Year-round resource defence and the evolution of male and female song in suboscine birds: social armaments are mutual ornaments.

The evolution of sexually monomorphic (i.e. mutual) ornamentation has attracted growing attention as a 'blind-spot' in evolutionary biology. The popular consensus is that female ornaments are subject to the same modes of sexual selection as males: intrasexual competition and mate choice. However, it remains unclear how these forces interact within and between sexes, or whether they fully capture selection on female traits. One possibility is that the 'armament-ornament' model - which proposes that traits used primarily in male-male contests are also co-opted by females as indicators of male quality - can be extended to explain signal evolution in both sexes. We examine this idea by testing the function of acoustic signals in two species of duetting antbirds. Behavioural observations and playback experiments suggest that male and female songs function primarily as armaments in competitive interactions. Removal experiments reveal that song is also a classic ornament used by unpaired males and females to advertise for mates. These results indicate that 'armament-ornament' processes may operate in reciprocal format, potentially explaining widespread mutual ornamentation in species with elevated intrasexual competition for resources. In addition, given that songs mediate competition between species outside the breeding season, our findings suggest that processes shaping monomorphic ornaments extend beyond the traditional definitions of sexual selection and are best understood in the broader framework of social selection.

Emergence of a new gene from an intergenic region.

It is generally assumed that new genes would arise by gene duplication mechanisms, because the signals for regulation and transcript processing would be unlikely to evolve in parallel with a new gene function. We have identified here a transcript in the house mouse (Mus musculus) that has arisen within the past 2.5-3.5 million years in a large intergenic region. The region is present in many mammals, including humans, allowing us to exclude the involvement of gene duplication, transposable elements, or other genome rearrangements, which are typically found for other cases of newly evolved genes. The gene has three exons, shows alternative splicing, and is specifically expressed in postmeiotic cells of the testis. The transcript is restricted to species within the genus Mus and its emergence correlates with indel mutations in the 5' regulatory region of the transcript. A recent selective sweep is associated with the transcript region in M. m. musculus populations. A knockout in the laboratory strain BL6 results in reduced sperm motility and reduced testis weight. Our results show that cryptic signals for transcript regulation and processing exist in intergenic regions and can become the basis for the evolution of a new functional gene.

Sexual selection and ecological generalism are correlated in antbirds.

Sexual selection is thought to counteract natural selection on the grounds that secondary sexual traits are inherently costly and evolve at the expense of naturally selected traits. It is therefore commonly predicted that increased sexual selection is associated with decreased physiological tolerance or ecological plasticity. Using phylogenetic comparative methods, we test this prediction by exploring relationships between traits assumed to be sexually selected (plumage dichromatism and song structure) and traits assumed to be naturally selected (altitudinal range and habitat range) in a diverse family of tropical birds. Contrary to expectations, we find that taxa with higher levels of dichromatism, and lower song pitch, occupy a wider variety of habitats and elevations. In other words, indices of sexual selection are positively related to two standard measures of ecological generalism. One interpretation of this pattern is that sexual selection combines synergistically with natural selection, thereby increasing physiological tolerance or the propensity to adapt to novel environments. An alternative possibility is that ecological generalism increases population density, which in turn promotes sexual selection in the form of greater competition for mates. Overall, our results suggest that a synergism between natural selection and sexual selection may be widespread, but the processes underlying this pattern remain to be investigated.

Tolerance without clonal expansion: self-antigen-expressing B cells program self-reactive T cells for future deletion.

B cells have been shown in various animal models to induce immunological tolerance leading to reduced immune responses and protection from autoimmunity. We show that interaction of B cells with naive T cells results in T cell triggering accompanied by the expression of negative costimulatory molecules such as PD-1, CTLA-4, B and T lymphocyte attenuator, and CD5. Following interaction with B cells, T cells were not induced to proliferate, in a process that was dependent on their expression of PD-1 and CTLA-4, but not CD5. In contrast, the T cells became sensitive to Ag-induced cell death. Our results demonstrate that B cells participate in the homeostasis of the immune system by ablation of conventional self-reactive T cells.

