Socio-affective communication in Tph2-deficient rat pups: communal nesting aggravates growth retardation despite ameliorating maternal affiliation deficits.

Background: A lack of serotonin (also known as 5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) in the brain due to deficiency of the rate-limiting enzyme in 5-HT synthesis, tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (TPH2), was recently reported to result in impaired maternal affiliation across species, including mice, rats, and monkeys. In rodents, this was reflected in a lack of preference for maternal odors and reduced levels of isolation-induced ultrasonic vocalizations (USV), possibly contributing to a severe growth retardation phenotype.

Methods: Here, we tested whether growth retardation, maternal affiliation deficits, and/or impairments in socio-affective communication caused by Tph2 deficiency can be rescued through early social enrichment in rats.

From fish out of water to new insights on navigation mechanisms in animals.

Navigation is a critical ability for animal survival and is important for food foraging, finding shelter, seeking mates and a variety of other behaviors. Given their fundamental role and universal function in the animal kingdom, it makes sense to explore whether space representation and navigation mechanisms are dependent on the species, ecological system, brain structures, or whether they share general and universal properties. One way to explore this issue behaviorally is by domain transfer methodology, where one species is embedded in another species' environment and must cope with an otherwise familiar (in our case, navigation) task.

Tlx3 Exerts Direct Control in Specifying Excitatory Over Inhibitory Neurons in the Dorsal Spinal Cord.

The spinal cord dorsal horn is a major station for integration and relay of somatosensory information and comprises both excitatory and inhibitory neuronal populations. The homeobox gene Tlx3 acts as a selector gene to control the development of late-born excitatory (dILB) neurons by specifying glutamatergic transmitter fate in dorsal spinal cord. However, since Tlx3 direct transcriptional targets remain largely unknown, it remains to be uncovered how Tlx3 functions to promote excitatory cell fate.

Outcomes of Total Laparoscopic Hysterectomy: A Single-Surgeon Experience of Initial 50 Cases.

Introduction In this study, we reported a single surgeon experience of total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH) in terms of intraoperative and early postoperative outcomes and complications. In addition, we compared our results with published literature for a reevaluation of complications and outcomes. Material and methods This present prospective study was conducted on 50 patients who underwent TLH due to benign causes.

Management of Diarrhea in Under-fives at Home and Health Facilities in Kashmir.

Background: Diarrheal disease forms one of the two major killer diseases in children under five years of age in the developing world. There are inherent cultural practices for management of diarrhea at the domestic level. Also, the treatment practices at health centers vary, with inappropriate use of antibiotics, and iv fluids observed commonly, while ORS is less frequently used.