Involuntary civil commitment: communicating with the court regarding "danger to other".

Beginning in the 1990s, researchers in the field of violence risk assessment recognized that even the most accurate and valid assessment could not assist fact-finders if the information was communicated in an unclear, imprecise, and/or incomplete manner (Monahan & Steadman, 1996; Schopp, 1996). The purpose of the current study was to investigate judges' opinions regarding the probative value of risk communication messages in civil commitment proceedings. Three types of risk communication messages were investigated: (1) description; (2) prediction; and (3) management. Additionally, the risk prediction model was investigated more in-depth by varying the format used to communicate the prediction: (1) categorical; (2) frequency; and (3) probabilistic. A national sample of 403 judges completed the study and via random selection, each received one of 10 risk vignettes. The vignettes described a situation in which a person underwent an evaluation for civil commitment based on the danger to other criteria; danger to self criteria was not at issue in this case. Risk messages and risk level were systematically varied. This study found that the risk models (i.e., description, prediction, and management) were viewed as equally probative. However, within the risk prediction model, categorical messages were viewed as the having the highest probative value. Results also indicated that of the three models, the risk prediction model led to rulings that are more strict than the other risk models, but no one risk prediction format resulted in higher restrictiveness. Results of this study can be used to provide mental health professionals some guidance as to how to present their data such that judges find the information easy to interpret and probative to their decisions.

Perinatal MSG treatment attenuates fasting-induced bradycardia and metabolic suppression.

We studied the effect of arcuate nucleus (ARC) lesions induced pharmacologically by the perinatal treatment of monosodium l-glutamate (MSG) on the cardiovascular, metabolic, and behavioral responses to fasting. Saline and MSG-treated male Sprague-Dawley rats were instrumented with telemetry devices for measurement of mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) and housed in room calorimeters at an ambient temperature (T(a)) of 23 degrees C for assessment of oxygen consumption (VO(2)). At baseline, controls and MSG-treated rats had similar MAP (control=95+/-4; MSG=91+/-2 mmHg), HR (control=323+/-4; MSG=324+/-2 bpm), and VO(2) (control=8.7+/-0.3; MSG=8.6+/-0.2 ml/min). There were no differences in fasting-induced reductions in body weight or in food intake upon refeeding. MSG-treatment significantly attenuated fasting-induced reductions in HR and VO(2). This effect was specific to reduced caloric availability, as MSG-treated rats exhibited intact capacity to both increase and decrease HR and VO(2) in response to cold (T(a)=15 degrees C) and to thermoneutrality (T(a)=30 degrees C). Additional studies were performed in saline- and MSG-treated rats chronically treated with beta(1)-adrenergic receptor blockade (atenolol) prior to and during fasting. In controls, the cardiovascular responses to fasting during beta(1)-blockade were blunted and generally mimicked the effects of MSG-treatment, while beta(1)-blockade had no additional effect on MSG-treated rats. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that ARC neuronal signaling is requisite for intact homeostatic responses to fasting and may participate in fasting-induced withdrawal of cardiac sympathetic activity.

Regulation of metabolic rate and substrate utilization by zinc deficiency.

The trace metal zinc (Zn) is essential for the catalytic activity of many enzymes involved in energy nutrient metabolism and appears to regulate hormones, such as insulin, leptin, and thyroid hormone that play key roles in metabolism. Thus, this study used the continuous monitoring of oxygen consumption, carbon dioxide production, locomotion, and food intake to determine the effect of dietary Zn restriction on metabolic rate (MR), basal metabolic rate (BMR), and respiratory quotient (RQ). Rats were fed a Zn-adequate (ZA, 28 ppm) or Zn-deficient (ZD, <1 ppm) diet for 8 days, followed by a 4-day refeeding period. To control for reductions in food intake that characteristically occur in ZD rats, an additional group was pair-fed (PF) the same amount ZA food eaten by ZD rats. The mean caloric intake of ZD rats was significantly lower than ZA rats by day 3. By day 8, ZD and PF rats weighed 64% and 67% of ZA rats, respectively, (P <.01). Pair feeding resulted in increased locomotor activity, such that the distance traveled for PF rats (316 +/- 43 m) was 6 times that of ZA (53 +/- 6 m). Despite the fact that PF and ZD rats had the same food intake, there was no increase in locomotor activity in ZD rats suggesting that the mechanisms responsible for increased physical activity in food restricted animals may be Zn dependent. Furthermore, differences in activity between PF and ZD animals were not reflected in differences in MR. Both ZD and PF significantly reduced MR compared with ZA rats beginning on day 4. There was a significant relationship between RQ and caloric intake (r = 0.708, P <.01), but no specific effect of Zn status. Thus, while there may be an effect of Zn on locomotion and the energetic cost of activity, it appears that the most profound effect of Zn status on MR and substrate utilization is the result of Zn deficiency-induced anorexia.