Repeated pre-training sleep restriction in adolescent rats impaired spatial performance

Sleep and Biological Rhythms - Chronic sleep deprivation (SD) is an overwhelming problem in young students. Firstly, we investigated whether different levels of pre-training SD had effects on...     

Comparative Analysis of Endogenous Hormones and Metabolite Profiles in Early-Spring Flowering Plants and Unflowered Plants Revealing the Strategy of Blossom

Journal of Plant Growth Regulation - Early-spring plants are a special type of plant that complete their life cycle promptly in cold, early spring. Very little effort has been made into researching...     

Compliance with postpartum Rh isoimmunization prophylaxis in Alberta

A retrospective review of obstetric records for 1979 in two major Calgary hospitals was undertaken to determine the rate of compliance with postpartum Rh isoimmunization prophylaxis in Alberta. The charts of 4528 women ranging in age from 13 to 46 years were reviewed. The prevalence rate of Rh negativity was found to be 16%. Of the 710 Rh-negative women 490 (69%) were eligible to receive Rh immune globulin (RhIG); that is, they had no anti-D antibodies, and the baby/fetus was Rh-positive or Rh-unknown. RhIG had been administered to 93.6% of the eligible women; the compliance rate ranged from 66.7% for obstetric emergencies (i.e., spontaneous abortion, antepartum or early-pregnancy hemorrhage, or ectopic pregnancy) to 98.2% for postpartum diagnoses. In more than half (54.7%) of the women who underwent amniocentesis Rh type was not determined; the implications of this finding are discussed. Although poor compliance with postpartum RhIG administration is not a reason for withholding antepartum administration of RhIG, maximum compliance with the more cost-effective programs should be attained before antepartum programs are fully implemented.     

Genome‐wide detection of CNVs associated with beak deformity in chickens using high‐density 600K SNP arrays

Beak deformity (crossed beaks) is found in several indigenous chicken breeds including Beijing‐You studied here. Birds with deformed beaks have reduced feed intake and poor production performance. Recently, copy number variation (CNV) has been examined in many species and is recognized as a source of genetic variation, especially for disease phenotypes. In this study, to unravel the genetic mechanisms underlying beak deformity, we performed genome‐wide CNV detection using Affymetrix chicken high‐density 600K data on 48 deformed‐beak and 48 normal birds using penncnv . As a result, two and eight CNV regions (CNVRs) covering 0.32 and 2.45 Mb respectively on autosomes were identified in deformed‐beak and normal birds respectively. Further RT‐qPCR studies validated nine of the 10 CNVRs. The ratios of six CNVRs were significantly different between deformed‐beak and normal birds (P < 0.01). Within these six regions, three and 21 known genes were identified in deformed‐beak and normal birds respectively. Bioinformatics analysis showed that these genes were enriched in six GO terms and one KEGG pathway. Five candidate genes in the CNVRs were further validated using RT‐qPCR. The expression of LRIG2 (leucine rich repeats and immunoglobulin like domains 2) was lower in birds with deformed beaks (P < 0.01). Therefore, the LRIG2 gene could be considered a key factor in view of its known functions and its potential roles in beak deformity. Overall, our results will be helpful for future investigations of the genomic structural variations underlying beak deformity in chickens.     

The Neural Basis of Responsibility Attribution in Decision-Making

Social responsibility links personal behavior with societal expectations and plays a key role in affecting an agent’s emotional state following a decision. However, the neural basis of responsibility attribution remains unclear. In two previous event-related brain potential (ERP) studies we found that personal responsibility modulated outcome evaluation in gambling tasks. Here we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study to identify particular brain regions that mediate responsibility attribution. In a context involving team cooperation, participants completed a task with their teammates and on each trial received feedback about team success and individual success sequentially. We found that brain activity differed between conditions involving team success vs. team failure. Further, different brain regions were associated with reinforcement of behavior by social praise vs. monetary reward. Specifically, right temporoparietal junction (RTPJ) was associated with social pride whereas dorsal striatum and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) were related to reinforcement of behaviors leading to personal gain. The present study provides evidence that the RTPJ is an important region for determining whether self-generated behaviors are deserving of praise in a social context.     

Affinity labeling of delta-opiate receptors using [D-Ala2,Leu5,Cys6]enkephalin. Covalent attachment via thiol-disulfide exchange

[D-Ala2,Leu5,Cys6]Enkephalin (DALCE) is a synthetic enkephalin analog which contains a sulfhydryl group. DALCE binds with high affinity to delta-receptors, with moderate affinity to mu-receptors, and with negligible affinity to kappa-receptors. Pretreatment of rat brain membranes with DALCE resulted in concentration-dependent loss of delta-binding sites. Using 2 nM [3H][D-Pen2,D-Pen5]enkephalin (where Pen represents penicillamine) to label delta-sites, 50% loss of sites occurred at about 3 microM DALCE. Loss of sites was not reversed by subsequent incubation in buffer containing 250 mM NaCl and 100 microM guanyl-5'-yl imidodiphosphate (Gpp(NH)p), conditions which cause dissociation of opiate agonists. By contrast, the enkephalin analogs [D-Ala2,D-Leu5]enkephalin, [D-Ser2,Leu5,Thr6]enkephalin, [D-Pen2,D-Pen5]enkephalin, and [D-Ala2,D-Leu5,Lys6]enkephalin were readily dissociated by NaCl and Gpp(NH)p, producing negligible loss at 3 microM. This suggests that DALCE binds covalently to the receptors. Pretreatment of membranes with the reducing agents dithiothreitol and beta-mercaptoethanol had no effect on opiate binding. Thus, loss of sites required both specific recognition by opiate receptors and a thiol group. The irreversible effect of DALCE was completely selective for delta-receptors. Pretreatment with DALCE had no effect on binding of ligands to mu- or kappa-receptors. The effect of DALCE on delta-binding was: 1) markedly attenuated by inclusion of dithiothreitol in the preincubation buffer, 2) partially reversed by subsequent incubation with dithiothreitol, 3) slightly enhanced when converted to the disulfide-linked dimer, and 4) prevented by blocking the DALCE sulfhydryl group with N-ethylmaleimide or iodoacetamide. These results indicate that DALCE binds covalently to delta-receptors by forming a disulfide bond with a sulfhydryl group in the binding site. The mechanism may involve a thiol-disulfide exchange reaction.