Genital, olfactory, and endocrine interactions in the development of maternal behaviour in the parturient ewe.

This article reviews current understanding of the physiological control of maternal behaviour in parturient ewes. Estradiol is an important endocrine factor which stimulates maternal responsiveness, both in nonpregnant and in parturient ewes. However, its action depends on previous maternal experience, and other factors are also necessary for the rapid manifestation of maternal behaviour.

Molecular cloning and cell-specific expression of newly discovered subunits of cAMP-dependent protein kinases. Implications for different cellular responses to cAMP.

In recent years a multiplicity in isoforms of cAMP-dependent protein kinases has been revealed. Gene products for four different regulatory subunits (RI alpha, RI beta, RII alpha, RII beta) and two different catalytic subunits (C alpha, C beta) have been identified. We hereby present the molecular cloning of rat cDNAs for RII beta, as well as full-length human cDNAs for RII beta and RI alpha.

Relation of attention deficit and conduct disorder to vigilance and reading lag.

The relationship between DSM-III Axis I diagnoses 'attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity' (ADDH), 'conduct disorder' (CD) and 'anxiety disorder' (AD) and measures of attention and reading were studied in 158 children. Children diagnosed as having severe or moderate ADDH were found to be younger at referral and to have a lower IQ than were children with CD and AD. When age, IQ, social class and sex were controlled, children with severe ADDH were found to perform significantly worse than other diagnostic groups on some tests of vigilance and reading age.

Changes in the distribution of American family incomes, 1947 to 1984.

The American family income distribution now lies at the center of several controversies. Some observers argue that the American middle class is vanishing, but U.S.

Peridural anesthesia disturbs maternal behavior in primiparous and multiparous parturient ewes.

Several experiments were carried out to study the effects of peridural anesthesia (Sylvocaine, 6 ml between sacrum and 1st caudal vertebra) performed either at the first signs of birth (early peridural: EP), or little before expulsion (late peridural: LP). When performed late, peridural anesthesia altered maternal behavior only slightly when compared with controls. By contrast severe deficits were observed in the case of EP.

Indomethacin pretreatment inhibits fever after anodal, but not cathodal, medial preoptic lesions in rats.

Pretreatment with indomethacin (15 mg/kg) prevented the fever occurring in unanesthetized rats immediately after unilateral anodal electrolytic lesions of the medial preoptic area. The drug had no effect on the fever if given before cathodal lesions. If given after the lesions, when the fever had begun to develop, indomethacin lowered anodal body temperature back to baseline for varied lengths of time and attenuated cathodal fever.

Effects of cryptorchidism and orchidopexy on deoxyribonucleoside-activated nucleotidase (DAN) in the rat testis.

1. Unilateral cryptorchidism was associated with an increase in specific DAN activity in the abdominal testis of adult rats. 2.

Effect of repetitive lidocaine infusion on peripheral nerve.

Neurotoxicity in rat tibial nerve was assessed following injections of lidocaine through implanted catheters. Doses of 1 to 4% lidocaine in volumes sufficient to inhibit motor nerve function, were infused three times a day for 3 days. When 4% lidocaine was infused into a Silastic cuff surrounding the sciatic nerve, all function was lost and there was considerable nerve fiber degeneration.

[Circadian rhythms of the so-called inflammation proteins in healthy subjects].

Circadian rhythms for the factors listed below were investigated in 14 subjects hospitalized in apparently good health: total proteins, albumin, pre-albumin, alpha-1-antitrypsin, orosomucoid, ceruloplasmin, C3, C-reactive protein, haptoglobin and transferrin. Seven venous blood samples were taken from each subject over a 24 hour period. A circadian rhythm was detected for the total proteins, prealbumin, alpha-1-antitrypsin, orosomucoid, ceruloplasmin and transferrin.

"Differential displacement"--a simple method to study receptors for 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in the presence of contaminating serum vitamin D binding protein.

This report describes a simple procedure to quantitate receptors for 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in the presence of contaminating serum vitamin D binding protein. The method ("differential displacement") takes advantage of the greatly different rates of dissociation of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 from the serum vitamin D binding protein (t 1/2 less than 5 min) and from the receptor (t 1/2 greater than 120 h) at 0 degrees C. The principle of "differential displacement" can be used for other steroid receptors as well, and in combination with a variety of different binding assays, provided they are performed under conditions where the dissociation of the steroid from the receptor is slow.

Effects of adenosine analogs on glucagon-stimulated adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate formation in Sertoli cell cultures from immature rats.

In the present study, we have examined the effects of two adenosine analogs, (-)N6-(R)phenyl-isopropyl-adenosine (PIA) and 2-chloro-adenosine, on glucagon- and FSH-stimulated cAMP production in Sertoli cell cultures isolated from immature (19-day-old) rats. Both FSH and glucagon caused a 5- to 10-fold stimulation of cAMP levels in the spent media from Sertoli cell cultures during an 18-h incubation. Addition of 1 microM PIA significantly inhibited both FSH- and glucagon-stimulated cAMP levels.