Influence of the root tip and the duration of washing on k retention by excised apical root segments of corn

Excised apical segments of corn root (Zea mays) (5-15 mm from the root cap), some with and some without the root tips (0-5 mm) attached, were washed for varying time periods up to 4 hours in 0.5 mm CaSO(4). After washing, tips were removed from those segments washed with tips attached, and then all segments and tips were analyzed for K(+) content. The root tips (0-5 mm) initially contained about twice the K(+) of the apical segments (5-15 mm). The loss of K(+) did not exceed 15% in the tips or 20% in the apical segments. Loss of K(+) was most pronounced during the 1st hour of washing. There was little difference in K(+) content of apical segments washed with tips attached compared with those washed tipless. Thus, the presence of the intact root tip had no consistent influence on the ability of the older root tissue to retain K(+).     

Increase in the Number of Tuberculosis Cases Treated following Tuberculin Skin Testing in First-Year Schoolchildren in Madagascar

Background

Tuberculosis continues to cause unacceptably high levels of disease and death worldwide. Active preventive strategies are required to improve tuberculosis control and to increase the number of cases treated in developing countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of the tuberculin skin test (TST) in first-year schoolchildren as a means of increasing the number of tuberculosis cases detected through the screening of close contacts.

Methods

All members of the households of 90 schoolchildren assigned to three groups on the basis of TST category (≤5 mm, [5–15)mm, ≥15 mm) were screened for sputum smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis. The percentage detection of tuberculosis in close contacts was compared between TST categories.

Results

We identified 433 close contacts of the 90 schoolchildren, who were then evaluated for tuberculosis. We identified 11 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis among the close contacts (7 already on treatment and 4 previously undiagnosed): 0 in TST category ≤5 mm, 3 in TST category [5–15) mm and 8 in TST category ≥15 mm). This approach increased the detection of tuberculosis cases by a factor of 1.6 in first-year schoolchildren of the TST ≥5 mm group.

Conclusion

TST in first-year schoolchildren is a potentially effective method for improving the detection of tuberculosis in close contacts.     

Surgical method for treatment of syndactyly with osseous fusion of the distal phalanges.

For the interdigital space plasty to correct a syndactyly with fusion of the distal phalanges, we adopted a new operative procedure, covering the exposed distal bone with local rectangular flaps designed transversely on both dorsal and volar surfaces. A full-thickness skin graft from the groin region covers the remaining raw surface. The procedure was performed in six patients, and the flaps measured 6 mm (width) x 12 to 16 mm (length) in four patients, 5 x 15 mm in one patient, and 5 x 18 mm in one patient. Partial necrosis was observed in only one patient, in whom a narrow flap of 5 x 18 mm was used. In the other five patients, however, the results were satisfactory on both external appearance and function during the follow-up period of 3 to 6 years.     

Effects of Externally Applied Pressure on the Haemodynamics of the Lower Limb

The effects of externally applied pressure of 5-150 mm Hg on the haemodynamics of the leg of dog and man were investigated. The criteria used for the assessments included femoral arterial and venous blood flow as well as vascular hydraulic conductance. The results indicated that external pressure of 5 mm Hg results in a very small non-significant increase in the femoral arterial and venous flow. Higher external pressure of 15 mm Hg or more significantly reduces the femoral arterial and venous flows as well as the vascular conductance. It therefore seems that compression produced by bandaging in horizontal supine subjects has little or no haemodynamic value and may prove to be harmful unless carefully controlled.     

