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Bhogal AN, Berrocal VJ, Romero DM, Willis MA, Vydiswaran VGV, Veinot TC. Social Acceptability of Health Behavior Posts on Social Media: An Experiment. Am J Prev Med 2024; 66:870-876. [PMID: 38191003 DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2024.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2023] [Revised: 01/03/2024] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 01/10/2024]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Social media sites like Twitter (now X) are increasingly used to create health behavior metrics for public health surveillance. Yet little is known about social norms that may bias the content of posts about health behaviors. Social norms for posts about four health behaviors (smoking tobacco, drinking alcohol, physical activity, eating food) on Twitter/X were evaluated. METHODS This was a randomized experiment delivered via web-based survey to adult, English-speaking Twitter/X users in three Michigan, USA, counties from 2020 to 2022 (n=559). Each participant viewed 24 posts presenting experimental manipulations regarding four health behaviors and answered questions about each post's social acceptability. Principal component analysis was used to combine survey responses into one perceived social acceptability measure. Linear mixed models with the Benjamini-Hochberg correction were implemented to test seven study hypotheses in 2023. RESULTS Supporting six hypotheses, posts presenting healthier (CI: 0.028, 0.454), less stigmatized behaviors (CI: 0.552, 0.157) were more socially acceptable than posts regarding unhealthier, stigmatized behaviors. Unhealthy (CI: -0.268, -0.109) and stigmatized behavior (CI: -0.261, -0.103) posts were less acceptable for more educated participants. Posts about collocated activities (CI: 0.410, 0.573) and accompanied by expressions of liking (CI: 0.906, 1.11) were more acceptable than activities undertaken alone or disliked. Contrary to one hypothesis, posts reporting unusual activities were less acceptable than usual ones (CI: -0.472, 0.312). CONCLUSIONS Perceived social acceptability may be associated with the frequency and content of health behavior posts. Users of Twitter/X and other social media platform posts to estimate health behavior prevalence should account for potential estimation biases from perceived social acceptability of posts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley N Bhogal
- School of Information, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Veronica J Berrocal
- Department of Statistics, University of California Irvine Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences, Irvine, California
| | - Daniel M Romero
- School of Information, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Center for the Study of Complex Systems, University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, College of Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Matthew A Willis
- School of Information, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - V G Vinod Vydiswaran
- School of Information, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Department of Learning Health Sciences, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Tiffany C Veinot
- School of Information, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Department of Learning Health Sciences, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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Willis MA, Post S, Nothacker M, Follmann M, Langer T, Vilz TO. A methodological protocol for the development of a national guideline on perioperative management of gastrointestinal tumors in Germany. Perioper Med (Lond) 2024; 13:25. [PMID: 38561812 PMCID: PMC10983752 DOI: 10.1186/s13741-024-00380-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2022] [Accepted: 03/21/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The success of abdominal cancer surgery depends not only on the surgery itself but is influenced by the overall perioperative management. Given the multitude of perioperative measures and the ever-increasing number of studies on perioperative management, it is difficult to keep track and provide evidence-based perioperative management. The planned guideline on perioperative management will review the existing evidence and derive treatment recommendations. METHODS The processing of the evidence is carried out by 6 working groups according to an 8-step scheme: after drafting the guideline questions in PICO format (1), a systematic literature search is carried out (2), and the records found are screened by two independent reviewers from the coordination team. Subsequently, the full texts of the potentially relevant articles are made available to the working groups for full text screening (3). All articles to be included are reviewed for methodological quality (4) before summary of findings tables are generated (5). In line with the GRADE approach, confidence in the evidence is assessed (6) before a recommendation is derived from the evidence, using a modified GRADE Evidence to Decision Framework (7). Finally, all recommendations are compiled and agreed within the guideline group (8). DISCUSSION Guidelines serve as foundation for therapy decisions in everyday clinical practice and should therefore be based on up-to-date research results. However, while primary studies and systematic reviews are critically reviewed for their methodological quality, the process of guideline development is often not comprehensible. A protocol with predefined methodology should therefore create transparency and strengthen confidence in the recommendations. TRIAL REGISTRATION The guideline is registered in the AWMF (Association of the Scientific Medical Societies) Guideline Register (088-010OL).
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Affiliation(s)
- M A Willis
- Department of General, Visceral, Thorax and Vascular Surgery, University Hospital Bonn, Venusberg-Campus 1, 53127, Bonn, Germany.
| | - S Post
- Department of Surgery, University Hospital Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
| | - M Nothacker
- Association of the Scientific Medical Societies e.V., Philipps University Marburg, Marburg, Germany
| | - M Follmann
- German Guideline Program in Oncology, German Cancer Society, Berlin, Germany
| | - T Langer
- German Guideline Program in Oncology, German Cancer Society, Berlin, Germany
| | - T O Vilz
- Department of General, Visceral, Thorax and Vascular Surgery, University Hospital Bonn, Venusberg-Campus 1, 53127, Bonn, Germany
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Willis MA, Thudium M, van Beekum CJ, Söhle M, Coburn M, Kalff JC, Vilz TO. [Implementation of fast-track measures in colorectal resections : A survey among members of the DGAI]. Anaesthesist 2021; 71:510-517. [PMID: 34825930 DOI: 10.1007/s00101-021-01074-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2021] [Revised: 09/29/2021] [Accepted: 11/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE The fast-track (FT) concept is a multimodal, interdisciplinary approach to perioperative patient care intended to reduce postoperative complications. Despite good evidence implementation seems to need improvement, whereby almost all studies focused on the implementation of surgical modules regardless of the interdisciplinary aspect. Adherence to the anesthesiological measures (prehabilitation, premedication, volume and temperature management, pain therapy), on the other hand, has been insufficiently studied. To assess the status quo a survey on the implementation of anesthesiological FT measures was conducted among members of the German Society of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine (DGAI) to analyze where potential for improvement exists. METHODS Using the SurveyMonkey® online survey tool, 28 questions regarding perioperative anesthesiological care of colorectal surgery patients were sent to DGAI members in order to analyze adherence to FT measures. RESULTS While some of the FT measures (temperature management, PONV prophylaxis) are already routinely used, there is a divergence between current recommendations and clinical implementation for other components. In addition to premedication, interdisciplinary measures (prehabilitation) and measures that affect multiple interfaces (operating theatre, recovery room, ward), such as volume management or perioperative pain management, are particularly affected. CONCLUSION The anesthesiological recommendations of the FT concept are only partially implemented in Germany. This particularly affects the interdisciplinary components as well as measures at the operating theatre, recovery room and ward interfaces. The establishment of an interdisciplinary FT team and interdisciplinary development of SOPs can optimize adherence, which in turn improves the short-term and long-term outcome of patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- M A Willis
- Klinik- und Poliklinik für Allgemein‑, Viszeral‑, Thorax- und Gefäßchirurgie, Universitätsklinikum Bonn, Venusberg-Campus 1, 53127, Bonn, Deutschland
| | - M Thudium
- Klinik für Anästhesiologie und Operative Intensivmedizin, Universitätsklinikum Bonn, Bonn, Deutschland
| | - C J van Beekum
- Klinik- und Poliklinik für Allgemein‑, Viszeral‑, Thorax- und Gefäßchirurgie, Universitätsklinikum Bonn, Venusberg-Campus 1, 53127, Bonn, Deutschland
| | - M Söhle
- Klinik für Anästhesiologie und Operative Intensivmedizin, Universitätsklinikum Bonn, Bonn, Deutschland
| | - M Coburn
- Klinik für Anästhesiologie und Operative Intensivmedizin, Universitätsklinikum Bonn, Bonn, Deutschland
| | - J C Kalff
- Klinik- und Poliklinik für Allgemein‑, Viszeral‑, Thorax- und Gefäßchirurgie, Universitätsklinikum Bonn, Venusberg-Campus 1, 53127, Bonn, Deutschland
| | - T O Vilz
- Klinik- und Poliklinik für Allgemein‑, Viszeral‑, Thorax- und Gefäßchirurgie, Universitätsklinikum Bonn, Venusberg-Campus 1, 53127, Bonn, Deutschland.
