Proefschrift Universiteit van Amsterdam. / Met bibliogr., lit. opg. - Met samenvatting in het Nederlands.

Substantial evidence suggests that serotonin (5-HT) activation within the brain modulates anxiety-like behavior. The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) has been argued to mediate anxiety-like behavioral responding, and the activation of 5-HT systems may modulate anxiety-like behavior via the release of 5-HT within the BNST. Prior studies have suggested that the 5-HT1, 7 agonist 5-carboxyamidotrytamine (5-CT) is anxiolytic, which is consistent with a reduction in BNST activity via the activation of postsynaptic 5- HT1A receptors. However the anxiolytic effects of 5-CT could also have been mediated by 5-HT7 receptor activation. Hence, to isolate the effects of 5-HT1A on anxiety-like behavior, we infused the 5-HT1A antagonist WAY-100635 (0, 0.04, 0.4, and 4.0 μg/μl in saline vehicle) into the BNST of rats immediately before social interaction or acoustic startle testing. For social interaction testing pairs of rats were administered two 5-sec 1- mA footshocks immediately after infusion, removed from the chamber and measured for social interaction in a separate testing apparatus. For acoustic startle testing, rats were placed in boxes and measured for the percentage increase in test (post-infusion) startle from baseline (pre-infusion) startle. Anxiety levels were operationalized as the amount of social interaction per line cross and the percentage increase in startle following drug infusion. WAY-100635 dose dependently decreased social interaction, indicative of an anxiogenic effect. Interestingly, 0.4μg/μl of WAY-100635 decreased startle, indicative of an anxiolytic effect. These data suggest that activation of the 5-HT systems modulates anxiety-like behavior by altering activity within the BNST.

The principal nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNSTp) is an integral component of the mouse accessory olfactory system, and plays a key role in pheromonal processing. In males, this region is not only larger and contains more neurons than in females, but the cells are also larger. The present study examined the relationship between preference for opposite-sex odour and regional volume, cell number and cell size within the BNSTp of both male and female mice. No correlations were found between olfactory preferences and any of the three morphological BNSTp parameters. However, the olfactory preference task results were not congruent with previous research. Therefore, it remains inconclusive whether relationships exist between olfactory preference behaviour and morphology of the BNSTp.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-14T14:26:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 411887.pdf: 1742963 bytes, checksum: 877ee23203e4f05a11132bf69f05ad86 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-04-27 / Este estudo teve como objetivo avaliar a efici?ncia t?cnica e de escala da agroind?stria Perdig?o S/A e seus produtores integrados de frango. Tamb?m foi objeto secund?rio identificar as unidades industriais que possuem inefici?ncia na gest?o dos fatores que limitam a expans?o da atividade, identificando os principais fatores que explicam as diferen?as de efici?ncia da produ??o entre as unidades industriais e seus produtores integrados de frango. Atrav?s do m?todo Data Envolopment Analysis (DEA) pressupondo retornos constantes e vari?veis ? escala com orienta??o ao insumo, o estudo determinou a efici?ncia t?cnica, unidades de refer?ncia (benchmark), intensidade da contribui??o de cada unidade de refer?ncia na forma??o do alvo, proje??es para inputs, efici?ncia de escala e compara??o de indicadores t?cnicos da empresa com os resultados de efici?ncia t?cnica obtidos no estudo. Os resultados evidenciam o arranjo ideal dos fatores (minimiza??o dos insumos) por agroind?stria e seus produtores integrados de frango, para a maximiza??o da produtividade

Females are disproportionately affected by stress- related mood disorders. Child abuse is the single greatest environmental risk factor for mood disorders. An animal model of child abuse, juvenile social subjugation (JSS), was used to determine whether males and females differentially process stress, specifically in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST). Rats (n=36) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: JSS, Benign Control (BC) or Handled Control (HC). Following this procedure, brains were processed for Fos, which indicates neural activity. It was hypothesized that the JSS condition would evoke more neural activation than other conditions and would do so more in females. Across both sexes, we hypothesized there would be significantly more activation in the posterior BST than in the anterior BST. Based on earlier research, we hypothesized there would be and a sex difference in total neuron number, favoring males, in the posterior BST.

