Sources of behavioral deviation modeled by early color preferences in quail. III. Developmental stability and normative canalization

Successful artificial selection of quail (C. coturnix japonica) for divergent early approach preferences for, and imprintabilities to, the wavelength characteristics of otherwise identical visual stimuli decreased the trait's developmental stability. The developmental error that resulted from selecting for extreme initial preferences was associated with enhanced imprintabilities. Conversely, the developmental error that resulted from selecting for extreme imprintabilities was associated with enhanced expression of directional gene effects in extreme initial preferences. The data are attributed to selectively relaxed normative canalization of trait development, and to related enhanced expression of genetic, environmental, and stochastic influences in trait deviations.     

Early mesoderm differentiation in the chick embryo

Summary Two groups of experiments were carried out. In the first group, grafts of quail mesoderm whose presumptive fate was to form somites or heart tissues, were taken from quail embryos (stage 4–5 of Hamburger and Hamilton 1951) and inserted beneath the ectoderm of chick embryos of stage 3–4 immediately lateral to the primitive streak. Whilst most grafts contributed to the somites and/or the heart, 22 out of a total of 46 were found to have contributed also to the pharyngeal endoderm. Although three of these grafts were known to have included some quail endoderm cells, the remainder were considered to consist of mesoderm alone. It is concluded that mesoderm at the primitive streak stages is still capable of forming endoderm.In the second group of experiments, grafts of quail somites (stage 10–14) were inserted beneath the ectoderm of chick embryos of stage 3–4. In 18 out of 23 cases the graft cells were found in somitic tissue, but they were also found in the endoderm (4 specimens), lateral plate (3 specimens) and endothelium (4 specimens). It is concluded that even at stages 10–14, the somite-derived cells are still not completely determined to form somite derivatives. In those cases where the grafted somites differentiated further, sclerotome cells which migrated from them did not necessarily move towards the host notochord.     

多胺在动脉粥样硬化发生发展过程中的变化

目的：探讨动脉粥样硬化的发病机制。方法：采用雄性日本鹌鹑喂饲高胆固醇膳食,造成动脉粥样硬化动物模型,动脉观察主动脉壁的中内膜的多胺变化。结果：血浆胆固醇和分类胆固醇提示高脂血症,结合病理切片,说明本实验动脉粥样硬化模型可靠。结论：1．多胺对动脉粥样硬化的发生起着重要作用;2．多胺在动脉粥样硬化发生（病理标准）前升高,后又依次降低的特殊现象。     

儿茶素对鹌鹑实验性动脉粥样硬化的影响

用高脂饲料诱发鹌鹑动脉粥样硬化，观察了儿茶素对动物粥样硬化模型的影响。将30只雄性30天龄鹌鹑随机分成3组，每组10只。对照组（N）给予普通饲料；高脂组（L）给予高脂饲料；儿茶素防治组（L＋)给予高脂饲料的同时喂以儿茶素水制剂。以上各组均喂养3个月后全部处死，取血清、肝脏检测相关指标，并做冰冻切片及电镜切片进行评价。结果显示儿茶素防治组与高脂组相比，鹌鹑血清TC、TG、LDL－C、MDA和Fru水平显著下降（P＜0．01），血清SOD活性、HDL－C、NO2^-/NO3^-含量和肝脏SOD、ALT、AST活性及NO2^-/NO3^-含量都显著升高（P＜0．01）。说明儿茶素具有明显的调节血脂、抗脂质过氧化、减轻脂肪肝、降低果糖胺及抵抗动脉粥样硬化的作用。     

Effect of theo-polyphenols on hepatic histology of hyperlipidemia model in quails

