"Despair" and "escape" behavioral tests in the evaluation of antidepressant activity

Antidepressants pyrazidol (pirlindole), incazan, imipramine, nialamide, nomifensine, mianserin were shown to reduce the duration of immobilization in mice in "despair" tests and increase the number of rotations in water "escape" tests.     

The distributions of "new" and "old" Alu sequences in the human genome: the solution of a "mystery"

The distribution in the human genome of the largest family of mobile elements, the Alu sequences, has been investigated for the past 30 years, and the vast majority of Alu sequences were shown to have the highest density in GC-rich isochores. Ten years ago, it was discovered, however, that the small "youngest" (most recently transposed) Alu families had a strikingly different distribution compared with the "old" families. This raised the question as to how this change took place in evolution. We solved what was considered to be a "mystery" by 1) revisiting our previous results on the integration and stability of retroviral sequences, and 2) assessing the densities of acceptor sites TTTT/AA in isochore families. We could conclude 1) that the open state of chromatin structure plays a crucial role in allowing not only the initial integration of retroviral sequences but also that of the youngest Alu sequences, and 2) that the distribution of old Alus can be explained as due to Alu sequences being unstable in the GC-poor isochores but stable in the compositionally matching GC-rich isochores, again in line with what happens in the case of retroviral sequences.     

Reaction of the elements of the hypophyseal-adrenal system in "starting" states

Morphological elements of the system hypophysis--adrenals have been studied in 19 dogs. Nine animals were given single individually dosed physical loading (running in the treadmill) up to the III stage according to an original technique. The III stage of the organism's response is characterized, according to physiological and biochemical parameters, as a "starting" condition. The other 10 animals served as a control. Biometric, histologic, histoenzymatic and electron microscopic methods were used for the study. The "starting" conditions were demonstrated to determine variously directed dynamics and unequal involvment of cellular elements and zones of the system hypophysis--adrenals. The greatest reactive degree was noted in basophilic adenocytes and chromophobes, as well as in the medullar substance of the adrenals. Acidophils and cells of the fascicular zone play the least role in the response. Unequal participation of the adenohypophyseal cellular elements and the adrenal zones in the organism's response at the "starting" conditions form a predominance of certain processes of cellular activity in them.     

Husbandry of the "nude" mouse in conventional and germfree environments.

The "nude" mouse is a unique tool for immunologic studies. Its relatively short life span dictates the application of rigid environmental controls to increase longevity if the mouse is to assume the role of a practical experimental animal. In this paper we discussed the husbandry procedures employed to raise "nude" mice in our facilities under conventional, defined flora, and germfree conditions. Conventional and defined flora mice were raised on laminar flow stay-clean rocks, and germfree "nudes" were housed in self-contained germfree isolators. The major cause of morbidity and mortality among conventional and defined flora "nude" mice was fulminating hepatitis. We presented evidence that the etiologic agent of the disease was mouse hepatitis virus (MHV). Germfree "nude" mice were completely free from viral and bacterial diseases.     

The "beggar's" hand and the "unshakable" hand in children with total obstetric brachial plexus palsy

A total 12 consecutive children with secondary deformities following total obstetric brachial plexus palsy were included in this retrospective study. In all patients, the main complaints were two socially disabling hand postures: the "beggar's" hand and/or the "unshakable" hand. All children had a supinated forearm with no active pronation and were teased by their friends, who called them "beggars." When the impairment was severe and involved the right hand and wrist, children also complained that they were not able to shake hands. The management approach to these children was described, with the main aim of surgery being the correction of the abnormal posture. Other simultaneous tendon transfers were also performed to improve hand function if there were suitable musculotendinous units. Successful reconstruction was accomplished in all patients. Preoperatively, some children refused to go to school because of teasing, and most did not want to interact socially. After surgery, all children attended school regularly, and parents reported much better social interaction. However, the functional gain was never enough to dramatically improve the daily use of the limb. The contralateral normal limb remained the dominant one for all daily activities, including writing and eating.     

"Necking" behaviour in the giraffe

Previous references to "necking" behaviour, and the main features of the study area are briefly outlined.
"Necking" behaviour in giraffe takes place only in all male herds. When the animals are in a head to head posture the intensity is either high or low, but when animals take up a head to tail posture the actions are always of high intensity and appear to have greater sexual significance.
The significance of "necking" is discussed, and it is suggested that these ritualized actions form an important sexuo-social bonding mechanism whereby a hierarchy is created amongst the males, and movement between strictly bachelor and mixed herds helps to maintain contact between the sexes in this polygamous mammal.     

