Open Field

This study was undertaken to investigate the potential antidepressant-like properties of SL65.0155, a serotonin 5-HT 4 receptor partial agonist, in male rats of the Wistar strain tested in the forced swim test (FST), an experimental model widely used to assess antidepressant-like activity. The expression of hippocampal neurotrophic factors, such as the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), the phosphorilated cAMP response element-binding protein (p-CREB), the B cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), the Bax and the vascular endothelium growth factor (VEGF) were also evaluated by Western Blot analysis. Different groups of rats received intraperitoneally (i.p.) injections of SL65.0155 (0.1, 0.5 and 1 mg/kg), clomipramine (50 mg/kg), citalopram (15 mg/kg) or vehicle, respectively, 24, 5 and 1 h prior to the FST. Compared to the control group, SL65.0155 (0.5 and 1 mg/kg), clomipramine or citalopram injected animals showed an increased swimming and climbing behavior and reduced immobility time in the FST. Interestingly, this effect was not due to changes in the locomotor activity since all treated groups failed to show any change in motor ability as assessed in the open field test. Western blot analysis of hippocampal homogenates showed an enhancement of p-CREB, BDNF Bcl-2 and VEGF protein levels in SL65.0155 treated groups, but not in citalopram or clomipramine treated groups, used here as positive control. No change was found in Bax expression in any treated group. These findings give further support to the hypothesis that the stimulation of serotonin 5-HT 4 receptors may be a therapeutic target for depression.

Digital maps and route descriptions on a PDA have become very popular for navigation, not the least with the advent of the iPhone and its Google Maps application. A visual support for wayfinding, however, is not reasonable or even possible all the time. A pedestrian must pay attention to traffic on the street, a hiker should concentrate on the narrow trail, and a blind person relies on other modalities to find her way. To overcome these limitations, we developed a non-visual support for wayfinding that guides and keeps a mobile user en route by a tactile display. We designed a belt with vibrators that indicates directions and deviations from the path in an accurate and unobtrusive way. Our first user evaluation showed that on an open field without any landmarks the participants stayed well to given test routes and that wayfinding support is possible with our Tactile Wayfinder.

This study provides an examination of spatial learning and a behavioral assessment of irritability and locomotion in TgCRND8 mice, an amyloid precursor protein transgenic model of Alzheimer's disease. Performance was assessed using the Barnes maze, the touch escape test, and an open-field test. While past research focused primarily on 2-5-month-old TgCRND8 mice, the present study used an older age cohort (9-month-old female mice), in addition to a 4-month-old cohort of both transgenic (Tg) and wildtype female mice. Both younger and older Tg mice displayed poor spatial learning in the Barnes maze task compared to their wildtype littermates, as demonstrated by significantly longer latencies and more errors both during acquisition and at a 2-week retest. No differences in irritability were found between Tg and control mice in the younger cohort; however, older Tg mice displayed significantly higher irritability compared with wildtype littermates, as measured by the touch escape test. Additionally, Tg mice of both age cohorts showed increased locomotion and slowed habituation during a 60-min open-field test over 3 days of testing. These results demonstrate that TgCRND8 mice show significant deficits in spatial and nonspatial behavioral tasks at advanced stages of amyloid pathology.

We compared below-canopy and open-site climatic conditions for 14 different forest sites in Switzerland and analysed the forest influence on local summer and winter climate according to the forest type (coniferous, mixed, deciduous), soil type, slope orientation, basal area and tree height. We compared below-canopy and open-field data for minimum, maximum and daily mean temperature, relative humidity, maximum and daily mean photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and wind speed from 1998 to 2007. We found clear differences between below-canopy and open-field temperatures, humidity, wind speed and PAR and could relate them to the specific site conditions and forest type. The forest influence on PAR and maximum temperature is clearly determined by the forest type, whereas the influence on minimum temperature is affected by both forest type and slope orientation and impact on humidity depends on the soil type. The wind speed is most impacted by topography and slope orientation.

An experiment was conducted to investigate whether polyphagous predators dispersing from a within field overwintering refuge ('beetle bank') could reduce cereal aphid numbers in an adjacent crop of winter wheat. To assess the impact of predators emigrating from the beetle bank on populations of Sitobion avenae in the crop, polyphagous predator densities were manipulated using exclusion barriers placed at set distances away from the beetle bank. Results from the pitfall trap data indicated that the exclusion barriers were effective in significantly reducing the number of 'boundary' Carabidae, 'open-field' Carabidae, Staphylinidae, Linyphiidae and Lycosidae in the enclosed areas compared to the control areas by 56, 31, 46, 24 and 57%, respectively. Aphid numbers were significantly greater in the enclosures, where they were 34% higher compared to the control areas during the aphid peak. The impact of polyphagous predation decreased with increasing distance away from the beetle bank and the distribution of polyphagous predators in relation to the beetle bank varied over time. The results are discussed in terms of the peak activity periods of the different predatory groups and the consequences for integrated crop management (ICM).

Cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana L.) is grown in the high altitude tropics of Colombia. It is the second most important fruit for export, and the cultivated area has increased significantly during the last years. Several aspects of Cape gooseberry have been studied so far, but there is an important lack of knowledge for supporting the technological development of this specie. The objective of this study was to build a potential production model for growth of Cape gooseberry as a tool for the selection of productive areas and optimization of technical production. The model is based on the exogenous variables of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR, MJ m À2 day À1 ) and temperature. It is assumed that there are no limitations of soil water or nutrients or damage from pests and diseases. Daily growth rate of the potential production model is calculated with a mechanistic model that converts daily light energy into the daily increment of dry matter depending on PAR, the fraction of light intercepted by the foliage (FLINT), and the light use efficiency (LUE, g MJ À1 ). The daily growth rate is distributed among the plant organs according to the phenological stage. Light use efficiency, light extinction coefficient, and partitioning coefficients for leaves, stem, and fruits are parameters in the dry matter growth model. Data that were used to calibrate the model were collected in an experiment carried out in two different locations (Cundinamarca and Boyacá, in Colombia), under both greenhouse conditions and in the open field where physiological variables of the plant were measured. Light use efficiency estimates differed between vegetative and reproductive stages (0.46 and 2.62 g MJ À1 , respectively). The partitioning of daily growth among leaves, stems, and fruits were based based on the hypothesis that partitioning is regulated by the sourcesink relationship, varying between the vegetative and reproductive stages of the plant. The estimated partitioning coefficients for leaves in the vegetative stage were 0.72 and for stems it was 0.28. Partitioning coefficients during the reproductive stage were 0.09, 0.23, and 0.69 for leaves, stems, and fruit, respectively.

In food industries, managing sensory properties from the fabrication stage in an automatic framework constitutes a key issue for companies but is no easy task. It is an open field of research in which few studies have been carried out. Therefore, we propose to integrate the operator skill using a fuzzy symbolic approach. More precisely, the aim of our study is to present an application of such an approach to the development of a support system dedicated to help the operator on-line during cheese ripening. The information delivered by the support system, on the basis of sensory instantaneous measurements, is the global change in the cheese at each time step in comparison to a standard trajectory of ripening. The results are relevant to the control of the sensory properties of the products at the fabrication stage. Thus, the model follows the sensory trajectory of the cheese during ripening and helps the operator to diagnose and control it. It is validated on a data set of 106 points at a level of 97% and 80% for respectively a sensitivity of 3.5 and 1.75 days for a response time of the process of at mean 2 days. It opens an interesting road of cooperation between operators and food process control systems.