Perceptual learning in an appetitive Pavlovian procedure: Analysis of the effectiveness of the common element

Non-reinforced preexposure to two stimuli often enhances discrimination between them. Analyses of this perceptual learning phenomenon have mainly focused on the role played by the distinctive stimulus features; this study examined the contribution of the non-distinctive common elements. A standard appetitive Pavlovian procedure was used. Rats received two different schedules of exposure - alternated or blocked - to two compound auditory stimuli, AX and BX. In Experiment 1 a generalization test to BX that followed conditioning to AX showed that animals responded less, and hence discriminated better, following alternated exposure, thus extending the generality of this perceptual learning effect to standard appetitive Pavlovian procedures. The degree to which the common element X was mediating this effect was explored in the next three experiments. Experiment 2 assessed the effectiveness of X following conditioning to AX. Experiment 3 explored X's effectiveness throughout extensive conditioning to X. Experiment 4 tested the ability of X to overshadow a novel stimulus Y. The results were consistent with the suggestion that alternated preexposure can reduce the relative effectiveness of the common element.     

Synthetic CpG oligonucleotides induce a genetic profile ameliorating murine myocardial I/R injury

We previously demonstrated that pre‐conditioning with CpG oligonucleotide (ODN) 1668 induces quick up‐regulation of gene expression 3 hours post‐murine myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury, terminating inflammatory processes that sustain I/R injury. Now, performing comprehensive microarray and biocomputational analyses, we sought to further enlighten the “black box” beyond these first 3 hours. C57BL/6 mice were pretreated with either CpG 1668 or with control ODN 1612, respectively. Sixteen hours later, myocardial ischaemia was induced for 1 hour in a closed‐chest model, followed by reperfusion for 24 hours. RNA was extracted from hearts, and labelled cDNA was hybridized to gene microarrays. Data analysis was performed with BRB ArrayTools and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. Functional groups mediating restoration of cellular integrity were among the top up‐regulated categories. Genes known to influence cardiomyocyte survival were strongly induced 24 hours post‐I/R. In contrast, proinflammatory pathways were down‐regulated. Interleukin‐10, an upstream regulator, suppressed specifically selected proinflammatory target genes at 24 hours compared to 3 hours post‐I/R. The IL1 complex is supposed to be one regulator of a network increasing cardiovascular angiogenesis. The up‐regulation of numerous protective pathways and the suppression of proinflammatory activity are supposed to be the genetic correlate of the cardioprotective effects of CpG 1668 pre‐conditioning.     

Food selection in three leaf-shredding stream invertebrates

Leaf disks (Betula papyrifera) were conditioned for two weeks by six species of aquatic hyphomycetes. Mass losses of the leaves were determined, and their concentrations of protein (extracted at pH 7, 10 and 12.8), phenolics (Folin-Ciocalteu and BSA-precipitation), lipids, and ergosterol (as indicator of fungal biomass) were measured. Enzymatic activities of the culture filtrates against cellulose, xylan and pectin were estimated. Gammarus tigrinis, Pycnopsyche guttifer and Tipula caloptera were given a choice of the six leaf/fungus combinations. G. tigrinus and P. guttifer consistently preferred some combinations over others; T. caloptera appeared to feed randomly. There were no significant correlations between consumption and any of the measured characteristics of leaf disks. With G. tigrinus and P. guttifer, the sequence of preference could be reproduced by extracting mycelia with non-polar solvents and applying the extracts to unconditioned leaf disks. Consumption of extract-coated disks was lower than consumption of conditioned disks. Numbers of endosymbiotic gut bacteria increased from G. tigrinus to P. guttifer to T. caloptera; diet diversity showed the opposite trend.     

人参培养细胞单细胞克隆的条件培养

来自细胞悬浮培养物的条件培养基能显著地促进人参培养细胞的单细胞在较低细胞植板密度培养时的克隆形成。每毫升含3×10³个细胞时,条件培养的植板率是普通平板培养的4倍。细胞悬浮培养12－16天时所制备的条件培养基活性最大,在一定浓度范围内随条件培养基浓度增加。细胞克隆植板率随之增加。条件培养基具有一定的生理作用专一性。看护培养和条件培养的比较,表明前者在细胞密度较低时能更有效地促进细胞克隆的形成和生长。条件培养基在4℃条件下贮存两周仍保持活性稳定,并且能耐受高温处理。当受到强酸或强碱处理其活性失去．但在弱酸或弱碱条件下稳定。     