Regional responsiveness of renal perfusion to activation of the renal nerves

We tested for regional differences in perfusion responses, within the renal medulla and cortex, to renal nerve stimulation in pentobarbital sodium-anesthetized rabbits. Laser-Doppler flux (LDF) was monitored at various depths below the cortical surface (1-15 mm). Basal cortical LDF (1-3 mm, approximately 200-450 U) was greater than medullary LDF (5-15 mm, approximately 70-160 U), but there were no statistically significant differences in basal LDF within these regions. The background LDF signal during aortic occlusion was similar in the cortex (2 mm, 31 U) and outer medulla (7 mm, 31 U), but slightly greater in the inner medulla (12 mm, 44 U). During electrical stimulation of the renal nerves (0.5-8 Hz), cortical LDF and total renal blood flow were similarly progressively reduced with increasing stimulus frequency. Medullary LDF (measured between 5 and 15 mm) was overall less responsive than cortical LDF. For example, 4-Hz stimulation reduced inner medullary LDF (9 mm) by 19 +/- 6% but reduced cortical LDF (1 mm) by 54 +/- 11%. However, medullary LDF responses to nerve stimulation were similar at all depths measured. Our results indicate that while the vascular elements controlling medullary perfusion are less sensitive to the effects of electrical stimulation of the renal nerves than are those controlling cortical perfusion, sensitivity within these vascular territories appears to be relatively homogeneous.     

福建东山岛海域霞水母的渔业生物学研究

1994年4～9月调查结果表明,东山湾海域霞水母的密度高峰期出现在6月25日～7月10日,生物量高峰期在7月10～8月5日;群体的伞径分布范围15～580mm,平均247．48mm,体重分布范围0．4～10250g,平均1274g;高次方程模拟的伞径生长方程式为Φt=15．1726+16．7204t+0．1926t2-0．0014t3—0．0004t4,指数高次方程模拟体重生长方程式为logeWt=-0．6885+1．3397t-0．0959t2+0．0034t3—0．00005t4;以生物经济学原理确定合理开捕为7月15日,合理开捕伞径为360mm．还讨论了表层水温和盐度与霞水母生物量和密度的关系及其资源开发等问题．     

模拟降雨变化对古尔班通古特沙漠土壤养分及酶活性的影响

土壤酶参与土壤系统的养分循环过程,是联系植物和土壤养分的关键纽带。土壤酶活性对降水格局变化响应敏感,这种响应对于缺水且养分贫瘠的荒漠生态系统显得尤为重要。然而,早春积雪完全融化后首次降雨时间及降雨量如何影响土壤养分及土壤酶活性还鲜见相关报道。以新疆古尔班通古特沙漠为研究区,在早春积雪完全融化后,设置3个首次降雨时间(积雪完全融化后第10天、20天和30天)和3个降雨梯度(5 mm、10 mm和15 mm),于植物生长旺季采集土壤样品,研究土壤养分含量和土壤酶活性的响应特征。结果表明：积雪完全融化后不同首次降雨时间下5mm降雨处理以及积雪完全融化后第30天下各降雨量处理对土壤养分和酶活性影响不显著。积雪完全融化后第10天,随降雨量增加,土壤全碳呈显著先下降后增加趋势,全钾呈显著增加趋势,而土壤微生物量碳呈显著降低趋势;积雪完全融化后第20天,随降雨量增加,速效氮、土壤蔗糖酶活性、土壤微生物量碳氮呈先下降后增加趋势,土壤全碳和多酚氧化酶活性显著下降,土壤全钾和碱性磷酸酶活性显著增加。模拟10 mm降雨,随首次降雨时间推迟,土壤全氮、速效氮、速效磷、土壤蔗糖酶活性和土壤微生物量碳呈增加趋势;...     

