Vasopressin Prolongs Behavioral and Cardiac Responses to Mild Stress in Young But Not in Aged Rats

In young male Wistar rats sudden silence superimposed on low intensity background noise evokes a relative decrease in heart rate. This bradycardia is accompanied by immobility behavior. In the present study, involving young (3 month), late-adult (14 month), aged (20 month), and senescent (25 month) rats the magnitude of the stress-induced bradycardia shows an age-related reduction while the behavioral immobility response remained unchanged during the process of aging. Arginine-8-vasopressin (AVP, 6 µg/kg SC) administered 60 min prior to the experiment led to a prolonged behavioral and cardiac stress response in young and late-adult rats, but not in aged and senescent animals. The peripheral and central mechanisms possibly involved in the failure of systemically applied AVP to improve bradycardiac stress responses in aged rats are discussed.

Auditoría universitaria y calidad

Consultable des del TDXTítol obtingut de la portada digitalitzadaLa Universidad española tiene en estos momentos ante sí uno de los retos más apasionantes que jamás esta Institución se haya planteado. En primer lugar, la adaptación a los grandes cambios socioeconómicos ocurridos en las últimas décadas que interaccionan desarrollo económico y calidad universitaria. En segundo lugar, como consecuencia de ello, a la búsqueda de la excelencia académica, profesional y científica, que se convierte en un tema clave para la competitividad y la calidad de un país. En tercer lugar, al cambio significativo que ha supuesto la implantación de una armonización universitaria europea a través de la integración y desarrollo en el Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior. Por último, resaltar que el cambio europeo ha quedado sobrepasado por un reto mayor como es la globalización y que ha puesto a las Universidades ya no sólo ante una calidad y competencia europea sino mundial. La calidad y la competitividad de un país no depende solo de la calidad y productividad de sus empresas sino que vendrá determinado en gran parte por la calidad, productividad y competitividad de las Universidades y de sus miembros, tanto en su aspecto investigador como docente. Igualmente el desarrollo económico y del conocimiento de un país tiene mucho que ver con la calidad de la enseñanza de sus universidades. Éstas, al tomar decisiones dentro del ámbito de sus competencias, deberán considerar seriamente su posición competitiva. La Declaración de Bolonia marca las directrices de lo que debe ser la Universidad Europea, de ella se desprende la necesidad de hacer competitiva y atractiva la enseñanza universitaria europea a escala mundial, enfocada a contactar con las necesidades sociales y a hacer más comparables los distintos sistemas educativos. Los Sistemas de Garantía de Calidad son los instrumentos de reforma social y progreso más efectivos que podemos ofrecer en el ámbito universitario, así como una herramienta fundamental para la competitividad y rendición de cuentas. De esta forma se pretende romper con el estereotipo dominante de confundir estos instrumentos con técnicas inherentes y provenientes de la empresa privada en sus manifestaciones más liberales y mercantilistas. En dicho espacio debemos tener en cuenta que el eje mas vertebrado de la armonización van a ser los Sistemas de Garantía de Calidad Universitaria. No podemos olvidar que el cambio europeo ha quedado sobrepasado por un reto mayor, la globalización y que ha situado a las universidades ante una calidad y competencia mundial. No debemos desaprovechar el espacio de educación superior natural, que es Latinoamérica. España tendrá mucho más peso en el Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior si sabe construir rápidamente el Espacio Iberoamericano de Educación Superior. No somos conscientes de que nuestra calidad en Europa depende de que aceleremos el Espacio Iberoamericano dirigido por nosotros mismos con un sistema de evaluación y unos estándares establecidos en ese ámbito Iberoamericano de más de quinientos millones de habitantes de habla española y portuguesa. Esta visión estratégica de acelerar el Espacio Iberoamericano de Educación Superior no es excluyente sino que nos va a reforzar en el Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior y además nos va a servir, como ha sucedido con la experiencia empresarial, para situarnos en la competencia universitaria mundial. Auditoria y evaluación, como a menudo equivocadamente se piensa no es un puro tecnicismo, sino que es un instrumento indispensable para introducir nuevos valores en la sociedad, en el Estado, en la universidad, en la empresa a través de nuevos estándares e indicadores, como son por ejemplo los de calidad ambiental, los de diversidad lingüística y racial en la Universidad, etc. Por tanto la auditoria y evaluación es un sistema muy efectivo de introducir nuevos derechos y valores.The Spanish University has in these moments one of the challenges more exciting that this Institution has never appeared. First, the adjustment to the big socioeconomic changes happened in the last decades that interconnect economic development and university quality. Secondly, as consequence of it, to the search of the academic, professional and scientific excellence, this turns into a key topic for the competitiveness and the quality of a country. Thirdly, to the significant change that has supposed the implantation of a European university harmonization across the integration and development in the European Space of High Education. Finally, to highlight that the European change has remained exceeded by a major challenge as is the globalization and that it has put to the Universities already not only before a quality and European but world competition. The quality and the competitiveness of a country does not depend only on the quality and productivity of its companies but it will come determined largely by the quality, productivity and competitiveness of the Universities and of its members, so much in its investigative as educational aspect. Equally the economic development and of the knowledge of a country there has much that to see with the quality of the education of its universities. These, on having taken decisions inside the area of its competitions, will have to consider seriously its competitive position. The Declaration of Bologna marks the directives what must be the European University, with it there parts the need to make competitive and attractive the university European education on a worldwide scale, focused to contacting with the social needs and to making the different educational systems more comparable. The Systems of guarantee of Quality are the instruments of social reform and progress more workforce that we can offer in the university area, as well as a fundamental tool for the competitiveness and account surrender. Of this form one tries to break with the dominant stereotype of confusing these instruments with technologies inherent and from the private company in its more liberal manifestations and mercantilists. In the above mentioned space we must bear in mind that the axis more vertebrate of the harmonization they are going to be the Systems of Guarantee of University Quality. We cannot forget that the European change has remained exceeded by a major challenge, the globalization and that it has placed to the universities before a quality and world competition. We must not fail to take advantage of the space of top natural education, which is Latin America. Spain will have much more weight in the European Space of High Education if it can construct rapidly the Latin-American Space of High Education. We are not conscious that our quality in Europe depends of that we accelerate the Latin-American Space directed by us themselves with a system of evaluation and a few standards established in this Latin-American area of more than five hundred million inhabitants of Spanish and Portuguese speech. This strategic vision of accelerating the Latin-American Space of High Education is not exclusive but it is going to reinforce us in the European Space of High Education and in addition it is going to serve us, since it has happened with the managerial experience, to place in the university world competition. Audit and evaluation, since often wrongly it is thought is not a pure technicality, but it is an indispensable instrument to introduce new values in the society, in the State, in the university, in the company across new standards and indicators, since they are for example those of environmental quality, those of linguistic and racial diversity in the University, etc. Therefore the audit and evaluation is a very effective system of introducing new rights and values