"Necking" behaviour in the giraffe

Previous references to "necking" behaviour, and the main features of the study area are briefly outlined.
"Necking" behaviour in giraffe takes place only in all male herds. When the animals are in a head to head posture the intensity is either high or low, but when animals take up a head to tail posture the actions are always of high intensity and appear to have greater sexual significance.
The significance of "necking" is discussed, and it is suggested that these ritualized actions form an important sexuo-social bonding mechanism whereby a hierarchy is created amongst the males,and movement between strictly bachelor and mixed herds helps to maintain contact between the sexesin this polygamous mammal.     

Prenatal development of "synaptic" ribbons in the guinea pig pineal gland

Pineal "synaptic" ribbons are a heterogeneous population of organelles. "Synaptic" ribbons (SR) sensu stricto, "synaptic" spherules (SS), and intermediate forms (IMF) are present. Their function and origin are unknown, and a knowledge of their prenatal development is lacking. Thus the pineal glands of prenatal, neonatal, and adult guinea pigs were prepared for electron microscopy. "Synaptic" ribbons were studied morphologically and quantitatively. The three categories of "synaptic" ribbons reported in adult pineal glands were also present in prenatal pineal glands. Their structural features, distribution, grouping, and composition patterns are similar to those in adults. "Synaptic" ribbons were first detected in pinealocytes of the distal region of a 42-day postcoitus (PC) pineal gland and were comparable with those in adults. They increased in number with age and reached a peak at 63 days PC, followed by a steep decline at 66 and 67 days PC. By day 69 PC, the numbers increased again and showed a dramatic increase after birth. Several true ribbon synapses were seen at day 63 PC between pinealocyte cell processes or between pinealocyte cell process and pinealocyte cell body. Since true ribbon synapses have not been found in adult guinea pig pinealocytes, their synaptic nature could have been lost during development. No precursors for the "synaptic" ribbons were found. The endoplasmic reticulum cisternae may be the origin for the ribbon vesicles because of their close association with the "synaptic" ribbons.     

Morphological aspects of lymphocyte-macrophage interactions in human tumoral effusions "in vivo" and "in vitro"

"In vivo" and "in vitro" morphological analysis of associations of cells ("rosettes") involved in immune response in human tumoral effusions revealed the existence of cell interactions either by simple membrane apposition between the cell projections or by gap-like junctions between two adjacent cells; endocytotic phenomena were also observed. The giant fibroblastic cells seen "in vitro" ("myofibronoblasts") reacting positively to anti-human macrophage Mabs, might be the cells presenting antigen to lymphocytes.     

Differential radiation susceptibility of endogenous precursor cells forming "early" and "late" hematopoietic foci in the spleen of mice

No colonies were found in the spleen at "early" times (7-8 days) after irradiation of mice with doses of 8-9 Gy, while at "later" times (after 15 days) a confluent growth of the colonies was observed. The endogenous splenic foci of haemopoiesis of the "late" type were characterized by the preferable growth of granulocytic colonies.     

"Timers" and "scanners" among orientation detectors in cat visual cortex

Experiments were carried out on immobilized cats to determine whether, among visual cortical neurons, besides the "scanners" described by the writers previously, which are responsible for a dynamic shift of preferred orientation, there exist also "timer" cells, which do not change the temporal parameters of their responses during rotation of a flashing stimulus. The existence of such cells is postulated on the basis of the previous hypothesis on the spatiotemporal principle of orientational coding. Of 76 neurons tested 27, i.e., 36%, were classed as "timers." They differed significantly from the "scanners" (64%) by the following properties: shorter latent periods, shorter time to the peak and duration of responses, more rapid rise of discharge frequently in the volley. The "timers" had less sharp orientational tuning and a low ratio between values of responses to presentation of preferred and worst stimuli (on account of a considerable increase in responses to unpreferred orientations). The set of preferred orientations of the "timers" was found to be highly selective and additional relative to the corresponding distribution for "scanners."The difference in frequency-temporal properties of responses and orientational tuning of the "timers" and "scanners" and their possible mutually complementary role in orientational coding at the visual cortical level are discussed.Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 35–43, January–February, 1985.     