Mating system, philopatry and patterns of kinship in the cooperatively breeding subdesert mesite Monias benschi.

In the first molecular study of a member of the threatened avian family, Mesitornithidae, we used nine polymorphic microsatellite loci to elucidate parentage, patterns of within-group kinship and occurrence of extra-group paternity in the subdesert mesite Monias benschi, of southwest Madagascar. We found this cooperatively breeding species to have a very fluid mating system. There was evidence of genetic monogamy and polygynandry: of the nine groups with multiple offspring, six contained one breeding pair with unrelated helpers and three contained multiple male and female breeders with related helpers. Although patterns of within-group kinship varied, there was a strong positive relationship between group size and relatedness, suggesting that groups form by natal philopatry. There was also a strong positive correlation between within-sex and between-sex relatedness, indicating that unlike most cooperatively breeding birds, philopatry involved both sexes. In contrast to predictions of kin selection and reproductive skew models, all monogamous groups contained unrelated individuals, while two of the three polygynandrous groups were families. Moreover, although between-group variation in seasonal reproductive success was related to within-group female relatedness, relatedness among males and between the sexes had no bearing on a group's reproductive output. While kin selection may underlie helping behaviour in females, factors such as direct long-term fitness benefits of group living probably determine helping in males. Of the 14 offspring produced by fully sampled groups, at least two were sired by males from neighbouring groups: one by a breeding male and one by a nonbreeding male, suggesting that males may augment their reproductive success through extra-group paternity.

A Cre-inducible diphtheria toxin receptor mediates cell lineage ablation after toxin administration.

A new system for lineage ablation is based on transgenic expression of a diphtheria toxin receptor (DTR) in mouse cells and application of diphtheria toxin (DT). To streamline this approach, we generated Cre-inducible DTR transgenic mice (iDTR) in which Cre-mediated excision of a STOP cassette renders cells sensitive to DT. We tested the iDTR strain by crossing to the T cell- and B cell-specific CD4-Cre and CD19-Cre strains, respectively, and observed efficient ablation of T and B cells after exposure to DT. In MOGi-Cre/iDTR double transgenic mice expressing Cre recombinase in oligodendrocytes, we observed myelin loss after intraperitoneal DT injections. Thus, DT crosses the blood-brain barrier and promotes cell ablation in the central nervous system. Notably, we show that the developing DT-specific antibody response is weak and not neutralizing, and thus does not impede the efficacy of DT. Our results validate the use of iDTR mice as a tool for cell ablation in vivo.

Tratamiento del trastorno obsesivo-compulsivo / Treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder

El trastorno obsesivo-compulsivo (TOC) es una delas patologías más subdiagnosticadas y tratadasde forma equivocada en las últimas décadas.Como resultado hoy nos encontramos con unimportante número de pacientes que tienen altaresistencia a los tratamientos convencionales,presentándose un cuadro particular al quese denomina trastorno obsesivo-compulsivoresistente. En este trabajo queremos transmitir nuestra forma de pensar y abordar el tratamiento del TOC.

he Obsessive-CompulsiveDisorder is one of themost subdiagnosed and inadequately treateddisease of the last decades; therefore, nowadaysthere is an important number of patients thatoffer resistance to conventional treatments,arranging a particular clinical status namedObsessive-Compulsive Resistant Disorder. Inthis paper we wanted to share our way to think and treat the OCD.

Anorexia nervosa, diabetes mellitus, brain atrophy, and fatty liver.

An increased number of diabetes mellitus cases followed by the development of anorexia nervosa have been reported. In this report, the opposite has been observed in the case of a patient with anorexia nervosa who later developed insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, associated with brain atrophy and fatty liver. The patient was treated with insulin, amitriptylene, and behavior modification. Significant improvement was noted on this regimen.

Predictive validity of the overvalued ideas scale: outcome in obsessive-compulsive and body dysmorphic disorders.