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富锌鹌鹑蛋对儿童血锌铜钙营养的影响

目的了解富锌鹌鹑蛋对儿童生长发育和血清锌铜钙和其他生化的影响。方法在幼儿园挑选７３名４～４５岁全托健康儿童,随机分为两组,实验组３７例、对照组３６例,两组在同一膳食基础上,用称重法记录食物摄入量,实验组每人每日吃鹌鹑蛋５枚。对照组每人每日服１０％硫酸锌１０ｍｌ。结果两组儿童体格发育比较,实验组身高、体重、上臂肌围和三角肌皮皱厚度较实验前明显增加（Ｐ＜００５）,对照组身高、上臂围和三角肌皮皱厚度较前明显增加（Ｐ＜００５）,两组间体重身高无明显差异（Ｐ＞００５）,上臂肌围和三角肌皱厚度增加有组间差异（Ｐ＜００５）。实验后对照组血红蛋白下降,血清铜、游离原卟啉上升与实验组有显著差异（Ｐ＜００５）,实验组血红蛋白、游离原卟啉、血清铜变化不大。结论富锌鹌鹑蛋有益于儿童生长发育,对铁和血红蛋白影响小,硫酸锌可能干扰铁的吸收,营养状况好的儿童不宜盲目补锌。     

Atrazine and the hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis in sexually maturing precocial birds: studies in male Japanese quail.

The herbicide atrazine is a putative endocrine disruptor. The present studies investigated the effects of atrazine in male Japanese quail during sexual maturation. Atrazine was administered for two weeks in the diet or systemically to birds under long photoperiods. Atrazine had no effect on mortality but depressed both feed intake and growth (average daily gain [ADG] in g/day) at dietary concentrations of 1000 ppm. Atrazine in the diet at 10 ppm, but at no other concentrations, increased testes weight and gonadal-somatic-index and decreased the seminiferous tubule diameter-to-testis weight ratio. However, there were no effects on absolute tubule diameter, relative stage of testicular development, or the presence of a lumen. Atrazine in the diet at 1000 ppm increased circulating concentrations of testosterone but this effect was not observed consistently in all studies. Dietary atrazine at 10 ppm increased circulating concentrations of estradiol. Moreover, in one study, atrazine at 1000 ppm in the diet decreased circulating concentrations of luteinizing hormone. Atrazine administered systemically exerted no effect on indices of growth or reproduction. Atrazine did not mimic the effects of either estradiol or tamoxifen in male quail; thus, atrazine did not exhibit overt estrogenic or anti-estrogenic activity. Conversely, atrazine augmented the effects of testosterone and estradiol on testis regression, presumably by increasing the negative-feedback effects of these sex-steroids on follicle stimulating hormone secretion. It is concluded that atrazine up to 1000 ppm in the diet may exert some effects on reproductive development in sexually maturing male birds, but these are inconsistent and modest.     

Melatonin affects the temporal pattern of vocal signatures in birds

In humans and other animals, melatonin is involved in the control of circadian biological rhythms. Here, we show that melatonin affects the temporal pattern of behavioral sequences in a noncircadian manner. The zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) song and the crow of the Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) are courtship vocalizations composed of a stereotyped sequence of syllables. The zebra finch song is learned from conspecifics during infancy, whereas the Japanese quail crow develops normally without auditory input. We recorded and analyzed the complete vocal activity of adult birds of both species kept in social isolation for several weeks. In both species, we observed a shortening of signal duration following the transfer from a light-dark (LD) cycle to constant light (LL), a condition known to abolish melatonin production and to disrupt circadian rhythmicity. This effect was reversible because signal duration increased when the photoperiod was returned to the previous LD schedule. We then tested whether this effect was directly related to melatonin by removal of the pineal gland, which is the main production site of circulating melatonin. A shortening of the song duration was observed following pinealectomy in LD. Likewise, melatonin treatment induced changes in the temporal structure of the song. In a song learning experiment, young pinealectomized finches and young finches raised in LL failed to copy the temporal pattern of their tutor's song. Taken together, these results suggest that melatonin is involved in the control of motor timing of noncircadian behavioral sequences through an evolutionary conserved neuroendocrine pathway.