预警系统模型

本文利用物元、可拓集合、经典域、节域、关联函数等概念以及其它数学概念,建立预警系统模型,应用于缺血性中风预报,效果较好．     

Selection on a haploid genotype for discrimination learning performance: Correlation between drone honey bees (Apis mellifera) and their worker progeny (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Successful bidirectional selection for discriminative olfactory learning is reported for drone honey bees (Apis mellifera). Learning performance was evaluated using a discrimination conditioning procedure that required drones to discriminate between an appetitively reinforced odorant and one that was followed by punishment. Selective breeding produced high- and low-learning-performance lines of worker progeny that diverged from performance of workers whose fathers were selected at random. Furthermore, we show that levels of sucrose-induced sensitization are not correlated to learning performance. These results corroborate earlier findings and further demonstrate the power of selection on a haploid (drone) genotype. In addition, this study now shows that the demonstrated differences in learning performance cannot be completely accounted for by alteration of sucrose-induced sensitization. Thus, using this technique, it may be possible to select for associative conditioning without a pleiotropic increase in sensitization. The honey bee will be ideally suited to these types of correlation analyses in future studies.     

Effects of brassinosteroids on conditioning and germination of clover broomrape (Orobanche minor) seeds

Brassinolide [2, 3, 22R,23R-tetrahydroxy-24S-methyl-B-homo-7-oxa-5--cholestan-6-one] and its related compounds, brassinosteroids, applied at the early stages of conditioning shortened the conditioning period required before clover broomrape seeds would germinate after exposure to germination stimulants, such as dl-strigol and natural stimulants from red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) root exudate. Brassinosteroids applied after conditioning increased the rate of the seed germination induced by these stimulants. The inhibitory effect of light on seed germination when it was induced by dl-strigol could be overcome by brassinosteroids. Brassinosteroids also eliminated the inhibitory effects of light and dl-strigol applied at the early stages of conditioning. GA₃ was also effective in causing seed conditioning and increased the rate of the germination induced by these stimulants. There was a relationship between brassinosteroids and GA₃ in many of the experiments conducted. These findings may have practical implications in increasing the effectiveness of applying germination stimulants in the field to soils for suicidal germination of broomrape seeds.     

Repair of the central nervous system: Lessons from lesions in leeches

In contrast to the limited repair observed in the mammalian central nervous system (CNS), injured neurons in the leech reliably regenerate synapses and restore function with remarkable accuracy at the level of individual neurons. New and recent results reveal important roles for microglial cells and extracellular matrix components, including laminin, in repair. Tissue culture experiments have permitted isolation of neurons and manipulation of their environment, providing insights into the influence of substrate, electrical activity, and other cells, including microglia, on axon growth and synapse formation. The results account for distinctive features of successful repair in the adult leech, where axonal sprouting and target selection can be influenced by unequal competition between neurons. Differences between the formation of connections during embryonic development and repair in the adult include dissimilarities in the roles of glia and microglia in adults and embryos, suggesting that axon growth during regeneration in the CNS is not simply a recapitulation of processes observed during embryonic development. It may be possible in the future to improve mammalian CNS regeneration by recruiting cells whose counterparts in the leech have been identified as instrumental in repair. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Host selection by winged summer females of the aphid Sitobion avenae

A total of 55 parthenogenetic lineages of the grain aphid, Sitobion avenae F. were established from single clones collected from winter wheat (agricultural host) and cocksfoot (natural host) at various locations in southern Britain. RAPD-PCR profiles indicated that these lineages consisted of at least 15 genetically distinct clones. Twenty winged individuals (alatae) of known weight were taken from each lineage and presented with a choice of wheat and cocksfoot hosts (with a total leaf area each of 2 cm²) held in petri dishes (laboratory experiments) and flowerpots (field experiments). In both experimental designs host preferences were determined by a ranking of a proportion of counts (limited to -1 +1) of the progeny produced on each host after 5 days. Overall, alatae tended to prefer the agricultural host. However, alatae from individual clones found exclusively on wheat generally had a higher preference for wheat than alatae from individual clones found exclusively on cocksfoot. Wheat-derived lineages (aphid genotypes that were collected on wheat but also present on cocksfoot) showed a significantly greater preference for the agricultural host than the cocksfoot-derived lineages. Individuals from a wheat-derived lineage had significantly higher observed and potential progeny production on wheat than they did on cocksfoot, while individuals from a cocksfoot-derived lineage had significantly higher potential progeny but lower mean progeny weights on wheat. In a second stage, reciprocal host transfer experiments were carried out in the laboratory, i.e. lineages collected from the agricultural host were reared for several generations on the natural host and vice versa prior to being tested for host preference. The preference of the lineages for their host of origin significantly decreased in this second trial, reversing the overall preference trends, while there was little evidence for between-lineage variation in this change in preference. In summary these results indicate weak genotypic but strong environmental influences on alate host preference in S. avenae. This host plant conditioning effect may serve to promote host-based genetic structuring observed in southern British populations of S. avenae.