Examination of the conformational meaning of "delta-address" in the dermenkephalin sequence

Comprehensive energy calculations were applied to four opioid-related peptides with different receptor selectivities, namely the delta-selective dermenkephalin (Tyr-D-Met-Phe-His-Leu-Met-Asp-NH2, DRE), the mu-selective dermorphin (Tyr-D-Ala-Phe-Gly-Tyr-Pro-Ser-NH2, DRM) and their "hybrid" peptides DRM/DRE (Tyr-D-Ala-Phe-Gly-Leu-Met-Asp-NH2) and DRE/DRM (Tyr-D-Met-Phe-His-Tyr-Pro-Ser-NH2). It was shown that the N-terminal tripeptide "mu-messages" in the delta-selective ligands DRE and DRM/DRE can possess similar low energy space arrangements of their functionally important elements (the N-terminal alpha-amino group and the aromatic moieties of Tyr and Phe), but that these are different from the space arrangement of these moieties in mu-selective DRM and DRE/DRM. These results suggest that the C-terminal tripeptide "delta-address" in DRE may influence the conformation of the "mu-message" in DRM. A refined model for the delta-receptor-bound conformation of DRE is proposed based on these calculations which is similar to that previously suggested for the cyclic delta-selective peptide [D-Pen2, D-Pen5]enkephalin (DPDPE). This model also has partial correspondence with the structure of the delta-selective alkaloid naltrindole.     

土壤中有机污染物的老化概念探讨

有机污染物进入土壤后,随着其与土壤颗粒接触时间的延长,生物可利用性明显下降,发生老化现象,存在锁定行为.国内外已经广泛开展了与土壤中有机污染物老化相关的研究,但对老化的概念和内涵却没有明确界定,造成了理解上的偏差.基于目前国内外学者对老化的理解和认识,在明确生物可利用性的基础上,阐述了老化的概念及内涵,并对其进行了清晰的界定,同时对国内外现存的相关概念进行了区分.这些探讨将为相关研究的深入开展奠定基础,为土壤中有机污染物的环境化学行为与生物修复研究提供理论支持.     

锌胁迫对“不知火”和“椪柑”的生理指标及锌分布的影响

采用砂基培养法,研究了0、0.05和0.5 mg·L^-1Zn²⁺（0.05 mg·L^-1为对照,0.5 mg·L^-1为锌过量,0 mg·L^-1为锌缺乏）处理下“不知火”和“椪柑”叶片的一些生理指标及不同部位锌含量的变化。结果表明：1）缺锌处理的“不知火”叶绿体色素含量和叶面积均显著低于其对照和锌过量处理;锌过量处理的“椪柑”叶绿体色素含量和叶面积均显著低于对照。2) 3个锌浓度处理间,“不知火”叶片POD、“椪柑”叶片CAT活性无显著性差异,“不知火”叶片CAT、SOD活性随着锌浓度的升高而升高,锌缺乏处理下“椪柑”叶片POD、CAT、SOD活性均显著地高于“不知火”,而锌过量时“不知火”叶片SOD活性显著高于“椪柑”;锌胁迫下“不知火”和“椪柑”叶片MDA含量均显著高于对照,锌过量时“椪柑”叶片MDA含量显著高于“不知火”。3）2品种柑橘不同部位的锌含量随着锌处理浓度的升高而升高,在相同浓度的锌处理下“椪柑”叶锌含量显著高于其他部位及“不知火”叶锌含量,“不知火”上部叶锌含量显著高于其下部叶。     

An analysis of the meaning of the concepts of "commitment" and "determination" in the study of patterns of development

The use of the term "commitment" by different authors was compared and the term itself was compared with the term "determination". Different authors understand the term "commitment" in different ways. It is proposed to preserve the terms "competence", "determination" (labile and stable) and "differentiation" in studies of normal development at stages preceding the appearance of organ rudiments in order to facilitate the use of the knowledge acquired by experimental embryology and to decipher these concepts at the molecular level. The meaning of the term "commitment" should be made more precise when describing the experimental results and also when assessing the results obtained by various authors and published in numerous papers and reviews.     

