Nares occlusion eliminates heterosexual partner selection without disrupting coitus in ferrets of both sexes.
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Using an airtight Y maze and a new method to induce peripheral anosmia in ferrets, we assessed the contribution of conspecific odors, either alone or in combination with visual and auditory signals, to heterosexual partner preference. Sexually naive ferrets were gonadectomized and treated with sex steroids, after which their nares were either bilaterally occluded using dental impression material or were sham-occluded. Behavioral and histological evidence suggested that nares occlusion blocked access of odors to the main olfactory epithelium for the duration of the study. Sham-occluded females and males preferred to approach odor only or odor plus visual plus auditory cues from opposite-sex conspecifics, whereas nares-occluded ferrets approached opposite- and same-sex cues equally. All ferrets subsequently mated successfully in tests conducted in a small chamber. When retested in the Y maze, sham-occluded females and males again preferred to approach odor-only or odor plus visual plus auditory cues from opposite-sex ferrets, whereas nares-occluded subjects showed no such preference even in tests when a brief physical interaction with tethered stimulus ferrets was allowed after each trial. Our results show that in the ferret, a carnivore, the detection and processing of volatile odors from conspecifics by the main olfactory system is required for heterosexual mate choice. (+info)
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA): a community-based prevalence survey.
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A prevalence survey of nasal methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carriage was undertaken on a random sample of adults (aged over 16) resident in the community in Birmingham, UK during 1998. Microbiological samples were taken from the anterior nares at the subjects' general practice or in their home. Information about risk factors for the acquisition of MRSA was obtained via a self-completed questionnaire. A 58% response rate (280/483) was achieved. The prevalence of nasal MRSA colonization was 1.5% [4/274, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.03-2.9%]. Twenty-three per cent (63/274) of subjects were nasal carriers of S. aureus. Six per cent (4/63) of S. aureus isolates were MRSA and 2 of the 4 MRSA carriers reported previous contact with health facilities. The prevalence of MRSA colonization in the general adult population in Birmingham appears to be low. (+info)
Analysis of Holdaway soft-tissue measurements in children between 9 and 12 years of age.
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In this study, 43 lateral cephalometric radiographs from 20 boys and 23 girls subjects were used to determine the Holdaway soft tissue growth changes. Subjects with Class I occlusions, balanced skeletal profiles, normal growth and development, and no orthodontic treatment history were included in the investigation. The cephalometric measurements were carried out on the first and second radiographs of each subject, with an average interval of 5 years. The growth changes in both sexes were analysed separately. The changes resulting from growth and development were determined by a paired t-test. The results showed that all measurements were significant at various levels except for upper lip sulcus depth, subnasal-H line distance, and lower lip H distance in girls, and upper lip sulcus depth, subnasal-H line distance, H angle and lower lip H line distance in boys. The measurement differences were observed with a Student's t-test. No significant difference was found for any measurement except upper lip base thickness (P < 0.001) and upper lip thickness (P < 0.01). The following measurements during the observation period were statistically different: soft-tissue facial angle (P < 0.01 in girls, P < 0.05 boys), nose prominence (P < 0.001 in girls and boys), skeletal profile convexity (P < 0.001 in girls, P < 0.01 in boys), basic upper lip thickness (P < 0.001 in girls and boys), upper lip thickness (P < 0.05 in girls, P < 0.001 in boys), H angle (P < 0.001 in girls), lower lip sulcus depth (P < 0.001 in girls and boys), and soft-tissue chin thickness (P < 0.001 in girls, P < 0.001 in boys). (+info)
Nostril position in dinosaurs and other vertebrates and its significance for nasal function.
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Many dinosaurs have enormous and complicated bony nasal apertures. Functional interpretation requires knowledge of the location of the external opening in the skin. Traditionally, the fleshy nostril of dinosaurs has been placed in the back of the bony opening, but studies of extant dinosaur relatives suggest that it is located far forward. Narial blood supply and cavernous tissue corroborate the rostral position in dinosaurs. A rostral nostril was, and remains, a virtually invariant rule of construction among Amniota, which has consequences for (i) nasal airstreaming, and hence various physiological parameters, and (ii) the collection of behaviorally relevant circumoral odorants. (+info)
Pyogenic cocci in infantile eczema throughout one year.
