Getting a grip on the intertidal: flow microhabitat and substratum type determine the dislodgement of the crab Pachygrapsus crassipes (Randall) on rocky shores and in estuaries

Hydrodynamic forces can affect survival as well as limit the movement of motile benthic animals. An animal's danger of dislodgement depends on the hydrodynamic forces it experiences in its microhabitat relative to the force required to dislodge it (tenacity) from the substratum. We measured water flow and substratum characteristics in two different habitats of the shore crab Pachygrapsus crassipes: a wave-swept rocky shore and an intertidal mudflat. The maximum water velocities and accelerations in the microhabitats of the crabs at the wave-swept site were three times and two times greater, respectively, than at the mudflat site. In the laboratory, we measured the tenacity of crabs of various sizes on different substrata, and also measured their drag, lift and added-mass coefficients. Using these data, we calculated the flow conditions under which crabs would be overturned or sheared off the substratum in their two habitats. The net horizontal force (drag plus acceleration reaction) required to dislodge a crab on a rugose rock substratum was an order of magnitude greater than on smooth rock and two orders of magnitude greater than on mud. Our calculations indicate that, under non-storm conditions, crabs will not be dislodged from the substratum in either the mudflat or the wave-swept habitat when grasping the substratum with maximum tenacity. Moving crabs have lower tenacity and our calculations predict that hydrodynamic forces will restrict the mobility of large crabs more than that of small ones on smooth, but not on rugose rock.     

Novel Approach to Simulate Sleep Apnea Patients for Evaluating Positive Pressure Therapy Devices

Bench testing is a useful method to characterize the response of different automatic positive airway pressure (APAP) devices under well-controlled conditions. However, previous models did not consider the diversity of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients’ characteristics and phenotypes. The objective of this proof-of-concept study was to design a new bench test for realistically simulating an OSA patient’s night, and to implement a one-night example of a typical female phenotype for comparing responses to several currently-available APAP devices. We developed a novel approach aimed at replicating a typical night of sleep which includes different disturbed breathing events, disease severities, sleep/wake phases, body postures and respiratory artefacts. The simulated female OSA patient example that we implemented included periods of wake, light sleep and deep sleep with positional changes and was connected to ten different APAP devices. Flow and pressure readings were recorded; each device was tested twice. The new approach for simulating female OSA patients effectively combined a wide variety of disturbed breathing patterns to mimic the response of a predefined patient type. There were marked differences in response between devices; only three were able to overcome flow limitation to normalize breathing, and only five devices were associated with a residual apnea-hypopnea index of <5/h. In conclusion, bench tests can be designed to simulate specific patient characteristics, and typical stages of sleep, body position, and wake. Each APAP device behaved differently when exposed to this controlled model of a female OSA patient, and should lead to further understanding of OSA treatment.     

Advances in the systematics and evolution of western Mediterranean representative species of the Pentanema conyzae clade through genetic fingerprinting

Forty-five populations of Pentanema corresponding to seven species included in the Pentanema conyzae clade have been studied using AFLP fingerprinting. The results show that allopolyploidization could have been involved in the diversification of this group, specifically in species P. langeanum and P. maletii. Molecular data confirm the presence of P. britannicum in the Iberian Peninsula and key steps are provided to identify the species that are morphologically the most challenging.     

Multiphasic On/Off Pheromone Signalling in Moths as Neural Correlates of a Search Strategy

Insects and robots searching for odour sources in turbulent plumes face the same problem: the random nature of mixing causes fluctuations and intermittency in perception. Pheromone-tracking male moths appear to deal with discontinuous flows of information by surging upwind, upon sensing a pheromone patch, and casting crosswind, upon losing the plume. Using a combination of neurophysiological recordings, computational modelling and experiments with a cyborg, we propose a neuronal mechanism that promotes a behavioural switch between surge and casting. We show how multiphasic On/Off pheromone-sensitive neurons may guide action selection based on signalling presence or loss of the pheromone. A Hodgkin-Huxley-type neuron model with a small-conductance calcium-activated potassium (SK) channel reproduces physiological On/Off responses. Using this model as a command neuron and the antennae of tethered moths as pheromone sensors, we demonstrate the efficiency of multiphasic patterning in driving a robotic searcher toward the source. Taken together, our results suggest that multiphasic On/Off responses may mediate olfactory navigation and that SK channels may account for these responses.     

Determining [H]Thymidine Incorporation into Bacterioplankton DNA: Improvement of the Method by DNase Treatment

Determination of [H] thymidine incorporation into bacterial DNA versus other macromolecules is usually achieved by NaOH and hot trichloroacetic acid hydrolysis. This procedure was found not to be specific enough. An alternative method founded on DNase treatment is proposed. Under the new method, the fraction of thymidine incorporated into DNA ranged from 10 to 83%.     

In vivo activities of peptide and pseudo-peptide analogs of the C-terminal octapeptide of cholecystokinin on pancreatic secretion in the rat

Most studies measuring the agonist and antagonist activities of CCK analogs and derivatives on the exocrine pancreas have been done with in vitro models. However, extrapolation to the in vivo situation may be sometimes hazardous, due to the catabolism of the peptides by circulating and tissue peptidases, and to their eventual interaction with various endogenous factors. The present experiments were organized to measure the efficacy and potency on pancreatic secretion of the rat in vivo of a series of CCK 8 analogs whose binding and activity had been previously measured on guinea-pig and rat isolated acini. The molecules tested were derivatives of Boc-(Nle 28-Nle 31)-CCK 26–33 (1), and comprised 2-phenylethylester derivatives, des-Phe derivatives, and a series of pseudo-peptides with a “reduced” bond CH2-NH replacing the peptide bond in position 28–29 to 32–33. They were perfused in anaesthetized rats, and the outputs of sodium, bicarbonate and total protein were measured. All of the derivatives studied had in vivo the same efficacy as (1) on the output of protein, and were 10 to 500 times less potent. For most compounds, the relative order of potencies measured in vivo was similar to that measured in vitro on amylase secretion by rat acini. However, the derivatives with reduced bonds in positions 28–29 and 29–30 were respectively 3 and 2 times less potent in vivo, relative to (1), while derivatives with reduced bonds in positions 30–31, 31–32 and 32–33 were 1.5 to 2.5 times more potent in vivo. The 2-phenylethylester derivatives were 7 and 9 times as potent in vitro as in vivo. The des-Phe derivative, which had in vitro antagonist properties on guinea-pig acini, and acted like a partial agonist on rat acini, was in vivo a complete agonist and was relatively 300 times as potent in vivo as in vitro. These results indicate that the metabolism of the peptides and/or their interaction with endogenous factors may change appreciably the effect of CCK derivatives on pancreatic secretion of the rat in vivo.