Reassessment of the vocal repertoire of a nest-building gladiator frog,Boana pardalis (Anura,Hylidae, Cophomantinae): implications for its diagnosis within the B. faber species group

In this study, we re-describe the advertisement and territorial calls of Boana pardalis, carry out an acoustic comparison between the studied species and the other congeners of the B. faber group, and report for the first time the tympanic amplexus for the studied species. The advertisement call of B. pardalis can be used to supplement its diagnosis in the B. faber group based on temporal call traits, e.g. emission rate and emission pattern, as well as the call envelope.     

Experimental infections of simians with human malaria: attempts to infect Callithrix penicillata with Plasmodium falciparum

After reviewing the use of non-human primates of the Old and New Worlds for human malaria research, we concluded that another experimental animal which is easily available to use and possible to rear indoors is needed. Thus, we studied the susceptibility of the marmoset Callithrix penicillata to Plasmodium falciparum erythrocytic infections. The marmosets received various P. falciparum human isolates, directly from a patient and from continuous cultures. The Palo Alto strain, which has been adapted to the night monkey Aotus trivirgatus and further maintained in the squirrel monkey Saimiri sciureus was also used. In a total of 20 marmosets we performed 31 inoculations, with 10(5) to 10(9) parasites, intraperitoneally, intracardiacly or intravenously. Blood samples from each animal were examined daily up to day 90 post-inoculation. None of the intact marmosets developed patent infections. Four out of 19 C. penicillata, previously splenectomized, showed circulating parasites for up to five days after intravenous inoculation with the Palo Alto strain, becoming negative thereafter. Neither the addition to the simian diet of p-aminobenzoic acid, essential for the parasite metabolism, nor drug-immunosuppression, improved the marmoset susceptibility to P. falciparum.     

Copepods of the Juréia ecological reserve,state of São Paulo,Brazil. II. The genera Hesperocyclops,Muscocyclops, and Bryocyclops (Cyclopoida,Cyclopidae)

Cyclopid copepods collected mainly in aquatic microcosms and semiterrestrial habitats in the Juréia Ecological Reserve are studied. Hesperocyclops herbsti and Bryocyclops campaneri are described as new species and their taxonomical relationships discussed. Females of Muscocyclops operculatus (Chappuis) are redescribed and the males described for the first time. An emended diagnosis for Muscocyclops is proposed.     

Quantitative functional anatomy of the lower limb with application to human gait

A scheme was developed to classify muscles according to their primary, secondary and tertiary functions, e.g. a muscle which produces primarily a flexion moment may also produce secondary abduction and tertiary internal rotation moments. The functions of muscles crossing the hip and knee joints were computed based upon the changing relative positions of joint centers and muscle origins and insertions during one gait cycle. The function of several of the major muscles crossing the hip and knee joints is reported for the different limb positions corresponding to normal gait. It was found that the amount of force necessary to produce a given moment about a joint was dependent upon the limb position. In addition, the muscle functions changed significantly with limb position. Electrical stimulation of muscles of a paralyzed subject gave qualitative support to the results.     

Energy-dependent formation of free ATP in yeast submitochondrial particles, and its stimulation by oligomycin

Yeast submitochondrial particles, in a P_i- and NADH-dependent reaction, produced low concentrations of free ATP in the absence of added ADP. This formation of free ATP, as measured by the luciferin-luciferase method, was strongly stimulated by oligomycin. For maximal stimulation, oligomycin was to be added not earlier than 5–10 min after the addition of NADH. Upon addition of antimycin or FCCP the system was completely inhibited. The amount of free ATP formed corresponded to one-third of the amount of bound ATP in submitochondrial particles. The stimulatory effect of oligomycin disappeared if the submitochondrial particles were spun down after oligomycin stimulation and then resuspended in the reaction medium, whereas submitochondrial particles with no oligomycin added initially were stimulated by oligomycin after the same procedure. A different picture emerged with addition of ADP. If the submitochondrial particles were preenergized with NADH in the presence of oligomycin before the addition of ADP the formation of free ATP upon subsequent addition of ADP was inhibited by oligomycin. In the presence of oligomycin, but lacking preenergization with NADH, a stimulation of free ATP formation was achieved with added ADP. A possible explanation for the stimulating effect of oligomycin on ATP formation in the absence of added ADP is that it enhances the release of bound ATP in an energy-requiring process. The release of only about one-third of the bound ATP could indicate that one of three nucleotide-binding subunits involved in the mechanism of ATP formation by ATP synthase is in a state suitable for such an energy-dependent release of ATP.     

