The Life Cycle of Didymium laxifilum and Physarum album on Oat Agar Culture

The plasmodial slime molds is the largest group in the phylum Amoebozoa. Its life cycle includes the plasmodial trophic stage and the spore‐bearing fruiting bodies. However, only a few species have their complete life cycle known in details so far. This study is the first reporting the morphogenesis of Didymium laxifilum and Physarum album. Spores, from field‐collected sporangia, were incubated into hanging drop cultures for viewing germination and axenic oat agar plates for viewing plasmodial development and sporulation. The spores of D. laxifilum and P. album germinated by method of V‐shape split and minute pore, respectively. The amoeboflagellates, released from spores, were observed in water film. The phaneroplasmodia of two species developed into a number of sporangia by subhypothallic type on oat agar culture. The main interspecific difference of morphogenesis was also discussed.     

Pelagostrobilidium liui n. sp. (Ciliophora,Choreotrichida) from the Coastal Waters of Northeastern Taiwan and an Improved Description of Pelagostrobilidium minutum Liu et al., 2012

The number of somatic kineties in Pelagostrobilidium ranges from 4 to 6 according to the present state of knowledge. This study investigates Pelagostrobilidium liui n. sp. using live observation, protargol stain, and small subunit rDNA data sequencing. Pelagostrobilidium liui n. sp. is characterized by having a spherical‐shaped body, four somatic kineties, with kinety 2 spiraled around the left side of body, about six elongated external membranelles, and invariably no buccal membranelle. It differs from its most similar congener, Pelagostrobilidium minutum Liu et al., 2012 , in (i) cell shape; (ii) macronucleus width; (iii) oral apparatus; (iv) anterior orientation of kinety 2; (v) location where kinety 2 commences; (vi) arrangement of kinety 1; (vii) distance between the anterior cell end and the locations where kineties commence; and (viii) the presence of 12 different bases (including two deletions) in the small subunit rDNA sequences. The diagnosis of P. minutum Liu et al., 2012 is also improved to include the following new characteristics: invariably four somatic kineties; kineties 2 and 4 alone commence at the same level; kinety 2 originates from right anterior cell half on ventral side, extends sinistrally posteriorly, over kinety 1, around left posterior region, terminates near posterior cell end on dorsal side; kinety 1 commences below anterior third of kinety 2.     

Epistemic artefacts: on the uses of complexity in anthropology

Distinctions between the ‘simple’ and the ‘complex’ have enjoyed a long and varied career in anthropology. Simplicity was once part of a collective fantasy about what life was like elsewhere, tingeing studies of tribal life with human longing for simpler ways of being. With the reflexive turn and the rise of cultural critique, simplicity has been all but excommunicated in favour of widespread diagnoses of complexity. In this article, I tease out some transformations in the uses of complexity in anthropology, and weave in some critical responses to these uses, spanning many decades, from within the discipline. I pay special attention to recent critiques by anthropologists who are beginning to grow weary of complexity as both an end‐in‐itself for scholarship and an empirical diagnosis. For these critics, complexity is deeply entwined with anthropological methods and knowledge practices. Drawing on these critical views, I suggest that complexity may be an epistemological artefact, rather than something that can be diagnosed ‘out there’, and offer a way of reframing complexity as a ‘dominant problematic’ in anthropology and beyond.     

The Angiopoietin-1 Variant COMP-Ang1 Enhances BMP2-Induced Bone Regeneration with Recruiting Pericytes in Critical Sized Calvarial Defects

Craniofacial bone defects are observed in a variety of clinical situations, and their reconstructions require coordinated coupling between angiogenesis and osteogenesis. In this study, we explored the effects of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein-angiopoietin 1 (COMP-Ang1), a synthetic and soluble variant of angiopoietin 1, on bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2)-induced cranial bone regeneration, and recruitment and osteogenic differentiation of perivascular pericytes. A critical-size calvarial defect was created in the C57BL/6 mouse and COMP-Ang1 and/or BMP2 proteins were delivered into the defects with absorbable collagen sponges. After 3 weeks, bone regeneration was evaluated using micro-computed tomography and histologic examination. Pericyte recruitment into the defects was examined using immunofluorescence staining with anti-NG2 and anti-CD31 antibodies. In vitro recruitment and osteoblastic differentiation of pericyte cells were assessed with Boyden chamber assay, staining of calcified nodules, RT-PCR and Western blot analyses. Combined administration of COMP-Ang1 and BMP2 synergistically enhanced bone repair along with the increased population of CD31 (an endothelial cell marker) and NG2 (a specific marker of pericyte) positive cells. In vitro cultures of pericytes consistently showed that pericyte infiltration into the membrane pore of Boyden chamber was more enhanced by the combination treatment. In addition, the combination further increased the osteoblast-specific gene expression, including bone sialoprotein (BSP), osteocalcin (OCN) and osterix (OSX), phosphorylation of Smad/1/5/8, and mineralized nodule formation. COMP-Ang1 can enhance BMP2-induced cranial bone regeneration with increased pericyte recruitment. Combined delivery of the proteins might be a therapeutic strategy to repair cranial bone damage.