Frequency-modulated (FM) sound is socially and environmentally significant, and the direction of FM sweeps is essential for animal communication and human speech. Many auditory neurons selectively respond to the directional change of such FM signals. In the past half century, our knowledge of auditory representation and processing has

been updated frequently, due to technological advancement. STI571 price Recently, in vivo whole-cell voltage clamp recordings have been applied to different brain regions in sensory systems. These recordings illustrate the synaptic mechanisms underlying basic sensory information processing and provide profound insights toward our understanding of neural circuits for complex signal analysis. In this review, we summarize the major findings of direction selectivity at several key auditory regions and emphasize on the recent discoveries on the synaptic mechanisms for direction selectivity in the auditory system. We conclude this review by describing promising technical developments in dissecting neural circuits and future directions in the study of complex sound analysis.”
“This study selleck kinase inhibitor is the first to examine the increased apoptosis in the adult rat ovary after lactational exposure to coumestrol (COU), a potent phytoestrogen.

Lactating dams were gavaged at doses of 0.01, 0.1, 1, and 10 mg/kg COU during the lactation period and the reproductive effects of female pups were investigated in young adults. Rats were sacrificed at postnatal days (PND) 81-84. Ovarian weights were reduced significantly at 0.1 and 1.0 mg/kg COU. The reduction in the ovarian weight occurred in parallel with an increase in the apoptosis at PND 135-140. A marked dose-dependent increase in the expressions of active caspase-3 and -7 was observed in ovarian granulosa

cells. Immunostaining for active caspase-3 and the TUNEL staining of apoptotic cells were also increased in ovaries exposed to COU in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest new sights into the effect of lactational exposure to COU on the female reproductive health.”
“Sunflower oil is one of the major sources of edible oil. As the second largest hybrid crop in the world, Ricolinostat ic50 hybrid sunflowers are developed by using the PET1 cytoplasmic male sterility system that contributes to a 20 % yield advantage over the open-pollinated varieties. However, sunflower production in North America has recently been threatened by the evolution of new virulent pathotypes of sunflower rust caused by the fungus Puccinia helianthi Schwein. Rf ANN-1742, an ‘HA 89′ backcross restorer line derived from wild annual sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), was identified as resistant to the newly emerged rust races. The aim of this study was to elucidate the inheritance of rust resistance and male fertility restoration and identify the chromosome location of the underlying genes in Rf ANN-1742.