Gangliosides of cultured cells of a rat mammary carcinoma cell line

Ganglioside content of rat mammary carcinoma-derived cells grown in layers in vitro was nearly as high as that of apical plasma membrane-derived milk fat globule membrane and nearly four times higher than the content of normal, lactating mammary tissue on a protein basis. The major ganglioside of these carcinoma-derived cells was identified as GDla (sialic acid-Gal-GalNAc-(sialic acid)-Gal-Glc-Cer. Relative to carcinoma-derived cells, rat mammary tissue and milk fat globule membrane had more complex ganglioside patterns but appeared to lack substantial quantities of GDla.     

NMDA-NR1 receptor subunit mRNA expression in rat brain after 6-OH-dopamine induced lesions: a non-isotopic in situ hybridization study

Antisense digoxigenin-labeled deoxyoligonucleotides probes and non-isotopic in situ hybridization (HIS) techniques have been used to explore the NMDA-NR1 receptor subunit mRNA distribution in different brain areas of rats which had their dopaminergic nigrostriatal pathway previously lesioned with intracerebral administration of 6-OH-dopamine (6-OH-DA). Intense and significant hybridization signals for NR1 mRNA were found in dentate gyrus and regions CA1-CA2-CA3 of the hippocampus, in layers II-III and V-VI of the cerebral cortex, and in the cerebellum of sham-treated rats. Basal ganglia structures such as the striatum exhibited few NR1 mRNA hybridization signals as compared to the hippocampus and cerebral cortex. In contrast, both zona compacta and reticulata of substantia nigra (SN) showed a reduced number of cells with nevertheless intense NR1 mRNA HIS signals. The NR1 mRNA distribution in the brain was affected in a brain regional selective manner by 6-OH-DA induced lesions of DA neuronal systems. A striking increase in NR1 mRNA HIS signals was observed in both striata after unilateral lesioning with 6-OH-DA. Instead, in SN compacta but not in reticulata, a moderate but significant bilateral reduction of NR1 mRNA was observed after unilateral 6-OH-DA injection. No significant changes in NR1 mRNA were detected in cerebral cortex and other brain regions after 6-OH-DA treatment. These studies, and others reported in the literature, support the view that extensive lesions of nigrostriatal DA-containing neurons in the brain may trigger compensatory or adaptative responses in basal ganglia structures such as striatum and substantia nigra which involve glutamateric neurons and the genic expression of NMDA receptors.     

Genotoxicity of estrogens

 Genotoxic effect of the endogenous mammalian estrogen 17β-estradiol and the synthetic estrogen diethylstilbestrol have recently been demonstrated, e. g. the induction of numerical chromosome aberrations (aneuploidy, i. e., the condition in which one or more whole chromosomes of a normal set are missing or present in more than the usual set of copies) and the formation of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) adducts. It is likely that the genotoxicity of the estrogens acts in concert with their hormonal activity to give rise to their carcinogenic effects. Many of the phytoestrogens that occur in plants and the numerous anthropogenic estrogens in our environment, which are ingested with food, have not yet been examined for their genotoxic potential. Recent studies have demonstrated that some but not all of these estrogens exhibit genotoxicity. The type and strength of the genotoxicity strongly depends on the chemical structure and does not correlate with estrogenicity. For example, coumestrol and genistein are clastogenic in cultured mammalian cells and lead to gene mutations, whereas biochanin-A and bisphenol-A have the potential to cause aneuploidy. Daidzein, enterolactone, enterodiol and certain bisphenols are devoid of genotoxic effects. The genotoxicity should be determined individually for each estrogen and taken into account in the assessment of its carcinogenic risk. Received: 19 December 1997     

Gaze following and joint attention in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta).

Gaze and attention direction provide important sources of social information for primates. Behavioral studies show that chimpanzees spontaneously follow human gaze direction. By contrast, non-ape species such as macaques fail to follow gaze cues. The authors investigated the reactions of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) to attention cues of conspecifics. Two subjects were presented with videotaped images of a stimulus monkey with its attention directed to 1 of 2 identical objects. Analysis of eye movements revealed that both subjects inspected the target (object or position attended by the stimulus monkey) more often than the distractor (nonattended object or position). These results provide evidence that rhesus monkeys follow gaze and use the attention cues of other monkeys to orient their own attention to objects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology and optometry: Interaction and collaboration.

One unique possibility for interdisciplinary exchange involves the professions of clinical psychology and optometry. A number of vision conditions have psychological components, and some psychological conditions may be complicated by vision difficulties; thus, there are a number of ways in which psychologists and optometrists could inform each other's practices. Better organized health care delivery is likely to result, as clients are likely to receive more efficient diagnosis, treatment, and management of health problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Shift of laterality and compared analysis of paw performances in cats during practice of a visuomotor task.

Paw preference and performance were analyzed during early and late practice in 12 adult cats that reached toward a moving target. A strong preference for left-paw use was observed early in training. It was still present after practice despite a shift toward right-paw use. Comparing paw performance showed that the left paw was more accurate and quicker to trigger the movement during early practice, whereas after practice, it was the preferred paw (whether right or left) that triggered faster movement. The strong original left-paw bias could reflect the specialization of the right hemisphere in processing spatial information. Its weakening with practice could reflect the ability of the nonspecialized hemisphere to learn how to deal with the task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Survey on Simulation for Mobile Ad-Hoc Communication for Disaster Scenarios

Mobile ad-hoc communication is a demonstrated solution to mitigate the impact of infrastructure failures during large-scale disasters. A very complex issue in this domain is the design validation of software applications that support decision-making and communication during natural disasters. Such disasters are irreproducible, highly unpredictable, and impossible to scale down, and thus extensive assessments cannot be led in situ. In this context, simulation constitutes the best approach towards the testing of software solutions for natural disaster responses. The present survey reviews mobility models, ad-hoc network architectures, routing protocols and network simulators. Our aim is to provide guidelines for software developers with regards to the performance evaluation of their applications by means of simulation.