Thesis (M.M.)--University of Michigan, 1971.

Thesis (M.M.)--University of Michigan, 1971.

Stereotyped behavior in profoundly retarded subjects was observed under sedative and tonic music, with time and movement measures of responding.

Ph.D. (Botany) / The most well-known tonic plants in South Africa have been used traditionally for the treatment of a great variety of ailments but aspects of their ethnobotany and chemistry remain poorly studied. Possible relationships between their ethnobotany and pharmacology are mostly speculative. In this study, literature reviews of the ethnobotany of these plants were combined with phytochemical screening studies and bitterness taste testing results in order to establish constituent patterns which may contribute to a scientific rationale for the claimed tonic (stimulating) properties of these plants. The tonic concept and definitions of terms associated with it are often used incorrectly and ambiguously. An analysis of literature on the traditional healing systems across the globe was used to establish the historical and cultural aspects relevant to tonics. This analysis revealed that sickness/illness is usually considered to be a result of imbalance in many cultures, whether this imbalance is between the patient and the environment or due to a lack of homeostasis in the body. In several healing cultures substances or mixtures of substances are used to rectify these imbalances through proposed effects on several bodily systems concurrently. According to some cultures, as in Eastern and Indian traditional medicine, tonic plants are considered superior to other medicinal plants in that they impart health, strength and a general sense of well-being, as well as being prophylactic. This definition of a tonic plant is consequently broad, but excludes plants merely used as multipurpose medicines. Where these tonics exhibit a specific mode of action, further classification is required, i.e. as bitter, adaptogenic, alterative, adjuvant or stimulant tonics. The South African traditional tonic plants studied were Agathosma species (Rutaceae), Aloe species (Asphodelaceae), Arctopus species (Apiaceae), Artemisia afra (Asteraceae), Balanites maughamii (Balanitacae), Dicoma species (Asteraceae), Harpagophytum procumbens (Pedaliaceae), Hypoxis hemerocallidea (Hypoxidaceae), Muraltia heisteria (Polygalaceae), Sutherlandia species (Fabaceae), Vernonia oligocephala (Asteraceae), Warburgia salutaris (Canellaceae), Withania somnifera (Solanaceae) and Ziziphus mucronata (Rhamnaceae). A detailed compendium of medicinal applications was compiled following a thorough, in-depth scrutiny of the historical and medicinal ethnobotany of each of these species. Such ethnobotanical data is important in understanding the cultural aspects of healing in southern Africa, and provides valuable direction and focus with regards to the phytochemical and pharmacological research of these plants.

Gastrointestinal (GI) smooth muscle possesses distinct regional and functional properties that distinguish it from other types of visceral and vascular smooth muscle. On the basis of electrical properties and contractile phenotype, GI smooth muscles have been classified into phasic (non-sphinteric) and tonic (sphinteric) smooth muscles. The biochemical basis of phasic and tonic phenotypes of smooth muscle is not clear and is the major question of inquiry of the present study. Phosphorylation of Ser19 on the 20 kDa myosin light chain (MLC) is essential for acto-myosin interaction and contraction in both phasic and tonic muscles. The levels of MLC20 phosphorylation are regulated by Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent MLC kinase (MLCK) and MLC phosphatase (MLCP), and the activity of these enzymes are in turn regulated by various signaling molecules whose expression and activity are important in determining the strength and duration of their activity. The signaling proteins are AMP kinase (MLCK activity), Rho kinase, zipper-interacting protein kinase (ZIPK), CPI-17 and telokin (MLCP activity), phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5) and multi-drug resistance protein 5 (MRP5). The overarching goal of the dissertation is to identify the differences in the signaling pathways that regulate MLCK and MLCP activities, and thus MLC20 phosphorylation and muscle function. Using biochemical, molecular and functional approaches, and antrum (distal stomach) and fundus (proximal stomach) of rabbit stomach as models of phasic and tonic smooth muscles, respectively, the present study characterized important differences in the signaling pathways that highly correlate with the contractile phenotype. These include: 1) tissue-specific expression of contractile proteins such as myosin heavy chain isoforms, actin, caldesmon, calponin, - and β-tropomyosin, smoothelin-A and -B; 2) higher expression of AMPK, selective feedback inhibition of MLCK activity via AMPK-mediated phosphorylation, and higher expression of telokin and activation of MLCP correlate with the rapid cyclical contractile function in phasic muscle; 3) higher expression and activation of Rho kinase/ZIPK/MYPT1 and PKC/CPI-17 pathways, preferential inhibition of MLCP activity, and sustained phosphorylation of MLC20 correlate with the sustained contraction in tonic muscle; and 4) rapid termination of cGMP signal and muscle relaxation by preferential degradation and efflux of cGMP via higher expression of PDE5 and MRP5, respectively, correlate with the brief relaxation and rapid restoration of contraction in tonic muscle. It is anticipated that these findings could be important in providing the underlying mechanisms involved in the pathophysiology of smooth muscle function and new insights for the development of therapeutic agents that should act on smooth muscle in the gut to treat motility disorders as well as in other regions such as airways and vascular smooth muscle where similar intracellular mechanisms may prevail.

