We want Moshiach now! : understanding the Messianic message in the Jewish Chabad-Lubavitch movement

Då man rör sig i New York eller Jerusalem är det inte ovanligt att man stöter på judiska "missionärer" - ett fenomen som annars är ovanligt inom judendomen - och får ett traktat i sin hand som säger "Moshiach är här" eller "Welcome Moshiach". Det är den ultra-ortodoxa rörelsen Chabad-Lubavitch som har blivit känd för sitt utåtriktade missionsarbete och för att ha proklamerat sin ledare, Rabbi Schneerson som messias. Trots att han har varit död sedan 1994 och man från judiskt håll säger att en messias inte kan dö, lever förväntningarna på Rabbi Schneerson kvar inom rörelsen. Den akademiska forskningen har gjort gällande att denna messiastro, som tar sig ett så aktivt uttryck, är en produkt av den existentiella hopplöshet som lägrade sig över det judiska samfundet i och med Förintelsen, därför att väntan på messias omedelbara ankomst ingav livshopp. Dessutom har forskningen från ett religionssociologiskt perspektiv frågat hur en religiös rörelse överlever en så stor besvikelse som att ens ledare inte uppfyller de profetior som talats ut. Avhandlingen "We Want Moshiach NOW!" ifrågasätter den tidigare forskningen genom att påvisa de starka messianska förväntningar som fanns redan på 1700-talet vid rörelsens tillkomst. Avhandlingen tar upp vilka förväntningar som framkommer i det litterära verket "Tanja", författad av rörelsens grundare, och jämför dem med den moderna litteraturen. I "Tanja" ges även förklaringsmodeller till varför en person som man trodde var messias inte är det. Avhandlingens tes är att forskningen inte har beaktat utsagorna i "Tanja" tillräckligt mycket då man försökt förstå den samtida messiastron och de uttryck den tar.

Soil sampling intensity and spatial distribution pattern of soils attributes and corn yield in no-tillage system

Taking into account that the sampling intensity of soil attributes is a determining factor for applying of concepts of precision agriculture, this study aims to determine the spatial distribution pattern of soil attributes and corn yield at four soil sampling intensities and verify how sampling intensity affects cause-effect relationship between soil attributes and corn yield. A 100-referenced point sample grid was imposed on the experimental site. Thus, each sampling cell encompassed an area of 45 m² and was composed of five 10-m long crop rows, where referenced points were considered the center of the cell. Samples were taken from at 0 to 0.1 m and 0.1 to 0.2 m depths. Soil chemical attributes and clay content were evaluated. Sampling intensities were established by initial 100-point sampling, resulting data sets of 100; 75; 50 and 25 points. The data were submitted to descriptive statistical and geostatistics analyses. The best sampling intensity to know the spatial distribution pattern was dependent on the soil attribute being studied. The attributes P and K+ content showed higher spatial variability; while the clay content, Ca2+, Mg2+ and base saturation values (V) showed lesser spatial variability. The spatial distribution pattern of clay content and V at the 100-point sampling were the ones which best explained the spatial distribution pattern of corn yield.

Distribution pattern, surface tension and contact angle of herbicides associated to adjuvants on spraying and control of Ipomoea hederifolia under rainfall incidence

ABSTRACTScarlet Morning Glory is considered to be an infesting weed that affects several crops and causes serious damage. The application of chemical herbicides, which is the primary control method, requires a broad knowledge of the various characteristics of the solution and application technology for a more efficient phytosanitary treatment. Therefore this study aimed to characterize the effect of rainfall incidence on the control of Ipomoea hederifolia, considering droplet size, surface tension, contact angle of droplets formed by herbicides liquid on vegetal and artificial surfaces, associated to adjuvants and the volumetric distribution profile of the spray jet. The addition of the adjuvants to the herbicide spraying liquid improved the application quality, as it influenced the angle formed by the spray by broadening the deposition band of the spray nozzle and thus the possible distance between the nozzles on spray boom and due the changes at droplet size, which contribute to a safety application. The rainfall occurrence affected negatively the weed control with the different spraying liquids and also the dry matter weight, suggesting that the phytosanitary product applied was washed off.

Inguinal hernias in patients of 50 years and above. Pattern and outcome

OBJECTIVE: to evaluate a one year experience with inguinal hernia repair, in patients of > 50years, with respect to the type of inguinal hernia, type of surgery, postoperative complications and recurrence. METHODS: a prospective descriptive study of patients (n=57) > 50 years operated for inguinal hernia during a one year period. Tension-free meshplasty and herniorrhaphy, using 3"x6" polypropylene mesh and 2-0 polypropylene suture, were performed in elective and emergency surgery respectively. Follow-up visits were scheduled at six weeks, three and six months postoperatively. RESULTS: the most representative age group was 61-70 years, and all patients were male. 52 (91.22%) patients had unilateral inguinal hernias, while five (8.77%) had bilateral hernias. In 50 (87.71%) patients, the hernia was uncomplicated, while seven (12.28%) patients presented with some complication such as obstruction or strangulation. Elective surgery was performed in 50 (87.71%) patients while seven (12.28%) patients were operated in emergency. Postoperatively, 50 (87.7%) patients had uneventful recovery, while seven (12.28%) patients developed some complications which were treated conservatively. Mean hospital stay was six days. One recurrence was observed and there was no peri/postoperative death. CONCLUSION: tension-free meshplasty and herniorrhaphy are safe, simple and applicable even in elderly patients after adequate pre-operative assessment and optimization. Although associated with longer hospital stay, the mortality rate is nil and complication as well as recurrence rate is low. Hence, timely repair is necessary in elderly patients even in those with comorbid conditions.

