Rostral midbrain lesions and copulatory behavior in male rats

Discrete electrolytic lesions were placed in the mesencephalic dorsal noradrenergic (DNE) bundle of 22 male Sprague-Dawley rats, and sham operations were performed on 14 control animals. Eight components of copulatory behavior were compared in 2 preoperative and 2 postoperative heterosexual mating tests. A significant postlesion decrease in the postejaculatory interval (PEI), number of intromissions, number of incomplete mounts and the ejaculation latency from the first intromission (ELI) occurred. Norepinephrine levels were significantly reduced in the hippocampus, amygdala and hypothalamus, but not in the preoptic area. The only statistically significant correlations between NE concentrations and behavior in the lesioned animals were negative (hippocampal NE with PEI and ELI). The results support the hypothesis that rostral midbrain lesions disinhibit some components of male rodent copulatory behavior, but suggest that a system or systems other than the DNE bundle may be responsible for this disinhibition.     

Robotic Assistance System for Cone-Beam Computed Tomography-Guided Percutaneous Needle Placement

CardioVascular and Interventional Radiology - The study aimed to evaluate a new robotic assistance system (RAS) for needle placement in combination with a multi-axis C-arm angiography system for...     

MALDI Biotyper-Based Rapid Resistance Detection by Stable-Isotope Labeling

Against the background of increasing numbers of resistant microorganisms, the fast and cost-efficient detection of microbial resistance is an important clinical requirement for optimal therapeutic intervention. Current routine assays take at least 5 h, but in most cases an overnight incubation is necessary to identify resistant isolates. The usage of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) profiling in combination with growth media containing isotopically labeled amino acids facilitates the detection of resistant microorganisms after 3 h or less directly from the profile spectrum. Growing microorganisms incorporate isotopically labeled amino acids, increasing protein masses and thereby leading to mass shifts of their corresponding peaks in the profile spectra. In the presence of antibiotics, only resistant microorganisms are able to grow and to incorporate the labeled amino acids. This leads to a difference in the mass spectra of susceptible and resistant isolates, allowing their differentiation. In the presented study, we demonstrated the applicability of this novel approach for the detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and tested different bioinformatics approaches for automated data interpretation.     

Identification of Medically Relevant Species of Arthroconidial Yeasts by Use of Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization–Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry

Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) was used for an extensive identification study of arthroconidial yeasts, using 85 reference strains from the CBS-KNAW yeast collection and 134 clinical isolates collected from medical centers in Qatar, Greece, and Romania. The test set included 72 strains of ascomycetous yeasts (Galactomyces, Geotrichum, Saprochaete, and Magnusiomyces spp.) and 147 strains of basidiomycetous yeasts (Trichosporon and Guehomyces spp.). With minimal preparation time, MALDI-TOF MS proved to be an excellent diagnostic tool that provided reliable identification of most (98%) of the tested strains to the species level, with good discriminatory power. The majority of strains were correctly identified at the species level with good scores (>2.0) and seven of the tested strains with log score values between 1.7 and 2.0. The MALDI-TOF MS results obtained were consistent with validated internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and/or large subunit (LSU) ribosomal DNA sequencing results. Expanding the mass spectrum database by increasing the number of reference strains for closely related species, including those of nonclinical origin, should enhance the usefulness of MALDI-TOF MS-based diagnostic analysis of these arthroconidial fungi in medical and other laboratories.     

Treatment Evaluation of Flow-Limiting Stenoses of the Superficial Femoral and Popliteal Artery by Parametric Color-Coding Analysis of Digital Subtraction Angiography Series

CardioVascular and Interventional Radiology - To evaluate the hemodynamic effect of percutaneous transluminal intervention (PTI) on stenosis of the superficial femoral (SFA) and popliteal arteries...     

Ontogenetic quinpirole treatments produce spatial memory deficits and enhance skilled reaching in adult rats

There is a paucity of data on neurochemical abnormalities and associated effects on cognition and motor performance in rats ontogenetically treated with quinpirole, a rodent model of dopaminergic hyperfunction. The objective of the current study was to analyze the cognitive and motor effects produced by ontogenetic administration of quinpirole, a dopamine D(2)/D(3) receptor agonist. Past research from this laboratory has shown that ontogenetic quinpirole treatment sensitizes D(2) receptors and produces a variety of characteristic stereotypic behaviors in adult rats. In the current study, rats received quinpirole HCl (1 mg/kg/day) or saline from postnatal day (PD) 1 to PD 11 and went otherwise untreated until adulthood (PD 60). In Experiment 1, cognitive performance was assessed on the standard and matching-to-place versions of the Morris water task (MWT). In Experiment 2, skilled motor performance was assessed on the Whishaw reaching task and locomotor activity was also analyzed. We found that ontogenetically quinpirole-treated rats displayed a deficit on the probe trial given at the end of training of the standard version of the MWT but that there were no significant differences from control on the matching-to-place task. Additionally, rats treated in ontogeny with quinpirole showed significant enhancement in reaching accuracy on the Whishaw reaching task as well as increased locomotor activity relative to saline controls. These findings demonstrate that ontogenetic quinpirole treatments produce cognitive deficits, enhanced skilled reaching and hyperlocomotion. The behavioral changes produced by ontogenetic quinpirole treatment are consistent with dopaminergic hyperfunction, and possible mechanisms are discussed.