Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“A novel sea turtle egg incubator

CH5183284 concentration was developed in which the heating element is placed above the clutch, which more closely simulates solar heating in nature. An electronic thermometer in conjunction with a thermostat located in sand beneath a heater plate was used to obtain the desired temperature in the placed eggs, as compared to previous methods of controlling global temperature within the interior of a chamber. To test the new incubator, Lepidochelys olivacea eggs were incubated under different thermal conditions in order to identify the temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) period more precisely. Four incubation experiments were designed to test the performance of the incubator where the temperature was lowered from 32 to

28 degrees C during 60 h and then reestablished at 32 degrees C until Alisertib hatching occurred. A significant mean hatching success rate of 89.6% was obtained for all the experiments. The main result from these preliminary findings was that the sex determination period to produce males was reduced from 15 (days 15-30) to eight days (days 19-27). Overall, the incubator provides precise control and simulates a natural thermal environment that may improve control of TSD in sea turtles. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Sulforhodamine 101 (SR101) has been extensively used for investigation as a specific marker for astroglia in vivo and activity-dependent dye for monitoring regulated exocytosis. Here, we report that SR101 has bioactive effects on neuronal activity. Perfusion of slices with SR101 (1 mu M) for 10 min induced long-term potentiation of intrinsic neuronal excitability (LTP-IE) and a long-lasting increase in evoked EPSCs (eEPSCs) in CA1 pyramidal neurons in hippocampal slices. The increase in intrinsic neuronal excitability was a result of negative shifts in the action potential

(AP) threshold. The N-methyl n-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) antagonist, AP-5 (50 mu M), blocked SR101-induced LTP-IE, but glutamate receptor blockers, AP-5 (50 mu M), MCPG (200 mu M), and MSOP (100 mu M), only partially blocked SR101-induced potentiation of eEPSCs. SR101 induced an enhancement of VX-661 cost evoked synaptic NMDAR currents, suggesting that SR101 enhances activation of synaptic NMDARs. SR101-induced LTP-IE and potentiation of synaptic transmission triggered spontaneous neuronal firing in slices and in vivo epileptic seizures. Our results suggest that SR101 is an epileptogenic agent that long-lastingly lowers the AP threshold to increase intrinsic neuronal excitability and enhances the synaptic efficacy to increase synaptic inputs. As such, SR101 can be used as an experimental tool to induce epileptic seizures. (C) 2010 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“(1) We estimated the standard metabolic rate (SMR) of wild-caught Plethodon cinereus across a range of body masses and ecologically relevant temperatures.