Overvalued ideas have been theoretically implicated in treatment failure for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Until recently, there have not been valid assessments for determining severity of overvalued ideas. One recent scale, the Overvalued Ideas Scale (OVIS; Neziroglu, McKay, Yaryura-Tobias, Stevens & Todaro, 1999, Behaviour Research and Therapy, 37, 881-902) has been found to validly measure overvalued ideas. However, its predictive utility has not been determined. Two studies were conducted to examine the extent to which the OVIS predicts treatment response. Study 1 examined the response to behavioral therapy in a group of participants diagnosed with OCD. Residual gain scores showed a significant correlation between treatment outcome for compulsions and pretreatment OVIS scores (28.1% variance accounted). Pretreatment OVIS scores were not significantly correlated with residual gains in obsessions (1.7% variance accounted). The predictive utility of the OVIS was superior to a single item assessment of overvalued ideas available on the Yale-Brown Obsessive Scale in predicting outcome for compulsions. For this item, the variance accounted for compulsions was 6.3% and for obsessions was 3.9%. Study 2 examined the response to behavioral therapy in a group of participants diagnosed with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), a condition ostensibly linked to OCD and presumed to present with higher levels of overvalued ideas. Residual gains scores showed a significant relationship between obsessions and OVIS (accounting for 34.8% of the variance), but not for compulsions (10.2% variance accounted). As in Study 1, the predictive utility of the OVIS was superior to the single item assessment (with 0.2% variance accounted for compulsions, 2.4% variance accounted for obsessions). Taken together, the studies reported here show that this OVIS is predictive of treatment outcome, and the predictive value depends on which symptoms are used to assess outcome. Further, the scale is more effective in predicting outcome than a widely used single item assessment.

Fluvoxamine for children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder: a randomized, controlled, multicenter trial.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the safety and efficacy of fluvoxamine for the treatment of children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) with a double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter study. METHOD: Subjects, aged 8 to 17 years, meeting DSM-III-R criteria for OCD were recruited from July 1991 to August 1994. After a 7- to 14-day single-blind, placebo washout/screening period, subjects were randomly assigned to fluvoxamine 50 to 200 mg/day or placebo for 10 weeks. Subjects who had not responded after 6 weeks could discontinue the double-blind phase of the study and enter a long-term, open-label trial of fluvoxamine. Analyses used an intent-to-treat sample with a last-observation-carried-forward method. RESULTS: Mean Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS) scores with fluvoxamine were significantly (p < .05) different from those with placebo at weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 10. Significant (p < .05) differences between fluvoxamine and placebo were observed for all secondary outcome measures at all visits. Based on a 25% reduction of CY-BOCS scores, 42% of subjects taking fluvoxamine were responders compared with 26% taking placebo. Forty-six (19 fluvoxamine, 27 placebo) of 120 randomized subjects discontinued early. Adverse events with a placebo-adjusted rate greater than 10% were insomnia and asthenia. CONCLUSIONS: Fluvoxamine has a rapid onset of action and is well tolerated and efficacious for the short-term treatment of pediatric OCD.

Organicity in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Though pharmacological and/or behavioral interventions have proven highly effective, 20 to 30% of the obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) population is treatment refractory. This study describes the OCD clinical profile that is correlated to organicity. Two groups of OCD patients were presented: an organic group and a control nonorganic group. The 9 organic patients exhibit an indifference to their illness, a lack of motivation, are nonanxious even during exposure exercises, are nondepressed, have rigid and concrete thinking, are treatment refractory, and have some type of organic impairment. The 10 nonorganic patients are also treatment refractory but do not exhibit the clinical profile correlated to the organic OCD patients. Furthermore, MRI results indicate that no organic impairment exists in this control group. All of these patients were tried on medication and behavior therapy to no avail. Reasons for lack of response in organic OCD patients, based on cerebral anatomical changes, are discussed.

Behavioral, cognitive, and family therapy for obsessive-compulsive and related disorders.