"Blood-contacting neurons" in the brain of the Japanese eel Anguilla japonica

To discriminate "blood-contacting neurons" within the brain of the eel, Evans blue (EB) was injected intraperitoneally. After five days, six brain areas were externally stained blue with the dye; the saccus dorsalis (SD), the epiphysis (E), the area postrema (AP), the posterior part of the magnocellular preoptic nucleus (PM), the pituitary (Pit), and the saccus vasculosus (SV). Among the EB-positive area, some cells in the PM, the anterior tuberal nucleus (NAT) and the AP were discriminated as the "blood-contacting neurons" histologically, whereas EB-positive neurons were not detected in the SD, the E, the Pit and the SV regions. In the PM, most EB-positive neurons (90 %) were immunoreactive to vasotocin (AVT) antibody, indicating that these neurons are vasotocinergic. The remaining EB-positive neurons (10 %) were not immunoreactive to ANG II and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) antibodies. Although some neurons in the PM were immunoreactive to ANG II antibody, they were EB-negative. In contrast, almost all EB-positive neurons in the AP showed TH-like immunoreactivity (-lir), indicating that these neurons utilize catecholamine(s) as a neurotransmitter. The EB-positive neurons in the NAT were not immunoreactive to AVT, ANG II and TH antibodies, whereas some neurons without EB-staining showed ANG II-lir. Possible roles of these neurons in regulating drinking behavior in eels are discussed.     

Studies directed toward testing the "channeling" hypothesis--ribonucleotides----DNA in leukemia L1210 cells

Experiments were carried out to test for the presence of "channeling" in L1210 cells. L1210 cells were incubated in culture in the presence of labeled cytidine and "cold" deoxycytidine and conversely, in the presence of labeled deoxycytidine and "cold" cytidine. Cytidine did not inhibit the incorporation of [14C]deoxycytidine into DNA while deoxycytidine decreased the incorporation of [14C]cytidine into DNA. Further, in L1210 cells there was not a coordinate inhibition of thymidylate synthetase when either DNA polymerase was inhibited (aphidicolin) or ribonucleotide reductase was inhibited (hydroxyurea). These data indicate that leukemia L1210 cells do not selectively channel ribonucleotides to DNA through a tightly coupled enzyme complex.     

Fat mobilization in vitro and in vivo in the genetically obese Zucker rat "fatty"

Fat mobilization was studied in vitro with epididymal fat pad tissue and also with cell suspensions from epididymal, retroperitoneal, and subcutaneous fat from the obese mutant "fatty" (fafa) and control rats of four different ages. Fat mobilization per cell in response to epinephrine was well above normal in young "fatties"; in older "fatties" the output per cell fell to near normal, but the much greater number of fat cells per rat indicated that the fat mobilizing capacity of the older "fatty" is well above normal. The "fatty" showed normal reactions to epinephrine in vivo: hyperglycemia, glycogenolysis, lipolysis with elevated free fatty acids and glycerol, and increased entry of free fatty acids into muscle and liver. Response was at least as great in "fatty" as in control animals. Metabolic indices-levels of circulating free fatty acids, glycerol, and in some cases glucose and lipid-determined at various ages in fed "fatties" and controls, and at intervals during prolonged fasting (70 days), were consistent with a picture of excessive adipose tissue lipolysis, excessive reesterification in the adipose tissue, fat mobilization in excess of need, and return of the excess to the adipose tissue via lipoproteins.     

贵州"过卯"水族的体质人类学研究

本文对贵州三都水族自治县“过卯”水族462人(男238,女224)进行了活体观察和测量。观察项目28个,测量项目64个。调查对象年龄20—55岁,三代均为“过卯”水族。分析结果表明:“过卯”水族属圆头型;男性狭面型,女性中面型;阔鼻型;宽手型,窄肩型,中腿型;男性瘦长体型,女性中间体型;男性亚中等,女性矮型身材。与我国南方其他24个少数民族群体聚类分析,结果显示“过卯”水族体质特征与湖南侗族、白裤瑶、贵州毛南族接近。贵州“过卯”水族属蒙古人种南亚类型,具有现代黄种人的容貌特征。     

Ultrastructural characteristics of the "light" and "dark" B-cells in the pancreatic islets of rats]

The ultrastructure of B-cells in the rat pancreatic islets has been studied under various experimental conditions (thyroidectomy, continuous thyroxine treatment, regeneration after partial pancreatectomy, thyroidectomy with partial pancreatectomy, partial pancreatectomy, partial pancreatectomy with continuous thyroxine treatment). Five types of B-cells have been distinguished. It has been supposed that "light" B-cell 1 is related to the stage of secretory granule extrusion, "light" B-cell 2 reflects the extrusion of secretory material and the early stages of secretory granule synthesis; "dark" B-cell 1 is involved in the intensive synthesis, formation and extrusion of secretory material, and "dark" B-cell 2 in the intensive secretory granule synthesis, formation and storage.