Role of the hormonal status of the father in involution of the thymus in the progeny

This study was aimed at assessing the consequences of the influence of exogenous androgens on the epididymal sperm of fathers for their progeny. A single injection of testosterone or dihydrotestosterone to adult rats caused a transient increase of the level of the corresponding androgen, later leading to augmentation of the androgen-dependent organs and loss of thymus weight. Hyperandrogeny and earlier age-associated involution of the thymus were observed in the male progeny of androgenized males of reproductive age. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 121, No. 5, pp. 562–564, May, 1996     

Role of noradrenalin in the dorsal hippocampus in the mechanism of the self-stimulation response in rats

Laboratory of Neurophysiology of Reinforcement, A. I. Karaev Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the Azerbaijan SSR, Baku. Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 109, No. 1, pp. 5–6, January, 1990.     

Changes in the structure of the cilia of the ciliated epithelium of the bronchi in Kartagener's syndrome in children

Biopsies of bronchial mucous membrane taken from 4 children with Kartagener's syndrome and 10 children with chronic pneumonia were examined electron microscopically. Structural changes in cilia and apical parts of cells are detected in all patients with Kartagener's syndrome. Cilial changes provoked by chronic inflammatory process are shown. The importance of ultrastructural investigations of bronchial mucous membrane cilia in the understanding of pathogenesis of chronic lung conditions in children is underlined.     

The Beauty of the Network in the Brain and the Origin of the Mind in the Control of Behavior

Behavior is not adequately described as a stimulus-response process. It is initiated by the animal and is generated because of its expected outcome in the future. The outcome can be good or bad for the animal. The brain is in charge of the selection process. This is the basic function of the brain. Taking Drosophila as a study case, this paper discusses initiating activity, several examples of outcome expectations, trying out (the internal search for a suitable behavior), chaining of actions, and the functional roles of chance in action selection. It takes mental processes and states such as goals, intentions, feelings, memories, cognition, and attention as higher levels of behavioral control that have their origin in biological evolution.     

Challenges in the Management of Asthma in the Elderly

Recent literature has emphasized the clinical and socio-epidemiological significance of asthma in the elderly. However, why the disease burden remains high in this group is unclear. Elderly subjects usually have multiple chronic illnesses, and the role played by comorbidities in the context of asthma has been underappreciated. This review aims to summarize the literature associations between comorbidities and asthma in elderly patients. In addition, we discuss patient management issues.     

Role of the time interval in the effect of neurochemical signals in the changes in the ultrastructure of cortical synapses

Translated from Zhurnal Vysshei Nervnoi Deyatel'nosti imeni I. P. Pavlova, Vol. 41, No. 4, pp. 836–838, July–August, 1991.     

On the role of the lymphoid follicle-associated areas in the organization of the bursal follicle in the cloacal bursa in birds

The present paper contains data on the morphological modifications present in chicks which, after treatment with testosterone lasting 10 days (from the seventh to the seventeenth days after hatching), were killed on the 30th, 35th, 40th, 50th and 70th day of life; this interval of time might theoretically have allowed a gradual re-establishment of the bursal architecture. Examination of the bursae of Fabricus of the animals treated showed greatly varying pictures. The 2 main types of behaviour were the following: the histological pattern of certain bursae had been completely restored to normal. Others did not act in the same way but wide areas of their plicae proved to be devoid of lymphoid tissue and well-formed lymphoid follicles were observed only in certain places. These 2 kinds of behaviour, and particularly what we observed in the second case, might suggest that, since the lymphoid follicle-associated epithelial cells are the last to disappear after treatment with testosterone propionate and the follicles are restored only where these cells remain, the lymphoid follicle-associated epithelial cells may be considered to be responsible for the re-establishment of the bursal follicle.     

Role of the inferior colliculus in the inhibition of acoustic startle in the rat

Fifteen rats were tested for amplitude reduction of the acoustic startle response using auditory and visual prestimuli. Eight subjects then received large lesions of the inferior colliculus, and the remaining subjects served as normal controls. All animals were reassessed on a post-test identical to the pre-test. In addition, all subjects were tested for latency reduction of startle using auditory prestimuli. There were no significant differences between groups on the pre-test for startle amplitude, visual amplitude reduction, or auditory amplitude reduction, nor did the control group differ significantly on these measures from pre-test to post-test. After surgery, the lesion group displayed a large, significant increase in startle amplitude. Auditory prestimuli were no longer effective in reducing startle amplitude in this group, but visual prestimuli still produced reliable amplitude reduction. Both groups displayed reliable latency reduction to auditory prestimuli; the groups were not significantly different from each other on this measure. These data support the proposition that the inferior colliculus is part of a neural circuit for startle amplitude reduction by auditory prestimuli.     

Stimulus specificity in the habituation of the startle response in the rat

A series of experiments evaluated whether the habituation of the startle response of the rat to tactile and auditory cues is stimulus specific. Experiment 1 showed stimulus specificity of a short-term habituation effect, whereby the startle to the second of a pair of stimuli was significantly less when the initial stimulus involved the same rather than the different modality. Experiments 2 and 3 focused on the more persistent decrement in startle that is a result of repeated stimulation, and demonstrated that such long-term habituation to the tactile and auditory stimuli contained a stimulus specific component in addition to a generalized component. The generalized habituation observed between the tactile and auditory stimuli in the three experiments may be due to an auditory accompaniment of the tactile stimulus employed. Discussion emphasized the utility of investigating habituation in a preparation with robust specificity.     

Changes in the Volume of the Intercellular Space of the Cerebral Cortex in Conditions of Peripheral Stimulation in Rats

Changes in the volume of the intercellular space of the rat cerebral cortex in response to peripheral repetitive stimulation were studied. The volume of the intercellular space and its changes were assessed by a modification of the four-electrode impedance method. The results suggest that evoked electrical activity in the cerebral cortex was accompanied by 3-5% decreases in the volume of the intercellular space.