Behavioral therapy and cognitive therapy, individually and combined, are a solid base in any therapy, the goal of which is to decrease the maladaptive behaviors associated with obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders. Future research into this area involves two branches: (1) better resolution in what components of current treatments are effective and (2) a better understanding of the cause of OCD. The therapies of choice are behavioral therapy and cognitive therapy, but often what is described as behavioral therapy and cognitive therapy varies. Further refinement of the specific components of behavioral therapy and cognitive therapy that directly apply to OCD is needed. The specific components likely include the use of ERP and rational emotive behavioral therapy but often even these therapies can be parceled into smaller discrete parts. Many facets still have not been explored thoroughly (e.g., the extent of exposure to adverse situations needed, ideal length of therapy, time needed for exposure, and the use of virtual reality versus traditional exposures). A better understanding of the biological basis for OCD also would further the field. A better understanding of the basis of this disorder also would help clinicians to treat it with medication and behavioral therapy. Research into how behavioral therapy and cognitive therapy makes neurophysiologic changes would show the effectiveness of the treatment and a biological basis. Such studies could include the use of MR imaging during different stages in behavioral therapy and the use of functional during therapy to observe changes in the brain. Although OCD still is not fully understood, researchers are now beginning to understand how to treat it, and a solid base of empiric data now exists. The authors hope that investigators will continue research toward a better understanding of this disorder so that clinicians can better help their patients.

Parental obsessive-compulsive disorder as a prognostic factor in a year long fluvoxamine treatment in childhood and adolescent obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Interest in the treatment of pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has increased as our knowledge of adult OCD has expanded. Although adults are still the majority of patients, children and adolescents with OCD are being identified and treated more frequently. As this population is better identified, prognostic factors need to be addressed to improve treatment outcome. The purpose of this study was to determine the role of family psychiatric pathology in fluvoxamine treatment outcome. Eleven children and adolescents with OCD and one of their parents participated in the study. Four parents were diagnosed with OCD, six had an Axis I diagnosis other than OCD, and one had no mental disorder [Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-Non-Patient edition (SCID-NP)]. Each patient received fluvoxamine for 58 weeks. Dependent measures included the Children Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS), the NIMH-Global Obsessive Compulsive Scale (NIMH-GOCS) and the Clinical Global Impression (CGI). Based on CY-BOCS, CGI and NIMH-GOCS scores, patients with parents who have OCD showed a clinically and statistically significant reduction in symptoms from pre- to post-treatment. Patients whose parents did not have OCD also improved. However, the improvement was statistically but not clinically significant. The presence of OCD in one parent seems to modify a child's response to medication. The results suggest that family psychopathology, specifically presence of OCD, may contribute to treatment efficacy. Further research is suggested in this area.

Nosological insertion of axis I disorders in the etiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

This study explores the prevalence of developing Axis I disorders at various time points within an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) population. A sample of 409 patients diagnosed as OCD according to the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) participated. Of the 409 patients, 132 (32.2%) developed at least one other Axis I disorder. Odds ratio data indicates that an anxiety disorder, mood disorder, eating disorder, or tic disorder is likely to occur first. Second disorder is likely to be another anxiety disorder, mood disorder, eating disorder, somatoform disorder (tic disorders fall out of the continuum). The third disorder is likely to be a mood disorder, or anxiety disorder (all other disorders fall out of the continuum). Demographic data including gender, religion, occupation, marital status, and family psychiatric history is similar to the data reported in other studies of primary OCD. It is suggested that although OCD may present with additional comorbid conditions, other distinct pathology may emerge (be inserted) independently over time. This supports the conceptualization of OCD as a continuum, where additional diagnoses may be expected to occur in the time course of the condition.

The effect of fluvoxamine and behavior therapy on children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