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Willis MA, Hu Z, Saran R, Argentina M, Bragg-Gresham J, Krein SL, Gillespie B, Zheng K, Veinot TC. Corrigendum to: Feeling better on hemodialysis:user-centered design requirements for promotingpatient involvement in the prevention of treatmentcomplications. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2021; 28:2547. [PMID: 34338781 DOI: 10.1093/jamia/ocab146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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Willis MA, Hein LB, Hu Z, Saran R, Argentina M, Bragg-Gresham J, Krein SL, Gillespie B, Zheng K, Veinot TC. Feeling better on hemodialysis: user-centered design requirements for promoting patient involvement in the prevention of treatment complications. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2021; 28:1612-1631. [PMID: 34117493 PMCID: PMC8324235 DOI: 10.1093/jamia/ocab033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2020] [Revised: 02/02/2021] [Accepted: 02/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Hemodialysis patients frequently experience dialysis therapy sessions complicated by intradialytic hypotension (IDH), a major patient safety concern. We investigate user-centered design requirements for a theory-informed, peer mentoring-based, informatics intervention to activate patients toward IDH prevention. METHODS We conducted observations (156 hours) and interviews (n = 28) with patients in 3 hemodialysis clinics, followed by 9 focus groups (including participatory design activities) with patients (n = 17). Inductive and deductive analyses resulted in themes and design principles linked to constructs from social, cognitive, and self-determination theories. RESULTS Hemodialysis patients want an informatics intervention for IDH prevention that collapses distance between patients, peers, and family; harnesses patients' strength of character and resolve in all parts of their life; respects and supports patients' individual needs, preferences, and choices; and links "feeling better on dialysis" to becoming more involved in IDH prevention. Related design principles included designing for: depth of interpersonal connections; positivity; individual choice and initiative; and comprehension of connections and possible actions. DISCUSSION Findings advance the design of informatics interventions by presenting design requirements for outpatient safety and addressing key design opportunities for informatics to support patient involvement; these include incorporation of behavior change theories. Results also demonstrate the meaning of design choices for hemodialysis patients in the context of their experiences; this may have applicability to other populations with serious illnesses. CONCLUSION The resulting patient-facing informatics intervention will be evaluated in a pragmatic cluster-randomized controlled trial in 28 hemodialysis facilities in 4 US regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew A Willis
- School of Information, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,
Michigan, USA
| | - Leah Brand Hein
- School of Information, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,
Michigan, USA
| | - Zhaoxian Hu
- School of Information and Computer Sciences, University of
California, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Rajiv Saran
- Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
- Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | | | - Jennifer Bragg-Gresham
- Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
- Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Sarah L Krein
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical
School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
- Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Center for Clinical Management
Research, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Brenda Gillespie
- Department of Biostatistics, Consulting for Statistics, Computing and Analytics
Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Kai Zheng
- School of Information and Computer Sciences, University of
California, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Tiffany C Veinot
- School of Information, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,
Michigan, USA
- School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,
Michigan, USA
- Corresponding Author: Tiffany C. Veinot, MLS, PhD, School of
Information, University of Michigan, 4314 North Quad, 105 S State St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109,
USA;
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Abstract
Flying insects track turbulent odor plumes to find mates, food and egg-laying sites. To maintain contact with the plume, insects are thought to adapt their flight control according to the distribution of odor in the plume using the timing of odor onsets and intervals between odor encounters. Although timing cues are important, few studies have addressed whether insects are capable of deriving spatial information about odor distribution from bilateral comparisons between their antennae in flight. The proboscis extension reflex (PER) associative learning protocol, originally developed to study odor learning in honeybees, was used as a tool to ask if hawkmoths, Manduca sexta, can discriminate between odor stimuli arriving on either antenna. We show moths discriminated the odor arrival side with an accuracy of >70%. Information about spatial distribution of odor stimuli may be available to moths searching for odor sources, opening the possibility that they use both spatial and temporal odor information.This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - M A Willis
- Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106-7080, U.S.A
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Inserra PIF, Leopardo NP, Willis MA, Freysselinard AL, Vitullo AD. Quantification of healthy and atretic germ cells and follicles in the developing and post-natal ovary of the South American plains vizcacha, Lagostomus maximus: evidence of continuous rise of the germinal reserve. Reproduction 2013; 147:199-209. [PMID: 24231369 DOI: 10.1530/rep-13-0455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The female germ line in mammals is subjected to massive cell death that eliminates 60-85% of the germinal reserve by birth and continues from birth to adulthood until the exhaustion of the germinal pool. Germ cell demise occurs mainly through apoptosis by means of a biased expression in favour of pro-apoptotic members of the BCL2 gene family. By contrast, the South American plains vizcacha, Lagostomus maximus, exhibits sustained expression of the anti-apoptotic BCL2 gene throughout gestation and a low incidence of germ cell apoptosis. This led to the proposal that, in the absence of death mechanisms other than apoptosis, the female germ line should increase continuously from foetal life until after birth. In this study, we quantified all healthy germ cells and follicles in the ovaries of L. maximus from early foetal life to day 60 after birth using unbiased stereological methods and detected apoptosis by labelling with TUNEL assay. The healthy germ cell population increased continuously from early-developing ovary reaching a 50 times higher population number by the end of gestation. TUNEL-positive germ cells were <0.5% of the germ cell number, except at mid-gestation (3.62%). Mitotic proliferation, entrance into prophase I stage and primordial follicle formation occurred as overlapping processes from early pregnancy to birth. Germ cell number remained constant in early post-natal life, but a remnant population of non-follicular VASA- and PCNA-positive germ cells still persisted at post-natal day 60. L. maximus is the first mammal so far described in which female germ line develops in the absence of constitutive massive germ cell elimination.
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Affiliation(s)
- P I F Inserra
- Departamento de Ciencias Biomédicas y Biotecnológicas, Centro de Estudios Biomédicos, Biotecnológicos, Ambientales y Diagnóstico (CEBBAD), Universidad Maimónides, Hidalgo 775, C1405BCK, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Possemato K, Bishop TM, Willis MA, Lantinga LJ. Healthcare Utilization and Symptom Variation Among Veterans Using Behavioral Telehealth Center Services. J Behav Health Serv Res 2013; 40:416-26. [DOI: 10.1007/s11414-013-9338-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Leopardo NP, Jensen F, Willis MA, Espinosa MB, Vitullo AD. The developing ovary of the South American plains vizcacha, Lagostomus maximus (Mammalia, Rodentia): massive proliferation with no sign of apoptosis-mediated germ cell attrition. Reproduction 2011; 141:633-41. [DOI: 10.1530/rep-10-0463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Apoptosis-dependent massive germ cell death is considered a constitutive trait of the developing mammalian ovary that eliminates 65–85% of the germinal tissue depending on the species. After birth and during adult lifetime, apoptotic activity moves from the germ cell proper to the somatic compartment, decimating germ cells through follicular atresia until the oocyte reserve is exhausted. In contrast, the South American rodent Lagostomus maximus shows suppressed apoptosis-dependent follicular atresia in the adult ovary, with continuous folliculogenesis and massive polyovulation, which finally exhausts the oocyte pool. The absence of follicular atresia in adult L. maximus might arise from a failure to move apoptosis from the germinal stratum to the somatic compartment after birth or being a constitutive trait of the ovarian tissue with no massive germ cell degeneration in the developing ovary. We tested these possibilities by analysing oogenesis, expression of germ cell-specific VASA protein, apoptotic proteins BCL2 and BAX, and DNA fragmentation by TUNEL assay in the developing ovary of L. maximus. Immunolabelling for VASA revealed a massive and widespread colonisation of the ovary and proliferation of germ cells organised in nests that disappeared at late development when folliculogenesis began. No sign of germ cell attrition was found at any time point. BCL2 remained positive throughout oogenesis, whereas BAX was slightly detected in early development. TUNEL assay was conspicuously negative throughout the development. These results advocate for an unrestricted proliferation of germ cells, without apoptosis-driven elimination, as a constitutive trait of L. maximus ovary as opposed to what is normally found in the developing mammalian ovary.
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Abstract
Abdominal coremata in male Estigmene acrea (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) are inflated and displayed in aggregations to which females and males are attracted and where mating occurs (leks). Female E. acrea also release a sex pheromone which attracts males. These two mating behaviors occur in the same populations at different peak times on the same nights. Thus male lek formation and female calling occur in the same species, and the male coremata, or related structures, appear to be integrally associated with lek behavior.