Skill Development in Music Reading. The Eye-Movement Approach

This dissertation examined skill development in music reading by focusing on the visual processing of music notation in different music-reading tasks. Each of the three experiments of this dissertation addressed one of the three types of music reading: (i) sight-reading, i.e. reading and performing completely unknown music, (ii) rehearsed reading, during which the performer is already familiar with the music being played, and (iii) silent reading with no performance requirements. The use of the eye-tracking methodology allowed the recording of the readers’ eye movements from the time of music reading with extreme precision. Due to the lack of coherence in the smallish amount of prior studies on eye movements in music reading, the dissertation also had a heavy methodological emphasis. The present dissertation thus aimed to promote two major issues: (1) it investigated the eye-movement indicators of skill and skill development in sight-reading, rehearsed reading and silent reading, and (2) developed and tested suitable methods that can be used by future studies on the topic. Experiment I focused on the eye-movement behaviour of adults during their first steps of learning to read music notation. The longitudinal experiment spanned a nine-month long music-training period, during which 49 participants (university students taking part in a compulsory music course) sight-read and performed a series of simple melodies in three measurement sessions. Participants with no musical background were entitled as “novices”, whereas “amateurs” had had musical training prior to the experiment. The main issue of interest was the changes in the novices’ eye movements and performances across the measurements while the amateurs offered a point of reference for the assessment of the novices’ development. The experiment showed that the novices tended to sight-read in a more stepwise fashion than the amateurs, the latter group manifesting more back-and-forth eye movements. The novices’ skill development was reflected by the faster identification of note symbols involved in larger melodic intervals. Across the measurements, the novices also began to show sensitivity to the melodies’ metrical structure, which the amateurs demonstrated from the very beginning. The stimulus melodies consisted of quarter notes, making the effects of meter and larger melodic intervals distinguishable from effects caused by, say, different rhythmic patterns. Experiment II explored the eye movements of 40 experienced musicians (music education students and music performance students) during temporally controlled rehearsed reading. This cross-sectional experiment focused on the eye-movement effects of one-bar-long melodic alterations placed within a familiar melody. The synchronizing of the performance and eye-movement recordings enabled the investigation of the eye-hand span, i.e., the temporal gap between a performed note and the point of gaze. The eye-hand span was typically found to remain around one second. Music performance students demonstrated increased professing efficiency by their shorter average fixation durations as well as in the two examined eye-hand span measures: these participants used larger eye-hand spans more frequently and inspected more of the musical score during the performance of one metrical beat than students of music education. Although all participants produced performances almost indistinguishable in terms of their auditory characteristics, the altered bars indeed affected the reading of the score: the general effects of expertise in terms of the two eye- hand span measures, demonstrated by the music performance students, disappeared in the face of the melodic alterations. Experiment III was a longitudinal experiment designed to examine the differences between adult novice and amateur musicians’ silent reading of music notation, as well as the changes the 49 participants manifested during a nine-month long music course. From a methodological perspective, an opening to research on eye movements in music reading was the inclusion of a verbal protocol in the research design: after viewing the musical image, the readers were asked to describe what they had seen. A two-way categorization for verbal descriptions was developed in order to assess the quality of extracted musical information. More extensive musical background was related to shorter average fixation duration, more linear scanning of the musical image, and more sophisticated verbal descriptions of the music in question. No apparent effects of skill development were observed for the novice music readers alone, but all participants improved their verbal descriptions towards the last measurement. Apart from the background-related differences between groups of participants, combining verbal and eye-movement data in a cluster analysis identified three styles of silent reading. The finding demonstrated individual differences in how the freely defined silent-reading task was approached. This dissertation is among the first presentations of a series of experiments systematically addressing the visual processing of music notation in various types of music-reading tasks and focusing especially on the eye-movement indicators of developing music-reading skill. Overall, the experiments demonstrate that the music-reading processes are affected not only by “top-down” factors, such as musical background, but also by the “bottom-up” effects of specific features of music notation, such as pitch heights, metrical division, rhythmic patterns and unexpected melodic events. From a methodological perspective, the experiments emphasize the importance of systematic stimulus design, temporal control during performance tasks, and the development of complementary methods, for easing the interpretation of the eye-movement data. To conclude, this dissertation suggests that advances in comprehending the cognitive aspects of music reading, the nature of expertise in this musical task, and the development of educational tools can be attained through the systematic application of the eye-tracking methodology also in this specific domain.

Evaluation of Bubble Formation and Break Up in Suppression Pools by Using Pattern Recognition Methods

During a possible loss of coolant accident in BWRs, a large amount of steam will be released from the reactor pressure vessel to the suppression pool. Steam will be condensed into the suppression pool causing dynamic and structural loads to the pool. The formation and break up of bubbles can be measured by visual observation using a suitable pattern recognition algorithm. The aim of this study was to improve the preliminary pattern recognition algorithm, developed by Vesa Tanskanen in his doctoral dissertation, by using MATLAB. Video material from the PPOOLEX test facility, recorded during thermal stratification and mixing experiments, was used as a reference in the development of the algorithm. The developed algorithm consists of two parts: the pattern recognition of the bubbles and the analysis of recognized bubble images. The bubble recognition works well, but some errors will appear due to the complex structure of the pool. The results of the image analysis were reasonable. The volume and the surface area of the bubbles were not evaluated. Chugging frequencies calculated by using FFT fitted well into the results of oscillation frequencies measured in the experiments. The pattern recognition algorithm works in the conditions it is designed for. If the measurement configuration will be changed, some modifications have to be done. Numerous improvements are proposed for the future 3D equipment.

