Vol 468, No 1 (2016)

It was previously found that the exploratory activity of adult Wistar rats with their vibrissae cut in the period from 9 to 20 postnatal days was characterized by lower intragroup variability in comparison with control rats [3]. The present study has shown that the earlier limitation of species-specific afferentation (whisker trimming on postnatal days 2–9) does not induce such changes. We conclude that high plasticity of the brain during the early postnatal period provides better adaptation to the deficit of sensory information.

In the framework of our previous hypothesis about the participation of structural and hydrodynamic properties of the vascular bed in the formation of the 0.1-Hz component of blood flow oscillations in the human cardiovascular system and on the basis of the reduced hydrodynamic model, the role of additive stochastic perturbations of the operation of the single-chamber pump that simulates the heart was investigated. It was shown that aperiodic noise modulation of the rigidity of the walls of the pump or its valves generates low-frequency oscillations of pressure and blood flow velocity of arterial vascular bed with the maximum amplitude at a frequency close to 0.1 Hz.

Experiments on frog neuromuscular junctions have demonstrated that asynchrony of the acetylcholine quantal release forming the multi-quantal evoked response at high-frequency synaptic activity is caused, in particular, by a decrease in velocity of the action potential propagation along the non-myelinated nerve endings, which is mediated by activation of the α7 and α4β4 nicotinic cholinoreceptors.

Fine morphology of the frontal filaments (FFs) at all nauplius stages of two barnacle species (Verruca stroemia and Hesperibalanus hesperius) has been investigated by scanning electron microscopy. FFs have been detected at the second nauplius stage and persist during all stages. FFs contain a wide proximal and a fine distal parts, but they are not actually separated as segments of the limbs, and the area between them looks like a single cuticular crease. Apical and subapical pores have been found at the top of each FF in the larvae of both species, which may indicate the chemoreceptor function of these organs.

The ultrastructure of the axial organ of Asterias amurensis has been studied The organ is a network of canals of the axial coelom separated by haemocoelic spaces. The axial coelom is lined with two types of monociliary cells: podocytes and musculo-epithelial cells. Podocytes form numerous basal processes adjacent to the basal lamina on the coelomic side. Musculo-epithelial cells form processes running along the basal lamina. Some bundles of these processes wrapped in the basal lamina pass through haemocoelic spaces between neighboring coelomic canals. It is hypothesized that the axial organ serves for filtration of fluid from haemocoelic spaces into the axial coelom cavity, from which urine is excreted through the madreporite to the exterior.

Frozen Siberian salamander safely tolerates long (45 days) stay at–35°C. Short-term (3 days) cooling down to–50°C was tolerable for 40% of adult individuals; down to–55°C, for 80% of the underyearlings. Generally, the salamanders lose about 28% of the body mass during the pre-hibernating period (before winter, at temperatures as low as 0°C) and during the process of freezing (as low as–5°C). The body weight remained constant upon further cooling (to–35°C). The frozen salamanders have no physiological mechanisms protecting from sublimation.

In the blood of male steppe lemmings, relatively low background levels of testosterone were detected, this is characteristic of a monogamous species. A significant increase in testosterone level, more expressed in sexually active males, was observed at the initial stage of formation of reproductive couples. Apparently, in the future, the couple will exist in a stable relationship, and, hence, the maintenance of a high testosterone level becomes excessive. The decrease in, and the relative “normalization” of, the hormone level during the existence of the pair, including raising of the young, promotes higher expression of the male paternal care of the offspring at the species level.