Effects of intracerebroventricular bombesin administration on local cerebral glucose utilization in the restrained and unrestrained rat

Intracerebroventricular (ICV) administration of bombesin (BN) induces a syndrome characterized by stereotypic locomotion and grooming, hyperactivity and sleep elimination, hyperglycemia and hypothermia, hyperhemodynamics, feeding inhibition, and gastrointestinal function changes. Mammalian BN-like peptides (MBNs), e.g. gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP), Neuromedin C (NMC), and Neuromedin B (NMB), have been detected in the central nervous system. Radio-labeled BN binds to specific sites in discrete cerebral regions. Two specific BN receptor subtypes (GRP receptor and NMB receptor) have been identified in numerous brain regions. The quantitative 2-[14C]deoxyglucose ([14C]20G) autoradiographic method was used to map local cerebral glucose utilization (LCGU) in the rat brain following ICV injection of BN (vehicle, BN O.1Jlg, O.5Jlg). At each dose, experiments were conducted in freely moving or restrained conditions to determine whether alterations in cerebral function were the result of BN central administration, or were the result of BN-induced motor stereotypy. The anteroventral thalamic nucleus (AV) (p=O.029), especially its ventrolateral portion (AVVL) (polfactory bulb (IGr) (p=O.028), and the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCh) (p=O.003) exhibited BN treatment effects. BN effects on LCGU were also observed in the median eminence (ME) (p=O.011). Restraint, however, decreased LCGU in the lateral dorsal thalamic nucleus, ventrolateral and dorsomedial parts (LOVL and LOOM) (p=O.044, p=O.009), and the lateral geniculate (LG) (p=O.027). In sum, BN induced a marked and highly localized alteration in cerebral metabolism within parts of the anterior thalamus, which is the principle relay in the limbic circuitry. BN effects were also observed in IGr, Mi, SCh, and ME. Effects of restraint were found in LOVL, LOOM, and LG. It is suggested that increased LCGU in AV and AVVL may be the result of functional change in the limbic circuitry and the hypothalamus caused by BN receptor functional modification. In IGr, increased LCGU following BN administration is considered to be mainly the result the activation of NMB receptor, a subtype of BN receptors. In SCh, increased LCGU is believed to be caused both by BN effects on the thalamic, the hypothalamic, and the limbic functions and by activation of GRP receptor, another BN receptors subtype found in SCh. In ME, increased LCGU is suggested to be caused by BN effects on the hypothalamic functions, especially those related to the neuroendocrine functions. None of the alterations seen in these regions reflects the emission of stereotyped motor behaviors. Rather, they reflect a direct influence of BN central administration upon functioning of the cerebral regions influenced by BN administration. The restraint effects seen in LO, including LOOM and LOVL, are suggested to be the result of altered behavioral expression. The restraint effects seen in LG is suggested to be the result of reduced locomotion.

Bacteriophages of Erwinia amylovora and their potential use in biological control

Forty-four bacteriophage isolates of Erwinia amy/ovora, the causal agent of fire blight, were collected from sites in and around the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario in the summer of 1998. Phages were isolated only from sites where fire blight was present. Thirty-seven of these phages were isolated from the soil surrounding infected trees, with the remainder isolated from aerial plant tissue samples. A mixture of six E. amy/ovora bacterial host strains was used to enrich field samples in order to avoid the selection bias of a single-host system. Molecular characterization of the phages with a combination of peR and restriction endonuclease digestions showed that six distinct phage types were isolated. Ten phage isolates related to the previously characterized E. amy/ovora phage PEa1 were isolated, with some divergence of molecular markers between phages isolated from different sites. The host ranges of the phages revealed that certain types were unable to efficiently lyse some E. amy/ovora strains, and that some types were able to lyse the epiphytic bacterium Pantoea agg/omerans. Biological control of E. amy/ovora by the bacteriophages was assessed in a bioassay using discs of immature pear fruit. Twenty-three phage isolates were able to significantly suppress the incidence of bacterial exudate on the pear disc surface. Quantification of the bacterial population remaining on the disc surface indicated that population reductions of up to 97% were obtainable by phage treatment, but that elimination of bacteria from the surface was not possible with this model system.

John Burtniak Postcard Collection

326 images (b&w and col.) mounted on 54 poster boards ; 64 x 36 cm or smaller. 4 compact disc

Gideon Sundback fonds, 1942, 1952, 1985-1986, 1991, 2004, n.d.

Gideon Sundback was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1880. He was educated as an engineer and settled in the United States in 1905. While working for the Universal Fastener Company, New Jersey in 1913 he developed and patented a “separable fastener”, which improved on an earlier version of what today is known as the zipper. He later moved his family to Meadville, Pennsylvania and sought a Canadian location for the production of his new invention. He settled on St. Catharines as it was an easy commute from his Pennsylvania home and opened The Lightning Fastener Company on Niagara Street. Sundback died on June 21, 1954 and is interred in Meadville, Pennsylvania. The plant continued to operate, but with increased foreign competition the manufacture of the zipper declined. The plant closed in 1981. Source: The St. Catharines Standard, July 3, 2004 Harold Fox was a noted lawyer, academic, businessman, author and a leading authority on intellectual property. He was engaged by Gideon Sunback and the Lightening Fastening Company to combat patent infringements by Colonial Fastener in the 1930s. The relationship continued when Fox was asked to become the managing director of the company, which he did until 1949. Fox lived in St. Catharines at his home “Foxcroft” until his death in 1969. Source: http://thefoxfund.com/harold.htm (November 2, 2009)