Analyse d’article

Transient scrotal hyperthermia and levonorgestrel enhance testosterone-induced spermatogenesis suppression in men through increased germ cell apoptosis.     

Collagen biosynthesis by human skin fibroblasts III. The effects of ascorbic acid on procollagen production and prolyl hydroxylase activity

Human skin fibroblasts were cultured under conditions optimized for collagen synthesis, and the effects of ascorbic acid on procollagen production, proline hydroxylation and the activity of prolyl hydroxylase were examined in cultures. The results indicated that addition of ascorbic acid to confluent monolayer cultures of adult human skin fibroblasts markedly increased tha amount of [³H]hydroxyproline syntehsized. Ascorbic acid, however, did not increase the synthesis of ³H-labeled collagenous polypeptides assayed independently of hydroxylation of proline residues, nor did it affect the amount of prolyl hydroxylase detectable by an in vitro enzyme assay. Also long-term cultures of the cells or initiation of fibroblast cultures in the presence of ascorbic acid did not lead to an apparent selection of a cell population which might be abnormally responsive to ascorbic acid. Thus, ascorbic acid appears to have one primary action on the synthesis of procollagen by cultured human skin fibroblasts: it is necessary for synthesis of hydroxyproline, and consequently for proper triple helix formation and selection of procollagen.     

A fast dynamic mode of the EF‐G‐bound ribosome

A key intermediate in translocation is an ‘unlocked state’ of the pre‐translocation ribosome in which the P‐site tRNA adopts the P/E hybrid state, the L1 stalk domain closes and ribosomal subunits adopt a ratcheted configuration. Here, through two‐ and three‐colour smFRET imaging from multiple structural perspectives, EF‐G is shown to accelerate structural and kinetic pathways in the ribosome, leading to this transition. The EF‐G‐bound ribosome remains highly dynamic in nature, wherein, the unlocked state is transiently and reversibly formed. The P/E hybrid state is energetically favoured, but exchange with the classical P/P configuration persists; the L1 stalk adopts a fast dynamic mode characterized by rapid cycles of closure and opening. These data support a model in which P/E hybrid state formation, L1 stalk closure and subunit ratcheting are loosely coupled, independent processes that must converge to achieve the unlocked state. The highly dynamic nature of these motions, and their sensitivity to conformational and compositional changes in the ribosome, suggests that regulating the formation of this intermediate may present an effective avenue for translational control.     

Outsider Art and the autistic creator

Outsider Art (art brut) is defined as a mode of original artistic expression which thrives on its independence, shunning the public sphere and the art market. Such art can be highly idiosyncratic and secretive, and reflects the individual creator''s attempt to construct a coherent, albeit strange, private world. Certain practitioners of what may be termed autistic art are examined in the light of this definition; their work is considered as evidence not of a medical condition but of an expressive intentionality entirely worthy of the interest of those drawn to the aesthetic experience.     

Skipper impoverishment on large West Mediterranean islands (Lepidoptera Hesperioidea): deterministic,historical and stochastic factors

Biogeographical analyses are applied to skipper (Hesperioidea) presence/absence data from the Western Mediterranean mainland and the three largest islands (Sardinia, Corsica and Sicily) in order to identify potential conservation issues. The analyses performed on species, both collectively and individually, indicate that regional species richness and occurrence in the Mediterranean zone are largely predicted by latitude and area but that islands have impoverished faunas. Several species, predicted to be present on these islands from logistic regression of their continental distributions, are actually absent. The number of species predicted to be present from logistic regression analyses for each island, closely matched the number of species predicted to occur in regional-focused multiple regression analysis. This suggests that missing species have been identified. When compared with species that occur in Sicily and Corsica, the missing species are shown to differ for ecological traits, mainly those linked to altitudinal tolerance. No ecological distinctions were disclosed for Sardinian skippers suggesting a mainly stochastic colonisation. These results, and those from an analogous study carried out on Papilionoidea, point to Hesperioidea having (i) overall more impoverished faunas on islands and (ii) being subject to stochastic or historical colonisation events more than Papilionoidea. Species not predicted to occur on islands based on their mainland distributions and ecological traits, are foci for conservation attention. However, as many species becoming extinct on the islands may be irreplaceable, all species, in particular the Sardinian ones, deserve to be conserved.     

Ultrastructure of a colonial radiolarian Collozoum inerme and a cytochemical determination of the role of its zooxanthellae

Collozoum inerme (Müller) is a colonial Radiolarian containing numerous cells bound in a common gelatinous matrix. The cells do not possess a skeleton as observed in many unicellular Radiolaria, but the cytoplasmic organization is similar. The cells are multinucleate and a complex system of cellular processes containing mitochondria, Golgi, and numerous vacuoles radiate out from the nuclear region. The endoplasm is connected to the ectoplasm across a double membrane boundary by thin cytoplasmic strands called fusules whose structure resemble those in unicellular Radiolaria. The ectoplasm contains a lacy network of vacuoles containing an osmiophilic substance. Rhizopodia emerge from the ectoplasmic sheath. Some are thin and densely granular. Larger diameter rhizopodia, containing less dense cytoplasm, sequester the zooxanthellae which present a typical dinoflagellate fine structure. Some of the zooxanthellae are apparently cultivated since they are sometimes observed dividing and persist in large numbers when colonies are cultivated under illumination for several weeks in the laboratory. However, colonies maintained in the dark have a decline in number of zooxanthellae and light microscopic examination shows they are being drawn into the ectoplasm of the radiolarian cells. Electron microscopic examination of zooxanthellae drawn into the ectoplasm sheath indicates they are digested. C. inerme is a remarkable example of a simple cellular aggregate that has exploited its colonial habit to culture algae and use them as food thus possibly enhancing the viability of the colony.