Mechanical properties and polysaccharide nature of the cell walls of maize root

Changes in mechanical properties and chemical nature of the cell walls of the different zones along elongating maize ( Zea mays L. cv. LG 11) roots were analyzed and the following results were obtained. (1) The apical region 2 to 5 mm from the tip of 15 mm long roots showed rapid elongation whereas the region 8–10 mm from the tip showed very little growth. (2) The minimum stress-relaxation time (To) and the mean stress-relaxation rate (R) of the cell wall were small whereas the maximum stress-relaxation time (Tm) was large in the region where cell elongation was optimum. The To and R increased and the Tm decreased gradually towards the base of the root. (3) The amounts of non-cellulosic polysaccharides of the cell wall were highest in the region 1.5–2.5 mm from the tip, decreasing until 5 mm from the tip, and then increasing towards the base. However, the proportion of this fraction in the total cell wall polysaccharides was highest in the extreme tip (cap and meristem, 0–1 mm) and decreased towards the base. (4) Major neutral sugars constituting the non-cellulosic polysaccharides of the cell wall were xylose, arabinose, galactose and glucose, with minor amounts of rhamnosc. mannose and fucose. The 1–15 mm region was on the whole rich in glucose and xylose and contained arabinose to a lesser extent. However, the chemical nature in the apical region, (0–2 mm, was rather special, being rich in galactose and fucose. (5) The cell wall of maize roots contained, as a whole, only little pectic substances but was high in hemicellulose 1 (rich in xylose, arabinose and glucose) and hemicellulose 2 (rich in glucose and xylose). (6) It appeared that in the elongating region (apical 2 to 5 mm) the cell elongation rate (CET) showed a rather good correlation with the parameters of mechanical properties (To, Tm and R) and with neutral sugar compositions in the non-cellulosic polysaccharides.     

Influence of shell size of Lymnaea columella on infectivity and development of Fasciola hepatica

Experimental infections of Lymnaea columella with Fasciola hepatica were carried out to determine the influence of shell size on the infection rate and on the outcome of rediae and cercariae. Snails were divided into seven groups according to shell size: 2-4 mm, 5-6 mm, 7-8 mm, 9-10 mm, 11-12 mm, 13-14 mm and 15 mm or more. One hundred snails in each group were infected by using four miracidia for each snail. Snails with larger shell size showed a lower infection rate, the groups presenting the highest (79%) and lowest (2%) proportions of positives being those of 5-6 mm and 15 mm or more, respectively. Cercariae were present in 21% of them at 31 days post-infection, and cercarial shedding was observed 61 days post-infection. It was concluded that there is a non-linear negative association between shell size and infection rate.     

Effect of removal of the root tip on the development of enhanced rb absorption by corn roots

Samples of primary root tissue of corn (Zea mays L.) were aged either in CaSO(4) solution or in humid air, after which they were immersed for 10 minutes in a solution containing 0.1 mm(86)RbCl. Aging in solution, but not in humid air, enhanced the subsequent rate of Rb(+) absorption. Excision of roots before aging was followed by greater enhancement than when exicision followed aging. The time course of aging of 1-cm segments from different portions of the root showed decreasing response with increasing distance from the root cap. The aging response of apical segments (5-15 mm from the root cap) could be detected within 10 minutes and usually reached a maximum within 2 hours. Rb(+) absorption by apical segments (5-15 mm) aged without the tip (0-5 mm) was more than double that by apical segments whose tips were left attached until the end of the aging period. When apical segments without the tip were aged for 2 hours in the CaSO(4) solution in which seedlings had previously been grown for 24 hours, the rate of absorption was only 63% of samples aged in fresh solution. When apical segments were aged for 2 hours in fresh solution containing excised tips floating free in the solution, the rate of Rb(+) absorption was 20% less than in samples aged in solution containing no excised tips. The data presented in this study are interpreted to indicate that a water-soluble metabolite, originating in the root tip and translocated basipetally, inhibits Rb accumulation.     

Stereotopometry of the caliceal-pelvic complex of the kidney applicable to organ-sparing operations

By means of injection into the hollow system of the semiharden plastic "Protacryl" and tomometry, 157 human kidneys have been studied at the age of 20-90 years (117 man and 40 women). Size, form, number, and character of position of the calyces renales minores (CRM) have been determined. Basing on the diameter of the fornix, three groups are distinguished: large (15-25 mm), middle (6-14 mm) and small (2-5 mm) CRM, and according to the length of the infundibulum-long (15-25 mm), middle (8-14 mm) and short (up to 7 mm). Total amount of the CRM is from 3 up to 20. The geometrical model of arrangement in the space (3-2-3) is obtained correspondingly to superior, middle and inferior parts of the kidney and probability of revealing is determined. The CRM topography in the threedimentional space is described and indices of the calyx-pelvic system length are calculated for the whole and for each CRM separately. The data obtained are recommended to take into account in urological practice, when certain organ-preserving operations are performed.     