Bry sig om : ett vårdvetenskapligt praxisbegrepp

’Bry sig om’ förekommer flitigt i sammanhang där människor vårdar och tar hand om varandra såväl i det vardagliga naturliga vårdandet som i det professionella vårdandet. ’Bry sig om’ är ett språkligt uttryck i människors vardagsspråk som hör samman med ’små vardagliga saker’ som är av betydelse. ’Bry sig om’ har även tydlig förbindelse med vårda och ansa i Erikssons caritativa vårdteori men har inte tidigare varit föremål för klinisk vårdvetenskaplig forskning vilket är bakgrunden till denna studie. Inom Erikssons caritativa vårdteori utgörs grundordningen av kärnbegreppen caritas, enheten människa, hälsa, lidande och vårdande. I den här avhandlingen är syftet att vidga förståelsen för kärnbegreppet vårdandet genom att utforska innebörden i praxisbegreppet ’bry sig om’. Studien har en hermeneutisk ansats och är en sammanläggningsavhandling med fyra delstudier i form av begreppsanalys och tre empiriska studier. Materialet i begreppsutredningen är etymologisk ordbok och svenska ordböcker. I de empiriska delstudierna består materialet av självbiografisk text skrivet av en patient och händelser som patienter och vårdare varit med om vilket förstås som betydelsefullt material för klinisk vårdvetenskaplig forskning. Den nya förståelsen gestaltas i ett tankemönster där ’bry sig om’ framträder som en inre etisk hållning där människan som är på plats kan finnas till och därmed betyda något för en annan människa. Att betyda något för en annan människa är uttryck för det naturliga omsorgsfulla vårdandet där patienten förnimmer en kärleksfull hållning i vårdarens varsamma kärleksfulla händer och varma röst. ’Bry sig om’, har sin grundval i det naturliga omsorgsfulla vårdandet som konstituerar människan som människa. Det som framkommit i avhandlingen är möjligheten att undersöka praxisbegrepp inom vårdvetenskapen där ’bry sig om’ bidragit till att synliggöra vårdandet och därmed innebörden och meningen i ansandet, lekandet och lärandet på ett nytt och annorlunda sätt ur ett kliniskt vårdvetenskapligt perspektiv.

Model-View-Controller architectural pattern and its evolution in graphical user interface frameworks

Model-View-Controller (MVC) is an architectural pattern used in software development for graphical user interfaces. It was one of the first proposed solutions in the late 1970s to the Smart UI anti-pattern, which refers to the act of writing all domain logic into a user interface. The original MVC pattern has since evolved in multiple directions, with various names and may confuse many. The goal of this thesis is to present the origin of the MVC pattern and how it has changed over time. Software architecture in general and the MVC’s evolution within web applications are not the primary focus. Fundamen- tal designs are abstracted, and then used to examine the more recent versions. Prob- lems with the subject and its terminology are also presented.