OBJECTIVE: The efficacy of medications, consisting of serotonin partial and specific reuptake blockers, and behavior therapy, consisting of exposure and response prevention in addition to social skills training, cognitive therapy, and habit reversal, in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder are well documented. The purpose of the study was to explore if adding behavior therapy to medication would enhance treatment efficacy. METHODS: Ten children/adolescents who had not previously responded to behavior therapy were randomly assigned to two groups: fluvoxamine alone or fluvoxamine with behavior therapy. All 10 patients received fluvoxamine for 10 weeks-five continued solely on fluvoxamine for one year and five engaged in behavior therapy for 20 sessions along with fluvoxamine and then continued solely on medication until the end of the year. RESULTS: Eight of 10 patients improved significantly on fluvoxamine at week 10 on the primary outcome variable, the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS). According to the other measurements-National Institute of Mental Health-Global Obses-sive-Compulsive Scale, Clinical Global Impression-Improvement (assessing level of im-provement from week to week), and Clinical Global Impression-Severity of Illness Scale (as-sessing how ill the patient is from week to week)-improvement was not as evident. According to the CY-BOCS, those who received a combination of fluvoxamine and exposure with response prevention showed significantly more improvement than those who only took medication. At two-year follow-up, all patients continued to improve, with those in the combined approach improving more than those in the medication-alone group. CONCLUSIONS: Future studies should determine the specific effect of each treatment group, combined and singularly. Reasons for discrepancy in improvement ratings as noted by the different instruments are discussed. The addition of behavior therapy to fluvoxamine seems to enhance treatment efficacy, according to the CY-BOCS.

Negative outcome after neurosurgery for refractory obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorder.

OBJECTIVE: The authors sought to determine the long-term outcome of patients with severe and refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder spectrum (OCDS) following neurosurgery. METHOD: Five patients who underwent neurosurgery as a last-resort treatment for refractory OCDS were evaluated. On all patients, posttest data was obtained from the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, The Overvalued Ideas Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory and the Beck Anxiety Inventory. Pretest scores were available on three patients as well. RESULTS: All patients failed to maintain initial improvements after surgery and relapsed. In addition, they became depressed with suicidal ideation or attempt. CONCLUSION: Complications of neurosurgery are discussed, notably relapse and depression.

Overlapping and distinctive features of hypochondriasis and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The spectrum of obsessive-compulsive disorders has received a great deal of theoretical attention, but there has been relatively little associated empirical research. The purpose of this study was to compare three groups of patients; those diagnosed with hypochondriasis (HC, a proposed spectrum condition), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and those with both OCD and HC (OCD/HC). The results show that patients with HC scored highest on a measure of overvalued ideas, and that the HC and HC/OCD groups scored significantly higher on measures of panic and agoraphobic cognitions. The groups also differed significantly for symptoms associated with compulsions. The patient groups were not different for measures of obsessions, depression, and anxiety. The results provide partial support for inclusion of HC in the spectrum of obsessive-compulsive disorders, but also provide indirect support for the association between HC and panic disorder. These results are interpreted in light of distinguishing characteristics among obsessive-compulsive spectrum conditions.

Teoría unificada del trastorno obsesivo-compulsivo / Unified theory for the obsessive-compulsive disorder

Existen varias toerías acerca del TOC que abarcan aspectos filosóficos, biopsicosociales y anatómicos de este trastorno. La heterogeneidad sintomática del TOC y la compleja interacción entre el cerebro como estructura física, y la mente, demandan para este trastorno una teoría que lo reconozca como una entidad unificada emergente. Se propone una teoría unificada del TOC, que incorpora las evidencias neuroquímicas, neuroanatómicas y psiquiátricas de este trastorno. Además, se exploran los métodos por los cuales las patologías asociadas al TOC impactan circuitos neuroanatómicos del cerebro y se explica cómo, a través de la sintomatología, el TOC se comunica desde la mente con el mundo exterior

Teoría unificada del trastorno obsesivo-compulsivo / Unified theory for the obsessive-compulsive disorder

Existen varias toerías acerca del TOC que abarcan aspectos filosóficos, biopsicosociales y anatómicos de este trastorno. La heterogeneidad sintomática del TOC y la compleja interacción entre el cerebro como estructura física, y la mente, demandan para este trastorno una teoría que lo reconozca como una entidad unificada emergente. Se propone una teoría unificada del TOC, que incorpora las evidencias neuroquímicas, neuroanatómicas y psiquiátricas de este trastorno. Además, se exploran los métodos por los cuales las patologías asociadas al TOC impactan circuitos neuroanatómicos del cerebro y se explica cómo, a través de la sintomatología, el TOC se comunica desde la mente con el mundo exterior