[Parental Care and Testosterone Secretion in Forest Rodent Males: Sensitization and Androgenic Stimulation of Parental Behavior].

The reaction of males of three forest rodent species (Myodes clethrionomys, M. rutilus, Apodemus uralensis) to young animals in comparison with their dimensional characteristics and androgenization level was studied. Demonstration of parental care was detected in males of two vole species (M. clethrionomys and M. rutilus) in case of regular contacts with them (sensitization effect). It was demonstrated that the testosterone concentration in the blood serum, as well as the testosterone content in the testicles of the M. clethrionomys males (demonstrating the parental care), was higher than in the sample of males inclined to infanticide. An increased testosterone content in the testicles and blood serum was also found in the M. rutilus males that had contact with young animas. Neither demonstration of parental care nor significant differences in the testosterone concentration in the testicles and blood serum were detected in the A. uralensis males.

[Care of young, aggressiveness, and secretion of testosterone in male rodents: a correlation analysis ].

To test the current hypotheses on the relationship between the mating system, reproductive strategy, aggression, and secretion of testosterone, a comparative study of interactions in pair encounters, the level of parental care, and the gonadal testosterone level in males was performed in six rodent species (Clethrionomys rutilus, Meriones meridianus, Microtus arvalis, Lagurus lagurus, Lasiopodomys Mandarinus, and Meriones unguiculatus) with different types of spatial-and-ethological population structures (SEPSs). It is shown that this. dependence is absent in species with promiscuous mating and dominance hierarchy among males (C. rutilus and M. meridianus, SEPS type II). A trade-off, or negative correlation, was found in M. arvalis-aspecies with weak pair bonds and male competition for receptive females (SEPS type III). In species with persistent pair bonds and structured family groups (L. Mandarinus and M. unguiculatus, SEPS type IV), no inverse relationship between the secretion of testosterone and paternal behavior was found either. Moreover, in male L. Mandarinus androgens appear to stimulate paternal care.

[Parental care and testosterone in males of the bank vole (Myodes glareolus): sensitization and androgenic stimulation of parental behavior].

The relationship between parental responsiveness of bank vole males and their body weight, testes mass, and plasma and gonadal testosterone levels were examined. Two groups of voles were studied: Group I consisted of 14 breeding pairs where females gave birth to young within a month after formation of pairs, and Group II represented 13 pairs without offspring and signs of pregnancy in females. Males in Group I, unlike those in Group II, had contact with pups before the tests on parental responsiveness. In Group I, males were found to have larger testes and to exhibit a higher level of care-giving activity (pup retrieval) as compared to males in Group II. Both the plasma and gonadal testosterone levels in males exhibiting pup retrieval were revealed to be significantly higher than those for males exhibiting infanticide. Thus, promiscuity, competition for receptive females, and a higher level of testosterone secretion, which are characteristic of bank vole males during the breeding season, are not out of the realm of possibility of the males that care for young. Our findings suggest that factors promoting parental responsiveness in bank vole males are sensitization due to contact with pups and an increase in testosterone secretion. Obviously, there is a need to reexamine the role that testosterone plays in regulating rodent parental behavior.

[Perfusion-metabolic interaction in acute cerebral insufficiency. ACIPS study Part I. Cerebral blood flow evaluation].

Basic physiological position that metabolic requirements of brain determine perfusion characteristics of cerebral blood flow underlies the definition of syndrome of acute cerebral insufficiency. So there is a perfusion-metabolic interaction (PMI) in brain tissue at every moment. Based on this paradigm we should synchronize measurement of these components in intensive care practice. The goal of ACIPS study (Acute Cerebral Injury Protection System) is creating methodology of monitoring PMI and treatment algorithm based on this monitoring. In this article we present data that volume cerebral blood flow can be assessed by summing volume bloodflows on brachiocephalic vessels measured with triplex ultrasound. Such results are comparable with CT-perfusion results. Both methods can be used interchangeably if difference in -0.6-11.8 ml/kg/min isn't clinical significant.

[Interactions of partners in family pairs, care of the offspring, and the role of tactile stimulation in formation of parental behavior of the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus) under laboratory conditions].

The interactions of sexual partners and care of the offspring in male and female Mongolian gerbils reared in biparental and uniparental family groups (without an adult male) were compared. In individuals reared in biparental family groups, sexual differences related to the manifestation of parental care were small and statistically insignificant. In individuals reared in uniparental groups, the interactions of sexual partners related to grooming changed; the duration in males decreased threefold, as compared to the norm; indices of parental behavior of females and, especially of males, related to tactile stimulation of pups (huddling with pups in the nest and duration of licking pups) also decreased. The importance of the parental contribution of males, especially of tactile stimulation, in the evolution of the family-group mode of life is discussed.