Mathematical analysis of two-phase mass transfer in a batch reactor for the chemical transformation of a steroid

A reactor is described for the conversion of the slightly water-soluble steroid testosterone (T) to 4-androstene-3, 17-dione (4-AD) by enzyme in the presence of excess cofactor. Since the enzyme is subject to substrate inhibition, reaction rates are strong functions of aqueous substrate concentration. High concentrations of the substrate, testosterone, per unit reactor volume are maintained within poly(dimethylsiloxane) beads that are suspended in the aqueous enzyme solution. Mass transfer (controlled by bead size, polymer to water volume ratio, enzyme loading) is used to control the degree and rate of conversion. The reactor dynamics are predicted over a wide range of reaction conditions. The product steroid is recovered in the polymeric beads from the enzyme solution.     

A complex balanced chromosomal rearrangement in repeated abortions

Summary A double balanced reciprocal translocation involving four chromosomes, t(1;19;6;14) (1p11; 19p11; 6q25; 14q21), was found in the phenotypically normal husband in a couple referred because of repeated abortions. Reciprocal translocations, t(6;14), had been transmitted by his mother, his father being apparently homozygous for a translocation comprising pairs 1 and 19-t(1;19)(1;19). The genetic consequences of this complex chromosomal rearrangement are analyzed.     

Influence of isolation media on synaptosomal properties: Intracellular pH,pCa, and Ca2+ uptake

Preparations of synaptosomes isolated in sucrose or in Na⁺-rich media were compared with respect to internal pH (pH₁), internal Ca²⁺ concentration ([Ca²⁺]_i), membrane potential and⁴⁵Ca²⁺ uptake due to K⁺ depolarization and Na⁺/Ca²⁺ exchange. We found that synaptosomes isolated in sucrose media have a pH_i of 6.77±0.04 and a [Ca²⁺]_i of about 260 nM, whereas synaptosomes isolated in Na⁺-rich ionic media have a pH_i of 6.96±0.07 and a [Ca²⁺]_i of 463 nM, but both types of preparations have similar membrane potentials of about –50 mV when placed in choline media. The sucrose preparation takes up Ca²⁺ only by voltage sensitive calcium channels (VSCC'S) when K⁺-depolarized, while the Na⁺-rich synaptosomes take up⁴⁵Ca²⁺ both by VSCC'S and by Na⁺/Ca²⁺ exchange. The amiloride derivative 2, 4 dimethylbenzamil (DMB), at 30 M, inhibits both mechanisms of Ca²⁺ influx, but 5-(N-4-chlorobenzyl)-2, 4 dimethylbenzamil (CBZ-DMB), at 30 M, inhibits the Ca²⁺ uptake by VSCC'S, but not by Na⁺/Ca²⁺ exchange. Thus, DMB and CBZ-DMB permit distinguishing between Ca²⁺ flux through channels and through Na⁺/Ca²⁺ exchange. We point out that the different properties of the two types of synaptosomes studied account for some of the discrepancies in results reported in the literature for studies of Ca²⁺ fluxes and neurotransmitter release by different types of preparations of synaptosomes.Abbreviations used BCECF 2,7-Biscarboxyethyl-5(6)-carboxyfluorescein - BCECF/AM acetoxymethyl ester of BCECF - [Ca²⁺]_i Internal free calcium ion concentration - CBZ-DMB 5-(N-4-chlorobenzyl)-2,4-dimethylbenzamil - DMB 2, 4-dimethylbenzamil - DMSO dimethyl sulfoxide - Indo-1/AM acetoxymethyl ester of Indo-1 - MES 2-|N-Morpholino|ethanesulfonic acid - NMG N-methyl-D-glucamine - pH_i internal pH - TPP⁺ tetraphenylphosphonium - _p plasma membrane potential