Evidence for a general cognitive structure in pigeons (Columba livia).

A well replicated result in humans is that performance, whether good or bad, is consistent across a wide variety of cognitive tasks. Factor analysis extracts one factor that can account for approximately half of the variance in performance. This factor is termed g and almost all cognitive tasks positively load onto this factor.

Choice reaction time in pigeons fails to increase as predicted by Hick's law.

Being able to correctly identify a target when presented with multiple possible alternatives, or increasing uncertainty, is highly beneficial in a wide variety of situations. This has been intensely investigated with human participants and results consistently demonstrated that participant reaction time (RT) increases linearly with the number of response alternatives, described as Hick's Law. Yet, the strength of this relationship is impacted by a variety of parameters, including stimulus-response compatibility, stimulus intensity, and practice.

The effect of age on delay performance and associative learning tasks in pigeons.

Pigeons are commonly utilized in psychological research, and their cognitive abilities have been thoroughly investigated. Yet very little is known about how these abilities change with age. In contrast, age-related changes in humans, nonhuman primates, and rodents are well documented.

The comparative analysis of intelligence.

The study of intelligence in humans has been ongoing for over 100 years, including the underlying structure, predictive validity, related cognitive measures, and source of differences. One of the key findings in intelligence research is the uniform positive correlations among cognitive tasks. This has been replicated with every cognitive test battery in humans.

Evidence that novel flavors unconditionally suppress weight gain in the absence of flavor-calorie associations.

Beginning with Pavlov (1927), there has been great interest in how associative learning processes affect eating behavior. For instance, flavors can become preferred when paired with calories or, conversely, become aversive when paired with illness. This relationship between flavors and caloric or toxic outcomes has been investigated by a number of theorists.

Changes in hippocampal volume and neuron number co-occur with memory decline in old homing pigeons (Columba livia).

The mammalian hippocampus is particularly susceptible to age-related structural changes, which have been used to explain, in part, age-related memory decline. These changes are generally characterized by atrophy (e.g.

An age-related deficit in spatial-feature reference memory in homing pigeons (Columba livia).

Age-related memory decline in mammals has been well documented. By contrast, very little is known about memory decline in birds as they age. In the current study we trained younger and older homing pigeons on a reference memory task in which a goal location could be encoded by spatial and feature cues.

Intraobserver reliability of cranial strain patterns as evaluated by osteopathic physicians: a pilot study.

Context: Few studies of inter- or intraobserver reliability have focused on evaluations of cranial strain patterns.

Objective: To determine whether substantial intraobserver reliability can be achieved by osteopathic physicians (DOs) using common palpatory tests to diagnose cranial dysfunction.

Methods: Forty-eight subjects were divided into three diagnostic groups, categorized as those with asthma, headaches, or neither asthma nor headaches (ie, healthy control group).

Preparation of immunoblot test stripes from a Rubella virus-like particles dye crystal complex as antigen.

Stably transfected Chinese hamster ovary (CHO24S) cells were the source for Rubella virus-like particles (RVLP) containing all structural proteins (E1, E2, C and their dimers). RVLP are secreted from the CHO24S cells into the medium and the time-point for collecting the medium with the highest yield of >100 kDa proteins (with 17 mg protein from 10 ml cell culture supernatant) was after 2 days of incubation. Different methods for RVLP isolation from the cell culture supernatants were assessed by SDS-PAGE and Western blotting (using sera positive or negative for Rubella virus (RV)-specific antibodies or an anti-E1 monoclonal antibody).

A technique for isolation of rubella virus-like particles by sucrose gradient ultracentrifugation using Coomassie brilliant blue G crystals.

An improved method for the isolation of rubella virus-like particles (RVLP) from cell culture supernatant of transfected Chinese hamster ovary (CHO24S) cells is described. It employs a combination of membrane filtration with sucrose gradient ultracentrifugation. It was found that staining the RVLP band with Coomassie brilliant blue G (CBB) resulted in the CBB crystals adsorbing RVLP.

Blockade of cardiac nerves by intrapericardial local anaesthetics in the conscious rabbit.

Local anaesthetic drugs were instilled into the pericardial sac of conscious rabbits through a chronically implanted catheter. Twenty mg of procaine HCl always caused complete blockade of cardiac vagal and sympathetic efferent nerves, tested by eliciting the baroreceptor-heart rate reflex, and abolished the reflex depression of renal sympathetic nerve activity elicited by impeding left ventricular outflow. It also slowed heart rate by a direct effect on the sinoatrial pacemaker.