GEO-6 assessment for the pan-European region

Through this assessment, the authors and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) secretariat are providing an objective evaluation and analysis of the pan-European environment designed to support environmental decision-making at multiple scales. In this assessment, the judgement of experts is applied to existing knowledge to provide scientifically credible answers to policy-relevant questions. These questions include, but are not limited to the following:• What is happening to the environment in the pan-European region and why?• What are the consequences for the environment and the human population in the pan-European region?• What is being done and how effective is it?• What are the prospects for the environment in the future?• What actions could be taken to achieve a more sustainable future?<br/

Afferents to the midbrain auditory center in the bullfrog, Rana catesbeiana

Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) histochemistry was used to visualize cells afferent to the bullfrog torus semicircularis. These afferent cells are located in several sensory and nonsensory nuclei. The sensory structures which project to the torus are mainly auditory nuclei, with the major input coming from the ipsilateral superior olive. A very small contralateral projection is also present. In addition, afferents arise from the contralateral, and to a lesser extent ipsilateral, dorsal acoustic nucleus and nucleus caudalis, both primary eighth nerve nuclei. A vestibular input is also apparent in that HRP-positive cells were seen in the magnocellular vestibular nucleus and among elongated bipolar cells at the ventral border of the eighth nerve nuclei. In addition, the torus receives somatosensory input from the contralateral perisolitary band. Afferents from spinal cord cells proved difficult to visualize. Nonsensory areas throughout the brain innervate the torus as well. In the medulla, HRP-positive cells were present bilaterally in both medial and lateral reticular areas. The tegmentum contributes a major input from the superficial isthmal reticular nucleus and a minor input from the tegmental fields. Commissural toral projections are also present. Descending forebrain input arises from the pretectal gray bilaterally, the ventral half of the ipsilateral lateral pretectal nucleus, and, possibly, from the ipsilateral posterior thalamic nucleus. HRP-positive cells were also occasionally seen in the posterior tuberculum, ventral hypothalamus, and caudal suprachiasmatic preoptic area. Finally, a telencephalic projection from the ipsilateral anterior entopeduncular nucleus is present.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/50015/1/901980304_ftp.pd

Cerebellar Zones: A Personal History

Cerebellar zones were there, of course, before anyone noticed them. Their history is that of young people, unhindered by preconceived ideas, who followed up their observations with available or new techniques. In the 1960s of the last century, the circumstances were fortunate because three groups, in Leiden, Lund, and Bristol, using different approaches, stumbled on the same zonal pattern in the cerebellum of the cat. In Leiden, the Häggqvist myelin stain divulged the compartments in the cerebellar white matter that channel the afferent and efferent connections of the zones. In Lund, the spino-olivocerebellar pathways activated from individual spinal funiculi revealed the zonal pattern. In Bristol, charting the axon reflex of olivocerebellar climbing fibers on the surface of the cerebellum resulted in a very similar zonal map. The history of the zones is one of accidents and purposeful pursuit. The technicians, librarians, animal caretakers, students, secretaries, and medical illustrators who made it possible remain unnamed, but their contributions certainly should be acknowledged

[Somatotopic organization of the vestibulospinal tract in the toad]. FT Organizzazione somatotopica della via vestibolospinale nel rospo.

The origin of the vestibulospinal projection in the toad has been investigated by using the method of the retrograde axonal transport of HRP injected at various levels of the spinal cord. The vestibulospinal projection, in this species, was found to be somatotopically organized, since neurons projecting to the cervical segments of the spinal cord were located within the rostromedial part of the ventral vestibular nucleus and those neurons projecting to the lumbosacral segments of the spinal cord were located within the caudolateral part of that nucleus. This pattern of organization of the vestibulospinal projection in amphibia is similar to that described in mammals and birds