Stop bugging me! : diversity in appearance of warning coloration

In nature, many animals use body coloration to communicate with each other. For example, colorations can be used as signals between individuals of the same species, but also to recognise individuals of other species, and if they may comprise a threat or not. Many animals use protective coloration to avoid predation. The two most common strategies of protective coloration are camouflage and aposematism. Camouflaged animals have coloration that minimises detection, usually by matching colours or structures in the background. Aposematic animals, on the other hand, signal to predators that they are defended. The defence can be physical structures, such as spikes and hairs, or chemical compounds that make the animal distasteful or even deadly toxic. In order for the warning signal to be effective, the predator has to recognise it as such. Studies have shown that birds for example, that are important visual predators on insects, learn to recognise and avoid unpalatable prey faster if they contrast the background or have large internal contrasts. Typical examples of aposematic species have conspicuous colours like yellow, orange or red, often in combination with black. My thesis focuses on the appearance and function of aposematic colour patterns. Even though researchers have studied aposematism for over a century, there is still a lot we do not know about the phenomenon. For example, as it is crucial that the predators recognise a warning signal, aposematic colorations should assumingly evolve homogeneously and be selected for maximal conspicuousness. Instead, there is an extensive variation of colours and patterns among warning colorations, and it is not uncommon to find typical cryptic colours, such as green and brown in aposematic colour patterns. One hypothesis to this variation is that an aposematic coloration does not have to be maximally signalling in order to be effective, instead it is sufficient to have distinct features that can be easily distinguished from edible prey. To be maximally conspicuous is one way to achieve this, but not the only way. Another hypothesis is that aposematic prey that do not exhibit maximal conspicuousness can exploit both camouflage and aposematism in a distance-dependent fashion, by being signalling when seen close up but camouflaged at a distance. Many prey animals also make use of both strategies by shifting colour at different ecological conditions such as seasonal variations, fluctuations in food resources or between life stages. Yet another explanation for the variation may be that prey animals are usually exposed to several predator species that vary in visual perception and tolerance towards various toxins. The aim with this thesis is, by studying their functions, to understand why aposematic warning signals vary in appearance, specifically in the level of conspicuousness, and if warning coloration can be combined with camouflage. In paper I, I investigated if the colour pattern of the aposematic larva of the Apollo butterfly (Parnassius apollo) can switch function with viewing distance, and be signalling at close range but camouflaged at a distance, by comparing detection time between different colour variants and distances. The results show that the natural coloration has a dual distance-dependent function. Moreover, the study shows that an aposematic coloration does not have to be selected for maximal conspicuousness. A prey animal can optimise its coloration primarily by avoiding detection, but also by investing in a secondary defence, which presence can be signalled if detected. In paper II, I studied how easily detected the coloration of the firebug (Pyrrhocoris apterus), a typical aposematic species, is at different distances against different natural backgrounds, by comparing detection time between different colour variants. Here, I found no distance-dependent switch in function. Instead, the results show that the coloration of the firebug is selected for maximal conspicuousness. One explanation for this is that the firebug is more mobile than the butterfly larva in study I, and movement is often incompatible with efficient camouflage. In paper III, I investigated if a seasonal related colour change in the chemically defended striated shieldbug (Graphosoma lineatum) is an adaptation to optimise a protective coloration by shifting from camouflage to aposematism between two seasons. The results confirm the hypothesis that the coloration expressed in the late summer has a camouflage function, blending in with the background. Further, I investigated if the internal pattern as such increased the effectiveness of the camouflage. Again, the results are in accordance with the hypothesis, as the patterned coloration was more difficult to detect than colorations lacking an internal pattern. This study shows how an aposematic species can optimise its defence by shifting from camouflage to aposematism, but in a different fashion than studied in paper I. The aim with study IV was to study the selection on aposematic signals by identifying characteristics that are common for colorations of aposematic species, and that distinguish them from colorations of other species. I compared contrast, pattern element size and colour proportion between a group of defended species and a group of undefended species. In contrast to my prediction, the results show no significant differences between the two groups in any of the analyses. One explanation for the non-significant results could be that there are no universal characteristics common for aposematic species. Instead, the selection pressures acting on defended species vary, and therefore affect their appearance differently. Another explanation is that all defended species may not have been selected for a conspicuous aposematic warning coloration. Taken together, my thesis shows that having a conspicuous warning coloration is not the only way to be aposematic. Also, aposematism and camouflage is not two mutually exclusive opposites, as there are prey species that exploit both strategies. It is also important to understand that prey animals are exposed to various selection pressures and trade-offs that affect their appearance, and determines what an optimal coloration is for each species or environment. In conclusion, I hold that the variation among warning colorations is larger and coloration properties that have been considered as archetypically aposematic may not be as widespread and representative as previously assumed.

