Metabolic mapping of the brain during rewarding self-stimulation

Local rates of cerebral glucose utilization were measured in rats by the quantitative 2-deoxy-D-[14C]glucose autoradiographic method during electrical stimulation of the ventral tegmental area. Rats trained in intracranial self-stimulation showed a pattern of changes in forebrain metabolic activity distinctly different from the pattern seen in rats stimulated by the experimenter. These findings provide information about the distribution of local cerebral activity specific to reinforced instrumental behavior.     

Isolation and Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells From Bovine Umbilical Cord Blood

Currently, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are used in veterinary clinical applications. Bone marrow and adipose tissue are the most common sources of stem cells derived from adult animals. However, cord blood which is collected non‐invasively is an alternative source of stem cells other than bone marrow and adipose tissue. Moreover, high availability and lower immunogenicity of umbilical cord blood (UCB) haematopoietic stem cells compared to other sources of stem cell therapy such as bone marrow have made them a considerable source for cell therapy, but MSCs is not highly available in cord blood and their immunogenicity is poorly understood. In this study, the cells with spindle morphology from 7 of 9 bovine UCB samples were isolated and cultured. These mesenchymal stromal cells were successfully differentiated to osteocytes, chondrocytes and adipocytes. In addition, Oct‐4 and SH3 were determined by RT‐PCR assay. It is the first report of isolation, culture, characterization and differentiation of bovine umbilical stem cells.     

2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic Acid: effect on ethylene production by fruits and leaves of fig tree

Production of ethylene by fruits and leaves of the fig tree was stimulated by the application of 2,4,5 trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (20 parts per million) to levels that apparently were responsible for hastened matura tion of fruit, epinasty, and senescence of leaves.     

Dormancy regulation in peach seeds

An inhibitor of seed germination was isolated from the integuments of Lovell peach seeds. Evidence from chromatographic analysis, from studies of its absorption of ultraviolet light and from assays on its effects on plant growth, indicate that the inhibitor is, if not identical with, dormin. Termination of rest in peach seeds is correlated with the disappearance of the inhibitor. The effects of the inhibitor are antagonistic to those of gibberellic acid on sections of wheat coleoptiles.     

Reexamination of glucose-6-phosphatase activity in the brain in vivo: no evidence for a futile cycle

Glucose-6-phosphatase activity in the rat brain in vivo was estimated by measuring the differential loss of tritium and carbon-14 from the glucose pool labeled by a mixture of [2-3H]glucose and [U-14C]glucose. The results provide no evidence of significant dephosphorylation of glucose-6-phosphate and do not support the hypothesis of a futile cycle involving glucose-6-phosphatase activity in the brain.