Influence of social conditions during rearing on the sexual behavior, mating ability and libido of Yorkshire boars

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Case report of a cervical myelomalacia caused by a thoracolumbar intradural disc herniation leading to intracranial hypotension

A 50-year-old patient was admitted with symptoms of intracranial hypotension. MRI revealed a cervical myelomalacia caused by engorged epidural veins leading to a stenosis of the spinal canal. This condition is rarely described in patients with hydrocephalus and ventricular shunts suffering from chronic overdrainage. However, the reason in this patient was a CSF leak caused by an intradural disc herniation at T12/L1. After surgery, symptoms resolved and the cervical myelomalacia and the swollen epidural veins disappeared on postoperative MRI. In patients with engorged cervical epidural veins without a ventricular shunt, a CSF leak has to be considered

Cilengitide: an RGD pentapeptide ανβ3 and ανβ5 integrin inhibitor in development for glioblastoma and other malignancies

Cilengitide, a cyclicized arginine-glycine-aspartic acid-containing pentapeptide, potently blocks ανβ3 and ανβ5 integrin activation. Integrins are upregulated in many malignancies and mediate a wide variety of tumor-stroma interactions. Cilengitide and other integrin-targeting therapeutics have preclinical activity against many cancer subtypes including glioblastoma (GBM), the most common and deadliest CNS tumor. Cilengitide is active against orthotopic GBM xenografts and can augment radiotherapy and chemotherapy in these models. In Phase I and II GBM trials, cilengitide and the combination of cilengitide with standard temozolomide and radiation demonstrate consistent antitumor activity and a favorable safety profile. Cilengitide is currently under evaluation in a pivotal, randomized Phase III study (Cilengitide in Combination With Temozolomide and Radiotherapy in Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma Phase III Randomized Clinical Trial [CENTRIC]) for newly diagnosed GBM. In addition, randomized controlled Phase II studies with cilengitide are ongoing for non-small-cell lung cancer and squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Cilengitide is the first integrin inhibitor in clinical Phase III development for oncology

韓国南部の水田における農業用殺虫剤撒布の数種蚊に対する毒性

A study carried out in rural areas of South Korea has revealed that farmer pesticide applications of fenitrothion, fenthion and certain other organophosphorus materials are highly toxic to mosquito larvae. The rates of application (0.3 to 0.9kg/ha), although not highly residual, are from 4 to 8 times higher than those required for Cu. tritaeniorhynchus control. The commonly used knapsack sprayer provides very thorough coverage on small (≤ 1ha) farmer plots. Application by power equipment and helicopters also provides excellent larval control. In comparison to previous years, the marked increase in pesticide usage may be a partial explanation for the much lower incidence of Japanese encephalitis in rural area.韓国南部の農村で行なった研究から,農民が撒布するフェニトロチオン,バイテックス及びその他の二,三の有機燐剤は蚊の幼虫に対して極めて有効であることがわかった.0.3-0.9kg/haの撒布は,残留性は大きくないけれども,コガタアカイエカの防除に必要な量の4-8倍に達する.普通に用いられている背負式噴霧機は狭い区画(1ha以下)に徹底して撒布するのに便利である.動力噴霧機やヘリコプターによる撒布もまた蚊の防除に優れた効果を示す.前年までと比較して,殺虫剤の使用量が増加したことが,農村での日本脳炎患者数の減少の1つの原因かもしれない

Challenging fear: Chemical alarm signals are not causing morphology changes in crucian carp (Carassius carassius)

Crucian carp develops a deep body in the presence of chemical cues from predators, which makes the fish less vulnerable to gape-limited predators. The active components originate in conspecifics eaten by predators, and are found in the filtrate of homogenised conspecific skin. Chemical alarm signals, causing fright reactions, have been the suspected inducers of such morphological changes. We improved the extraction procedure of alarm signals by collecting the supernatant after centrifugation of skin homogenates. This removes the minute particles that normally make a filtered sample get turbid. Supernatants were subsequently diluted and frozen into ice-cubes. Presence of alarm signals was confirmed by presenting thawed ice-cubes to crucian carp in behaviour tests at start of laboratory growth experiments. Frozen extracts were added further on three times a week. Altogether, we tested potential body-depth-promoting properties of alarm signals twice in the laboratory and once in the field. Each experiment lasted for a minimum of 50 days. Despite growth of crucian carp in all experiments, no morphology changes were obtained. Accordingly, we conclude that the classical alarm signals that are releasing instant fright reactions are not inducing morphological changes in this species. The chemical signals inducing a body-depth increase are suspected to be present in the particles removed during centrifugation (i.e., in the precipitate). Tissue particles may be metabolized by bacteria in the intestine of predators, resulting in water-soluble cues. Such latent chemical signals have been found in other aquatic organisms, but hitherto not reported in fishe