[Dynamic metabolic monitoring as a basis of nutritional support in acute cerebral insufficiency of vascular genesis].

Within the framework of a prospective controlled study, the metabolic status was evaluated in 148 patients with stroke, by using the dynamic metabolic monitoring technique comprising the calculation of real daily calorie consumption, the assessment of the degree of hypermetabolism, protein hypercatabolism, nutritional disorders, and needs for nutrients, and the daily evaluation of nutritional support. As a result, the authors provide evidence that dynamic metabolic monitoring rapidly and adequately reflect changes in the degree of hypercatabolism and hypermetabolism in patients with lesions of the central nervous system and the structures responsible for regulation of metabolism and nutritional support in accordance with monitoring data makes it possible to enhance the efficiency of intensive care and to reduce the frequency of neurotrophic complications.

[Acute cerebral insufficiency syndrome as a concept of neuroreanimatology].

The introduction of concepts of acute cerebral insufficiency syndrome into the clinical practice of a number of therapeutic-and-prophylactic institutions raises a lot of questions as to its clinical interpretation and approaches to diagnosing, monitoring, and treating patients who meet its criteria. By attempting to have methodologically adequate solutions of this problem, neuroresuscitators are making a complex scientific developments of reproducible modes of neuromonitoring and cerebrotropic intensive therapy. The theory of acute cerebral insufficiency and a cerebral protection complex becomes an area that determines researches in the development of new methods of intensive cerebrotropic therapy, as well as the ways of neuroreparation and neuroprotection as components of complex pathogenetic therapy for neuropathological syndromes resulting from the formation of pathological systems in response to abnormal determinants.

[The scent marking of territory of gerbils: a comparative analysis exemplified by 4 species of the genus Meriones]. / Zapakhovaia markirovka territorii u peschanok: sravnitel'nyi analiz na primere chetyrekh vidov roda Meriones.

Sex-age and seasonal variability of the ventral glands and different stereotypes of scent marking behaviour in four Meriones species (M. unguiculatus, M. meridianus, M. libycus, M. tamariscinus) have been studied in nature and under semi-natural conditions. Two major ways of olfactory marking are considered: by secretion of the ventral glands and by "signal heaps" with urine and feces. Intraspecific and inter-species variability of marking activity is investigated. The ventral glands start to function at the period of preparation of a generative system to reproduction. The peak of secretary activity of gland and maximum of two types of marking activity is observed in spring and early summer, i.e. the period of active reproduction. The maximum of two types of the marking activity is observed during this period. In M. tamariscinus and M. meridianus the marking by the ventral gland is prevailing mode of the territory scent marking, while Mongolian gerbils (M. unguiculatus) prefer to use "signal heaps" Libyan gerbils (M. libycus) in this relation take an intermediate position. At the non-productive period a level of marking activity is on 10-20 times lower than at the reproductive season. Besides hormonal, social factors were also important for regulation of marking activity. By influence of these factors the differences in the level of marking activity in high-rank and low-rank individuals and differences in patterns of a spatial distribution of scent marks in individuals of different hierarchical rank is explained. Functional significance of various ways of territory scent marking is discussed.

[The spatial relationships and social structure of gerbils in the genus Meriones (Gerbillinae, Rodentia)]. / Prostranstvennye otnosheniia i sotsial'naia struktura u peschanok roda Meriones (gerbillinae, Rodentia).

Comparative analysis of spatial relations of 4 gerbil species (M. tamariscinus M. meridianus, M. libycus, M. unguiculatus) shows differences in the system of space use between species and within a species--between individuals of different sex. During reproduction period females are inclined to isolation, small overlap of home ranges and high degree of individualisation. Males occupy large home ranges overlapping with territories of several reproductive females. The territories occupied by the males of midday and tamarisk gerbils do not have clear boundaries and the level of their individualization is quite low. The males of Mongolian gerbil (M. unguiculatus) occupy well defined territories with high level of individualization. Spatial relations of M. libycus males are intermediate. The relationships of the males of three investigated species (M. meridianus, M. libycus, M. tamariscinus) being characterised by the high degree of asymmetry of pair connections, are organised according to the principle of agonistic dominance. Relationships between individuals of different family groups of Mongolian gerbils are based on the locus-dependent dominance, while within one family group-on principle of hierarchical subordination. The meaning of specific peculiarities in use of space and dominance relations are discussed in terms of reproductive strategies.