The principal nucleus of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNSTp) is an integral component of the mouse accessory olfactory system, and plays a key role in pheromonal processing. In males, this region is not only larger and contains more neurons than in females, but the cells are also larger. The present study examined the relationship between preference for opposite-sex odour and regional volume, cell number and cell size within the BNSTp of both male and female mice. No correlations were found between olfactory preferences and any of the three morphological BNSTp parameters. However, the olfactory preference task results were not congruent with previous research. Therefore, it remains inconclusive whether relationships exist between olfactory preference behaviour and morphology of the BNSTp.

Females are disproportionately affected by stress- related mood disorders. Child abuse is the single greatest environmental risk factor for mood disorders. An animal model of child abuse, juvenile social subjugation (JSS), was used to determine whether males and females differentially process stress, specifically in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST). Rats (n=36) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: JSS, Benign Control (BC) or Handled Control (HC). Following this procedure, brains were processed for Fos, which indicates neural activity. It was hypothesized that the JSS condition would evoke more neural activation than other conditions and would do so more in females. Across both sexes, we hypothesized there would be significantly more activation in the posterior BST than in the anterior BST. Based on earlier research, we hypothesized there would be and a sex difference in total neuron number, favoring males, in the posterior BST.

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Select epithelial regions of the bovine inner ear were established and maintained in cell culture. Marginal cells from the stria vascularis and dark cells from the posterior wall of the utricle were isolated, dissociated and placed in culture medium. Within 24 h, cellular islands of hexagonal-shaped, epithelial-like cells from both the stria vascularis and posterior utricular wall were readily identifiable by inverted light microscopy. Ultrastructural examination of both the cultured stria marginal cells and utricular dark cells revealed that both cell types had numerous microvilli on their apical surfaces and interdigitating infoldings of their basolateral surfaces. Apical tight junctional complexes were present between apposing cells. These findings demonstrate that inner ear bovine epithelial cells can be successfully isolated and maintained in culture, and that such cells retain certain of their in vivo morphological characteristics.

Immune-brain-endocrine communication influences behaviour and contributes to the development of the central nervous system (CNS) in a sexually dimorphic manner. The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) is a highly sexually dimorphic brain region; in most mammalian species the male BST is larger than the female BST. Previously, our lab has shown that male and female mice lacking T cells due to knock out of the beta (b) and delta (d) chains of the T cell receptor (TCRb-/-d-/-) have reduced anxiety-like behaviour. This was shown with increased time spent in the open arms of the elevated plus maze by TCRb-/-d-/- mice compared to wild type (WT) mice of both sexes. T cell deficient mice also show differences in brain volume compared to WT, including a lack of sexual dimorphism in volume of the BST. The present study explored the impact of T cell deficiency on immune and endocrine factors implicated in sex differences of the CNS. The first analysis was of serum Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH). AMH is a key determinant of the male phenotype during fetal development. It has also been shown by others to contribute to sexual dimorphic development of the BST. Our postnatal analysis of serum AMH using ELISA demonstrated an age and genotype effect, where a peak in serum AMH levels in WT mice of both sexes was absent in both male and female TCRb-/-d-/- mice at postnatal day (P) 7. These results suggest that T cells have an impact on the endocrine system in early life but the process does not appear to be sexually dimorphic. The present study also explored the impact of TCR knockout on microglia, the resident immune cells of the brain. Other have shown microglia contribute to sexual dimorphic brain development. This contribution occurs through interaction with endocrine factors, making them a key player in the immune-brain-endocrine crosstalk. Using immunohistochemistry and the microglial marker, anti-Iba1, microglia were examined in adult and P7 WT and TCRb-/-d-/ mice. To quantify microglia, soma were traced using AxioVision microscope software, and microglia cell number, perimeter, radius, feret ratio, and area in dorsal and ventral BST were assessed. Our results show sex differences in microglia number in dorsal BST in adult WT mice, where female WT mice had a lower number of microglia compared to WT males, however this difference was absent in TCRb-/-d-/- adult mice. There were no effects on microglia number in the ventral BST and morphology analysis did not reveal any effects in the dorsal or ventral BST. Furthermore, the difference in microglia number was absent in all groups of P7 mice and analysis of soma morphology did not reveal any significant effects. This study explored the impact of TCR knockout on the BST by exploring the immune and endocrine factors shown to contribute to its sexual dimorphic development. The results suggest a non-dimorphic impact on the endocrine system in the postnatal period and a dimorphic impact on microglia that is age and region-specific. The findings reveal a complex network emphasizing the importance of a systems-wide approach to the study of sex differences in the CNS. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)