ADENYLATE CYCLASE AND PHOSPHODIESTERASE ACTIVITIES DURING ANAPHYLACTIC SHOCK IN GUINEA PIGS

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ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHIC CHANGES IN EXPERIMENTAL MYOCARDITIS AND ARTHRITIS IN NEONATALLY THYMECTOMIZED RATS

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THE EFFECT OF NEONATAL THYMECTOMY ON AUTOALLERGIC MYOCARDITIS

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THE INFLUENCE OF THYMUS ON EXPERIMENTAL MYOCARDITIS AND ARTHRITIS (MORPHOLOGICAL STUDY)

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EFFECTS OF NEONATAL THYMECTOMY ON ERYTHROPOIESIS AND PLASMA ERYTHROPOIETIN IN PHENYLHYDRAZINE ANAEMIA IN RATS

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L’articolazione dello spazio pubblico nella città post-socialista

Il presente lavoro si pone l’obiettivo di indagare la trasformazione dello spazio pubblico della città est-europea dopo il crollo del blocco sovietico. La scelta dei quartieri periferici come caso di studio è dettata da due fattori. In primis, la periferia incarna la distribuzione disarticolata dello spazio pubblico nella città socialista dove il concetto tradizionale dell’agorà come fulcro della vita urbana risulta superato. In secondo luogo, l’ideale comunista dell’abolizione delle classi e della disuguaglianza sociale si rispecchia nell’edilizia standardizzata dei pannelli prefabbricati, che gli architetti sovietici del secondo dopoguerra hanno largamente adottato nella costruzione dei nuovi quartieri residenziali. Verranno prese in analisi in chiave comparativa le politiche di pianificazione e organizzazione degli spazi fisici in alcuni quartieri periferici di Sofia e Bratislava nell’era post-socialista e analizzati i principali fenomeni di trasformazione dello spazio pubblico negli anni di transizione che hanno interessato l’ex blocco sovietico a partire dal 1989. Infine, si cercherà di rispondere all’interrogativo se, con il cosiddetto processo di democratizzazione, la riorganizzazione e la trasformazione della forma urbis abbia favorito o meno la dimensione quantitativa e qualitativa della vita pubblica nella città post-socialista.The present work aims to explore the transformation of public space in East European cities after the fall of the Soviet Bloc. The choice of peripheral neighbourhoods as case study is dictated by two factors. Firstly, the urban peripheral areas embody the disarticulated distribution of public space in the socialist city, which abandons the traditional concept of agorà as a focal point of urban life. Secondly, because the communist ideal of the abolition of classes and social inequality is reflected in the standardized building of prefabricated panels adopted by Soviet architects in the period after WWII for the creation of new housing estates. The politics of planning and organisation of physical spaces in some peripheral neighbourhoods of Sofia and Bratislava in the post-socialist period will be compared. The major phenomena of transformation of public space in the former Soviet Bloc during the transition years following 1989 are also analysed. Finally, an attempt is made to answer the question whether the so called democratic process and the transformation of the forma urbis has been favourable or not, in both quantitative and qualitative terms, to public life in the post-socialist city

Foliar epidermis morphology in Quercus (subgenus Quercus, section Quercus) in Iran

The foliar morphology of trichomes, epicuticular waxes and stomata in Quercus cedrorum, Q. infectoria subsp. boissieri, Q. komarovii, Q. longipes, Q. macranthera, Q. petraea subsp. iberica and Q. robur subsp. pedunculiflora were studied by scanning electron microscopy. The trichomes are mainly present on abaxial leaf surface in most species, but rarely they appear on adaxial surface. Five trichome types are identified as simple uniseriate, bulbous, solitary, fasciculate and stellate. The stomata of all studied species are of the anomocytic type, raised on the epidermis. The stomata rim may or may not be covered with epicuticular. The epicuticular waxes are mostly of the crystalloid type but smooth layer wax is observed in Q. robur subsp. pedunculiflora. Statistical analysis revealed foliar micromorphological features as been diagnostic characters in Quercus

Neuroactive steroids in depression and anxiety disorders: Clinical studies

Certain neuroactive steroids modulate ligand-gated ion channels via non-genomic mechanisms. Especially 3 alpha-reduced pregnane steroids are potent positive allosteric modulators of the gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABA(A)) receptor. During major depression, there is a disequilibrium of 3 alpha-reduced neuroactive steroids, which is corrected by clinically effective pharmacological treatment. To investigate whether these alterations are a general principle of successful antidepressant treatment, we studied the impact of nonpharmacological treatment options on neuroactive steroid concentrations during major depression. Neither partial sleep deprivation, transcranial magnetic stimulation, nor electroconvulsive therapy affected neuroactive steroid levels irrespectively of the response to these treatments. These studies suggest that the changes in neuroactive steroid concentrations observed after antidepressant pharmacotherapy more likely reflect distinct pharmacological properties of antidepressants rather than the clinical response. In patients with panic disorder, changes in neuroactive steroid composition have been observed opposite to those seen in depression. However, during experimentally induced panic induction either with cholecystokinine-tetrapeptide or sodium lactate, there was a pronounced decline in the concentrations of 3 alpha-reduced neuroactive steroids in patients with panic disorder, which might result in a decreased GABAergic tone. In contrast, no changes in neuroactive steroid concentrations could be observed in healthy controls with the exception of 3 alpha,5 alpha-tetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone. The modulation of GABA(A) receptors by neuroactive steroids might contribute to the pathophysiology of depression and anxiety disorders and might offer new targets for the development of novel anxiolytic compounds. Copyright (c) 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel