Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
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Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. · Nov 2004
Design and preparation of a particle dynamics space flight experiment, SHIVA.
This paper describes the flight experiment, supporting ground science, and the design rationale for a project on spaceflight holography investigation in a virtual apparatus (SHIVA). SHIVA is a fundamental study of particle dynamics in fluids in microgravity. Gravitation effects and steady Stokes drag often dominate the equations of motion of a particle in a fluid and consequently microgravity provides an ideal environment in which to study the other forces, such as the pressure and viscous drag and especially the Basset history force. ⋯ Ground experiments have provided input to a flight system design that can meet the requirements for a successful experiment on ISS. Moreover the ground experiments have provided a definitive, quantitative observation of the Basset history force over a wide range of conditions. Results of the ground experiments, the flight experiment design, preliminary flight hardware design, and data analysis procedures are reported.
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Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. · Oct 2004
ReviewPharmacological characterization of nociceptin/orphanin FQ receptors, a novel opioid receptor family, in the midbrain periaqueductal gray.
A fourth opioid receptor family was cloned and named after its endogenous ligand as nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) peptide (NOP) receptor. We have characterized several NOP receptor ligands pharmacologically at native NOP receptors of ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG) neurons by investigating their interactions with N/OFQ in activating G protein-coupled inwardly rectifying K+ (GIRK) channels. ⋯ In Ro 64-6198-unresponsive neurons, N/OFQ activated GIRK channels through NOP receptors. (6) Nocistatin, a functional antagonist of N/OFQ in the spinal cord, did not affect the effect of N/OFQ in most of the recorded neurons. Our functional studies of NOP receptor ligands at native brain NOP receptors reveal that some of them act differently from those at expressed receptors of cell cultures.
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In 2002, the drug problem in Southeast and Southwest Asia was serious, particularly in the production of opium and heroin in Afghanistan, Myanmar, and Laos, the three largest producers of illicit opium in the world. The increasing illicit manufacture of ATS, particularly methamphetamine, in Southeast Asia, mainly in China and Myanmar, was also a major concern. Some reports indicated that ephedrine, used for illicitly producing methamphetamine in Southeast Asia, is diverted and smuggled out of China and India, whereas caffeine, the adulterant used for producing methamphetamine tablets, is mainly smuggled into Myanmar through its border with Thailand. ⋯ Opiates, mainly opium and heroin, were also the drugs of choice except in Thailand, where opiate abuse declined, but ATS was the main drug of abuse due to its low cost and availability. A significant increase in ATS abuse, amphetamine, methamphetamine, and MDMA among the youth who smoked, sniffed, and inhaled them was reported in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Thailand. Injecting drug use among opiate abusers has been identified as the prime cause of the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS in Southeast and Southwest Asia.
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Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. · Jun 2004
ReviewSeasonal plasticity in the song control system: multiple brain sites of steroid hormone action and the importance of variation in song behavior.
Birdsong, in non-tropical species, is generally more common in spring and summer when males sing to attract mates and/or defend territories. Changes in the volumes of song control nuclei, such as HVC and the robust nucleus of the arcopallium (RA), are observed seasonally. Long photoperiods in spring stimulate the recrudescence of the testes and the release of testosterone. ⋯ Testosterone can act via brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) that is also released in HVC as a result of song activity. Testosterone could enhance song nucleus volume indirectly by acting in the preoptic area, a region regulating sexual behaviors, including song, that connects to the song system through catecholaminergic cells. Seasonal neuroplasticity in the song system involves an interplay among seasonal state, testosterone action, and behavioral activity.