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Willis MA, Avondet JL. Odor-modulated orientation in walking male cockroaches Periplaneta americana, and the effects of odor plumes of different structure. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2005; 208:721-35. [PMID: 15695764 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.01418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The location of distant resources using odor information usually also requires information on the flow of air (or water) through the environment together with the expression of internally programmed steering responses. The orientation responses of virgin male Periplaneta americana L. to wind and the female sex-pheromone component (-)-periplanone-B were video-recorded in a laboratory wind tunnel and quantified. P. americana males showed no preferred walking orientation when released in zero wind in the absence of pheromone. When introduced into 25 cm s(-1) wind in the absence of pheromone, 79% of males walked downwind. Upon introduction to a plume of (-)-periplanone-B in wind, 100% of males walked upwind in the pheromone plume to the source. Males were then challenged with wind-borne plumes of (-)-periplanone-B of four different temporal/spatial structures. In nearly all cases, the only statistically significant changes in behavioral parameters measured from their walking tracks were observed from males tracking the treatment consisting of the most turbulent plume. The plume-tracking performances of males challenged with the other three less turbulent plumes were visually and quantitatively similar, regardless of the width. Males tracking all four plumes showed evidence of turns resulting from multiple mechanisms. Some of the observed maneuvers were temporally regular counterturns, suggesting steering according to an ongoing internal program, while others could have been triggered by encountering the change in odor concentration between pheromone and clean air at the lateral boundary of the plume or chemotactically upon the detection of changes in odor concentration.
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Affiliation(s)
- M A Willis
- Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106-7080, USA.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND Rop is an RNA binding, dimeric, four-helix bundle protein with a well-defined, regular hydrophobic core ideally suited for redesign studies. A family of Rop variants in which the hydrophobic core was systematically redesigned has previously been created and characterized. RESULTS We present a structural and thermodynamic analysis of Ala2Ile2-6, a variant of Rop with an extensively redesigned hydrophobic core. The structure of Ala2Ile2-6 reveals a completely new fold formed by a conformational "flip" of the two protomers around the dimeric interface. The free-energy profile of Ala2Ile2-6 is also very different from that of wild-type Rop. Ala2Ile2-6 has a higher melting temperature than Rop, but undergoes a slightly smaller free-energy change on unfolding. CONCLUSIONS The structure of Ala2Ile2-6, along with molecular modeling results, demonstrate the importance of tight packing of core residues and the adoption of favorable core side chain rotamer values in determining helix-helix interactions in the four-helix bundle fold. Structural disorder at the N and C termini of Ala2Ile2-6 provides a basis for the large differences in the enthalpy and entropy of Ala2Ile2-6 folding compared with wildtype Rop.
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Affiliation(s)
- M A Willis
- Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
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Abstract
Based on previous studies of odor-modulated flight where track parameter data was lumped and averaged, the speed and orientation of the moths' movement along their flight tracks have been said to be controlled to maintain certain "preferred" values. The results from our fine-scaled analysis of this behavior show that none of the track parameters typically measured are held constant. The moths' speed along the flight track is modulated substantially and predictably: fastest along the straight legs and slowest around the turns. In addition, about half of the individuals studied progressively reduced the peak speed along the straight legs as they approached the pheromone source. While most of the track legs between the turns were directed upwind, their orientations were widely distributed, indicating no preferred direction. Small fluctuations of orientation along some straight legs suggest corrective maneuvers to stabilize flight direction about an internal set point. The visual inputs hypothesized to control steering and speed, transverse and longitudinal image flow, changed continuously during upwind flight in pheromone, but no regular relationship between them was observed. We found that the orientation of the longitudinal body axis and the direction of thrust (course angle) were only rarely coincident during upwind flight to the odor source, suggesting that moths receive sensory input which differs quantitatively from that calculated by conventional methods. Our results strongly suggest that the long-accepted hypothetical mechanisms of control for this behavior do not operate in the manner in which they have been proposed.
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Affiliation(s)
- M A Willis
- Arizona Research Laboratories, Division of Neurobiology, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721-0077, USA.