Length–weight relationships of 19 freshwater fishes from the Upo Wetland in South Korea

The length–weight relationships (LWRs) for 19 freshwater fish species in Upo Wetland, South Korea, were analyzed. Fish samples were collected quarterly using scoop‐nets (5 mm mesh), casting nets (7 mm mesh) and a fixed shore net (15 mm mesh) from 2007 to 2014. LWRs data for three species have not yet been listed in FishBase.     

Embryonic and morphological development of larvae and juveniles of the Amberjack,Seriola dumerili

Embryonic and morphological development of larvae and juveniles of the amberjack,Seriola dumerili Risso, are described using specimens raised at Yaeyama Station (Ishigaki Island, Okinawa Pref.), Japan Sea Farming Association. The specimens obtained from brood fish (3 females, 3 males) were treated with gonadotropin and spawned on 6th of April 1987. The eggs of amberjack are pelagic, spherical in shape and 1.01–1.17 mm in diameter. The yolk is roughly segmented and has a single oil globule 0.22–0.24 mm in diameter. The perivitelline space is narrow. During development, a few melanophores and no xanthophores were observed on yolk. Hatching took place 35 hrs. 15 min. after spawning out at temperatures 23.1–23.7°C. The newly hatched larvae were 2.84–3.04mm in TL with 27 (13+14) myomeres and an oil globule anteriorly situated beyond the head. 3 days after hatching 4.00 mm TL, the mouth opened. 10 days after hatching 4.26 mm TL, small denticles appeared on the margin of the upper jaw and there were 1 anterior and 2 posterior preopecular spines. At 5.96mm TL, notochord was slightly flexed. Caudal, dorsal and anal fins with rudiments of rays appeared at 8.00 mm TL. The specific numbers of all fin rays and spines were obtained in a juvenile 9.60 mm TL. In a juvenile 34.25 mm TL, 54 days after hatching, the characteristic brown band of amberjack had appeared on head. Some notable changes in relative growth were observed at 5 mm and 15 mm in TL.     

Quantification of soil-to-plant transport of recombinant nucleopolyhedrovirus: effects of soil type and moisture, air currents, and precipitation.

Significantly more occlusion bodies (OB) of DuPont viral construct HzSNPV-LqhIT2, expressing a scorpion toxin, were transported by artificial rainfall to cotton plants from sandy soil (70:15:15 sand-silt-clay) than from silt (15:70:15) and significantly more from silt than from clay (15:15:70). The amounts transported by 5 versus 50 mm of precipitation were the same, and transport was zero when there was no precipitation. In treatments that included precipitation, the mean number of viable OB transported to entire, 25- to 35-cm-tall cotton plants ranged from 56 (clay soil, 5 mm of rain) to 226 (sandy soil, 50 mm of rain) OB/plant. In a second experiment, viral transport increased with increasing wind velocity (0, 16, and 31 km/h) and was greater in dry (-1.0 bar of matric potential) than in moist (-0.5 bar) soil. Wind transport was greater for virus in a clay soil than in silt or sand. Only 3.3 x 10(-7) (clay soil, 5 mm rain) to 1.3 x 10(-6) (sandy soil, 50 mm rain) of the OB in surrounding soil in experiment 1 or 1.1 x 10(-7) (-0.5 bar sandy soil, 16-km/h wind) to 1.3 x 10(-6) (-1.0 bar clay soil, 31-km/h wind) in experiment 2 were transported by rainfall or wind to cotton plants. This reduces the risk of environmental release of a recombinant nucleopolyhedrovirus (NPV), because only a very small proportion of recombinant virus in the soil reservoir is transported to vegetation, where it can be ingested by and replicate in new host insects.     

Methods of measuring the prevalence of pathogenic fungi on potato tubers

Methods are described whereby the prevalence of pathogenic fungi on seed potato tubers can be measured quickly and quantitatively. Eye-bearing plugs of tuber tissue, 8 mm diameter by 10 mm long, are excised, incubated over water at 15 °C for 5 days and then examined microscopically. The occurrence of fungi and macroscopic tuber symptoms are recorded directly on punched tape and tabulated by computer.     

