domestic ferrets (Mustela putorius furo). Three of four of the neoplasms contained tissues from ectodermal, mesodermal, and endodermal germ cell layers; two of four contained rudimentary teeth. In one case, malignant epithelial cells had metastasized to local lymph nodes. Teratomas, although uncommon, should be included in the differential diagnosis for adrenal neoplasms in domestic ferrets.

When speech conflicts with seeing: young children's understanding of informational priority.

In a series of investigations we found that children between 3 and 5 years of age judged that an utterance (such as, "There's milk in the jug") would be ignored by a listener who had previously seen something contradictory (orange juice in the jug). However, children judged that the listener would believe the message "There's milk in the jug" when he had not previously seen inside. In these various conditions, child participants had not seen for themselves what was inside the jug, so it was impossible for their own directly perceived knowledge to contaminate their judgments of what the protagonist believed. Under these conditions, even many false-belief failers did not assume that the listener would believe whatever they themselves thought was true. Moreover, the results of control conditions suggested that children's success could not be attributed to low-level strategies. These results seem to indicate an early understanding of how people prioritize information, with the consequence that they acknowledge that one and the same message would be believed in one context but not in another.

Contamination in reasoning about false belief: an instance of realist bias in adults but not children.

Children aged around 5 and 9 years and adults were presented with stories and videos about a protagonist who heard a message purporting to provide factual information. Observing subjects knew whether the message was true or false. In some cases, this message contradicted the listener's existing belief based on what he or she had seen previously. Subjects judged whether the listener would believe or disbelieve the message. Child subjects frequently judged that a contradicting message would be disbelieved, irrespective of whether they (the child subjects) knew it to be true or false. In contrast, adult subjects made judgements that were contaminated by their own privileged knowledge of the truth. For three different scenarios, adult subjects judged more frequently that the message would be believed if they (but not the listener protagonist) knew it to be true, than if they thought it was false.

Health instruction responsibilities for elementary classroom teachers in Pennsylvania.

A joint committee comprised of representatives from the American School Health Association and the Association for the Advancement of Health Education delineated five areas of instructional responsibility and 31 competencies needed for elementary health educators. Practicing elementary educators in southeastern Pennsylvania were surveyed as to their usage and perceived importance of these health instruction responsibilities and competencies. Competency usage varied from a high of 98.6% to a low of 33.5%. The second area of instructional responsibility -- Assessing the Health Instruction Needs and Interests of Elementary Students -- had the highest mean usage per competency. Chi-square tests indicated a statistically significant relationship for competency usage and highest academic degree earned for two competencies, while competency usage and total number of years experience as an elementary educator indicated a statistically significant relationship for three competencies. The authors conclude with suggested strategies to improve the health education preparation of elementary educators.

Young children's treating of utterances as unreliable sources of knowledge.

In two investigations (N = 62 and 59), three- and four-year-old children sometimes disbelieved what they were told about the unexpected contents of a deceptive box, even when they had seen the adult speaker look inside the box before s/he told them what s/he saw, and despite being able to recall the utterance: utterances were treated as unreliable sources of knowledge compared with seeing directly. Those who did believe the utterance were no better at recalling their prior belief about the box's contents (now treated as false), than those who saw inside the box. However using a narrative procedure, we replicated Zaitchik's (1991) result that children are more likely to acknowledge another's belief when they are told about reality, than when they see reality for themselves. We argue that these children were acknowledging alternative rather than false belief.

Role of eicosanoids in the ocular response to intracameral hydrogen peroxide.

The intracameral injection of hydrogen peroxide induces a sequence of responses in the tissues bounding the anterior chamber. These changes include intraocular pressure, corneal thickness, iris hyperemia, increased leakiness of the iris vasculature, and edema of the ciliary processes as judged from microscopic examination. Some of these responses appear to include inflammatory effects that may be the result of the local release of eicosanoids. Several antagonists of the arachidonic acid cascade, indomethacin, aspirin, dexamethasone, and nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) were used to examine their influence on the sequelae of hydrogen peroxide injection. Indomethacin, and high dose (7.5 mg/kg) NDGA were most effective in reducing the number of parameters that were altered after intracameral hydrogen peroxide. Microscopic observations supported the physiological changes and the responses to antagonists. The data indicate that a portion of the ocular tissue responses to intracameral hydrogen peroxide in the rabbit eye may be the result of eicosanoid production in these tissues.

A survey of blood and other tissue parasites of leopard frogs Rana pipiens in the United States.

In a survey of blood and other tissue parasites from 137 leopard frogs, Rana pipiens complex, purchased from 13 commercial vendors in 8 states in the United States, Trypanosoma pipientis was found in 2 R. p. berlandieri, Toxoplasma ranae in 1 R. pipiens, Isospora lieberkuehni in 1 leopard frog, Haemogregarina magna in 44, Lankesterella minima in 3, Leptotheca ohlmacheri in 3 and microfilariae of Foleyella sp. in 6. The report of I. lieberkuehni is presumably a new host record. Haemogregarina temporariae (Nöller,, 1920) nov. comb. is established as a new combination for Nematopsis temporariae.