Functional Genomic Approaches for Deciphering Plant-Virus Interactions

Plant-virus interactions are very complex in nature and lead to disease and symptom formation by causing various physiological, metabolic and developmental changes in the host plants. These interactions are mainly the outcomes of viral hijacking of host components to complete their infection cycles and of host defensive responses to restrict the viral infections. Viral genomes contain only a small number of genes often encoding for multifunctional proteins, and all are essential in establishing a viral infection. Thus, it is important to understand the specific roles of individual viral genes and their contribution to the viral life cycles. Among the most important viral proteins are the suppressors of RNA silencing (VSRs). These proteins function to suppress host defenses mediated by RNA silencing and can also serve in other functions, e.g. in viral movement, transactivation of host genes, virus replication and protein processing. Thus these proteins are likely to have a significant impact on host physiology and metabolism. In the present study, I have examined the plant-virus interactions and the effects of three different VSRs on host physiology and gene expression levels by microarray analysis of transgenic plants that express these VSR genes. I also studied the gene expression changes related to the expression of the whole genome of Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) in transgenic tobacco plants. Expression of the VSR genes in the transgenic tobacco plants causes significant changes in the gene expression profiles. HC-Pro gene derived from the Potyvirus Y (PVY) causes alteration of 748 and 332 transcripts, AC2 gene derived from the African cassava mosaic virus (ACMV) causes alteration of 1118 and 251transcripts, and P25 gene derived from the Potyvirus X (PVX) causes alterations of 1355 and 64 transcripts in leaves and flowers, respectively. All three VSRs cause similar up-regulation in defense, hormonally regulated and different stress-related genes and down-regulation in the photosynthesis and starch metabolism related genes. They also induce alterations that are specific to each viral VSR. The phenotype and transcriptome alterations of the HC-Pro expressing transgenic plants are similar to those observed in some Potyvirus-infected plants. The plants show increased protein degradation, which may be due to the HC-Pro cysteine endopeptidase and thioredoxin activities. The AC2-expressing transgenic plants show a similar phenotype and gene expression pattern as HC-Pro-expressing plants, but also alter pathways related to jasmonic acid, ethylene and retrograde signaling. In the P25 expressing transgenic plants, high numbers of genes (total of 1355) were up-regulated in the leaves, compared to a very low number of down-regulated genes (total of 5). Despite of strong induction of the transcripts, only mild growth reduction and no other distinct phenotype was observed in these plants. As an example of whole virus interactions with its host, I also studied gene expression changes caused by Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) in tobacco host in three different conditions, i.e. in transgenic plants that are first resistant to the virus, and then become susceptible to it and in wild type plants naturally infected with this virus. The microarray analysis revealed up and down-regulation of 1362 and 1422 transcripts in the TMV resistant young transgenic plants, and up and down-regulation of a total of 1150 and 1200 transcripts, respectively, in the older plants, after the resistance break. Natural TMV infections in wild type plants caused up-regulation of 550 transcripts and down-regulation of 480 transcripts. 124 up-regulated and 29 down-regulated transcripts were commonly altered between young and old TMV transgenic plants, and only 6 up-regulated and none of the down-regulated transcripts were commonly altered in all three plants. During the resistant stage, the strong down-regulation in translation-related transcripts (total of 750 genes) was observed. Additionally, transcripts related to the hormones, protein degradation and defense pathways, cell division and stress were distinctly altered. All these alterations may contribute to the TMV resistance in the young transgenic plants, and the resistance may also be related to RNA silencing, despite of the low viral abundance and lack of viral siRNAs or TMV methylation activity in the plants.

Rainfall effect on dissipation and movement of diuron and simazine in a vineyard soil

From 2003 to 2007, a field study was performed in a vineyard in Chile to investigate diuron and simazine soil behavior and the effect of additional rainfall. Both herbicides were applied once a year at a rate of 2.0 kg ha-1 a.i. Herbicide concentrations in soil were measured at 0, 10, 20, 40, 90 and 340 days after application, under two pluviometric conditions, natural rainfall and natural rainfall plus irrigation with 180 mm of simulated rainfall during the first 90 days after application. Soil partition coefficient (Kd) varied in the soil profile (0 to 90 cm deep) from 6.75 to 2.04 mL g-1 and from 1.4 to 0.66 mL g-1 and the maximum soil adsorption capacity was approximately 18.3 mg g-1 and 8.3 mg g-1 for diuron and simazine, respectively. Diuron and simazine reached up to 90 and 120 cm of soil depth, with an average of 8.3% and 62.4% of herbicide moved below 15 cm in the soil, respectively. Simazine soil half-life (DT50) was 38.1 days and 7.5 days, whereas the half life for diuron varied from 68.0 and 24.6 for natural rainfall and irrigated, respectively. The average of residual simazine remaining in the whole soil profile after 90 DAA was 25.4% and 39.9% for diuron, with no effect of additional rainfall amount. At 340 DAA the amount of simazine in the whole soil profile corresponded to 13.2% of the initial amount applied, being diuron more persistent with 21.5% of the initial herbicide applied. The high movement in soil of both herbicides could be due to a non-equilibrium sorption process explained by preferential flow, low Kd and high desorption.

Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep deprivation reduces rat frontal cortex acetylcholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.7) activity

Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep deprivation induces several behavioral changes. Among these, a decrease in yawning behavior produced by low doses of cholinergic agonists is observed which indicates a change in brain cholinergic neurotransmission after REM sleep deprivation. Acetylcholinesterase (Achase) controls acetylcholine (Ach) availability in the synaptic cleft. Therefore, altered Achase activity may lead to a change in Ach availability at the receptor level which, in turn, may result in modification of cholinergic neurotransmission. To determine if REM sleep deprivation would change the activity of Achase, male Wistar rats, 3 months old, weighing 250-300 g, were deprived of REM sleep for 96 h by the flower-pot technique (N = 12). Two additional groups, a home-cage control (N = 6) and a large platform control (N = 6), were also used. Achase was measured in the frontal cortex using two different methods to obtain the enzyme activity. One method consisted of the obtention of total (900 g supernatant), membrane-bound (100,000 g pellet) and soluble (100,000 g supernatant) Achase, and the other method consisted of the obtention of a fraction (40,000 g pellet) enriched in synaptic membrane-bound enzyme. In both preparations, REM sleep deprivation induced a significant decrease in rat frontal cortex Achase activity when compared to both home-cage and large platform controls. REM sleep deprivation induced a significant decrease of 16% in the membrane-bound Achase activity (nmol thiocholine formed min-1 mg protein-1) in the 100,000 g pellet enzyme preparation (home-cage group 152.1 ± 5.7, large platform group 152.7 ± 24.9 and REM sleep-deprived group 127.9 ± 13.8). There was no difference in the soluble enzyme activity. REM sleep deprivation also induced a significant decrease of 20% in the enriched synaptic membrane-bound Achase activity (home-cage group 126.4 ± 21.5, large platform group 127.8 ± 20.4, REM sleep-deprived group 102.8 ± 14.2). Our results suggest that REM sleep deprivation changes Ach availability at the level of its receptors through a decrease in Achase activity

NADPH-diaphorase activity in area 17 of the squirrel monkey visual cortex: neuropil pattern, cell morphology and laminar distribution

We studied the distribution of NADPH-diaphorase activity in the visual cortex of normal adult New World monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) using the malic enzyme "indirect" method. NADPH-diaphorase neuropil activity had a heterogeneous distribution. In coronal sections, it had a clear laminar pattern that was coincident with Nissl-stained layers. In tangential sections, we observed blobs in supragranular layers of V1 and stripes throughout the entire V2. We quantified and compared the tangential distribution of NADPH-diaphorase and cytochrome oxidase blobs in adjacent sections of the supragranular layers of V1. Although their spatial distributions were rather similar, the two enzymes did not always overlap. The histochemical reaction also revealed two different types of stained cells: a slightly stained subpopulation and a subgroup of deeply stained neurons resembling a Golgi impregnation. These neurons were sparsely spined non-pyramidal cells. Their dendritic arbors were very well stained but their axons were not always evident. In the gray matter, heavily stained neurons showed different dendritic arbor morphologies. However, most of the strongly reactive cells lay in the subjacent white matter, where they presented a more homogenous morphology. Our results demonstrate that the pattern of NADPH-diaphorase activity is similar to that previously described in Old World monkeys