Inhibition of the hypothalamic ventromedial periventricular area activates a dynorphin pathway-dependent thermoregulatory inversion in rats.

To maintain core body temperature in mammals, CNS thermoregulatory networks respond to cold exposure by increasing brown adipose tissue and shivering thermogenesis. However, in hibernation or torpor, this canonical thermoregulatory response is replaced by a new, emerging paradigm, thermoregulatory inversion (TI), an alternative homeostatic state in which cold exposure inhibits thermogenesis and warm exposure stimulates thermogenesis. Here, we demonstrate that in the non-torpid rat, either exclusion of the canonical thermoregulatory integrator in the preoptic hypothalamus or inhibition of neurons in the ventromedial periventricular area (VMPeA) induces the TI state through an alternative thermoregulatory pathway.

Structure and function of the hippocampal CA3 module.

The hippocampal formation is crucial for learning and memory, with submodule CA3 thought to be the substrate of pattern completion. However, the underlying synaptic and computational mechanisms of this network are not well understood. Here, we perform circuit reconstruction of a CA3 module using three dimensional (3D) electron microscopy data and combine this with functional connectivity recordings and computational simulations to determine possible CA3 network mechanisms.

Effect of a -Based Probiotic on Performance and Nutrient Digestibility When Substituting Soybean Meal with Rapeseed Meal in Grower-Finisher Diets.

The objective of the present study was to test the hypothesis of and supplementation to a negative control diet in comparison to a standard control diet, had the potential to improve the performance and nutrient digestibility of growing-finishing pigs. For this purpose, 384 fattening pigs of 85 d of age were allotted to three treatments: a standard diet, a negative control (NC) diet (5% soybean meal replaced by 5% rapeseed meal), or a NC diet + probiotic. After reaching a body weight of approximately 110 kg, all animals going to the slaughterhouse (87% of total pigs) were selected to measure carcass quality.

Generation of LexA enhancer-trap lines in Drosophila by an international scholastic network.

Conditional gene regulation in Drosophila through binary expression systems like the LexA-LexAop system provides a superb tool for investigating gene and tissue function. To increase the availability of defined LexA enhancer trap insertions, we present molecular, genetic, and tissue expression studies of 301 novel Stan-X LexA enhancer traps derived from mobilization of the index SX4 line. This includes insertions into distinct loci on the X, II, and III chromosomes that were not previously associated with enhancer traps or targeted LexA constructs, an insertion into ptc, and seventeen insertions into natural transposons.