On the methodology of morphology and levels of morphologic analysis

Unjustified narrowing of the problems of morphology by merging the terms "morphology" and "anatomy" leads to stagnation in morphology. The merging of "classic" and "modern" biology will enrich both morphology and molecular biology and genetics. The latter will be able apply conceptual models of morphology to more primitive structural level of life. The possibility to apply V. A. Dogel' 's ideas on the role of oligomerization and polymerization in science to the analysis of molecular evolution has been demonstrated with the analysis of DNA content in the genomes of Chordata taken as an example. The data on DNA content do not allow both to consider lungfishes as ancestors of all Tetrapoda and develop monophyletic concept of Tetrapoda origin at the same time. The possibility of application of concepts of comparative morphology to analysis of molecular evolution has been considered.     

Behavioral "despair" in female rats and gonadal function

In female rats various parameters and rhythmical structure of forced swimming underwent unsignificant fluctuations during estrus cycle. Ovariectomy changed the swimming time course and increased the rhythmical index of depression without other serious disturbances of the behavioural "despair" test. After chronic estradiol these shifts were partially eliminated. It is suggested that considerable disturbances of gonadal function may be cause of desynchronousness which facilitated the development of depression.     

Pharmacokinetic disposition of pethidine under tolerance

Under tolerance, evoked by multiple doses of pethidine (PD), the serum and brain tissue content of PD was related to diminished analgesic activity. Even though in tolerant rats no enhancement of PD biotransformation in the liver could be recognized (as followed by the measurement of hepatic esterase and N-demethylase activity), the amounts of both PD and nor-PD excreted in urine were increased under tolerance. The authors conclude that the faster disposition of PD may contribute to the development of tolerance.     

Spread of fast thermowaves through the cerebral cortex produced by visual stimulation

Thermowaves spreading through the cerebral cortex were observed and investigated during acute experiments on white rats using a new technique — that of thermoencephaloscopy (TES) through the intact skull. These waves were induced by regular visual stimulation (at intervals of 1.5–3 min) or by initiating one of the flashes and spread through the cortex along trajectories of five basic types; amplitude of thermowaves: 0.005–0.1°C; length: 10–15 mm; duration 1.2–11.4 sec; velocity: 1–33 mm/sec; extent of pathway: 2–56 mm. They appeared with a high degree of probability (of 0.92) during the interval between 15 sec before and 26 sec after the flash. Numbers of moving waves declined by the point of stimulus application and rose by 7–8 sec after the flash. Waves arose in 50% of cases in the contralateral visual cortex (areas 17 and 18a), spreading to the midline and crossing to the ipsilateral hemisphere (areas 17, 18a, and 7). Local waves moving along a circular trajectory were also discovered in the contralateral visual cortex. Several types of wave, differing in trajectory, also arose in the ipsilateral visual cortex. Mechanisms and possible significance of this effect are examined.Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 467–475, July–August, 1989.