Use of moss and lichen species to identify (210)Po-contaminated regions.

(210)Po concentration in urban air fluctuates as a result of natural (222)Rn radionuclide exhalation and technical activity that is especially linked with high-temperature processes. Each year, an average 11 GBq of (210)Po is released from local power plants into urban air. Over two months, about 180 samples in central Poland were collected. To detect the concentration of (210)Po activity, two common species of biomonitors were chosen: the moss Pleurozium schreberi and the lichen Hypogymnia physodes. For the same locale, (210)Po in lichen shows an average of twice the amount of activity concentration than the moss. In moss, (210)Po concentrations in Lodz ranged from 41.5 Bq kg(-1) to 258.0 Bq kg(-1), while in lichen it ranges from 74.2 Bq kg(-1) to 670.9 Bq kg(-1). On the basis of the measured activity of (210)Po maps, radionuclide distribution has been prepared. For areas identified with higher concentrations of (210)Po, Quantum Gis has been applied.

Influence of central noradrenergic system lesion on the serotoninergic 5-HT3 receptor mediated analgesia in rats.

BACKGROUND: Monoaminergic pathways, impinging an adrenergic and 5-HT3 serotonin receptors, modulate nociceptive transmission, but their mechanisms and interactions has not been clarified yet. OBJECTIVES: The study was designed to investigate the influence of the neonatal noradrenergic system lesion on the antinociceptive effect of 5-HT3 receptor ligands assessed in adult animals. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Intact male rats were contrasted with rats in which noradrenergic nerve terminals were largely destroyed shortly after birth with neurotoxin DSP-4 [(N-(-2-chloroethyl)-N-ethyl-2-bromobenzylamine; 50 mg/kg × 2 subcutaneously (sc)], on the 1st and 3rd days of postnatal life. Control animals were injected with saline (1.0 mL/kg sc). When the rats attained 10 weeks of age, painful reactions were assessed by means of writhing and formalin tests after intraperitoneal (ip) administration of 1-phenylbiguanid (FBG; 7.5 mg/kg) or ondansetrone (1.0 mg/kg) with FBG (7.5 mg/kg). Morphine was used as a model analgesic drug. RESULTS: Injections of morphine (7.5 mg/kg sc) evoked similar antinociception in the visceral pain model (writhing test) in both tested groups (control and DSP-4). In control rats, a 5-HT3 receptor agonist FBG (7.5 mg/kg) elicited analgesia similar to that of morphine but the effect was significantly lower in DSP-4 treated animals. A 5-HT3 receptor antagonist ondansetrone (1.0 mg/kg) injected before FBG did not modify the effect in the control but suppressed it in the DSP-4 group. In the formalin test, morphine produced higher analgesia in control rats in comparison with the DSP-4 group (pain intensity score of 1 point vs. 2-3 points, respectively). Ondansetrone injected before FBG alleviated the observed effect. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the obtained results, we concluded that the neonatal DSP-4 treatment alters the antinociceptive effects of morphine and serotoninergic 5-HT3 receptor ligands. The above may explain altered (diminished) reactions of analgesics applied to patients with noradrenergic system dysfunction (e.g. depression and/or anxiety disorders).

Histology and symplasmic tracer distribution during development of barley androgenic embryos.

The present study concerns three aspects of barley androgenesis: (1) the morphology and histology of the embryos during their development, (2) the time course of fluorescent symplasmic tracers' distribution, and (3) the correlation between symplasmic communication and cell differentiation. The results indicate that barley embryos, which are developing via an androgenic pathway, resemble their zygotic counterparts with respect to their developmental stages, morphology and histology. Analysis of the distribution of the symplasmic tracers, HPTS, and uncaged fluorescein indicates the symplasmic isolation of (1) the protodermis from the underlying cells of the late globular stage onwards, and (2) the embryonic organs at the mature stage of development.