Selective decline of 5-HT1A receptor binding sites in rat cortex, hippocampus and cholinergic basal forebrain nuclei during aging

The effect of aging on 5-HT1A receptor binding in several forebrain areas associated with the basal forebrain cholinergic system was investigated in rats of 3-, 24- and 30-months-old by receptor autoradiography and biochemical binding assay using [H-3]8-OH-DPAT as a ligand. Autoradiographic measurements demonstrated a marked region-specific decline of ligand binding in: (i) regions of the basal forebrain cholinergic cell groups, i.e. the medial septum, diagonal band nuclei and magnocellular nucleus basalis, (ii) the frontal and parietal neocortex and (iii) the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. No change or- only a slight decrease of the 5-HT1A receptor density was found in other areas investigated: the CA1 and CA3 sectors of hippocampus, the cingular and perirhinal cerebral cortex and the lateral septum. The autoradiographic findings were substantiated by the biochemical binding assay, which revealed a comparable loss of 5-HT1A receptor in the hippocampus and neocortex at the age of 30 months. The results clearly show that with increasing age the decrement of 5-HT1A receptor binding in the rat forebrain is remarkably region-selective and particularly affects the cholinergic cell groups that innervate cortex and hippocampus. This phenomenon appears to be especially significant in relation to the neuronal substrates underlying the age-related alterations of mood and cognition. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V