The influence of temperature and light penetration on the abundance of the hypolithic algae in the Negev desert of Israel

Summary Hypolithic algae were found under flint pebbles in the northern part of the Negev desert in Israel. The algae appeared in the contact area between the stone and the loess soil in which it is partially buried. Two types of flint were found in the research area: dark transparent ones and light opaque ones. A significant difference was found in the distribution of algae in these two types: 46.8% of the dark flints bear algae up to a thickness of 40 mm in the main range of 5 to 15 mm, whereas the respective figure for the light flints was 20.9% up to 30 mm only and in the thickness range of mainly 5 to 10 mm. No significant difference could be shown concerning the temperature underneath the two types of flint stones. The dark flint had a higher extinction coefficient than the light flint and this means that a greater amount of light penetrates to a deeper thickness in the dark flint than in the light. It may be assumed that the differences in light penetration explain the wider distribution under the dark flint than the light flint.     

Are 5-hydroxytryptamine-preloaded beta-cells an appropriate physiologic model system for establishing that insulin stimulates insulin secretion?

The release and oxidation of 5-hydroxytryptamine from 5-hydroxytryptamine-preloaded beta-cells has been used as a surrogate marker for insulin secretion. Findings made using this methodology have been used to support the concept that insulin stimulates its own release. In the present studies, the effects of 5-hydroxytryptamine on stimulated insulin secretion from isolated perifused rat islets was determined. When added together with stimulatory glucose, 5-hydroxytryptamine (0.5 mm) significantly reduced both phases of 8 mm glucose-induced secretion and reduced the first phase of 15 mm glucose-induced release by 60% without any effect on sustained insulin release rates. Preloading of beta-cells with 0.5 mm 5-hydroxytryptamine for 3 h resulted in a more severe impairment of 15 mm glucose-induced secretion. First and second phase release rates were reduced by 70 and 55%, respectively. In addition, this pretreatment protocol also abolished 200 microm tolbutamide-induced insulin secretion from perifused islets. These findings confirm that 5-hydroxytryptamine is a powerful inhibitor of stimulated insulin secretion. The responses of 5-hydroxytryptamine-preloaded beta-cells may not accurately reflect the biochemical events occurring during the physiologic regulation of insulin secretion. The suggestion that insulin stimulates its own secretion based exclusively on amperometric measurements should be reconsidered.     

Distribution in relation to life history in the directdeveloping gastropod Batillaria cumingi (Batillariidae) on two shores of contrasting substrata

Population structure and spatial distribution with growth ofthe direct-developing gastropod, Batillaria cumingi, were investigatedon two shores of differing substrata. Sand-mud shore and rockyshore populations differed in size structure; first-year snailswere ca. 7 mm in shell length (SL) in both populations, whereassecond-year snails, merging with older cohorts, measured 15–25mm SL in the sand-mud shore population and ca. 15 mm SL in therocky shore population. Egg distribution matched adult distributionin the sand-mud shore population, but was more restricted thanthat of adults in the rocky shore population. The distributionof newly-hatched juveniles (0–1 mm SL) was restricted inboth populations, but the growth stage at which snails extendedtheir distribution differed between the two populations; 1–2.5mm SL on the sand-mud shore and 5 mm SL on the rocky shore. Floatingachieved by early juveniles (ca. 2 mm SL), was commonly observedin the sand-mud population, but rarely in the rocky shore population.The sudden expansion in distribution of the 1–2.5 mm SLgrowth stage in the sand-mud shore population is consideredto have been caused by floating, while expansion of the distributionof older growth stages (>5 mm SL) in the rocky shore populationprobably occurs by crawling. (Received 13 May 1998; accepted 25 August 1998)     

The aesthetic earlobe: classification of lobule ptosis on the basis of a survey of North American Caucasians

