The effect of acute stress on LTP and LTD induction in the hippocampal CA1 region of anesthetized rats at three different ages

Not all experiences are memorized equally well. Especially, some types of stress are unavoidable in daily life and the stress experience can be memorized for life. Previous evidence has showed that synaptic plasticity, such as long-term potentiation (LTP) that may be the major cellular model of the mechanism underlying learning and memory, is influenced by behavioral stress. However, the effect of behavioral stress on age-related synaptic plasticity in-vivo was primarily known. Here we found that the LTP induction in the hippocampal CA1 region of anesthetized rats obviously showed inverted-U shape related to ages (4, 10 and 74 weeks old rats), but low-frequency stimulation was unable to induce reliable long-term depression (LTD) in these animals. Furthermore, acute elevated platform (EP) stress enabled reliable LTD significantly and completely blocked LTP induction at these ages. Importantly, LTD after exposure to acute EP stress showed similar magnitude over these ages. The present results that stress enables LTD but impairs LTP induction at these three ages strengthen a view that stress experience-dependent LTD (SLTD) may underlie stress form of aberrant memories. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

信息素受体V1R基因家族基因数目在哺乳动物中存在巨大差异

信息素是由动物分泌的化学物质,用于影响同种动物的行为,其感觉器官叫做犁鼻器,是一个位于鼻中隔底部的软骨结构。信息素受体由V1R和V2R两个基因超家族编码。美国密歇根大学张建之研究小组与中科院昆明动物所张亚平等合作,通过对目前可利用的哺乳动物基因组工作草图的分析,发现V1R基因家族的基因数目在哺乳动物中存在着巨大的差异,是目前所知的基因数目差异倍数最大的哺乳动物基因家族,其中,小鼠、老鼠、狗、牛和负鼠的V1R基因数目分别为187、102、8、32和49。研究人员认为,V1R基因家族这种惊人的差异主要是由基因的快速新生与消亡过程造成的,即:在食肉类和偶蹄类动物中多次发生丢失祖先V1R基因的情况,而在啮齿类动物中却通过基因重复的形式产生了许多新基因。V1R基因家族在不同物种中的巨大差异可能反映了不同物种对信息素的感受能力的不同。此外,该研究结果还表明了V1R基因家族的大小和犁鼻器形态上的复杂程度紧密相关,提示着具有形态复杂的犁鼻器的物种可能也具有复杂的信息素传递系统。该研究结果不仅证明了哺乳动物的V1R基因家族惊人的多样性和快速的进化历程,还提示当利用模式生物小鼠所获得的信息素知识推广、应用到其它的哺乳动物时,一定...

Management of water hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes, in Lake Victoria Basin

Water hyacinth is a free-floating waterweed native to the Amazon River Basin in South America. In its native range, water hyacinth is not an environmental problem, although the weed is one of the most invasive alien plants in freshwater environments. Water hyacinth has the potential to become invasive through fast vegetative reproduction and rapid growth to accumulate huge biomass and extensive cover in freshwater environments. Over the last 150 years water hyacinth has invaded most countries in the tropics and sub-tropics, introduced by man, mainly for ornamental purposes. Such introductions led to the infestation of most freshwater-ways in the southern United States of America, parts of Australia, the pacific islands, and most countries in Asia and Africa. The extensive tightly packed mats of water hyacinth are often associated with devastating socio-economic and environmental impacts. Invasion by the weed has, therefore, often generated urgent costly problems associated with the weed biomass and its management. A classic example of such problems was triggered by the invasion and proliferation of water hyacinth in the Lake Victoria Basin during the 1980s (Freilink 1989, Taylor 1993, Twongo et al., 1995). The weed infestation marked the beginning of a decade of intensive and systematic campaign by the three riparian states (Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda) to bring weed proliferation under control. The discussions in this Chapter span over ten years of dealing with the challenges paused by the imperative to manage infestations of water hyacinth in the Lake Victoria Basin. The challenges included the need to understand the dynamics of water hyacinth infestation; its distribution, proliferation and impact modalities; and the development and implementation of appropriate weed control strategies and options. Most specific examples were taken from the Ugandan experience (NARO, 2002).

The role of vibration and drainage in femoral impaction bone grafting.

Vibration is commonly used in civil engineering applications to efficiently compact aggregates. This study examined the effect of vibration and drainage on bone graft compaction and cement penetration in an in vitro femoral impaction bone grafting model with the use of 3-dimensional micro-computed tomographic imaging. Three regions were analyzed. In the middle and proximal femoral regions, there was a significant increase in the proportion of bone grafts with a reciprocal reduction in water and air in the vibration-assisted group (P < .01) as compared with the control group, suggesting tighter graft compaction. Cement volume was also significantly reduced in the middle region in the vibration-assisted group. No difference was observed in the distal region. This study demonstrates the value of vibration and drainage in bone graft compaction, with implications therein for clinical application and outcome.

Moment asymptotic stability of stochastic hybrid delay systems

in this paper we investigate the moment asymptotic stability for the nonlinear stochastic hybrid delay systems. Sufficient criteria on the stabilization and robust stability are also established for linear stochastic hybrid delay systems. Copyright © 2005 IFAC.

鸟类物种的多样性及其保护管理

加强鸟类物种多样性的保护管 理$ 把我国建设成为绿树葱郁& 空气清 新&鸟语花香$人与自然和谐相处的美好 家园%

森林认证与系统思想

森林认证是缓解全球森林退化、实现可持续发展战略的重要手段之一。它包括森林经营认证和森林产品认证。森林认证将影响到世界森林资源、各国林业发展以及生态、经济和社会。森林认证是一项复杂的系统工程,涉及国家政策和国民经济的方方面面。只有利用系统理论,才能更好分析论证在中国特定条件下的森林认证系统;在系统思想指导下,找出我国森林认证的关键要素、主要子系统和最优结构,才能发挥森林认证体系的最佳功能。

蝠蛾属二新种记述 (鳞翅目: 蝙蝠蛾科)

该文报道了云南西北部分布的蝠蛾属二新种: 白纹蝠蛾 Hepialus albipictus sp. nov., 金沙蝠蛾 Hepialus jinshaensis sp. nov., 两新种采自雪山高寒草甸之中, 是冬虫夏草真菌的寄主昆虫。

两种长臂猿染色体的C带和Ag-NORs的比较研究

白眉长臂猿和白颊长臂猿的染色体C带核型中除多数染色体有着丝点C带外,一些染色体上还出现插入C带和着丝点C带弱化或减少现象;白眉长臂猿有全异染色质臂;白颊长臂猿有较多的端位C带。白眉长臂猿有两个Ag-NORs,而白颊长臂猿的Ag-NORs雌体有4个,雄体有5个,Y染色体上有NOR。