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Willis MA, Butler MA, Tolbert LP. Normal glomerular organization of the antennal lobes is not necessary for odor-modulated flight in female moths. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 1995; 176:205-16. [PMID: 7884684 DOI: 10.1007/bf00239923] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
A prominent hypothesis for the function of the glomerular structures in the primary olfactory neuropil of many groups of vertebrate and invertebrate animals is that they enable the processing and coding of information about the chemical compounds that compose complex odors. Previous studies have indicated that various degrees of glomerulus formation in the antennal lobes of the brain of the moth Manduca sexta can be effected by reducing the number of olfactory sensory axons that grow from the antenna into the antennal lobe during metamorphosis. To test the hypothesis that the presence of glomerular structure is necessary to process and identify odors, we substantially reduced, by surgery, the number of antennal segments in developing moths and upon metamorphosis we observed and quantified behavioral responses known to be elicited by odors. Intact and lesioned adult female moths were challenged to fly upwind to the source of an attractive host-plant odor in a wind tunnel. Some of the moths that had developed with reduced olfactory input flew upwind to the odor source. The flight behavior of these individuals was similar to the odor-mediated flight typically observed in moths that had developed normally. Histological analysis of the moths' antennal lobes revealed that the lobes of more than half of the respondents that had been lesioned during development lacked normal glomerular organization. The neuropil of these abnormally developed antennal lobes was mostly aglomerular, but with a few isolated, clearly abnormal glomerulus-like structures. This suggests either that even a few abnormal glomeruli are sufficient to mediate this specific behavior or that "canonical" glomerular organization per se is not necessary for this odor-mediated behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- M A Willis
- Arizona Research Laboratories, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721
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Rigatto H, Fitzgerald SF, Willis MA, Yu C. In search of the real respiratory neurons: culture of medullary fetal cells sensitive to CO2 and low pH. Biol Neonate 1994; 65:149-55. [PMID: 8038275 DOI: 10.1159/000244044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Although extensively pursued, the real respiratory neurons have remained elusive. We departed from the more conventional physiologic and morphologic methods of system and tissue examination and cultured dissociated fetal rat cells from the areas of the nucleus ambiguus and the nucleus tractus solitarius located within the 2 mm rostral to the obex. Pacemaker-like cells, with a regular single or bursting activity, studied at 3-5 weeks of age, responded to very small pulses of CO2 (50 ms) and low pH with an increase in spike frequency and a decrease in amplitude. Other irregularly beating or silent cells did not respond or else required very large pulses (> 200 ms) to do so. The pacemaker cells also responded to hypoxia induced by administration of sodium hydrosulfite with an increase in spike frequency and amplitude; high oxygen (> 600 Torr) and adenosine produced a decrease in electrical activity. Most of these cells were multipolar after staining with antibodies to neuron-specific enolase and fragment C of tetanus toxin. They did not stain for choline acetyltransferase. The results suggest that these cultured cells, expressing a phenotype inherently responsive to CO2 and low pH, have the characteristics of central respiratory chemoreceptors, and may be involved in the generation of the respiratory rhythm.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Rigatto
- Department of Pediatrics, Physiology and Reproductive Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
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Rigatto H, Fitzgerald SC, Willis MA, Yu C. In search of the central respiratory neurons: II. Electrophysiologic studies of medullary fetal cells inherently sensitive to CO2 and low pH. J Neurosci Res 1992; 33:590-7. [PMID: 1484392 DOI: 10.1002/jnr.490330411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Although extensively pursued, the central respiratory neurons have remained elusive. We departed from the more conventional physiologic and morphologic methods of system and tissue examination and cultured dissociated fetal rat cells (Fitzgerald et al., J Neurosci Res 33:579-589, 1992) from the area of the nucleus ambiguus and the nucleus tractus solitarius located within the 2 mm rostral to the obex. Pacemaker-like cells, with a regular single or bursting activity, studied at 3-5 weeks of age, responded to very small pulses of CO2 (50 ms) and low pH with an increase in spike frequency and a decrease in spike amplitude. Other irregularly beating or silent cells did not respond or else required very large pulses (> 200 ms) to do so. The pacemaker cells also responded to hypoxia induced by administration of sodium hydrosulfite with an increase in spike frequency and amplitude; high oxygen (> 600 torr) and adenosine produced a decrease in electrical activity. Most of these cells were multipolar after staining with antibodies to neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and Fragment C of tetanus toxin. They did not stain for choline acetyltransferase (ChAT). The results suggest that these cultured cells, expressing a phenotype inherently responsive to CO2 and low pH, have the characteristics of central respiratory chemoreceptors, and may be involved in the generation of the respiratory rhythm.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Rigatto