North American Caucasian male subjects (n = 59) and female subjects (n = 72) were surveyed, to investigate earlobe height preferences that could serve as guidelines for aesthetic earlobe surgical procedures and reconstructions. Subjects were asked to rank their preferences for variously shaped earlobes in life-size-scaled sketched male and female profiles. Earlobe heights were varied on the basis of previously established anatomical landmarks, including the intertragal notch, the most caudal anterior attachment of the earlobe to the cheek skin (the otobasion inferius), and the most caudal extension of the earlobe-free margin (the subaurale). While the intertragal notch-to-otobasion inferius distance (range, 5 to 20 mm) and otobasion inferius-to-subaurale distance (range, 0 to 20 mm) varied, all other facial and ear anthropometric measurements were held constant. Each of the rank orders for the female and male facial profiles completed by the female and male subjects demonstrated statistical significance, as determined by one-way analysis of variance analysis of ranks (p < 0.001 for all four groups). No difference was noted between the two sexes' rank orders for either sex (p > 0.05). Therefore, analysis of the combined male and female preferences for each sex was completed with one-way analysis of variance analysis of ranks (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001) and a post hoc Dunn's test, to delineate significant preference differences between subgroups with respect to the intertragal notch-to-otobasion inferius and otobasion inferius-to-subaurale distances. Both female and male earlobe intertragal notch-to-otobasion inferius distances were preferred at either 5, 10, or 15 mm, more so than at 20 mm (p < 0.05 for all female and male comparisons). Furthermore, both female and male earlobe otobasion inferius-to-subaurale distances were preferred, in descending order, at 5 mm > 10 mm > 0 mm > 15 mm > 20 mm (p < 0.05 for all female and male comparisons). On the basis of the findings of this survey, the first classification of earlobe ptosis (based on otobasion inferius-to-subaurale distances), as well as a criterion for earlobe pseudoptosis (intertragal notch-to-otobasion inferius distance of greater than 15 mm), is presented. These findings suggest a role for independent assessment of the lobule length with respect to its anteriorly attached cephalad component (intertragal notch-to-otobasion inferius distance) and its free-margin caudal component (otobasion inferius-to-subaurale distance).     

净石灵胶囊联合体外冲击波碎石术治疗复杂性肾结石临床疗效分析

目的:探讨净石灵胶囊联合体外冲击波碎石术治疗复杂性肾结石临床疗效。方法:选取2010年1月-2011年12月在我院就诊的复杂性肾结石患者83例,随机分为体外冲击波碎石术组、经皮肾镜碎石取石组、净石灵胶囊联合体外冲击波碎石术组。观察两组间的手术时间、碎石率、疗效以及组内之间不同直径的结石的碎石率。结果:ESWL组碎石成功率85.3%,PCNL组碎石成功率90.0%,净石灵胶囊联合体外冲击波碎石术组碎石成功率89.7%,三组比较无统计学意义(P>0.05);ESWL组手术时间(40.2±6.3)min,PCNL组手术时间(46.6±4.1)min,净石灵胶囊联合体外冲击波碎石术组手术时间(42.2±5.7)min,三组比较无统计学意义(P>0.05);ESWL组、PCNL组、净石灵胶囊联合体外冲击波碎石术组治疗复杂性肾结石的有效率依次为75.0%、80.0%、97.4%,组间比较,差异具有统计学意义(P<0.05);ESWL组5<10mm、10<15mm、15<20mm直径的肾结石的粉碎率依为100%、85.7%、40%,组内比较具有统计学意义(P<0.01),PCNL组5<10mm、10<15mm、15<20mm直径的肾结石的粉碎率依次为100%、83.3%、75%,组内比较具有统计学意义(P<0.05),净石灵胶囊联合体外冲击波碎石术组5<10mm、10<15mm、15<20mm直径的肾结石的粉碎率依次为100%、88.9%、57.1%,组内比较具有统计学意义(P<0.01)。结论:体净石灵胶囊联合体外冲击波碎石术治疗复杂性肾结石的临床疗效优于单纯运用体外冲击波碎石术或经皮肾镜碎石取石术。