Feeding induced in cats by electrical stimulation of the brain stem

Stimulation at 14 of 106 loci (Figs. 1 and 2) at which electrodes had been chronically implanted elicited immediate feeding in fully satiated, freely moving cats. Half of the effective points were in the lateral hypothalamus and thus agreed with expectations from extensive prior research on the neural organization of feeding behavior. The other points, however, were in the ventral tegmental area or at the ventrolateral boundary of the central gray. The distribution of all effective points could be explained as following a projection pathway from the globus pallidus. Exploration along 162 recording tracks in acute experiments on these same cats revealed no consistent differences in projection of evoked potentials which could distinguish stimulation at effective versus ineffective loci. Potentials of possible significance, however, were evoked in the paramedial nucleus reticularis of the medulla, the rostral pontine nuclei, the nucleus centralis superior of Bekterev, the lateral frontal cortex and the basal medial forebrain in the vicinity of the diagonal band of Broca.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46530/1/221_2004_Article_BF00236868.pd

Issues of biological and agricultural treatment of municipal sewage sludge

Increase of sewage sludge production in Poland requires undertaking specific methods for their utilization and disposal. The reason is that sewage sludge, in addition to being rich in organic matter, and biogenic compounds such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which are beneficial from an agricultural point of view, also contain heavy metals, toxic organic pollutants such as persistent organic pollutants and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, inorganic compounds such as silicates and clay, and pathogenic bacteria and other microbial contaminants. This implies problems with further use of such polluted sludge as fertilizer in agriculture. The aim of this paper is to analyze the possibilities and limitations of natural management of sewage sludge, taking into account their effects on the restoration and conservation of organic matter in the soil and the yielding of plants. In addition, the main methods of treatment of polluted sludge before introducing it into the environment are considered