FOS is induced by singing in distinct neuronal populations in a motor network

The acute and subacute effects of intracerebroventricularly (ICV) administered nerve growth factor (NGF) or brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) on locomotor activity were evaluated in awake adult rats. Immediately after ICV injection through an implanted cannula, locomotor activity was measured by a computerized system using infrared photocells, which allowed us to record locomotion, motility, and rearing simultaneously. A single dose of 5 microg mouse beta-NGF produced significant increases in horizontal ambulatory components of locomotor activity (locomotion and motility), but not vertical movement (rearing) 30-45 min after ICV administration. These increases lasted for at least 3-4 h. Systemic injection of 2.0 mg/kg mecamylamine, a central nicotinic receptor antagonist, inhibited the hyperactivity induced by NGF. Systemic injection of 0.5 mg/kg scopolamine, a muscarinic receptor antagonist, did not interfere with the NGF effects. Thus, while scopolamine induced marked increases in all three measures of behavior in both NGF and cytochrome-c-treated animals, locomotion and motility remained significantly higher in the NGF group. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that NGF diffused readily from the ventricular space into brain parenchyma on the injected side and could be visualized 1 h after ICV injection. These results suggest that ICV administration of NGF increases locomotor activity by inducing acetylcholine release, and that nicotinic receptors are involved in the hyperactivity induced by NGF. ICV administration of 5 microg recombinant human BDNF had no significant effect on locomotor activity during the 0- to 4-h period after ICV injection. However, it produced significant decreases in locomotion, motility, and rearing 24-26 h later. Hence ICV administration of BDNF has entirely different effects on animal behavior from those evoked by NGF. While NGF elicits increases in ambulatory behavior within hours, BDNF causes delayed decreases in ambulatory behavior.     

Bovine IgG2a antibodies to Haemophilus somnus and allotype expression

AIMS/BACKGROUND: To characterise clinically a large kindred segregating retinitis pigmentosa and sensorineural hearing impairment in an autosomal dominant pattern and perform genetic linkage studies in this family. Extensive linkage analysis in this family had previously excluded the majority of loci shown to be involved in the aetiologies of RP, some other forms of inherited retinal degeneration, and inherited deafness. METHODS: Members of the family were subjected to detailed ophthalmic and audiological assessment. In addition, some family members underwent skeletal muscle biopsy, electromyography, and electrocardiography. Linkage analysis using anonymous microsatellite markers was performed on DNA samples from all living members of the pedigree. RESULTS: Patients in this kindred have a retinopathy typical of retinitis pigmentosa in addition to a hearing impairment. Those members of the pedigree examined demonstrated a subclinical myopathy, as evidence by abnormal skeletal muscle histology, electromyography, and electrocardiography. LOD scores of Zmax = 3.75 (theta = 0.10), Zmax = 3.41 (theta = 0.10), and Zmax = 3.25 (theta = 0.15) respectively were obtained with the markers D9S118, D9S121, and ASS, located on chromosome 9q34-qter, suggesting that the causative gene in this family may lie on the long arm (q) of chromosome 9. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that the gene responsible for the phenotype in this kindred is located on chromosome 9 q. These data, together with evidence that a murine deafness gene is located in a syntenic area of the mouse genome, should direct the research community to consider this area as a candidate region for retinopathy and/or deafness genes.     

Relative Contributions of the Male and the Female to Sexual Behavior and Reproductive Success in the Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica).

Two contrasting investigative techniques provided evidence consistent with the interpretation that female quail (Coturnix japonica) regulate male copulatory behavior by the duration of their immobility and through this behavioral mechanism they also control the rate of fertilization of their eggs. In Experiment 1, copulation tests with males and females from different genetic lines showed that the type of female that participated in a copulatory test significantly influenced the latency of the male's grab, mount, and cloacal contact responses and also determined the efficiency of the male's copulatory behavior. These measures of male performance were correlated with female immobility in Experiment 2, which used a more homogeneous population of quail. Furthermore, 2 of these measures (copulatory efficiency and the latency to make cloacal contact) were correlated with fertilization rate. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The gene encoding human glutathione synthetase (GSS) maps to the long arm of chromosome 20 at band 11.2

Two forms of glutathione synthetase deficiency have been described. While one form is mild, causing hemolytic anemia, the other more severe form causes 5-oxo-prolinuria with secondary neurological involvement. Despite the existence of two deficiency phenotypes, Southern blots hybridized with a glutathione synthetase cDNA suggest that there is a single glutathione synthetase gene in the human genome. Analysis of somatic cell hybrids showed the human glutathione synthetase gene (GSS) to be located on chromosome 20, and this assignment has been refined to subband 20q11.2 using in situ hybridization.     

Uncertainty Matters: Computer Models at the Science–Policy Interface

The use of computer models offers a general and flexible framework that can help to deal with some of the complexities and difficulties associated with the development of water management plans as prescribed by the Water Framework Directive. However, despite the advantages modelling presents, the integration of information derived from models into policy is far away from being trivial or the norm. Part of the difficulties of this integration is rooted in the lack of confidence policy makers have on the incorporation of modelling information into policy formulation. In this paper we examine the reasons for this apparent lack of confidence and explore how some tools, presently in use, address this problem. We conclude that public confidence in models is highly dependent on the way uncertainties are addressed and suggest possible directions of action to improve the current situation. Four real case studies illustrate how computer models have been used in The Netherlands for carrying out management plans at regional and national scale. We suggest that the solution to integrate modelling information into policy formulation lies on both the modelling and the policy-making communities.     

Pheromone regulated production of inositol-(1, 4, 5)-trisphosphate in the mammalian vomeronasal organ

Social behaviors of most mammals are profoundly affected by chemical signals, pheromones, exchanged between conspecifics. Pheromones interact with dendritic microvilli of bipolar neurons in the vomeronasal organ (VNO). To investigate vomeronasal signal transduction pathways, microvillar membranes from porcine VNO were prepared. Incubation of such membranes from prepubertal females with boar seminal fluid or urine results in an increase in production of inositol-(1, 4, 5)-trisphosphate (IP3). The dose response for IP3 production is biphasic with a GTP-dependent component at low stimulus concentrations and a nonspecific increase in IP3 at higher stimulus concentrations. The GTP-dependent stimulation is mimicked by GTPgammaS and blocked by GDPbetaS. Furthermore, the GTP-dependent component of the stimulation of IP3 production is sex specific and tissue dependent. Studies with monospecific antibodies reveal a G alpha(q/11)-related protein in vomeronasal neurons, concentrated at their microvilli. Our observations indicate that pheromones in boar secretions act on vomeronasal neurons in the female VNO via a receptor mediated, G protein-dependent increase in IP3. These observations set the stage for further investigations on the regulation of stimulus-excitation coupling in vomeronasal neurons. The pheromone-induced IP3 response also provides an assay for future purification of mammalian reproductive pheromones.     

Heterogeneity effects in visual search predicted from the group scanning model.

The group scanning model of feature integration theory suggests that Ss search visual displays serially by groups, but process items within each group in parallel. Group size is determined by the discriminability of the targets in the background of distractors. When the target is poorly discriminable, the size of the scanned group will be small, and search will be slow. The model predicts that group size will be smallest when targets of an intermediate value on a perceptual dimension are presented in a heterogeneous background of distractors that have higher and lower values on the same dimension. Experiment 1 (30 Ss) demonstrates this effect; Exp 2 (12 Ss) controls for a possible confound of decision complexity in Exp 1. For simple feature targets, the group scanning model provides a good account of the visual search process. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Frontal brain activation in repressors and nonrepressors.

Assessed whether resting anterior asymmetry would discriminate individual differences in repressive-defensive coping styles. In 2 sessions, resting electroencephalogram was recorded from female adults during 8 60-sec baselines. Ss were classified as repressors or nonrepressors on the basis of scores on the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MC), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). In midfrontal and lateral frontal sites, repressors demonstrated relative left hemisphere activation when compared with other groups. The MC, but not the STAI or the BDI, contributed unique variance to frontal asymmetry. Relative left frontal activation may be linked to a self-enhancing regulatory style that promotes lowered risk for psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)