<p>Early life stress is something that animals used in production often have to experience. What we do not know is if there are any consequences of this treatment later on in life. Zebra finches postnatal treated with the stress hormone corticosterone showed an exaggerated and prolonged stress response later on. To examine the effects of early life stress 77 White Leghorn chicks were used, half of them was stressed from postnatal day 1-14 and then tested between 47-63 days of age. The tonic immobility (TI) test is a commonly used test to evaluate the fearfulness and stress reaction in fowl. The chicks were placed on their back in a V-shaped wooden cradle and TI was induced by applying light pressure on the breast and neck. The number of inductions required to induce TI was recorded as well as the time until the first alert head movement and the total duration of the TI. The birds were tested in a calm environment but also after a stressful situation. There were no differences in the total duration of the TI reactions. However, stressed animals tended to need more induction attempts than the control animals. While looking at the time elapsed until the first head movement stressed chicks had a significantly lower duration. This indicates a dullness or shift in the stress response of the treated birds and there seem to be a more exaggerated response in the males.</p>

Early life stress is something that animals used in production often have to experience. What we do not know is if there are any consequences of this treatment later on in life. Zebra finches postnatal treated with the stress hormone corticosterone showed an exaggerated and prolonged stress response later on. To examine the effects of early life stress 77 White Leghorn chicks were used, half of them was stressed from postnatal day 1-14 and then tested between 47-63 days of age. The tonic immobility (TI) test is a commonly used test to evaluate the fearfulness and stress reaction in fowl. The chicks were placed on their back in a V-shaped wooden cradle and TI was induced by applying light pressure on the breast and neck. The number of inductions required to induce TI was recorded as well as the time until the first alert head movement and the total duration of the TI. The birds were tested in a calm environment but also after a stressful situation. There were no differences in the total duration of the TI reactions. However, stressed animals tended to need more induction attempts than the control animals. While looking at the time elapsed until the first head movement stressed chicks had a significantly lower duration. This indicates a dullness or shift in the stress response of the treated birds and there seem to be a more exaggerated response in the males.

Magister Scientiae (Biodiversity and Conservation Biology) - MSc (Biodiv and Cons Biol) / Tonic immobility (TI) can be defined as an unlearned behavioural response described by a physical state of immobility. This behaviour can last from a few seconds up to several hours. Tonic immobility in sharks has not been investigated extensively, despite being observed and used widely. Due to this limited research, there is still uncertainty about the significance of this response, especially in smaller shark species. Anecdotal evidence suggests that females may enter a tonic state during courtship, but this has never been scientifically investigated. Alternatively, tonic immobility may function as an anti-predator response. The aim of this study was thus to examine the behaviour and physiology associated with tonic immobility in two closely related species of catshark, Haploblepharus edwardsii and Haploblepharus pictus, and to test for differences between males and females (if the evolutionary significance of TI was related to courtship), and between the two species (if TI evolved in response to species-specific drivers).

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・論文博士 / 博士(医学) / 乙第13156号 / 論医博第2143号 / 新制||医||1028(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 林 康紀, 教授 渡邉 大, 教授 影山 龍一郎 / 学位規則第4条第2項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

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