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
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Fitzgerald SC, Willis MA, Yu C, Rigatto H. In search of the central respiratory neurons: I. Dissociated cell cultures of respiratory areas from the upper medulla. J Neurosci Res 1992; 33:579-89. [PMID: 1484391 DOI: 10.1002/jnr.490330410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Dissociated cells from the areas of the nucleus ambiguus and the nucleus tractus solitarius obtained by tissue punch or block dissection from coronal slices of the medulla at the level of the obex were cultured from fetal rats at 18 to 21 days gestation. The dissociated neurons were plated either directly in vitrogen-coated 35 mm tissue culture dishes or in such dishes which had been seeded with subcultures of cortex- or medulla-derived astrocytes. After the astrocytes reached confluency and were treated with an antimitotic agent, dissociated nucleus ambiguus or nucleus tractus solitarius was plated at 0.5-1.0 x 10(6) cells per dish. Neurons grew well on monolayers of medullary or cortical astrocytes, but survived poorly on vitrogen-coated dishes without a cellular substrate. Rat medulla was preferred as the source of astrocytes. Tissue dissociation with papain rather than trypsin produced less cellular debris, and the neuronal yield from the tissue was higher. The neuronal population was heterogenous in morphology including small and large bipolar, pyramidal, and multipolar cells. Neurons sensitive to CO2 and/or low pH (Rigatto et al., J Neurosci Res 33:590-597, 1992) did not appear to have any definitive morphologic characteristics, but most were multipolar. These neurons stained well with antibodies to neuron-specific enolase and Fragment C of tetanus toxin, but not to choline acetyltransferase (ChAT). These findings suggest that neurons possibly responsible for the central regulation of respiration can be maintained for several weeks in dissociated cell culture, providing a system for neurotransmitter, electrophysiological, and morphological studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- S C Fitzgerald
- Laboratory of Developmental Neurobiology, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892
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Abstract
1. Male and female Manduca sexta flew upwind in response to the odor of female sex-pheromone gland extract or fresh tobacco leaf respectively, and generated very similar zigzagging tracks along the odor plume. 2. After loss of odor during flight, males and females alike: (1) first flew slower and steered their flight more across the wind, then (2) stopped moving upwind, and finally (3) regressed downwind. 3. Males flying upwind in a pheromone plume in wind of different velocities maintained their ground speed near a relatively constant 'preferred' value by increasing their air speed as the velocity of the wind increased, and also maintained the average angle of their resultant flight tracks with respect to the wind at a preferred value by steering a course more precisely due upwind. 4. The inter-turn duration and turn rate, two measures of the temporal aspects of the flight track, were maintained, on average, with remarkable consistency across all wind velocities and in both sexes. The inter-turn durations also decreased significantly as moths approached the odor source, suggesting modulation of the temporal pattern of turning by some feature of the odor plume. This temporal regularity of turning appears to be one of the most stereotyped features of odor-modulated flight in M. sexta.
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Affiliation(s)
- M A Willis
- Arizona Research Laboratories, University of Arizona, Tucson
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Willis MA, Davis M, Cairns NU, Janiszewski R. Inter-agency collaboration: teaching breast self-examination to black women. Oncol Nurs Forum 1989; 16:171-7. [PMID: 2928267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Excessive breast cancer mortality and limited use of mammography among black women point to a need for breast cancer education and increased use of breast self-examination (BSE) and other screening procedures. The Illinois Cancer Council (ICC), a consortial comprehensive cancer center, and the Chicago Chapter of the National Black Nurses' Association (CCNBNA) developed and piloted an educational project to increase black women's knowledge about breast cancer and their use of BSE and other screening methods. This paper describes the steps leading up to this collaborative effort, the procedures necessary to implement it, the difficulties encountered, and the impact of the educational program on the CCNBNA nurses and the high risk, hard-to-reach, underserved women who participated. This program is offered as a model for a collaborative effort between a cancer center or other healthcare facility and a professional organization to address unmet community health needs.
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Cutright DE, Brady JM, Miller RA, Willis MA. Single dose, long duration, subcutaneous drug administration. J Oral Med 1975; 30:5-7. [PMID: 1053796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
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