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To determine the source of pyococci causing attacks of sepsis in infantile eczema 20 patients with continuing eczema were followed up for one year, regular swabs being taken from the skin, nose, throat, and family contacts. The staphylococci were phage typed and the streptococci serologically typed. Staphylococci of the same phage type in most cases remained in reservoir sites on the skin and coincidently in the nose. Staphylococci causing attacks of clinical sepsis arose from these persistently colonized sites. Staphylococci of the same phage type were also common in family contacts. Streptococci of the same group in most cases did not remain on the skin. Streptococci causing attacks of clinical sepsis arose as new infections from external sources, sometimes from throat infections in the patient or family contacts. Strains of streptococci which are known to be associated with glomerulonephritis were isolated. It has been confirmed that staphylococci resistant to neomycin and sodium fusidate quickly emerge after the topical use of these antibiotics. Streptococci are highly resistant to neomycin and gentamicin, and moderately resistant to sodium fusidate, so the use of these antibiotics in topical steroid preparations will have little effect in preventing further attacks of clinical sepsis in these patients. (+info)
Merkel cell carcinoma: a rare cause of hypervascular nasal tumor.
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Cutaneous neuroendocrine carcinoma, first described in 1972, is an aggressive disease usually occurring in sun-exposed skin. Other sites have been described, however; such tumors occasionally occur within the nasal fossa. A high rate of metastasis (>30%) explains the poor prognosis. Descriptions of the imaging features of these tumors, mainly located in cutaneous region, are rare. We therefore present the imaging features of two cases of Merkel cell carcinoma involving the sinonasal region, suggestive of a hypervascular tumor. (+info)
Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Service (CHAMPUS); prosthetic devices. Office of the Secretary, DoD. Final rule.
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This final rule implements Section 702 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998, which authorizes purchase of prosthetic devices, as determined by the Secretary of Defense, to be necessary because of significant conditions resulting from trauma, congenital anomalies, or disease. The Act changes the existing limited provisions for prosthetic devices, expanding coverage to include the cost sharing of other prostheses, e.g., noses, ears and fingers. (+info)
Lack of amiloride-sensitive transport across alveolar and respiratory epithelium of iNOS(-/-) mice in vivo.
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The extent to which endogenously generated nitric oxide alters Na(+) transport across the mammalian alveolar epithelium in vivo has not been documented. Herein we measured alveolar fluid clearance and nasal potential differences in mice lacking the inducible form of nitric oxide synthase [iNOS; iNOS(-/-)] and their corresponding wild-type controls [iNOS(+/+)]. Alveolar fluid clearance values in iNOS(+/+) and iNOS(-/-) anesthetized mice with normal oxygenation and acid-base balance were ~30% of instilled fluid/30 min. In both groups of mice, fluid absorption was dependent on vectorial Na(+) movement. Amiloride (1.5 mM) decreased alveolar fluid clearance in iNOS(+/+) mice by 61%, whereas forskolin (50 microM) increased alveolar fluid clearance by 55% by stimulating amiloride-insensitive pathways. Neither agent altered alveolar fluid clearance in iNOS(-/-) mice. Hyperoxia upregulated iNOS expression in iNOS(+/+) mice and decreased their amiloride-sensitive component of alveolar fluid clearance but had no effect on the corresponding values in iNOS(-/-) mice. Nasal potential difference measurements were consistent with alveolar fluid clearance in that both groups of mice had similar baseline values, which were amiloride sensitive in the iNOS(+/+) but not in the iNOS(-/-) mice. These data suggest that nitric oxide produced by iNOS under basal conditions plays an important role in regulating amiloride-sensitive Na(+) channels in alveolar and airway epithelia. (+info)