Human handling and presentation of a novel object evoke independent dimensions of fear in Japanese quail.

Fear is a concept comprising several dimensions, but the nature of these dimensions and the relationships between them remain elusive. To investigate these dimensions in birds, we have used two genetic lines of quail divergently selected on tonic immobility duration, a behavioural index of fear. These two lines differ in their behavioural response to some, but not all, fear-inducing situations. In the present study, we investigated the contribution of human intervention in the differentiation between the two lines. To do this, fear responses towards a novel object were compared between lines in three conditions: (1) in the home cage without any human intervention, (2) in the home cage after human handling and (3) after placement in a novel environment by human handling. Fear behaviour differed between lines after human handling, with or without placement in a novel environment, but presentation of a novel object in the home cage without any human intervention induced similar fear responses in the two lines of quail. These results lead us to suggest that in quail, human intervention evokes a dimension of fear that differs from that evoked by sudden presentation of a novel object, in that these two dimensions may be selected independently.

Tetraplegia Hand Activity Questionnaire (THAQ): the development, assessment of arm-hand function-related activities in tetraplegic patients with a spinal cord injury.

STUDY DESIGN: Development of Tetraplegia Hand Activity Questionnaire (THAQ). SETTING: Patients and spinal cord injury (SCI) professionals from five rehabilitation centres in the Netherlands and Belgium. OBJECTIVE: To construct a disease-specific questionnaire to evaluate interventions to the arm-hand of tetraplegics in terms of gained and lost activities relevant to the patient. METHODS: All arm-hand function-related activities were inventoried by examining existing scales and interviewing spinal cord injury patients and professionals in the field. Subsequently, item reduction was achieved; first, in the technical construction by incorporating all activities in an item list, then reducing the list by selecting the items most likely to be sensitive to change after surgical or functional electro stimulation interventions on the arm-hand as judged by an expert panel, using a Delphi method. RESULTS: The arm-hand-related activity inventory comprised 652 activities. The technical construction of the items and the Delphi procedure resulted in a questionnaire with 153 items. The experts considered many of the 'new' activities more relevant for the evaluation of hand function interventions than those found in scales studied in the literature. This is reflected in a relatively large proportion of new activities (69%) for the item list of the THAQ, and even more in the domains work/admin/telecom (88%) and leisure (100%). CONCLUSION: The questionnaire constructed to assess hand function-related activities contains relevant activities to evaluate arm-hand function-related interventions for tetraplegic SCI patients.

Pathophysiology of chronic constipation in anorectal malformations. Long-term results and preliminary anatomical investigations.

Posterior sagittal anorectoplasty provides an optimal access to reconstruct the muscle complex in anorectal malformations. It gives much better results than the abdominoperineal pullthrough procedures performed before 1984. However, severe chronic constipation occurs postoperatively in about 10 % of the patients, which can only be treated by washouts. Clinical investigations of 578 patients treated from 1962 to 1984 and from 1985 to 1997 are presented here and both groups are compared to each other. In addition, a new continence score with special regard to chronic constipation and overflow incontinence was used to follow up 133 patients of the second group. The score distinguishes between children above and below the age of 3 years. To study the underlying reasons of severe chronic constipation in children with anorectal malformations, macro- and microanatomical investigations on 4 normal newborns, 3 neonatal piglets with imperforate anus and 25 rectal biopsies from the caecum were performed. The following reasons have been found to be probably responsible for postoperative constipation and overflow incontinence: 1. Malformations of the smooth and striated muscle fibres or connective tissue of the caecum; 2. Malformations of the intramural nerve plexus such as aganglionosis, hypoganglionosis or IND; 3. Malformations and/or iatrogenic lesions of the extramural nerve supply which runs anterior to the rectum and in front of the fascia of Denonvilliers, which can hardly be identified in neonates with imperforate anus. Therefore iatrogenic bladder injuries may occur after PSARP after extended mobilisation of the caecum. The macro- and microanatomical situation in the piglet with imperforate anus is totally different from the human newborn.

The influence of margins of restorations of the periodontal tissues over 26 years.

AIM: The purpose of this investigation was to examine the long-term relationship between dental restorations and periodontal health. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The data derived from a 26-year longitudinal study of a group of Scandinavian middle-class males characterized by good to moderate oral hygiene and regular dental check-ups. At each of 7 examinations between 1969 and 1995, the mesial and buccal surfaces were scored for dental, restorative and periodontal parameters. The mesial sites of premolars and molars of 160 participants were observed during 26 years (1969-1995). A control group with 615 sound surfaces or filling margins located more than 1 mm from the gingival margin in all 7 surveys was compared with a test cohort with 98 surfaces which were sound or had filling margins located more than 1 mm from the gingival margin at baseline (1969) and had a subgingival filling margin 2 years after (1971). RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The study confirmed the long held concept that restorations placed below the gingival margin are detrimental to gingival and periodontal health. In addition, this study suggests that the increased loss of attachment found in teeth with subgingival restorations started slowly and could be detected clinically 1 to 3 years after the fabrication and placement of the restorations. A subsequent "burn-out" effect was suggested.

Long-term outcome of post-partum psychiatric illness requiring admission.

Among 65 women admitted to a mother and baby unit within 6 months post-partum, 53 were followed up for an average of 8.8 years. Women who had no previous history of psychiatric illness or who had experienced previous puerperal illness only, did significantly better at follow-up. The majority of these women had presented with a clinical picture of major depression. Past psychiatric history is confirmed as an important prognostic indicator in post-partum illnesses.