Somatostatin (SST) is widely expressed in the brain and plays various, vital roles involved in neuromodulation. The purpose of this study is to characterize the organization of SST neurons in the Mongolian gerbil visual cortex (VC) using immunocytochemistry, quantitative analysis, and confocal microscopy. As a diurnal animal, the Mongolian gerbil provides us with a different perspective to other commonly used nocturnal rodent models. In this study, SST neurons were located in all layers of the VC except in layer I; they were most common in layer V. Most SST neurons were multipolar round/oval or stellate cells. No pyramidal neurons were found. Moreover, 2-color immunofluorescence revealed that only 33.50%, 24.05%, 16.73%, 0%, and 64.57% of SST neurons contained gamma-aminobutyric acid, calbindin-D28K, calretinin, parvalbumin, and calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II, respectively. In contrast, neuropeptide Y and nitric oxide synthase were abundantly expressed, with 80.07% and 75.41% in SST neurons, respectively. Our immunocytochemical analyses of SST with D1 and D2 dopamine receptors and choline acetyltransferase, α7 and β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors suggest that dopaminergic and cholinergic fibers contact some SST neurons. The results showed some distinguishable features of SST neurons and provided some insight into their afferent circuitry in the gerbil VC. These findings may support future studies investigating the role of SST neurons in visual processing.
The article compares the provisions of normative documents that determine the Arctic policy of Korea and the results of a survey by Korean experts dealing with Arctic issues. The presented study examines the issues of transforming the priorities of the ROK state policy in the Arctic and promising areas of Seoul’s activity in the Arctic region. An analysis of the main regulatory documents that determine the priorities of the Republic of Korea in the Arctic (the Arctic Policy Basic Plan for 2013–2017 and the Arctic Development Basic Plan for 2018–2022) demonstrates the growing importance of economic cooperation in the Arctic as a priority for Korean policy. The results of the expert survey conducted as part of the study demonstrate that the Korean expert community considers environmental protection and response to climate change a paramount for the country’s policy in the Arctic region. According to the study, the experts have chosen the following most important tasks in the Arctic: “responding to climate change and forecasting climate change”; “protection of the marine environment and biological resources”; “conservation of ecosystems”; “the introduction and development of polar scientific research”; “expansion of polar research and monitoring infrastructure”. The survey results indicate that the key direction of the Arctic policy for the Republic of Korea, is the development of international relations within the framework of the Arctic Council, the main subject of which is scientific research in the field of climate and ecology. Thus, despite the priorities formulated in the General Plan for the Development of Arctic Activities for 2018–2022, Arctic experts consider the establishment of international partnerships to be a more important task than the participation of Korean business in Arctic projects and the creation of Arctic infrastructure. Acknowledgements. This article has been supported by the Korea Polar Research Institute (KOPRI) (PE19460).
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