Révision systématiquedu genre Sphenorhynchia Buckman, 1918 (Brachiopoda,rhynchonellidae): Implications taxonomiques, évolution,biostratigraphie

A lot of numerous rhynchonellid shells referedto the main species of genus SphenorhynchiaBuckman have been sampled in stratigraphically well-defined beds of Dogger period in the Mâconnais and in the Jura (France). Here, morphologic and anatomic characters and variability of S. plicatella, S. matisconensis, S. bugeysiaca, S. ferryi and S. dominula are studied.The main interest of this revision is to establish a complete diagnosis of the genus, not studied since its creation in 1918, with very limited knowledge of the internal structures. The settlement of this diagnosis is based on the type-species, S. plicatella, sometimes a little «unconventional form (beak, outline of the young shells, orientation of dental lamellae, delthyrial cavity), and also on the other species' characters. So, I expect that a later diagnosis will be avoided.Other advantages are observations on the taxonomic place of Sphenorhynchia in the RhynchonellidaeGray (in the TetrarhynchiinaeAger rather than in the CyclothyridinaeMakridin), on its evolution in the course of the Dogger period and the establishment of the biostratigraphy of its main species.     

Sur une flore a Glossopteropsida et Lycopsida de Namibie (Sud-Ouest Africain)

The study of imprints of fossil plants collected in the Permian from the country of Hammanskraal (Namibia) leads to the following identifications: Glossopteris sp., Gangamopteris sp., Noegerrathiopsis sp., Gondwanidium sp., Asterotheca sp. and Lycopodiopsis derbyiB. Renault, Lycopodiopsis costilatus n. sp., Brasilodendron pedroanum(W. Carruthers) W.G. Chaloner & alii, Brasilodendron africanum n. sp. This flora has affinities with some fossil floras from South Africa and from Brazil, and is, probably, of upper Permian age.     

Revision du genre LycopodiopsisB. Renault, 1890

The study of imprints of Lycopsida from Permianof the Gondwana has permitted to specify the organisation of the leaf cushions and their variation in the genus LycopodiopsisB. Renault. The presence of a ligula is showed off. The invalidity of the genera Cyclodendron and Lycopodiophloios is demonstrated, and the species refered to these genera must be refered to the genus Lycopodiopsis for which an emended diagnosis is proposed.     

Development of orientation selectivity in the primary visual cortex of normally and dark reared kittens

The development of orientation selectivity in the primary visual cortex is described by first-order kinetics between three functional compartments chained in a catenary mode. A first model is presented, in which two unidirectional kinetics with constant exchange coefficients, symmetrical in their effects, function in an alternating mode depending on the presence or absence of visual experience. The failure of this model to simulate the modifications induced by a delayed visual experience, when the exchange coefficients are identified to fit normal and dark rearing, supports the hypothesis that the maturation process consequent to interaction with visual environment is dependent on the date at which it is allowed to take place. A second model is then proposed, in which exchange coefficients are piecewise linear functions of time. In order to correctly predict the functional effects of restricted visual experience following prior dark rearing, it is assumed that visuomotor experience during the critical period permits the expression of a non-linear modifiability gradient which may have been masked up to this point by the absence of vision or eye movements.     

Digestion extracellulaire dans la cavité gastrique de Cerianthus lloydi Gosse. Structure du gastroderme,localisation et propriétés des enzymes protéolytiques

Using histochemical techniques, trypsin and chymotrypsin-like proteases have been detected in the gland cells of enteroids in the gastroderm of Cerianthus lloydi Gosse.These enzymes seem to be concentrated in granules resembling the zymogen granules of mammalian pancreas; the mechanisms of synthesis and the form of their membranes seem to be the same. Trypsin and chymotrypsin of C. lloydi resemble the vertebrates enzymes with respect to their properties and reaction with certain substrates and inhibitors.Trypsin appears to exist as an inactive precursor in the gastroderm of C. lloydi with spontaneous activation at 25°C.     

Spontaneous Reperfusion after In Situ Thromboembolic Stroke in Mice

Injection of thrombin into the middle cerebral artery (MCA) of mice has been proposed as a new model of thromboembolic stroke. The present study used sequential multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), including Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA), Diffusion-Weighted Imaging (DWI) and Perfusion-Weighted Imaging (PWI), to document MCA occlusion, PWI-DWI mismatch, and lesion development. In the first experiment, complete MCA occlusion and reproducible hypoperfusion were obtained in 85% of animals during the first hour after stroke onset. In the second experiment, 80% of animals showed partial to complete reperfusion during a three-hour follow-up. Spontaneous reperfusion thus contributed to the variability in ischemic volume in this model. The study confirmed the value of the model for evaluating new thrombolytic treatments, but calls for extended MRI follow-up at the acute stage in therapeutic studies.